Ordered this today!

[chlngr1970]

So, I faxed in my order today for a brand spanking new Iscan VP50 Pro. I opted for the $35 overnight shipping, and hope to have it by Monday ( tomorrow would be PERFECT, but I don't see that happening ) So, hopefully next week I will rebuild my rack with my new scaler

j

[dugpa]

Congrats! Let us know how it works out for you.

[Pirate]

Christ, that's expensive! Well done.

[chlngr1970]

Originally Posted by Pirate

Christ, that's expensive! Well done.

Do you REALY think I paid that much for it?

j

[Iguana Man]

Damn J' that is impressive. So where is this 'truck' that this unit fell out of?

Even at half msrp, it's still a lot of moolah. Congrats dude!

[EM3]

A new toy. YEAH!

[Derb]

I know they have been available before upconverting dvd players, but how do they stack up against them now? Does this thing smoke Toshiba HD DVD players upconversion as well as Denon's? Will the new Toshiba supermofacingduper upcon player be in the same league as this? Sorry for all the questions, just trying to justify what looks to me as a $3K HDMI splitter.

[zepherman]

Very cool j! DVDO makes some excellent scalers, and the one that you got is gonna' be awesome! Congrats!

Be sure to let us know what that thing can do once you get it.



Seth

[Iguana Man]

Originally Posted by zepherman

Very cool j! DVDO makes some excellent scalers, and the one that you got is gonna' be awesome! Congrats!

Be sure to let us know what that thing can do once you get it.



Seth

Hey! You just stop it Mister! Quit being all ... are you two related? You and J' I mean.

[zepherman]

Originally Posted by Iguana Man

Hey! You just stop it Mister! Quit being all ... are you two related? You and J' I mean.

[chlngr1970]

As soon as I get this installed, I'll make sure I do up a full reveiw. I'm primarily getting it for LD playback, along with my three DVD players that don't upconvert. We'll see how it does with my sattelite signal.

j

[chlngr1970]

I talked to Anchor Bay today. They had an issue where they were supposed to charge me Sales Tax. In my quest to make sure the order was received, we worked out the issue, and it should be here Thursday. I CAN NOT WAIT!

j

[chlngr1970]

Originally Posted by Iguana Man

Hey! You just stop it Mister! Quit being all ... are you two related? You and J' I mean.

Yeah, how do you think I was able to afford it? Ulcle Zeph has DEEP Pockets!

j

[zepherman]

Originally Posted by chlngr1970

Yeah, how do you think I was able to afford it? Ulcle Zeph has DEEP Pockets!

j

Too funny!

[Wirehed]

I want one.


Did you get a deal through your work, or are these getting deep discounts now?

I would love to hear how this works with your Laserdiscs. What LD player are you using? What are you doing for sound? Do you have a reciever with a RF-demodulator, or how are you handling that?

[chlngr1970]

Originally Posted by Wirehed

I want one.


Did you get a deal through your work, or are these getting deep discounts now?

I would love to hear how this works with your Laserdiscs. What LD player are you using? What are you doing for sound? Do you have a reciever with a RF-demodulator, or how are you handling that?

I don't know that I am allowd to share the price, so I will PM you I have the DVL 919. I am hoping to find a Pioneer Elite DVL 79, or 99 soon so I can get better LD playback. Right now, I am just waiting on a certain friend to let me know it has been delivered to go pick it up. I'll give y'all a full revied when I get it in.

As for sound, I use a Denon AVD 2000 DD processor. It has an AC3 RF Demod as well as two Optical and Coaxial digital inputs. I run the digital outputs of the LD player to the AVD, then the optical out to the AVR. With the Scaler, I'll run the Digital out to the Scaler and let it do the switching.

So, in effect it will be HDMI 1-4 will be Sat, HD DVD, X-Box 360, HTPC. Video input will be the LD ( S ) Pioneer DV 563A/S Component 1, Pioneer DVR 250 Component 2, and maybe my DVL 919 Component 3, dunno yet. Then video out to the AVR ( cause of HDMI Audio ) and hopefully all digital can pass over HDMI...

I'll know soon enough!

j

[Wirehed]

Wow. That's an impressive mix of equipment.

Sounds like it should work though. It will be interesting to see what upconverted LD looks like.

[CylonManWhore]

Originally Posted by Wirehed

Wow. That's an impressive mix of equipment.

Sounds like it should work though. It will be interesting to see what upconverted LD looks like.

Hmmm let me see. The last time I saw one on an install...Like shit! Enjoy your purchase. I still can't believe there is a market for these. Someone is getting rich i tells ya....

[Derb]

Originally Posted by CylonManWhore

I still can't believe there is a market for these. Someone is getting rich i tells ya....

Yep, HDMI splitters sure have gone up in price recently.

[chlngr1970]

So, I got it installed last night. I was up pretty late, and did a bit of testing. I'm going to go through the setup mor thouroughly and reprogram my remote to do the video switching. My initial impressions so far are amazing. LD still looks a little off, but I'm confident I can make it look better.

j

[chlngr1970]

Originally Posted by Derb

Yep, HDMI splitters sure have gone up in price recently.

Please to not feed the trolls, kthx.

j

[chlngr1970]

Watched some Star Wars, and wasn't that impressed. I then watched True Lies ( dts. ) That looked quite good on my little 65". I'm goig to try out a few more, and pop in a DVD or two ( maybe compair the SW SE LD to the DVD ) I think I'm going to like having this.

I'll give a more in depth review next weekend, after my 4 day weekend with it

j

[zepherman]

Originally Posted by chlngr1970

Watched some Star Wars, and wasn't that impressed. I then watched True Lies ( dts. ) That looked quite good on my little 65". I'm goig to try out a few more, and pop in a DVD or two ( maybe compair the SW SE LD to the DVD ) I think I'm going to like having this.

I'll give a more in depth review next weekend, after my 4 day weekend with it

j

Sounds like so far it's pretty darn good. So so far some LD's look great while others only so so. But I guess a lot has to do with the transfer of the disc. Sometimes even the best of scalers can only work so much magic on certain transfers. But with material that is at least fairly good to begin with, it will make it look way better. Look forward to your review after you've had even more time with it. Thanks for the initial report.

It's interesting, but one (of the many ) things that drew me to my Denon AVP was the HQV Realta scaler/processor. I've been so wrapped up watching Blu-ray's, HD DVD's, Satellite HD, that I have yet to try out my LD's. I know it does a hell of a job with regular DVD's, but now that you mentioned LD's, it reminded me that I need to connect my LD player to my AVP.


Seth

[chlngr1970]

Well, I tried to upgrade the firmware from 1.0 to either the new 1.2, or 1.4 beta firmware, and buggered it up I called Anchor Bay, and they pointed me in the right direction. Apparently, it is kinda picky about the USB to Serial cable, so i drug one of the kids computers ( my HTPC has no serial ) overe and am loading the 1.2 firmware now. I'm going to run with that till I get brave and decide to run a beta firmware on my $3500 scaler

j

[chlngr1970]

Firmware 1.2 installed and functioning. It didn't help the SW LD ( the 1997 THX Remaster, before the SE ) but my Non-anamorphic copies of The Abyss ( Supposed to be ANAMORPHIC, the BASTARDS! ) looks fantastic. This is coming off my DVL-919. I'm going to use the DVL for non anamorphic DVDs and LDs. I can use my HD-A35 for DVDs and HD DVDs. My HTPC is coming along nicely ( got the HDMI card for it, and will have the ATSC tuner by the end of next month. )

All in all, I am happy with it.

More next week.

j

[chlngr1970]

As you all know, I receintly aquired a shiny new VP50 Pro. Out of the box, it was not bad, but I wondered what all the hype was about. After updating the firmware, and doing some tweaking, I think I am realy going to like this. I have watched a couple LDs, and one non-anamorpic DVD. Star wars THX remaster was disapointing, but that could have been the source, or the disc itself I popped in True Lies dts LD and was starting to see why I needed one. It was when I watced the Non-Anamorphic DVD "The Abyss" that I truely appreciated my VP50 Pro. For the first time, I was able to watch this disc. I tried to use the scaler in my Pioneer Elite AVR, but it wouldn't help the aspect ratio, or window boxing, problem. With the Iscan, I can adjust the output resolution to mtch my screen, and adjust the image size accordingly. The image was clear, and sharp even within about 3' of my 65" DLP. I can only imagine what will happen with the image on a MUCH larger screen with a 9" CRT

So, as it stands, I can use my LD player for LD, and non anamorphic DVD. As the non-anamorphic DVDs I have were not exactly money makers for the studios, I doubt I will ever see an Aanmorphic release.

Audio:

The Iscan VP50 Pro has 4 digital inputs ( 2 Toslink, and 2 S/PDIF with one each output. ) Aparently, it will not transcode digital audio in to the HDMI output ( I haven't checked since the firmware upgrade ) but is designed to handle the new audio formats hinting at a possible firmware upgrade to allow that. As it stands, my HD DVD collection goes through as PCM, as I don't have a next gen decoder in my AVR ( Upgrade time? Anyone want a VSX 82TXH? )

I did have an issue with updating the firmware and thought I had bricked my VP50 already After checking the AVS forum, and bouncing a few emails back to Anchor Bay, I now have a fully functioning VP50 Pro again, and am contemplating upgrading the firmware to the 1.4 beta that is out.

I post back some more observations as I settle in and get more use out of it.

j

[zepherman]