Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems HD621 and Radiance

I agree with VK in the placement of the Darbee. The logic seems sound to me.

In correspondence with Darblet, they said it didn't matter where it went in the chain.

It would be interesting to know how Lumagen implement Darbee processing. Is it before or after the Radiance does its work?

Jack,

We moved to a smaller house, so it's just 50" TV now rather than the projector previously. The TV was old enough that I'm not sure how much of a difference it would have made. Since it's recently been replaced with a newer plasma, it's probably time to get it back out and play!

Cheers, Ian

Or built in

I think that the stock documentation and responses are for the masses without calibrating video processors. The Darblet (and Darbee processing) is about recognizing and emphasizing detail. Giving it direct access to the unaltered source makes the most sense to me, but if the algorithm is resilient to gamut linearity calibration then great!

You won't regret the more expensive option. I bought myself a 2021 for Christmas - a move from an early XD. I haven't managed to calibrate the 3D LUT yet, but Gordon has assured me that it will make a huge improvement to linearity even to the 37" Viera PX80B in my bedroom which is connected to output 2. Farewell to solarisation (I hope).

I don't know whether it is a case of emperor's new clothes but I saw an improvement after transferring the settings from my XD - yes the HDMI inputs transfer directly.

I don't know why there's so much hostility towards DVP on AVForums but I mentioned it in passing and was immediately pounced upon by several purists. Perhaps it is envy - not many people on there can afford Meridian, Lumagen calibration software &c.

I see it as analogous to Pro-Logic II extracting ambient information from phase in the recording. The engineer didn't put it in there deliberately, but there appears to be information in there that DVP uses to make the picture something you can step into - almost like increased depth of field. I actually studied the maths used at University, but couldn't get my head round it then.

All I can say is that probably due to Jim & Pat's policy of continuous improvement the 20XX range trumps the Previous generation even before you turn on DVP and 729 point 3DLUT calibration. When you do turn on Darbee (30-40, in HD mode) the improvement is obvious. If you want to future proof you can always pay extra and add the 4K output.

As my 25 year old nephew keeps reminding me YOLO!

Tim

We have also had negative responses on here! Some have said it looks like a bad pixelated Photoshop image at 100%. Who, in their right mind would set DVP to 100%

One only needs to ask a simple question, if it�s a gimmick, why would Lumagen get involved or Oppo!

The little box of tricks called Darbee is one thing I won�t sell! In fact, I need one for the TV too!

Sorry for being 'off topic'!

Shaun

I had nothing but persistent problems with my setup: sources - Radiance - HD621 - G68. I tried everything - switched Radiance and HD621, multiple FW updates, different brands of HDMI cables, different lengths of cables, tweaking audio EDID settings - all to no avail.

And I was crazy enough to do this with an XD several years ago and more recently with a 2021. Same thing all over again. I had multiple conversations with the excellent folks at Lumagen - they basically told me Meridian's horrible implementation of HDMI, and their off the shelf made in China HDMI board are the culprits. They offered to take my HD621 and bench test it, but by then I had had enough, threw in the towel and got rid of the Radiance.

And I couldn't be happier without it - my system works reliably with no more constant relays clicking, blank screens, and absent audio. If I move to a non Meridian processor I would consider a radiance again.

I had a Radiance when the HD621 first came out-I think I got the HD621 as soon as it was avaialable. There were problems at that point and the Lumagen people did some work and realized not that M's implementation of HDMI was crappy but that it was actually observing the HDMI specs more rigorously than nomal-something about an extra bit in the transmission or something like that. Once they figured that out (after some discussion with M) they put out a revised software and since then I've never had any sort of problem.

The problems you mention were the sort I remember encountering way back when the HD621 came out but I'm surprised that they couldn't be resolved.

Anyway, I would not do any serious movie or TV watching without a Radiance in which the display is calibrated using Radiance's CMS. If, however, you are happy without it, good for you. Save some money for some other toy!

In my perfect state world, Lumagen would design the hardware and some of the software for the HD621

Regarding adding a Darbee:

I don't have a HD621 yet - trying to get it past SWMBO - but last night I tried to simulate what it would be like to have before the Radiance, because I was hoping to solve my Darbee issue this way.

The Darbee has been perfect for 2D (purchased September 2012), I had it placed after the Radiance (25' from the projector), but 3D would result in HDMI handshaking every few seconds. I had tried moving it to the projector end and had the same result. So last night I thought of moving it to in between my Oppo 103 and the Radiance to part simulate having the HD621 do the switching and then run the Darbee between the HD621 and Radiance to solve my 3D and so have it always available. However most of the time the Oppo/disk would report that a 3d display was not connected. Remove the Darbee and the Oppo loves the Radiance once again. The only time it worked was with some very specific turn on sequencing, which wasn't 100% reliable. I have used various length cables, as suggested on AVS, but no joy.

If 3D is important, see if you can borrow a Darbee. 2d has been awesome though.