HD Video Switching - Inexpensive Solution (1 Viewer)

[Arthur Legardo]

I received a shipping notice too, I should receive mine next month! :b

 

[Michael D. Bunting]

I got mine today - getting ready to try and get everything connected here now. I may not have time today though - as it's almost time to head into work now :frowning:
It may have to wait until tomorrow morning

 

[Aaron H]

That's what sick days are for!

Aaron

 

[Michael D. Bunting]

Ahhhh....Sick Days....if only the U.S. Military offered those :frowning:
I remember taking sick days back in the good old days...oh how I miss those days...
In fact - I have to work longer today because I have to go "practice" going through a deployment line. You would think that after numerous deployments over the past 6 years of my career - and one a recent as 6 months agao...that I would know how to deploy corectly. I guess, according to the Air Force, I don't though
Alot more people sure would join the military service if they offered some sick days - I'm sure of that!

 

[Michael D. Bunting]

My AA 1154 is all hooked up and working perfectly. Now, to get the ambition to reprogram my Pronto remote to make everything work all nicely together....I hope the ambition hits me soon - cause right now, I got none!

 

[Dah-Dee]

Can anyone address the bandwidth issue previously posted about the JVC JXS111? I'm also curious about whether the component video signal from DVD/HDTV receiver will arrive intact to my Panny 53WX42 through the JVC pipeline ("Video Frequency Response: 10 MHz" ???). Thanks.
Edit: The quote above is from the OneCall web site; the Crutchfield site list the component video bandwidth as 30 MHz. That sounds ok, if it's correct. So confusing!
Edit 2: Here's another site selling the same item, more info; looks like the bandwidth is 10 MHz for composite video, 30 MHz for component. Sounds good:
http://www.svideo.com/com3.html
Etronics has this for 74.99.

 

[Arthur Legardo]

My 1154 has been stuck in Syracuse, NY since the 15th!

 

[Michael D. Bunting]

Arthur,
I wonder if this picture has anything to do with it?

Hope it gets to you soon!

 

[Arthur Legardo]

Haven't seen drifts that high up here since 98!
...patience...

 

[Aaron H]

Here's what the UPS drivers have been doing with the extra time not delivering packages.
WARNING: Please don't open the following link if snow-people in suggestive positions offends you!!!!!!!!!
http://www.rit.edu/~sta5620/pics/art/art.jpg
Aaron

 

[Arthur Legardo]

Imagine my surprise when I arrived home this evening and found a FedEx box just sitting by my front door! What surprised me even more was the fact that neither FedEx or Canada Customs asked any more money from me to cover the cost of duties, taxes or brokerage fees! At the Copperbox.com checkout it did say that I would be responsible for the payment those; for $21 US and change (said to cover International Ground Shipping), that's a bargain!

Now, the bad news...the 1154 is damn big! Looking at the photo on the Audio Authority website it looked/seemed no bigger than a couple of decks of playing cards, not about the size of the latest Harry Potter novel!

No big deal (pardon the pun), but I just have to find a place to put it in my equipment rack.

 

[Michael D. Bunting]

Arthur
I too was suprised on how "big" the 1154 was when I got it also. I actually had to cram mine in sideways in my equipment rack to make it fit.
Hope it works out good for you!
Mike

 

[Arthur Legardo]

I just got a call at work, from FedEx I believe. The woman on the other end said that they were going to bill me for expedite and taxes totalling $89 or so...I guess I spoke too soon. That brings the total for the 1154 to about $400 CDN, not bad considering that is still much cheaper than buying a whole new receiver.

 

[Hap C]

I was ready to buy the Audio Authority 1154 component switch, but wasn't sure of the bandwith and if it would pass a HD signal. So I emailed Audio Authority the other day.

While waiting for their response, I noticed Bob McElfresh's prior post, this thread, on 12-6-02:
-----------------------------------------------------------
"CRAP! Nothing on the site says it's HD compatible, neither does the PDF Manual. Let me give them a call...
Ok, the Audio Authority people claim that there is a 3 db drop at 100 Mhz for the 1154 switcher.
My understanding is that as long as the drop is less than 15 db for TWICE your maximum frequency, the device (cable or switcher) has enough bandwidth.
(I grumbled at the guy for not posting on the web site or in the manual that the switcher is HD compatible.)"
-----------------------------------------------------------

Here's the email response I received today from Audio Authority:

"The component video bandwidth is 60Mhz @-3db.

Tech Support Mgr.
Charlie Patrick"

HMM, Bob asks and is told it's 100mhz, I email and they say it's 60mhz. Sounds fishy. So, I called Audio Authority, and was told on the phone that it's "more than enough for HD, around 80mhz."

I guess anything over 50mhz is OK for HD, although one could argue that if you want to be ready for 1080p then 100mhz would be better. I understand all of the numbers that Audio Authority has represented - 60 mhz, 80 mhz, 100 mhz - are adequate for HD. What bothers me a bit about all this is that this ought to be a fixed, finite number capable of measurement and verification. When someone gives 3 different answers to the same question, it makes me question all 3 answers, wonder about the veracity and/or accuracy of the person supplying the 3 different answers, and leaves me unsure as to what the real answer is.

Does this seem a little fishy to anyone else?

I guess the more important question is who is actually using the Audio Authority 1154, and are you satisfied it is passing full HD signals? And, has anyone tried to measure the bandwith of the AA component swith?

Thanks,

Hap

 

[Arthur Legardo]

I guess the more important question is who is actually using the Audio Authority 1154, and are you satisfied it is passing full HD signals?

I am.

 

[Michael D. Bunting]

I am satisfied as well...

XBOX looks fine...
HTPC looks fine...
DVD looks great...
HD from cable (AT&T) looks superb...

 

[Anthony N]

I have a question stemming from the following blurb back on page one of this thread:

"Several people on a budget have bought some Radio Shack switchers for $40-$60 and say it works fine to feed XBox, PS-DVD players into HDTV's. While I STRONGLY suggest buying a true HD switcher rather than a whole new receiver, these box's are an option:

15-1976 - 4 input, 1 output manual switcher: $40
15-1977 - 4 input, 1 output remote switcher: $60
15-1987 - 6 input, 2 output w/optical remote: $150"

Do I assume that the guys using such gear are plugging all three connectors of their component cables into the two audio and one video connectors of the switch boxes?

What is the negative side to using this gear for that purpose (deterioration of image)?

I personally don't need any fancy automatic switching...I think I can muster the energy to get off my @ss to turn a switch from, say, DVD to Gamecube (especially since I'm going to have to manually turn the Cube on anyway).

Is there a significant drawback to using something mickey mouse and cheap like those RS products?

Sorry for lame questions....just curious.

JL
__________________________

 

[Clyde Metz]

I had problems connecting components to my new Kenwood VR6070. After reading the information here I think the Audio Authority 1154 is what I need. Bough it last week. Should be here by Wed. Thanks for the info.
Clyde

 

[Bob McElfresh]

Is there a significant drawback to using something mickey mouse and cheap like those RS products?

On a 20" tube TV - no
On a 50" RPTV - possiably
On a 50" HDTV - loss of some focus/resolution because you are shoving 13 - 35 Mhz signals through circuits designed for a max frequency of 4 Mhz. The signals WILL get through, but there will be some roll-off and possiably some reflection/ghosting.

But you would really need to hook a source directly to the TV, and the same source through a switch box then to the TV and do an A/B comparison to notice.

Most people dont notice the problem because the sheer improvement of a HDTV over ordinary television is so dazzleing that it swamps/hides little imperfections. Or you get used to the little motion-artifacts caused by the line-doubler with regular video and dont realize you could reduce them using HD rated switch box or cable from a progressive/HD source.

So these are subtile improvements or reduction-of-problems.

 

[Bill.P]

For those interested, Pronto CCF files are available for the Zektor HDS4 switch.
http://www.zektor.com/hds4/pronto.htm
These were developed on a TS1000. I'm assuming they can be used on the 2000, but not sure about the 3000 and up.
If anyone has any improvments or feedback, let me know and we can post them on our website.
-Bill