Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems The one of MANY HD-DVD threads (No bashing Blu-Ray)

You're clearly not using your system enough, Mark!

/slap :p

Here`s Stacey`s examination after doing tests on the PS3, Samsung and Panasonic BD players, along with the A1 (same components as the XA1).

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8991978&&#post8991978

Kris Deering also reported the A2 has it on 1080i output, but not 720p.

I had an awful moment last night.

I'd assumed that "2.0R" in the "1.3/1.09/2.0R" version string of my XA1 meant I was running the latest 2.0 Release firmware. Wrong! The version was 1.3 and consequently when I tried to play the UK versions of King Kong and Serenity I got a "0x4014c000" error code on screen.

So I nervously set up the networking and initiated a firmware update, praying that I wouldn't have a powercut*. After 45 minutes or so and at 95% complete, I got "Connection with the server was terminated" on screen and "VUP Error 132" on the front panel.

I couldn't believe it. Pressing Enter changed the front panel to say "Setup", but the player was completely unresponsive. NOT what you want from a brand new imported player...

However, a few nervous Google moments later, I found someone had experienced exactly the same problem and recycling power at the mains solved the problem.

In fact, the firmware *had* been updated (to "2.0/1.0A/2.0S") and the XA1 and UK discs played fine. Not a pleasant experience, but all's well that ends well, I guess. Didn't get to watch Serenity though.

* Memo to self. Get a couple more UPSs!!!

One more XA1 question. I'm wondering if the image looks too bright? Perhaps a video/PC level issue? Does this sound familiar to anyone?

Firmware upgrades are always a nervous moment. I did my 2.0 upgrade from a downloaded ISO image as I could never connect to the servers...

If you are connecting video output with HDMI->DVI, I believe the HD output switches to RBG/PC unless you have a device like the Lumagen which can do EDID handshakes and negotiate YCbCr (video) from the device.

Certainly you must ascertain, and calibrate, for the video/PC output correctly or you will have black level issues.

Mark

Hmm. It's HDMI from the XA1 to HDMI in the AE900. I'll have to dig a little more.

Then the handshake should be taking place. Does the AE900 have the ability to switch to video/PC levels as an option? If so, try switching and whichever gives the darkest blacks is probably the correct setting. Hopefully HD DVE will be released shortly which will help clear these issues up.

I use an Accupel HD test pattern generator and the Lumagen internal patterns to do my setup, using (I'd need to verify) video levels from the XA1 and PC levels to the projector with the Lumagen handling the conversion.

Mark

Probably not, but I'm certain the JVC HD1 does. Will check this evening. Thanks.

I just plugged in the HD DVD into a Crystalio II and that goes into my current projector- runco 5000. This has a DVI in and it is not HDMI compatible so I have to use the HD DVD 1080 component. The scaler is bringing this down to 720p/60.

I have gotten so used to watching a much brighter and punchier image via the plasma- Im very glad to be making the improvement to the projector- hopefully within the next month. I note that the image off HD DVD has the same color skew I saw on my plasma- to my eyes it looks like the lower grey levels are slightly more blue or even purple than they should. Lots of things could be the culprit, but since I see the same thing on two displays, I figured I would report in on it.

Heres a question for us early adopters:

Suppose a title is released in both BR and HD DVD, same date, same price, and exact same specs. Which one would you buy and why?

I would say that I am so impressed with VC-1 that I would buy the HD DVD version as a way of sending the early adopter message to the powers that be that I am supporting HD DVD (thanks Mark! ).

What caused me to think of this is the announcement that Happy Feet will be out on both formats at the same time with the same encoding. The BR is a little less money because the HDDVD is a combo. I will go for the combo as I can put it into the kscape for system wide use. So the extra is worth it to me, but for purposes of the question, suppose they are the same price and the HD DVD is not a combo. Eg- there are no technical advantages one way or another.

best regards,
Jerry

If the specs were 100% identical I would buy the HD-DVD because that is currently my preferred platform and I'd want to show my support by buying the title for it.

Get an HDMI->DVI converter for the Crystalio?

The only way to get greyscale correct is with measurement hardware - it's incredibly difficult to do it accurately by eye. It's not unusual for the darkest greys to take on strong colouration until they are calibrated correctly.

Mark

Thanks to Ken, Jerry and Joel, I just made another huge upgrade to my HD system. A package arrived today containing two small Weebles (at least that's what we call them in the UK). One is a Milky Bar Kid Weeble and the other Weeble is his pony. When you place these on your top of your HD player they wobble about and soak up all the excess mechanical vibrational energy from the player. The result is a clearer, sharper, more vibrant image and less jitter over audio resulting in superior sound quality.

So many many thanks, guys, much appreciated

[img]http://farm1.static.flickr.com/127/353897845_2eadbca31f.jpg?v=0[/img]

Milky Bar Mark