Sweetspot experiences

Pulsar

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Hello,

This is a question for all sweetspot users. Is there a big improvement in picture quality when capturing RGB from a Sky box instead of S-video when using Dscalar?

Cheers

Rob
 
In a word yes! I have to say that up until the most recent driver revisions, it had an improvement on things like very clear sharp edges on the menu screens etc, but made the colour banding of my Panny 6 plasma more obvious (I guess due to clearer signal) so there was a definite trade off. However since the new drivers were posted on their website last week (for both the card and Dscaler 4.17 revision) the picture is now awesome! Although only really at it's best when not using the 16:9 letterbox "zoom" mode. When watching either 4:3 or 16:9 broadcasts in dscaler without using the zoom function, the picture is pin sharp (apart from some of the really naff quality channels). At times it is quite amazing! I am guessing it will have the same effect with a Sony projector. I do however attribute a lot to finally getting 1:1 pixel mapping with my new graphics card (Matrox P650) running at 852x480 through DVI using Powerstrip.

Cheers,

Steve
 
Hi Rob
I know I could be accused of bias :) but I'm also someone who upgraded from a budget capture card to SweetSpot in my own home cinema.

I've drawn a rough diagram to illustrate the 'amount of improvement' that I've noticed in my setup.

difference.gif


As you can see I reckon there is about as much difference between a budget capture card's S-Video input and SweetSpot RGB as there is between the Composite and S-Video connections on the budget card.

I've also shown a difference between SweetSpot S-Video and the budget card's S-Video. This is mainly due to the much lower (almost negligible) noise in the SweetSpot picture, although I also noticed an improvement in colour accuracy and image sharpness.

As I said - Pluggedin.tv market SweetSpot in Europe so your probably not going to take my word for it:D

Lets hope some other SweetSpot users will pipe up and let you know what they think of my diagram.

Hope that helps
Alex
 
Alex,

Thanks for your info. The main problem I have with Dscalar and my capture card is getting the colours calibrated correctly, and finding the best settings to use. Does sweetspot come with a list of recommended setting to use with Dscalar?

Also, do you do a student discount.:rotfl: (Joke)

Thanks again for the info

Cheers

Rob
 
The default settings for our custom Dscaler 4.1.7p3 have been calibrated and many people have left them at that. If you have an external DVD player you can auto-calibrate with that.
I'm betting that if you've been unhappy with the calibration in the past, that the defaults will impress you.

With Sky some of the lower bandwidth channels become the weakest link the chain so not all of the benefits are true. But ER looked fantastic on C4 the other night. My wife said it looked almost DVD quality!
 
Alex,

That sounds great. I need to have a good think about it, but I will probably have to get one now. ER is the only program I watch on TV, and the thought of having a great quality picture, and the ability to record is too tempting.

Cheers

Rob
 
Some of the Sky sports channels are now fantastic quality too. Oh and by the way if you didn't see the latest ER episode on E4 last night you have GOT to see it when it shows on Channel 4.....! :eek: ;)

Steve
 
I'd love to put my Sky through this via RGB but I'm using the RGB out for my TV and DVD recorder. What's the best way around this? A John Sim MSC perhaps?

Cheers,
Andy.
 
Pulsar - agreed about the C4 higher bitrate. E4 is annoying me at the moment - the beginning of ER is always dreadful.
Sometimes my wife can't wait though :)
Last night's was one of those.

Andy - If you haven't got an S-Video out on your Sky box then you need a scart distributor. The jstech box wont do this for you. Do be careful with quality though - there's some horrible scart products out there.
The Radeon s-video outs aren't up to much either so that isn't a quality solution.
 
Anyone know how the sweetspot compares to the H3DI RGB input card?

Also I see it is advertised as a video processor card but isn't it just an input card and 3rd party software actually does the processing as where the H3D is a true video processor card with hardware processing on board.

Steve.
 
Hi Steve.
The video input of Holo and SweetSpot have been benchmarked as being equal (although since then we have actually upgraded our connectors).
The AtoD chips in the cards are the same Philips chip.
The differences really come from the DCDi chip in Holo and their own software versus DScaler. There are pros and cons to each - the main benefit of DScaler is that it is hugely flexible and constantly improving. You will find many fans of each solution on here.

SweetSpot does do video processing, just not deinterlacing. The features of the Philips chip are numourous including things driven by DScaler like the comb filter. There is a rather large pdf on the philips semiconductor site somewhere that will detail just what it is doing.

Hope that helps
Alex
 
The latest Holo drivers allow ffdshow to be used with the H3DII card, and it smartens up the picture a lot.

I'll do some some direct comparisons of the H3DII v the Sweetspot and report back. Course the addition of Showshifter is a big plus for Sweetspot. The big drawback of Sweetspot is no SDI input - come on guys, how about an upgrade?
 
Yep,

I aggree, if SDI input was available on the sweetspot i would buy it in a heartbeat :)

What is the maximum length alowed using a PDI cable ?

Steve
 
Hi Steve
You can of course run our SDI capture card and SweetSpot together in the same machine, so while it isnt physically the same card it is just another input in DScaler.
re the max PDI cable length - as it is parallel in nature it is timing sensitive, therefore the standard length supplied with the card (15cm) is all that is supported. Remember that with the PDI connector you are hooking in to some sort of internal PC MPEG decoder card so it only has to reach to the next PCI slot!

cheers
 
The SDI card that we sell is the PMS Video SDI Capture Card.
http://www.pmsvideo.com/index_topic.php?did=17

We also sell the SDI converter kit on that page.

Prices are:
Capture Card £149
Converter Kit £89

Both prices include FREE EUROPEAN POSTAGE, all UK/EU duties paid and 1 year European warranty.

We are in the process of implementing a full shopping cart on the pluggedin.tv site but for the moment if anyone wishes to purchase, email us at [email protected]

A full list of SDI moddable devices is here
http://www.pmsvideoforum.com/forum/...?s=&threadid=27

Hope that helps
Alex
 
Hello,

I got my sweetspot card today, installed the latest drivers and dscalar version off the sweetspot website, and connected my cable digital box via the sweetspot RGB cable.

First impressions of the card/software are excellent. Coming from using a JS RGB to Svideo converter with the packard bell capture card, this sweetspot setup is a massive improvement. The colours seems so natural and rich, with the picture showing great edge definition and excellent detail. I just watched five minutes of Trisha on ITV2, and she never looked to good (well actualy bad, but you know what I mean). The OSD from the cable box is so crisp and clear it is great.

I think that using the specific Dscalar has helped as it was pointed out earlier in the thread that this has been calibrated for the sweetspot card, and it shows. To watch the television now is like watching an average DVD for picture quality, and is far more enjoyable.

I can't wait for ER tonight on channel 4, this will be a real test for the sweetspot.

If anyone out there is using the PB capture card and an s-video input, and is thinking of upgrading, please don't hesitate YOU WILL NOT BE DISSAPOINTED!

Cheers

Rob
 
Thanks for the reveiw Rob, looks like I might have to jump off the fence soon.
 
Ordered mine this week ,so looking forward to some more fun this weekend,at the moment I've a JS RGB-Component convertor from Sky +,but have also ordered the RGB cable,will be interesting to see which gives better PQ.
Rob
 
Originally posted by Alex Simon
Hi Rob
I know I could be accused of bias :) but I'm also someone who upgraded from a budget capture card to SweetSpot in my own home cinema.

I've drawn a rough diagram to illustrate the 'amount of improvement' that I've noticed in my setup.

difference.gif


As you can see I reckon there is about as much difference between a budget capture card's S-Video input and SweetSpot RGB as there is between the Composite and S-Video connections on the budget card.

I've also shown a difference between SweetSpot S-Video and the budget card's S-Video. This is mainly due to the much lower (almost negligible) noise in the SweetSpot picture, although I also noticed an improvement in colour accuracy and image sharpness.

As I said - Pluggedin.tv market SweetSpot in Europe so your probably not going to take my word for it:D

Lets hope some other SweetSpot users will pipe up and let you know what they think of my diagram.

Hope that helps
Alex

Hi ... from french Homecinema-fr.com forum

Would component input be at the same level than RGB's ? I would use it with Chord Component cables I already have.
 
Hi Karyboue
Yes, I should have put RGB/Component on that diagram.
We have found them to be of equal quality through SweetSpot.
The Chord Component cables you already have sound perfect.

Hope that helps
Alex
 
Alex!

Why is Sweetspot or PDI deluxe so much more expensive here i Europe compared to buying directly from PMSvideo or from hivizone.com? Even when you ad customs and taxes it is cheaper to buy from them! Why?
 

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