[usman24]

I have a Denon 2910 dvd player hooked up via hdmi to dvi to Hitachi 42pd5200 plasma. I have noticed a lot of macroblocking on most discs, especially reds and backgrounds.

This is a well known problem with all players using the faroudja fli 2310 scaling chip. Does anyone out there know of any firmware fix available to remedy this problem? I have sent e-mails to faroudja and denon uk but surprise, surprise no reply.

[deanym]

have look at the denon firmware thread on the manufacturers forum. This willgive you the instructions to gain the latest firmware (-8 at the moment). I have a 2910 and have suffered no problems. Try turning off all the picture enhancements that may be available on your screen - this may help.

[usman24]

Thanks for your reply. I have no picture enhancements on. How do I find denon's forum online?

[deanym]

try this.

Denon DVD-2910 MR firmware ESS-6720-8

[gandley]

Macroblocking can not be fixed as its an issue with the stated faroudja chip.
It can be tweaked out a little by calibrating your settings but its not something a firmware update will cure as its a hardware limitation.

If its macroblocking your seeing it will appear like a batch of dancing blocks.
Don't confuse it with poorly mastered discs that also show up true macroblocking which in its real terms is an encoding error.
Macroblocking tends to be most noticeable in low light scenes or dark areas of picture.

First step would be to make sure all noise reduction settings are turned to off and that sharpness is backed off(these will only enhance macroblocking further). To make sure its macroblocking turn the dvd players progscan mode off. if its macro blocking and not a disc error then the blocks should now be gone as the faroudja chip is now bypassed(you need to check this with the component out)
This is worth doing as you may be supprised how many times what you think is faroudja MB is realy disc MB.

[Cable Monkey]

I will back gandley up on much of what he has said. I have a 2910 and a 32pd5200. I see macroblocking on a lot of my darker and less well encoded disks but this all but disappears on the high quality test disks I have (the ones created for IMAX cinemas). I am reluctant to give up using my DVI to DVI connection but I will get my setup calibrated and opt for the best quality solution.

[usman24]

Thanks a lot guys! Your advice has been noted. Your advice makes sense.

Most disc out there are rubbish. Only discs without the problem or barely noticeable are Star Wars trilogy and T2 Extreme edition R1. Great picture!

Will try turning off progressive scan and see how it goes.

[usman24]

Thanks a lot guys! Your advice has been noted. Your advice makes sense.

Most disc out there are rubbish. Only discs without the problem or barely noticeable are Star Wars trilogy and T2 Extreme edition R1. Great picture!

Funny thing is a tech at denon uk said a firmware update should fix it.

Will try turning off progressive scan and see how it goes.

[johan81]

It could indeed be fixed by a frimware update. The Faroudja 2310 doesn't have the problem as did the 2300. Other dvd players, which of course contain this chipset, do not suffer this problem.
When I first had this player I noticed some MB as well, but after the update it was gone on these exact same scenes! Also, I use the analog progressive scan component out, so no DVI or HDMI.
The problem of the MB was in the software driver of the MPEG decoder of the player, when Denon addressed this problem the MB problem that this player introduced was gone.

[gandley]

all 23xx chips suffer from faroudja MB. that includes the denon 3910,
Some believe its to do with the lack of onchip bandwidth.
It is a limitation of the chip in hardware form and not software hence why it has nether been fixed.
Denon may have found out how to mask the effect (which they tried with the A11 in the usa but with no success. its also worth noting that this dvd player also had the 2310 chip and this dvd player is the worst to exhibit MBB, so god knows why you think the 2310 chip is MB free)which is how the denon 3910 was almost cured from MB but its not fixed.

See this for the latest panasonic that has the same chip(2310)

Taken from home cinema secrets DVD benchmark test. This is quite recent as well

"I did my standard tests for this artifact via both component and HDMI outputs to my display. Via component video, there were no signs of the macroblocking at all. And I mean no signs. Via HDMI, there was still evidence of the issue, but it was toned down significantly since the last time I looked at this player. While it still has the macroblocking bug (MBB), this is one of the best players I’ve seen with respect to that particular problem."

As you can see MB is still a problem with the 2310 chipset.

Use this link for reviews for the 2910 and 3910 both suffer some degree of MBB

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-b...deInt=0&mpeg=0

[Mr Grumpy]

This might be a daft question, so apologies if that's the case...
Does it have to be the Faroudja chip in the player that causes the MBing or can the same chip in a display device cause it too ?
I only ask as I have a 7200 Screenplay PJ and at times I appear to be getting a similar effect to that described. It just might be down to poor media though I suppose.

[Mep]

does one only get this on dvi or hdmi as i see no sign of it at all using component?

[gandley]

First MBB can be very display dependent. so some plasmas or projectors will exhibit this artifact to various degrees.

Yes it has been known that some projectors and some external deinterlacers with the faroudja chip will still exhibit MBB if they use the 23xx chip.

On a projector back off the noise reduction stuff as it can be set to auto somtimes, this does seem to help but not completely eliminate MBB.

MBB can show up on either component, HDMI, DVI and if your unlucky all 3.

[Mep]

i shall just count myself lucky then, thanks :-)