D-VHS D-Theater HD films DTS and JVC 40000

[Rob.Screene]

I got a nice WidescreenReview subscription for Christmas and have been reading up on US High-End.

These D-VHS MPEG2 VCR decks are interesting, like a laserdisc player for year 2004 for us UK users.

I think the Widescreen review of the latest DTS capable JVC D-VHS 40000 hd VCR mentioned that the analog component HD video outputs didn't quite get near to the full HDTV standard potential for sharpness, but was still twice that of what the best DVD players are capable of. Plus the D-Theater tapes are apparently 1080i vertical resolution.

The few DTS track releases are reported to be a very high 1500Kbps (3x DVD DTS) and be DTS 24/96 and apparently sound very fine indeed.

I think they mentioned outputting digital video over firewire to a Samsung HDTV box produced slightly cleaner component outputs.

Bear in mind the pre-recorded movie tapes are protected by D-Theater encryption, so will only play on D-Theater D-VHS players. Plus the digital video output is disabled when encryption can't be negotiated (like HCMI?) downstream.

My hesitation is that there are only about 8 films I'd want to own and that it'll make me unappreciative of even well scaled DVD's.

On the other hand, I think 1080i might not need de-interlacing to look great, so won't need a scaler to feed in to a high-end CRT projector (only a £280 HD transcoder).

If it does need film-mode de-interlacing to 1080p to look good, then HD deinterlacers are quite scarce and expensive at the moment?

Does anyone know if we saw 720p progressive clips at the Event II or was any of the film sources 1080i interlaced?

It's my guestimate that 1080i will look like well scaled DVD's I watch at 960p off TheaterTek DVD, but 1080i at 60Hz will have 3-2 pulldown interlaced blurring and judder.

Your experience or thoughts appreciated.
cheers,
Rob.

[Reinier Bauer]

Hi,

I just discovered this forum, so here's my first reply.
After owning the JVC HDHM30000 for over a year now, HD movies are much better than upscaled DVD's. No comparison, not talking about medium/low quality HD transfers here. Same problem with DVD's, not all titles are the best possible quality, but the majority of them are excellent, such as X-men.

You're right, 1080i does not need de-interlacing. Only a top Faroudja or a HD-leeza will do a good job, all other scalers make the image softer compared to 1080i.

You will be amazed by the quality of a good HD transfer, for example LOTR or BoB are just stunning in 1080i.

[Baggy]

Rob,
If I remember correctly you have an 808s.
As it's an "s" you should be able to get the 1080i component video input HDTV input card.
It's a direct input then without the need for an external transcoder and it should look stunning.
Kevin

[museumsteve]

I'm lovin my JVC-40000 and have received the first DTS tapes. It seems the claims of DTS 96/24 were actually incorrect and so far none of the movies actually are 96/24 even though a couple have it stated on the back of the movie cases. Wouldn't change it for anything though ;)

[Rob.Screene]

Thanks Baggy,
Good memory!

Henry from crtprojectors kindly advised me on the other forum "Barco 808s Data and Graphics will accept normal Bi-level sync component video but not Tri-level sync unless the optional HDTV sub board is fitted. You may get a picture without it, but it will be very dark as the projector will miss-clamp the signal. The HDTV board is available, and is more or less a bolt in fit. Once fitted you gain a new input number 8, which the projector will display as Comp-31 on screen." [snip] "You could use an external transcoder with a Barco S projector, this would also work but the cost of the HDTV board is similar. You then get to use Barco's high quality internal video decoder, plus all trace of the Tri-level sync signal is striped from the incoming video signal ensuring correct clamp levels leading to much improved black level accuracy. You also have full control over colour saturation, which you do not with an external transcoder. Basically its a no brainer if you have a Barco S projector, fit the HDTV sub board. Feed your scaler or HTPC to port 3 and connect the JVC deck directly to port 4/5 using input 8. Your 808s will then accept HDTV format component video at 1080i, 720p and 1080p with correct black levels and full control of colour saturation."

However at the Event II I mentioned this to Roland of B4Projection who supplied and installed the projector and he said the transcoder should be as good.

I thought the external transcoder would have better resale one day and wouldn't require any mods to the ceiling hung Barco. Although I would need a short RGBHV to Barco port3 "VGA" socket if I put the transcoder on top of the PJ or near it. In addition to a Component cable up the wall which either would require.

Roland didn't seem to subscribe to the Barco port3 is better than the port5 RGBHV BNC's idea that crtprojectors mention on their site either.

I must admit I'm still not sure which input method to use for HDTV in to my Barco if it comes to it. What I do know is the projector Roland supplied has been faultless and I don't want to do much to risk that.

Hi Reinier, I wasn't aware LOTR or BoB were available? It this D-Theater or an unprojected HDTV satellite recording via firewire?

Ok then guys, what's your top 15 titles to own on D-VHS then?

cheers,
Rob.

[museumsteve]

they're off-air HDTV recordings mate :)

Top 15...could be tricky at this early stage..but mine personally:-

1 - Spy Game
2 - U-571
3 - Alien Insect (off-air)
4 - LOTR Fellowship (off-air)
5 - Shrek (off-air)
6 - Fast n Furious
7 - Die Hard
8 - ID4
9 - Spy Game
10 - The Mummy
11 - Swordfish (off-air)
12 - Speed (DTS)
13 - Terminator 2
14 - Ice Age
15 - Xmen

I haven;t got round to watching True Lies, X2 or Moulin Rouge yet..and Alien/Unfaithful and Bourne Identity should be here in the next week or so..so my list could change :)

[Baggy]

Hi Rob,
Yes it was the HDTV board I was thinking about.
I've got one fitted to my 1209s and it seems to work just fine.
I had a Marquee 8000 before and used an Extron transcoder for D-Theater but was never happy.
I'd made the mistake of having D-Theater demo'd to me with a Cine 9 and I was always comparing it to that.I'd also seen an 808s with the HDTV board and thought that was a better combination than the Marquee and transcoder.
Ended up upgrading to the 1209 as it was the best I could afford and I've been happy ever since.
I use Port 3 for DVD's etc and Port 8 for D-VHS.
Still got the Extron may try it the 1209.
If you want to try an external transcoder Mike Parkers may be of interest to you.
Regards
Kevin

[pemberto]

museumsteve,
How can I get copies of the off-air LORT and BOB?

[Reinier Bauer]

Hi,

My favourite movies:
LOTR (off-air)
BoB (off-air)
Forest Gump (off-air)
Final Fantasy (off-air)
MI2 (off-air)
Saving Private Ryan (off-air)
Shrek (off-air)
Snatch (off-air)
The 6th day (off-air)
Gladiator (off-air)
Spiderman (off-air)
X-men (D-Theater)
Over America (off-air docu)
Japan's Secret Garden (off-air docu)
Insectia 1-3 (off-air docu)
Newport 1999 jazz Festival (off air)
U571 (D-Theater)
These are all top-quality transfers. Email me for more details.

Regards,

Reinier.

[PaulB]

Hmmmm, if anyone is able to transfer these to DVD or is able to make them available in a file format for playback via a PC hard drive (WMV etc) I'd be VERY interested!
Paul

[nfordenfield]

And make me number 2 after PaulB

[Pulsar]

Guys,

sorry to have to break it to you, but microsoft are keeping the WMP9 codec very close to their chest.

Cheers

Rob

[Pulsar]

Me again.

Can someone please tell me what BoB is?

Cheers

Rob

[museumsteve]

I assume it's Band of Brothers..that would take a few tapes :)

[PaulB]

Originally posted by Pulsar
Guys,

sorry to have to break it to you, but microsoft are keeping the WMP9 codec very close to their chest.

Cheers

Rob

I have faith! In fact its more than that 'cause I've previously downloaded a bit of off-air Hi-Def LOTR from a link elsewhere in this very forum ( a .ts file as I recall) and very nice it was too!

WM9 would be the bee's knees but if thats not available then whatever :)

I must admit, I thought that some folks were already encoding to WM9 but maybe I read that wrong - I'm not in to this capture/encoding stuff.
Paul

[vonhosen]

Originally posted by PaulB

I must admit, I thought that some folks were already encoding to WM9 but maybe I read that wrong - I'm not in to this capture/encoding stuff.
Paul

Oh yes

You can get a WM9 encoder from Microsoft stand alone or editing applications like Vegas do it.

[IanPM]

Can one not make a high bitrate MPEG-4 video?

I have no idea what the maximum resolution is but I assume it could easily go to 1080i.

[dvdmike]

i have the wm9 codec and encoder if anyone wants it i can zip and email

[Pulsar]

I stand corrected. I would love to see more WMP9 stuff.

To be honest I am considering getting a D-theater machine cos I can't wait any longer for hi-def.

Cheers

Rob

[Emelie]

Originally posted by Reinier Bauer
Hi,

My favourite movies:
LOTR (off-air)
BoB (off-air)
Forest Gump (off-air)
Final Fantasy (off-air)
MI2 (off-air)
Saving Private Ryan (off-air)
Shrek (off-air)
Snatch (off-air)
The 6th day (off-air)
Gladiator (off-air)
Spiderman (off-air)
X-men (D-Theater)
Over America (off-air docu)
Japan's Secret Garden (off-air docu)
Insectia 1-3 (off-air docu)
Newport 1999 jazz Festival (off air)
U571 (D-Theater)
These are all top-quality transfers. Email me for more details.

Regards,

Reinier.

These "off-air" recordings everybody's talking about, are they in any way displayable via D-vhs playback or only via htpc?

Thinking of importing a JVC 30k from the US, where do you people
buy your D-vhs movies?
I know about dvdboxoffice.com but are there any other alternayives?
regards
/Emelie