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Originally Posted by Robert Crawford
I'm thinking hard about the VP-50. RAF, what else did you find out about it?
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The whole purpose of this thread was to introduce the concept of outboard processors to those who consider themselves to be HT "Prosumers" but who only think of connecting sources like players and HDTV boxes, etc. to a display, perhaps through an A/V receiver or similar. Scaling and deinterlacing is necessary in order for any digital display to be able to handle anything other than its native resolution. For example, if you have a 720p display, then if it wasn't for scaling/deinterlacing then your display could only handle 720p input. That would eliminate an awful lot of sources! But the display will take your 480i, or 480p or 1080i, or anything else (within reason) signal and "process it" to provide 720p output. The same goes for any other display with any other resolution. And here's where the fun begins.
Not all scalers/deinterlacers are created equal. Some do the job better than others. In general, an outboard video processor will handle the task much better and, even if the internal processor in your TV is a good one at the time you buy it, it will quickly become last year's technology as soon as improvements are made in processing. This is exactly why, when I was looking for a 1080p RPM last year I insisted that the set have 1080p input (and my only choices were the HP that you and I both own and the Brilian - which is more expensive and from a small company.) I liked a lot of the other sets (like the Sony SXRD units) but in 2005 the only inputs were 1080i compatible so you HAD to use the internal Sony deinterlacing circuits to achieve the 1080p picture.
I chose to purchase a DVDO iScan VP30 and have not been sorry. Not only does it act as a video switcher, with four HDMI inputs (you can add even more with an accessory box) but it's touted as an "anything in - anything out" product. With its customization menu you can actually choose output resolutions that are not standard by dialing in your parameters for specific needs. For example, 720p plasmas are usually not exactly 720p (1280 x 720) but can vary according to the manufacturer. It might really be something like 1024 x 768 or maybe 1366 x 768 (depending on the size and/or the manufacturer). By placing the VP30 (or any other capable video processor) between the source and the display you can actually feed the display its native resolution so you have a pixel-for-pixel image. This eliminates a lot of the artifacts that some digital sets exhibit and assures maximum performance of your set. Of course, an outboard processor won't rescue a poor source or a poor display, but you get the picture (pun intended.)
With a 1080p input capable display, everything is left up to the external processor and if processing changes, you display isn't suddenly obsolete. And this can happen quicker than one might imagine. In less than a year there have been two major improvements to the DVDO processors (and I'm sure the same can be said for other manufacturers since this is all about keeping up with the Joneses). In February, DVDO announced that it had come up with some improved chips to deinterlace 480i (their "102" modification board) and it was offered to current owners for $199 (list is $499). This is a gross oversimplification of the additional features of this deinterlacing card and you can learn more by checking out the DVDO site
here. My point here is that I was able to upgrade without buying a complete new unit. And then right before CEDIA DVDO announced its new iScan VP50 which adds its excellent deinterlacing algorithms found on the deinterlacing card to 1080i. Since current HD-DVD is 1080i and you own a 1080p capable set the improvement in the picture will be immediate. We saw demonstrations of the de-interlacing in action and it was impressive, to say the least.
And the VP50 doesn't stop there. As Adam mentioned, there soon will be a new feature (upgradable via a firmware update using USB/RS-232) that DVDO calls PReP. This will take 480p signals (forced on a lot of us from SD from set top boxes) and re-interlace them to 480i. Then the DVDO circuitry, which does such a great job changing 480i to 1080p can do its stuff. It's almost like this box can correct the "mistakes" made by cheap interlacers in $49 set top boxes. And that's just the beginning regarding the VP50. Look
here for a lot more on this product (I suspect you already have, but I place the link here for others who may not be familiar with this.) I have one on order and the trade in policy on my VP30 is amazingly liberal.
Video processing is finding its way into other products as well as displays. Most of us are familiar with "upscaling" DVD players and some of you have probably noticed an increasing number of A/V receivers that feature video processors built in. The problem with all this is the same as with the displays. As video processing improves the player or the receiver with the "older" video processor is no longer state of the art. By concentrating the processing in a single box, not only can you have a handle on the advance of technology but you can save considerable money on your players and your receiver. Incidentally, the "ideal" SD DVD player would be one that outputs 480i since that's what's on an SD-DVD. (The Oppo 970 does this). And the ideal HD player (be it HD-DVD or Blu-ray) would be one that outputs 1080p since that's what's on the HD disc. (Some first generation players don't do this). If anything other than what's on the disc comes out of the box then something inside has altered the video signal - and that could present a bit of a visual problem. "Straight-Through" access to the video stored on the disc would be a much better way of handling the video if one owns a separate video processor.
In summary, with a display capable of bypassing its internal video processor (like my HP MD5880n which is a 1080p set accepting 1080p from the outside or the new Sony Pearl and many other products shown this year at CEDIA) a product like the VP20, VP30, VP50 or processors from other manufacturers can be added to a person's system without obsoleting your display. If I had purchased last year's Sony SXRD RPM I would be stuck- TWICE!
(Note: The Ruby projector also accepted 1080p native input so it would have been fine in this regard. Along with the HP and the Brilian these were the only products at CEDIA 2005 so equipped. This year the floor teemed with 1080p inputs!)
So what's the bottom line? My recommendations to anyone considering any digital display from this point forward is to
make sure that your display can accept the native resolution that it displays (e.g. a 1080p set with 1080p input). Then, if you want to add an external Video Processor you have that option. If you are stuck with having to go through the internal processor of the display (do the math - it won't be as good as an external processor) there is a good chance that the electronics of the display will undo some of the magic done by the external processor. Am I suggesting that everyone buy a display with an external processor? In a perfect world (where money was no object), yes. But in the real world, I realize that this would be a budget buster - or at least stretch things to the limit. But if you take my recommendation and make sure your new digital display can bypass the internal scaling you are at least in a position to add an outboard video processor should you wish later on. (Prices do come down faster than you think as quality goes up.) There is absolutely nothing wrong with most reputable manufacturers' internal video processing when the sets are released but as improvements come along the newer sets will probably look better. And a lot of this has to do with improving the video processing. With the outboard processor option you can stay ahead of the curve - both in displays and in processing.
One last comment: The Sony "Pearl" lists for $5000. The DVDO VP-50 lists for $3000. In the first place, these are list prices and street is probably considerably less. But for a maximum of $8000 (minus any discount) you can get one superb picture today that you could only dream about just last year. And since this is a "component" approach to things, you can improve one item without getting rid of the other. And while I have been concentrating on the Sony "Pearl" and the DVDO iScan VP50 because I am familiar with these products I don't mean to imply that these are the only solutions. There are other displays (FP, RPM, Plasmas, etc.) out there that you can use, as well as Video Processors from other manufacturers (Lumagen, et. al.) A little Googling can go a long way.
And whenever you look at the top of the line projectors from the "heavy hitters" (like Runco and similar) you notice that their top of the line models always come with external video processing. Now maybe you understand why.
