chosenfool
12-28-04, 11:49 PM
today i got in the mail the transcoder i ordered, and my life with my monivision has gotten much better, and im happier. :)
Those who own the 32" monivision with the visionbox know what im talking about - poor non-HD PQ. The black bars that randomly appear in portions of the picture in analog and standard definition, the blanking of the screen when scene explosions happen even in HD programs, and some channels simply not showing, just a blank black screen with audio. truly terrible. i even limit my viewing to simply HD programs because i cant even watch the damn non-HD shows!
i decided it was enough when i couldnt watch my Cartoon Network in peace. i went aboot searching for a cost-effective transcoder, and though the Key Digital seems a nice choice, it was out of my price range. im just an average joe with average salary.
so i found the VDigi transcoder made for the XBox. For around $60 i can try this one for size - cheap and seems to do what i need done. if it doesnt work, well, im just gonna be down $60 (compared to $300 for the key digital).
pokin around the back of the monivision, i decided to unscrew the vision box off. to my surprise its simply just that - a box add-on! theres this header on the monivision that looks strikingly like that of a floppy cable, where the visionbox hooks up to. looking at the visionbox, i was thinking, why cant they have made this better? nevermind that it looks cheap, just that it simply did not work right - SD thru the component inputs were terrible, the tuner itself was ho-hum, switching between inputs didnt get to the next input right away. just was a waste of money. i think i'll ebay this thing...
but on the back of the monivision was the simplest thing ever - a VGA input. its simplicity became its beauty. hooking up the VDigi transcoder was a cinch - right away it put out the picture from the Motorola 6208, and it looked good. The HD PQ is still great, testing out all the different HD channels. Switching the 6208's HD output WAS interesting, though. it has a difficult time doing 1080i to the moni, like the picture was stuttering, and you can "hear" what i consider is some crackling in the tube - only 720p seemed stable (my original 6208 setting anyway). but what i got it for was the SD output quality.
i wasnt disappointed. now the picture was clear, no random black bars, and ALL the channels are coming in. success!
granted, i had to play around with the dip switches, and recalibrate the moni's brightness and contrast. i didnt realize my settings were TOO bright. Plus at the brightest settings, there were 3 thin green lines at the bottom of the screen. playing around the moni's VGA controls, i had to settle for the slightly less brighter settings to make it disappear, which still looked great. apparently this was a flaw in the moni - i tested it on 2 CRT monitors, and they dont have the 3 thin lines.
Then switching to the VGA output from my HTPC, i realized i was missing an extra VGA cable. easy enough - a trip to my local mom&pop computer store got me a used one for $10. when that was installed, i had to also recalibrate ITS brightness and contrast. one nice thing also is that when i switch back to the moto, its still on the same VGA input (same controls for the HD output). Somehow the HD output feels more "legit" compared to the one i was getting off the visionbox...
one drawback (if you can call it that) is that i cant simply switch from HTPC to HD STB without getting up and pushing the switch on the VDigi transcoder. But then again im only 6 feet away so whats a few steps? i mean, cmon, thats just being lazy if i cant get up to manually switch it. :D
so im satisfied now, and im happier - my Cartoon Network comes in clearer, and i can watch HBO and skinemax's SD outputs without blanking on me - ha! :P
there - just needed to get that off my chest. thank you! :)
Those who own the 32" monivision with the visionbox know what im talking about - poor non-HD PQ. The black bars that randomly appear in portions of the picture in analog and standard definition, the blanking of the screen when scene explosions happen even in HD programs, and some channels simply not showing, just a blank black screen with audio. truly terrible. i even limit my viewing to simply HD programs because i cant even watch the damn non-HD shows!
i decided it was enough when i couldnt watch my Cartoon Network in peace. i went aboot searching for a cost-effective transcoder, and though the Key Digital seems a nice choice, it was out of my price range. im just an average joe with average salary.
so i found the VDigi transcoder made for the XBox. For around $60 i can try this one for size - cheap and seems to do what i need done. if it doesnt work, well, im just gonna be down $60 (compared to $300 for the key digital).
pokin around the back of the monivision, i decided to unscrew the vision box off. to my surprise its simply just that - a box add-on! theres this header on the monivision that looks strikingly like that of a floppy cable, where the visionbox hooks up to. looking at the visionbox, i was thinking, why cant they have made this better? nevermind that it looks cheap, just that it simply did not work right - SD thru the component inputs were terrible, the tuner itself was ho-hum, switching between inputs didnt get to the next input right away. just was a waste of money. i think i'll ebay this thing...
but on the back of the monivision was the simplest thing ever - a VGA input. its simplicity became its beauty. hooking up the VDigi transcoder was a cinch - right away it put out the picture from the Motorola 6208, and it looked good. The HD PQ is still great, testing out all the different HD channels. Switching the 6208's HD output WAS interesting, though. it has a difficult time doing 1080i to the moni, like the picture was stuttering, and you can "hear" what i consider is some crackling in the tube - only 720p seemed stable (my original 6208 setting anyway). but what i got it for was the SD output quality.
i wasnt disappointed. now the picture was clear, no random black bars, and ALL the channels are coming in. success!
granted, i had to play around with the dip switches, and recalibrate the moni's brightness and contrast. i didnt realize my settings were TOO bright. Plus at the brightest settings, there were 3 thin green lines at the bottom of the screen. playing around the moni's VGA controls, i had to settle for the slightly less brighter settings to make it disappear, which still looked great. apparently this was a flaw in the moni - i tested it on 2 CRT monitors, and they dont have the 3 thin lines.
Then switching to the VGA output from my HTPC, i realized i was missing an extra VGA cable. easy enough - a trip to my local mom&pop computer store got me a used one for $10. when that was installed, i had to also recalibrate ITS brightness and contrast. one nice thing also is that when i switch back to the moto, its still on the same VGA input (same controls for the HD output). Somehow the HD output feels more "legit" compared to the one i was getting off the visionbox...
one drawback (if you can call it that) is that i cant simply switch from HTPC to HD STB without getting up and pushing the switch on the VDigi transcoder. But then again im only 6 feet away so whats a few steps? i mean, cmon, thats just being lazy if i cant get up to manually switch it. :D
so im satisfied now, and im happier - my Cartoon Network comes in clearer, and i can watch HBO and skinemax's SD outputs without blanking on me - ha! :P
there - just needed to get that off my chest. thank you! :)