Avia, Video Essential or others

[fabryuk]

Trying to setup HTPC and RP. Which DVD setup disc would u go for. Avia is very expensive, any other idea where to get it cheap
?

[Jeff]

I like AVIA a lot, a bit expensive but it works well. Be warned though it won't work with Theater Tek.

Jeff

Originally posted by Jeff
I like AVIA a lot, a bit expensive but it works well. Be warned though it won't work with Theater Tek.

Jeff

Jeff, I appear to have lost my copy of VE and was considering replacing with Avia, your commnets but the brakes on somewhat can you elaborate on what doesn't work with TT?

Steve

[Mr.D]

Ahar! Works ok on my HTPC Jeff using TT latest patch with 6025 drivers. Just the video tests anyway not used the test tones. Hate the jumpers and the screen insertion comps are awful.

Gamma test is useful though.

[JohnS]

I have both and found a better set up for my new ae100 usung avia than I had managed with ve. Horses for courses but if I had to buy just one it would be avia.

Just my 2p

[Gordon @ Convergent AV]

Avia is also not navigable on some DVD players. Toshiba's are a problem for this disk..

MrD: Guess I need to download latest TT patch then...I can never get to patterns I want with Avia on my PC. Glad they got a work around

Gordon

Don't wanna hijack the thread....

TT Patch 1.2.8 is needed for Avia. This is because Avia actually falls outside the official DVD Forum Spec (number of chapter stops I think). This is why it's problematic.

I personally use Avia although I have VE as well.

I have also seen in action a superb Kodak PC suite of programs but I do not have that.

I would avoid all the THX Optimode setups as I have frequently found them to be wildly out and even been different between discs.

Jenz.

[Mr.D]

Originally posted by Gordon, Convergent-AV
Avia is also not navigable on some DVD players. Toshiba's are a problem for this disk..

MrD: Guess I need to download latest TT patch then...I can never get to patterns I want with Avia on my PC. Glad they got a work around

Gordon

How is your HTPC Gordon ? Not heard you post on it in a while. Are you still having problems with it ?

If you want I could run through my set-up as I recall your machine is similar spec to mine. I've really just used the recommended drivers patches and install routines from the TT website but it works pretty much perfectly with TT and Dscaler ( and I'm writing this post on it)

[RichardH]

Well, I've just received my copy of Avia - sadly got hit by customs, too but even the basic stuff I've found good - and you get the bonus of two nice men in comfy jumpers telling you lots of interesting things

I've been through the basic video setup screens, but would be keen to hear of any recommended patterns elsewhere in the disc that AE100 owners have found useful. I'm running an HCPC with a Radeon 7000, FWIW.

One more query - I've read in previous threads about the extra adjustments possible from an HCPC, but I don't seem to have much available from the advanced section of the display panel - is this a driver version thing - I'm running Catalyst (not sure which offhand) on WinXP. On my desktop PC with a Matrox G550, I have individual sliders for RGB gamma, plus colour temperature - none of this on th Radeon.

[ditton15]

I am persuaded I ought to use avia, but since I will only use it once or twice (or ....) I would like to buy into a syndicate. Any takers??

Ditton

[Mr.D]

I'd supect your RGB gamma controls on the matrox wouldn't apply to the overlay though.

Colour temp should really be done on the display device. Although the ability to perform RGB curve adjustments on the overlay would be great ( this is actually a pretty processor intensive capability though)

Main advantages of the whole PC thang are 1:1 pixelmapping for digital display devices and the hardware gamma on the radeons : apart from your normally good deinterlacing and scaling abilities at a very reasonable price.

Dscaler is great fun too.

[RichardH]

Mr D: I'm sure you'd mentioned adjustments on the PC end of things.... must be going senile. Any test patterns to recommend?
One other thing - looking at the colour decoder test (the one where you use the 3 coloured strips), my green is showing about -25% - I thought that green was meant to be the overblown one? I'll have to have another go, and check the other settings - if I'm right, maybe the FLD filter isn't such a good idea!!!

[mattr]

I think I tweaked most of my colour biases with just the "moving white bar on a white background" test (actually lots of the tests have this moving bar in them - I might have even selected the special test patterns for each primary colour and used the moving bars in them but those moving bars might have been white rather than the primary colour). I adjusted contrast and brightness, then got out the colour strips and adjusted colour bias until the moving bar was again just visible and then went back and did the whole lot again.

I'm sure I did it the wrong way but the picture is mighty fine now. All the colour biases are now negative, ranging from -6 to -18 I think. Green is the most negative and I still use a FLD filter but mainly to improve the black level.

Now to get rid of the dust on the prism

[RichardH]

I must tweak some more..... I was confused, as I had understood that the AE100's green level was high, hence the FLD improves things by dropping the green level - so when I saw a -25% level for green on that test, I was suprised.

[Mr.D]

I wouldn't use the colour decoder test for checking colour uniformity across the grayscale.

The thing is that the green push if you like on the ae100 is not consistent across the grayscale ( intensity range. Its more prevalent in the upper end that the lower ( I sometimes notice lower intensities being purpled a little bit with the FLD but I still get a more accurate colour response generally with it on ratherr than off. ( using the flashing BLUE , RED and GREEN colour bars on avia for reference)

Also bear in mind the filters for red and green are not as accurate as the blue (you'll probably never get the flashing patches to disappear on any display with the RED and GREEN patterns