Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Upgrade questions

Hello Everyone,

I have some questions involving home theatre and I was hoping you could help me, I have been to numerous forums but haven't found my answers.

I plan on purchasing a new HDTV (the new Epson CrystalPro to be exact) This unit deinterlaces using Pixelworks algorithms and scales to its native resolution of 1080p (I was unable to find the tap count for the TVs scaler). Interesting to note that the attached brochure on the Epson does say that it will accept a 1080p signal through BOTH its HDMI and Component Video inputs.

My Equipment rack is situated at the rear of my HT room with the display in the front. My DVD player, VCR and Motorola Cable box are all routed through my Yamaha RX-V1400 Receiver. All video and audio cables are custom made using Belden 1694A cable and 75ohm Canare crimp RCAs.

Question: Since the TV does all its own scaling and deinterlacing using a "higher then average" end process is there really any advantage to purchasing a DVD player with a high DVD shootout score with respect to deinterlacing? I thought I would just look for the one with the best Core stats.

Question: According to a fairly confused tech from my cable company the signal that comes from the cable company to the Motorola DCT6412 is 480i and the cable box does all the deinterlacing and scaling for the signal prior to sending it to the display. I was unable to get answers from Motorola on if the deinterlacing/scaling is done with proprietary Motorola algorithms or if they use someone else's chip. Again why bother setting the cable box to deinterlace/scale if the monitor will be doing it anyway. Would setting the box to output at 480i not allow it to show HD channels? OR are the HD channels coming into the cable box only 480i and the box does all the conversion.

I contacted Yamaha and was told that the receivers 5hz to 60mhz -3db video frequency response is enough to pass-through up to 1080i with out any degradation so I "guess" I can set the Motorola to display 1080i IF I can't get HD channels with it set at 480i.

I am not a fan of HDMI because its flimsy and sometimes if you use it the digital coax output doesn't work. I guess its ok if you are using your TV as the only sound.

PLUS I would rather not (unless it makes a large difference) purchase a 18 foot HDMI cable for the DVD player and a 18foot DVI to HDMI cable for the Cable box. Lastly the ISF calibrator charges per input on the TV so I would rather only use one.

My plan so far:

TV = Epson 61" LCD Projection
DVD Player = DVD Shootout with superior Core performance through Component video. i.e. Denon DVD-1600 (if I can find one) or Panasonic S97/S77. Outputting in 480i to Yamaha
Motorola Cable box DCT 6412 outputting either 480i or 1080i via component video to Yamaha
Yamaha RX-V1400 used as the video switcher outputting to the Epson via Component video.



IF you have ANY recommendation or require more info from me just ask. I look forward to our dialog if you so desire.

Thank you very much for your time and trouble


Andre Gratton

Andre, welcome. Yes, you're correct that if the HDTV which you buy has good deinterlacing and scaling, then there would be no advantage in buying a DVD player with those features(or using them even if present)unless they were significantly superior to the processing available in the TV. The 480i output of the player should then be used. I'm not familiar with the Motorola cable box, but if what the technician indicated was the case, then the same principle would apply as was relevant for the DVD player, i.e. use the 480i output and let the HDTV do the deinterlacing and scaling. Your plan looks good to me, although I haven't studied the Epson set.

You may want to look for a less expensive DVD player than the S97S. I would hate to purchase such a nice player with the latest Genesis FL2310-lf Faroudja chipset, just to run in 480i mode, seems like such a waste.

Andre, giving further thought to what the cable company tech told you, it had to be referring only to standard definition, not HD, channels. The HD channels can't come in as 480i, since by definition they're either 720 or 1080. If the Motorola box scales 480i up that still doesn't make it "real" HD. So I'd say that his answer was either limited to SD or was incorrect if he was also speaking of HD channels. For the HD channels the 1080i output on the Motorola should be used.

Tks for the replys folks. The reason behind purchasing the Panny S97 is its high scores in the Core specs using Component. http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-bin/shootout.cgi
It can be had for less then $300. To save money for now I will be using all Analog connections. Component out @480i for the DVD. Component out @1080i for the Motorola. Componsite out for the VCR. All routed through the Yamaha and then to the Epson via Component. The upgrade from there would be to purchase a PureLink digital switch connect the Motorola via its DVI output and the Panny via its HDMI then from the Purelink to the Epson Including cables thats an extra $500+ I wish I could demo the result to see if its worth the money. http://www.dtrovision.com/ds21r.htm. OR I can leave everything Analog until a processor with the Realta chip comes out that is affordable then I would pass everything to it and output a nice clean 1080p signal direct to the Epson (Yup it accepts a 1080p signal). BUT then again I have my 649 ticket...