Jasonjo
Prominent Member
Hi All,
I recently puchased and installed the new iScan HD and thought I would share my experiences and write a bit of a review. I am no videophile, by any means, but have managed to get a pretty good understanding of video processors from research on the forum. Although as I am no expert, please feel free to post corrections where necessary
I am not going to go into detail what the iScan is, and does, as this can be found at www.dvdo.com
How I set it up - Video Connections
My main TV source is via NTL. One of the first benefits of the HD is the ability to connect RGBS sources and not just component (YUV) like the Ultra. Although RGBS may not be familiar to you, it is actually pretty common in the UK and is often carried via scart by enabling RGB out. Therefore, in order to connect NTL to the HD all that is required is a Scart=>4RCA cable or a Scart=>4RCA connector. As I already had good quality YUV cables from
Scorpion Cables I chose the Scart=>4RCA connector which is available from Keene for £5.99 www.keene.co.uk part number KA150S (thanks for this find goes to Stuart (Stoomonster)). This allowed me to connect direct from the NTL RGB scart straight into the HD without using any converters (like the JS Tech RGB2YUV that I was previously using - sorry John ). The same connection should also work for any source which supports scart RGB output (if RGBS).
As for my DVD player, this was simply a case of connecting the YUV output direct into the HD using a YUV 3RCA=>3RCA cable.
In terms of connecting the HD to my Panny plasma, as I already had a DB15 (VGA)=>5BNC cable routed to my screen I reused this cable to connect the DB15 (VGA) output of the HD to my TM6Y video board.
How I set it up - Audio Connections
Another benefit of the HD is the ability to route audio connections so that video and audio can be sync'd. As those with video processors will know, lipsync can be a complete pain as the processor takes some time to process the video signal. This will put the picture out of sync with the sound causing 'lipsync'. Although this can often be cured to some extent by using a global delay on an AV amp, the HD can go that little bit further by assigning a dynamic, automatic audio delay based upon the video processing parameters. The HD can even add a further, configurable delay if for some reason audio is out of sync for some other reason (like dodgy broadcasting - Sky+???!!!! ). Due to this mayor benefit to lipsync, I decided to route all my audio via the HD to take full advantage. However, the HD only supports digital audio inputs. This was fine for DVD (or Sky+ for that matter), but NTL only offers analogue audio outputs via two phonos on my STB. As NTL represents a major precentage of my viewing time, I decided to add a simple A/D converter to allow me to route audio from NTL through the HD and gain audio delay features. This A/D converter is pretty simple in that it has a single set of analogue phone inputs and converts to optical or coaxial
digitial outputs (PCM). The A/D converter is available from Keene for £39.99 www.keene.co.uk part number DIGAC (thanks for this find goes to Martin (MAW)). With the converter in place, the HD is able to keep NTL lipsync surprisingly accurate and maintains stereo and dolby pro logic encoding - this keeps the wife happy and I can say goodbye to constatly looking at people mouths in paranoia The only minor drawback I have noted is that the line level output from the A/D is quite a bit higher that the exisitng analogue connection...
As for DVD, I simply connected my existing coaxial digital output to one the HD digital inputs. The digital output from the HD then connects to my AV amp and carries both NTL and DVD sound including all processing like Dolby Pro Logic, Dolby Digital, DTS etc...
Picture Results
With the HD in place, I was quite surprised at the benefit to the picture on my Panny plasma. NTL pictures are much improved and appeared cleaner with a smoother, more realistic image. Detail also seems improved with people faces looking much more natural and you can see real texture in the skin during close-ups. I also route my Xbox via the NTL RGB pass-through scart and with the HD in place, Xbox games are stunning with a real feel of depth and motion smoothness. The HD offers a much better option than chipping my Xbox to get high-def output. Note however that the iScan cannnot improve on crappy broadcasts with MPEG blocking and other digital artefacts, but if you have a good channel source then the HD will definitely make the best of it.
The improvement in DVD picture quality was not quite as dramatic as I already had a pretty good DVD player with SIL504 prog scan output. However, the picture now looks even more 3D, more realistic and again smoother - more cinematic maybe??? It is also worth mentioning that pictures are now free from the chroma bug (CUE) on both DVD and NTL as the HD has auto-CUE elimination for all sources. More importantly, the picture also doesn't seem to suffer from the slight flickering and slight banding I used to notice. Banding is still evident, but it does seem smoother and less pronounced.
I will be honest though, in order to get these improvements it did take a little work. Although I thought the default HD settings gave an improvment, I further added to the performance by configuring the HD such that I could achieve 1:1 pixel mapping. In basic terms, this means that the HD is taking the video input (be it PAL or NTSC) and scaling this to the exact resolution of the screen (in my case this is 852x480 pixels with the PWD6) without using the lower quality plasma internal scaler at all. In order to test if you are achieving 1:1 pixel mapping the HD includes some great in-built test patterns which are ideal. In addtion to scaling or formatting the output, I also experimented with changing the framerate that the HD outputs to the screen for PAL(50Hz) and NTSC(60Hz) signals. The idea here being that the screen may be better at handling video if it is output differently than the default rates. Again, there is a test pattern to help with this, which uses a moving bar to see if particular framerates cause judder. From my testing, I found that 50Hz was best left outputting at 50HZ and that 60Hz was best output at 48Hz. Note these are best for my screen and to my eyes and may not be ideal for everyone...
In addition to the picture side of things, I also noticed that my screen produced a slightly louder buzz when using higher framerates. I assume this is becuase the screen is being driven a little harder and hence the PSU is doing more. Those who are regular on the forum may remember that I posted my experience with a high pitched buzz when sometimes watching DVD's. After some more testing I found that by setting NTSC(60Hz) output to 48Hz that the buzzing was much reduced. I am not saying here that the HD is a cure for this, as some of you may notice a flicker when running at 48Hz, but for me this framerate side effect of reducing the buzzing noise is a great bonus!!
There's still plenty of scope for tweaking, but the great thing about the HD is that it allows you to configure it to get the very best out of your plasma or PJ. Obviously, I am a little biased in my review in that I haven't compared it against other video processors, but as a standalone review of how to get the best out of my sources with my particular plasma I am a very happy chap!!!
On the negative side, we have the power LED, which remains on constanly, is very bright , and is very distracting and much, much more so that LED's on my DVD player or plasma. Although I am led to believe (no pun intended ) that you will be able to disable this LED in a future firmware release - hurrah!!!
Also, I won't pretend that the HD isn't a little comlicated to setup for a newbie, but hey, I am no expert here and I just learn't as I went along with help from Avforums and Avsforum (cheers Dale ). But, the on screen menu's and great manual go a long way to make things as easy as possible - and I am sure help is normally on hand on the forums with experts like Gordon, Joe, MAW etc.
Pro's and Cons's Summary
Pro's
* Excelent video output with lots of options to get the very best out of your sources and display - even worthwhile on a SD plasma??? - YES!!!
* Audio sync is brilliant - goodbye lipsync!!! - Does it work??? - YES!!!
* Easy to use with a really nice on screen menu
Con's (Nit picking!)
* Price is quite high, but when you consider what you get (including global audio delay) it is well worth the money!!!
* The number of options can be a little daunting to the newbie - maybe help notes in the OSD or a startup wizard would be helpful???
* Bright power LED
Overall
Overall, I would highly recommend the iScan HD to any plasma or PJ owner looking to get the VERY BEST out of their display. In addition, a big thanks to Dale @ DVDO for his help and time on the forums and also to AV-Sales (www.av-sales.co.uk) who managed to get me one of the early HD's in the UK to me for nextday, at a great price - very recommended, as ever.
Cheers
JJ
I recently puchased and installed the new iScan HD and thought I would share my experiences and write a bit of a review. I am no videophile, by any means, but have managed to get a pretty good understanding of video processors from research on the forum. Although as I am no expert, please feel free to post corrections where necessary
I am not going to go into detail what the iScan is, and does, as this can be found at www.dvdo.com
How I set it up - Video Connections
My main TV source is via NTL. One of the first benefits of the HD is the ability to connect RGBS sources and not just component (YUV) like the Ultra. Although RGBS may not be familiar to you, it is actually pretty common in the UK and is often carried via scart by enabling RGB out. Therefore, in order to connect NTL to the HD all that is required is a Scart=>4RCA cable or a Scart=>4RCA connector. As I already had good quality YUV cables from
Scorpion Cables I chose the Scart=>4RCA connector which is available from Keene for £5.99 www.keene.co.uk part number KA150S (thanks for this find goes to Stuart (Stoomonster)). This allowed me to connect direct from the NTL RGB scart straight into the HD without using any converters (like the JS Tech RGB2YUV that I was previously using - sorry John ). The same connection should also work for any source which supports scart RGB output (if RGBS).
As for my DVD player, this was simply a case of connecting the YUV output direct into the HD using a YUV 3RCA=>3RCA cable.
In terms of connecting the HD to my Panny plasma, as I already had a DB15 (VGA)=>5BNC cable routed to my screen I reused this cable to connect the DB15 (VGA) output of the HD to my TM6Y video board.
How I set it up - Audio Connections
Another benefit of the HD is the ability to route audio connections so that video and audio can be sync'd. As those with video processors will know, lipsync can be a complete pain as the processor takes some time to process the video signal. This will put the picture out of sync with the sound causing 'lipsync'. Although this can often be cured to some extent by using a global delay on an AV amp, the HD can go that little bit further by assigning a dynamic, automatic audio delay based upon the video processing parameters. The HD can even add a further, configurable delay if for some reason audio is out of sync for some other reason (like dodgy broadcasting - Sky+???!!!! ). Due to this mayor benefit to lipsync, I decided to route all my audio via the HD to take full advantage. However, the HD only supports digital audio inputs. This was fine for DVD (or Sky+ for that matter), but NTL only offers analogue audio outputs via two phonos on my STB. As NTL represents a major precentage of my viewing time, I decided to add a simple A/D converter to allow me to route audio from NTL through the HD and gain audio delay features. This A/D converter is pretty simple in that it has a single set of analogue phone inputs and converts to optical or coaxial
digitial outputs (PCM). The A/D converter is available from Keene for £39.99 www.keene.co.uk part number DIGAC (thanks for this find goes to Martin (MAW)). With the converter in place, the HD is able to keep NTL lipsync surprisingly accurate and maintains stereo and dolby pro logic encoding - this keeps the wife happy and I can say goodbye to constatly looking at people mouths in paranoia The only minor drawback I have noted is that the line level output from the A/D is quite a bit higher that the exisitng analogue connection...
As for DVD, I simply connected my existing coaxial digital output to one the HD digital inputs. The digital output from the HD then connects to my AV amp and carries both NTL and DVD sound including all processing like Dolby Pro Logic, Dolby Digital, DTS etc...
Picture Results
With the HD in place, I was quite surprised at the benefit to the picture on my Panny plasma. NTL pictures are much improved and appeared cleaner with a smoother, more realistic image. Detail also seems improved with people faces looking much more natural and you can see real texture in the skin during close-ups. I also route my Xbox via the NTL RGB pass-through scart and with the HD in place, Xbox games are stunning with a real feel of depth and motion smoothness. The HD offers a much better option than chipping my Xbox to get high-def output. Note however that the iScan cannnot improve on crappy broadcasts with MPEG blocking and other digital artefacts, but if you have a good channel source then the HD will definitely make the best of it.
The improvement in DVD picture quality was not quite as dramatic as I already had a pretty good DVD player with SIL504 prog scan output. However, the picture now looks even more 3D, more realistic and again smoother - more cinematic maybe??? It is also worth mentioning that pictures are now free from the chroma bug (CUE) on both DVD and NTL as the HD has auto-CUE elimination for all sources. More importantly, the picture also doesn't seem to suffer from the slight flickering and slight banding I used to notice. Banding is still evident, but it does seem smoother and less pronounced.
I will be honest though, in order to get these improvements it did take a little work. Although I thought the default HD settings gave an improvment, I further added to the performance by configuring the HD such that I could achieve 1:1 pixel mapping. In basic terms, this means that the HD is taking the video input (be it PAL or NTSC) and scaling this to the exact resolution of the screen (in my case this is 852x480 pixels with the PWD6) without using the lower quality plasma internal scaler at all. In order to test if you are achieving 1:1 pixel mapping the HD includes some great in-built test patterns which are ideal. In addtion to scaling or formatting the output, I also experimented with changing the framerate that the HD outputs to the screen for PAL(50Hz) and NTSC(60Hz) signals. The idea here being that the screen may be better at handling video if it is output differently than the default rates. Again, there is a test pattern to help with this, which uses a moving bar to see if particular framerates cause judder. From my testing, I found that 50Hz was best left outputting at 50HZ and that 60Hz was best output at 48Hz. Note these are best for my screen and to my eyes and may not be ideal for everyone...
In addition to the picture side of things, I also noticed that my screen produced a slightly louder buzz when using higher framerates. I assume this is becuase the screen is being driven a little harder and hence the PSU is doing more. Those who are regular on the forum may remember that I posted my experience with a high pitched buzz when sometimes watching DVD's. After some more testing I found that by setting NTSC(60Hz) output to 48Hz that the buzzing was much reduced. I am not saying here that the HD is a cure for this, as some of you may notice a flicker when running at 48Hz, but for me this framerate side effect of reducing the buzzing noise is a great bonus!!
There's still plenty of scope for tweaking, but the great thing about the HD is that it allows you to configure it to get the very best out of your plasma or PJ. Obviously, I am a little biased in my review in that I haven't compared it against other video processors, but as a standalone review of how to get the best out of my sources with my particular plasma I am a very happy chap!!!
On the negative side, we have the power LED, which remains on constanly, is very bright , and is very distracting and much, much more so that LED's on my DVD player or plasma. Although I am led to believe (no pun intended ) that you will be able to disable this LED in a future firmware release - hurrah!!!
Also, I won't pretend that the HD isn't a little comlicated to setup for a newbie, but hey, I am no expert here and I just learn't as I went along with help from Avforums and Avsforum (cheers Dale ). But, the on screen menu's and great manual go a long way to make things as easy as possible - and I am sure help is normally on hand on the forums with experts like Gordon, Joe, MAW etc.
Pro's and Cons's Summary
Pro's
* Excelent video output with lots of options to get the very best out of your sources and display - even worthwhile on a SD plasma??? - YES!!!
* Audio sync is brilliant - goodbye lipsync!!! - Does it work??? - YES!!!
* Easy to use with a really nice on screen menu
Con's (Nit picking!)
* Price is quite high, but when you consider what you get (including global audio delay) it is well worth the money!!!
* The number of options can be a little daunting to the newbie - maybe help notes in the OSD or a startup wizard would be helpful???
* Bright power LED
Overall
Overall, I would highly recommend the iScan HD to any plasma or PJ owner looking to get the VERY BEST out of their display. In addition, a big thanks to Dale @ DVDO for his help and time on the forums and also to AV-Sales (www.av-sales.co.uk) who managed to get me one of the early HD's in the UK to me for nextday, at a great price - very recommended, as ever.
Cheers
JJ