Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems 598 Component out vs SDI to Scaler?

Hi, Below is taken from a 596 review on Home Cinema Choice Web site.


Internally, the 596 is largely a modular design. To the left lies the DVD-ROM drive and to its right the power supply, both in fully shielded compartments. To the rear sit four independent boards. At its heart, the 596 uses a C-Cube ZiVA-3 DVD decoder and passes video signals to a 10-bit Analog Devices ADV7175AKS. The digital to analogue converters are a 192kHz 24-bit design.

Cheers Chris

George,

you want to go back into the Pioneer using VGA as it doesn't accept 1280x768 over HDMI, and the whole point of adding the scaler is to bypass the poor deinterlacing and scaling in the TV itself.

gizzie,

When feeding the display 1080i from STB it looks WAY better than the DVD does. So, feeding 1080i is not an issue or something to try to imorove on. By going this route I avoid DAC and ADC which is part of what kills the picture.

There is no native way to feed the display digitally.

George,
just one thing about the scaler you linked to.
It is available at digitalconnection cheaper in case you want to go with that.
Hate to see a fellow M lover fork over extra cash for non-M purchases
Mods, please delete if I am violating any rules.
Thanks,
SP

Thanks SP. I know you can get it cheaper.

I ended up ordering DVDO HD (non Plus) with SDI.

George,

I was going to suggest the DVDO. I have used DVDO for many years now. You'll love the way your DVD's look with the DVDO. I use an Ultra cause the scaler in my projector works great. So much sharper than my 598 progressive output and 24p movies are completely artifact free. You will see some artifacts with video recorded material but it is pretty minor. I would rather have a sharper image with some artifacting than a soft image and how much video stuff will you be watching? You'll love the DVDO HD.

Ron

Hey George,

Did you use Duncan's cable for your SDI mod? If so which SDI board did you get? I'm planning on buying Duncan's cable but I want to make sure I can get a compatible SDI board Stateside.

Thanks.

http://www.pixelmagicsystems.com/products/sdi/bt656pro.htm

Got it in like 2 days.

I ordered Duncan's mod cable and DVDO should be here Monday.

Thanks a bunch George. I guess I have some ordering to do.

Ron,

If you are using the iScan Ultra, I assume that means you can't use SDI. And if you are using the scaler in your projector what does the Ultra buy you?

How you running the 598, 480i or 480p?

I only plan to play films on DVD.

Sure, but then taking HD 1080i from your set top box and scaling it to 480p will look better than taking DVD from your dsi DVD player and upscaling it to 1080p.

The scaling in the Pioneer is not too hot, when you get it off you will see what I mean.

When you get your scaler try the following timings when going in vga

Horizontal scan rate 45.113Khz
Horizontal total active 1280
Horizontal front porch 048
Horizontal sync width 112
Horizontal back porch 248
Vertical refresh rate 56.25Hz
Vertical lines 768
Vertical front porch 001
Vertical sync width 003
Vertical back porch 030

pixel clock = 76.15 MHz


Then put up the internal one on/one off test pattern and adjust the size until it snaps in, it will be extremely obvious when it does.
Then compare that to going in HDMI at 720p.

Thanks giZZe I'll try a bunch of experiments. And thanks for the settings.

I've read a ton on DVDO and my impression is not to get to hung up on the test patterns. They are extreme cases and it may trigger some algorithm erroneously in the TV. They are a very useful tool though.

I have the DVDO HD.

And hooked up DVI and VGA.

Even though 1 test pattern (checker board) does look better in VGA I think other patterns look better on 1080i. Moving bar was very smooth in 1080i and jerky on VGA. But I have not tried your settings yet. I will though.

I don't have Duncan's "Easy SDI Install" cable yet, should have it wednesday.

But already I can see an improvement using AVIA off the component output of the 598. Can't wait to see what it does with the SDI.

By the way I got the DVDO as an open box deal. Turns out the only box that was open was the SDI module (and it was still sealed in the static bag). The main unit was factory sealed. $675.00 !!!