Registered: Oct 2002
Location: Urbana, IL
Posts: 177

Well, I've run through several of the upscaling DVD players, and I'm simply not happy with any of them, since they all have major flaws of some sort. I've tried the LiteOn 2001 (saw no improvement over 480p with this one), Zenith DVB318 (Green push, power-up issues), Denon 3910 (major macroblocking), Toshiba V592 (major macroblocking, red splotchiness), and am currently awaiting a NeuNeo HVD108.

I'm thinking that I may just bite the bullet and get me an Iscan HD, since they're available at reduced prices now due to the release of the HD+. I've done a fair amount of reading, but it's a lot to take in. I'm going to outline what I plan to implement; please point out any major flaws in my plan.

Assuming that I purchase an Iscan HD, and not the HD+:

Output device: Mitsubishi WS-65613. Has DVI input, but not HDMI. Will accept 1080i, but NOT 720p. I plan to connect the Iscan HD via DVI input.

Input devices:

1. Dish 811 HD Receiver. Since everything coming out of it (SD or HD) is 1080i, I plan to bypass the Iscan since it passes through anyway, and hook directly to the Mits via component (both sets of component inputs on HD are used, see below).

2. NeuNeo HVD 108. While it is an upconverting player, I assume that if I connect it's component output to the HD, I can then choose if I want to send 1080i (which the Iscan HD should pass through) or send 480i or 480p, in which case the HD will upscale it. Reasons for choosing this player (1) region-free, (2) HVD support, (3) ability to compare its upscaling with Iscan HD.

3. Panasonic DMR-HS2 DVD Recorder. Connect to Iscan HD via component, can choose to sent 480i or 480p. Since I have my Dish 811 sending a signal to the DMR HS2 via S-Video for recording, I should then be able to pass-through my SD channels to the Iscan for upconversion, while still watching the Dish HD through the direct Mits connection. Any flaws to this part?

4. Denon AVR-3803. Monitor out through S-Video to Iscan.

5. Go Video S-VHS or Pioneer Elite CLD-59 LaserDisc. I have both but am not using either at the moment; can connect to Iscan HD via S-video.

Assuming the above configuration, am I correct in assuming that the ONLY potential advantage the HD+ would give me would be to set my Dish 811 to 720p and have the Iscan HD convert it to 1080i rather than let the 811 upscale to 1080i? What other use would the HD+ be in my scenario?

What features should one look for in a DVD player to hook up to the Iscan HD?

I have the following DVD players either not in use, or in places that can do without:

1. Apex AD-1110 (el cheapo muy grande)
2. Toshiba SD-5109 (one of the first progressive DVD players)
3. JVC XV-S500 (decent progressive scan player)

Thanks in advance!

-Dan

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Registered: Oct 2002
Location: Urbana, IL
Posts: 177

Bump?

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Registered: Oct 2002
Location: Urbana, IL
Posts: 177

Well, since no one feels like helping me out with some input on my questions, I guess I'll talk to myself for a while.

My Iscan HD arrived yesterday. For the most part, things went as anticipated. I'm a bit disappointed with the results of upconverting SD Dish. The improvement is marginal at best.

I'm still waiting for my NeuNeo to arrive (don't get me started), so instead I tried using the Iscan with my Zenith DVB318. My plan to pass through 1080i appears to have come up goose-eggs. Connected via component to the Iscan, if the Zenith is set to 1080i no signal is passed through. 480p from the DVB318 through the Iscan does not look good at all. On a whim I decided to connect the DVB318 by S-Video to the Iscan HD and compare it with 480p over component. The 480i S-Video is considerably better than the 480p when upconverted.

I guess I'll have to do the same thing with the Zenith (and the NeuNeo if it ever gets here) that I've done with Dish:

1. 1080i component going direct to my Mits in order to have the upconversion done by the Dish 811 or the DVD player, and

2. S-Video going through the Iscan to have the Iscan do the upconversion

One big improvement (although hardly worth the $799 I spent for the Iscan HD) is that I can finally watch 4:3 DVD material in its intended aspect ratio). I'll do some more comparing over the next week or so on SD Dish and DVD...

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Registered: Dec 2002
Location: Phila, PA
Posts: 317

What display do you have? How is the iScan connected to the display? Have you tried to adjust the iScan output to your display?

Neither the HD or HD+ upconvert 720p/1080i via component - they just pass-thru to the analog output.

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Registered: Oct 2002
Location: Urbana, IL
Posts: 177

Mits WS-65613 connected to the Iscan HD via DVI.

I think I've got this squared away now. After reconfiguring, I now have each source connected in two ways:

Dish 811 HD Receiver (1080i):

1. DVI to Iscan, passthrough for HD channels.
2. S-Video to DVD Recorder, component to Iscan to upconvert SD channels.

Zenith DVB318

1. S-video to Iscan (Iscan upconverting to 1080i)
2. Component direct to Mits (DVD player upconverting to 1080i)

It's like one giant jigsaw puzzle with lots of pieces that don't necessarily fit. When I had the DVD player outputting 1080i to the Iscan via component, if I understand correctly, the reason I got no signal was because I was using the DVI out instead of the analog out (Iscan does not cross-convert passthrough signals).

Last edited by heavyharmonies on 12-30-04 at 01:15 AM

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Registered: Apr 2004
Location: Newbury Park, CA
Posts: 385

I just ran into the same problem. My HD box from the cable company doesn't have DVI enabled, so I have to use component. But I only have a DVI cable run from the Iscan HD to the plasma.

Basically, I can't watch cable in HD -- I can only watch 480i or 480p on the cable box and get the output from the Iscan via DVI.

I don't know if the HD+ has this limitation, but I think it does not.

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Registered: Aug 2004
Location: Michigan
Posts: 68

quote:

---

Originally posted by heavyharmonies
Mits WS-65613 connected to the Iscan HD via DVI.

I think I've got this squared away now. After reconfiguring, I now have each source connected in two ways:

Dish 811 HD Receiver (1080i):

1. DVI to Iscan, passthrough for HD channels.
2. S-Video to DVD Recorder, component to Iscan to upconvert SD channels.

Zenith DVB318

1. S-video to Iscan (Iscan upconverting to 1080i)
2. Component direct to Mits (DVD player upconverting to 1080i)

It's like one giant jigsaw puzzle with lots of pieces that don't necessarily fit. When I had the DVD player outputting 1080i to the Iscan via component, if I understand correctly, the reason I got no signal was because I was using the DVI out instead of the analog out (Iscan does not cross-convert passthrough signals).

---

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++


I just bought the ISCAN HD+ and I have VOOM and an upconverting Integra DPS10.5.

For your Dish HD Receiver:

If you can set it up to output at native resolutions, do it. (Contact Dish Network if necessary) Then use the component output to connect to the ISCAN and then connect the ISCAN via component to your display. This will pass thru HD signals at their respective 720/1080i resolutions and your SD signals will be processed by the ISCAN and output at whatever your configured display resolution is. Also set the aspect ratio of the component input to 4:3. SD sources will have the right native aspect ration and HD will pass thru unprocessed at whatever their broadcast aspect ratio is.


For your DVD source:

Connect via 480i component input to the ISCAN HD and let the ISCAN perform both deinterlacing and upscaling to your desired output 1080i resolution to your display.

Then sit back and Enjoy

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Registered: Oct 2002
Location: Urbana, IL
Posts: 177

I think I'm doing close what you're suggesting, but in reverse (using the digital connection rather than the analog). Some of what you're proposing I cannot do.

The Dish 811 does not have any "native" setting. The output options are 480P, 720P, and 1080i, period. This means that whatever setting I choose is applied to both SD and HD. Since I'm watching HDTV, I chose the highest common denominator, 1080i.

Also, I mentioned it in my initial post, but I will be replacing the Zenith DVB318 with a NeuNeo HVD108. In order to watch HVDs at 1080i, I will want to be able to get the 1080i signal from the NeuNeo to the Mits as well as 480i upconverted through the Iscan (at least initially while I'm making comparisons), hence my connecting the DVD player up both ways.

I'm pretty happy with the current configuration as it is, since it allows me to view and compare both DVDs and Dish in two ways: (1) with the 1080i upconversion done by the Iscan HD, and (2) the 1080i upconversion done by the respective source devices.

Last Night I watched Charlie Chan - The Secret Service, and this morning I watched disc 2 of Nero Wolfe - The First Season. In each case, the S-video to the Iscan HD performed infinitely better than the 1080i upconversion done by the DVB318.

Since I do have a fair amount of 4:3 television material and classic 4:3 movies on DVD, this is turning out to be a more important consideration than my initial impressions indicated...

I haven't sat down and watched the whiz-bang demo DVDs (LotR RotK, Fifth Element Superbit, Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc, etc.) to evaluate the performance of the Iscan HD, but I'll probably do that over the weekend.

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Registered: Oct 2002
Location: Urbana, IL
Posts: 177

I've done some demoing tonight, and I like what the Iscan HD is doing, for the most part...

1. Zenith DVB318 -> Mits (component @ 1080i)

versus

2. Zenith DVB318 -> Iscan HD (S-video) -> Mits (DVI @ 1080i)

The latter is much smoother than the former. The DVB318 upconversion, while having slightly more detail, has MUCH more noise. There's more of a 3D effect using method 2 as well.

I watched "The Fifth Element" (Superbit) and "Kelly's Heroes", and the difference was not subtle. Also, the green push so prevalent via method 1 is not there using method 2. Colors seem much more accurate through the Iscan.

One movie that I was a bit disappointed in via the Iscan HD was "Monsters Inc." The colors were better than when upconverted via the DVB318, but in this case the "smoothing" resulted in too much loss of detail. My copy of "Finding Nemo" is out on loan at the moment, but I'll compare that at some point.

My DVB318 won't output 480i over component, only 480p, so I can't compare the difference. I may hook up one of my older players (Toshiba SD-5109, JVC XV-S500) and see how 480i from one of them via component compares to S-video from the Zenith when sent through the Iscan HD.

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