stevekale said:
Does anyone have a summary of the Vantage vs the Crystallio based on specs? Who tests these things side by side (when both are available)? (ie reliable sources to keep an eye on)
Cheers
Steve
The spec lists are so long it's very difficult to write them out.
Even the C2 speclist on the brochure doesn't mention half the features.
I guess you really need to have a good read through both manuals and see what takes your fancy
Basically Crystalio offers (not all with firmware 1.0)
Customised output resolutions
More flexible and potentially higher quality analogue BNC inputs.
Gamma Correction and custom gamma correction (inc seperate RGB)
Rules-based settings "if input=XX then output=YY" (DynamicVP)
Saving and exporting of all settings (seperately if you want)
Built-in HD media player option.
Picture-in-picture PIP PBP
Multiple simultaneous outputs (same resolution I believe)
Internal test patterns - allows perfect calibration of display, then you calibrate your source to this.
Customised ARs
Macros
Custom naming of just about everything (inputs only on vantage afaict)
Fanless design (just the noise of the HDD on the pro I would think)
Passthru and secondary passthru (this makes my head hurt)
Y/C delay
4xHDMI (expansion needed on Vantage)
2xHD-SDI on Pro (expansion on Vantage)
Anything else? Vantage reckon on having Y/C and custom gamma in a later firmware. Can't tell about things like anamorphic lens support on the vantage.
Gordon mentioned that the new chips take longer to do their processing but I seem to remember someone on the pms forums saying that it's faster than C1. I'll try and dig out the post in a bit. This was important for me because I play console games.
Re comparative reviews - it's a really tricky one - keep your eye on AVS and Secrets. Magazines are worthless for scaler reviews (maybe Widescreen Review if any)
Hope that helps
Tryingtimes (and they certainly are while arsing with my HTPC waiting for C2
)