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 September 1, 2006DVDO iScan VP30 High-Definition Video Scaling Processor
Several products can accomplish these feats, but most are designed to mate with a specific projector. Independent devices are scarcer. I had the chance to try another contender for the state of the art when the DVDO iScan VP30 ($1999 USD) arrived hard on the heels of my June review of the Lumagen VisionProHDP video processor ($2499). The Lumagen impressed for its gorgeous picture, tank-like construction, and incredible flexibility. (It also costs a not-inconsiderable $500 more than the iScan.) The Lumagen also received the our Reviewers’ Choice designation because not only did it do everything it was designed to, it actually did it at a lower price than plain line doublers cost just five years ago. Still, I wondered if the iScan VP30 might do even more. Connectivity and switching The iScan VP30 accepts an impressive number of inputs. On the video side, it can offer up to 12: two composite and two S-video (both in NTSC, PAL, or SECAM); two component (YPbPr or RGB/S) accepting 480i/p, 576i/p, 720p, and 1080i; one RGBHV/component using BNC-style connectors (480p, 576p, 720p, 1080i); and, most important, four HDMI inputs (480i/p, 576i/p, 720p, 1080i). The twelfth is an optional standard-definition Serial Digital Interface (SDI) input. You might have noticed that the ability to handle a 1080p input is missing. Of course, source components outputting 1080p are rather thin on the ground right now, so you’re not missing much. As more become available, DVDO will probably offer an upgrade path. Still, I find it a little odd that 1080p isn’t offered now, if only because the iScan has the power. In fact, it can output 1080p without even flexing its computing muscle. In any case, DVDO has already demonstrated a willingness to keep its customers satisfied by offering free driver updates and an economical trade-up path. For example, they’ll give you up to $1000 off the price of an iScan VP30 when you send them your old iScan HD+ unit. That’s customer care.
There are nine audio inputs, and I recommend you use them because the iScan contains a neat way to sync the audio and video that they call, appropriately enough, LipSync. The inputs include the four HDMI inputs as well as two coaxial digital, two optical digital and one stereo analog pair. When you use these inputs, all you have to do is push a button and the VP30 syncs the sound and video. Nice trick. The designers have done a stellar job with the remote control. The buttons are easy to find and sensibly laid out, and almost everything you’d ever hope to quickly find has its own button. iScan’s remote is far superior to Lumagen’s. Flexible scaling and deinterlacing The iScan VP30 is an extraordinarily complex piece of machinery, but the folks at DVDO have had enough experience and talent to write a truly helpful owner’s manual, abundantly illustrated and filled with step-by-step instructions. Anyone who attends to details and goes page by page rather than jumping all over should have no problem doing a very nice job of setup. The picture fixes offered by the iScan fill a 45-page book, and that’s just for the consumer instructions. One of the most important is the ability to send a signal that is ideal for your display by manipulating the exact size for each input’s scaling. That means that, no matter the resolution of your display, you can create within the iScan a perfect pixel-to-pixel scale for anything from 480i to 1080p. Useful patterns help you work your way to the ideal resolution -- which is usually, but not always, what the manufacturer specifies. The manual carefully walks you through every setting that you should be willing to make -- brightness, contrast, color, tint, sharpness -- then wisely recommends you get an ISF-certified technician to finish wringing the last drop of picture perfection from the VP30. A word of warning: Because the VP30 is a powerful tool, it’s easy to abuse. Luckily, it has a Reset button for those who’ve traveled too far down the rabbit hole, but starting over is no fun. Doing a proper home job with the VP30 will take about an hour, and that’s work you might not want to do twice. Don’t try to do more than you feel comfortable doing. And, as I advised with the Lumagen, don’t get tightfisted at the last second. If you’re going to spend $2000 on a device that you hope will give you the best possible picture, spend a few hundred more and have a professional set it up. Quality With film-based media, the iScan created a gorgeous picture with absolutely zero artifacts. Technicolor films such as A Star Is Born (1954) produced vivid colors that never looked as if they were separated from the film; i.e., there was no blooming or smudging. Computer animation, such as Dinosaur, looked three-dimensional. The beauty of having a high-quality scaler-deinterlacer is that you can always feel confident you’re getting everything possible from each source, and, at least until the HD DVD vs. Blu-ray conflict shakes out, DVDs are still our best source for films on disc. The iScan did a flawless job, whether I fed it 480i, 480p, or an upconverted signal. Of course, once you put an iScan or Lumagen between your DVD player and display, there will never be another reason to upconvert -- but it was nice to know that the iScan would produce a dazzling picture from anything I threw at it. Switching to HD feeds, both from local stations and from DirecTV, again provided deeply saturated colors and sharp, clear pictures, with nary an artifact in sight. The NBA Championships on ABC looked great; when they used the floating overhead camera and the horizontal and vertical lines rushed by, offering the potential for problems, the iScan handled everything as smoothly as Dwayne Wade handled the Dallas Mavericks. Speaking of the Mavs, owner Mark Cuban’s HDNet offers an abundance of programming created for the station. One of the better things he’s brought us is Boz Scaggs Live, beautifully shot in high definition. The iScan brought out all the delicate details in the concert hall’s wall decorations. TNT’s great new series, Nightmares and Dreamscapes, looked as if I was watching the action through a clean window. One intermittent issue came up. When I watched 480i feeds of local TV or satellite channels, the picture would show sporadic blocking artifacts. My VP30 had come equipped with DVDO’s optional VRS Precision Deinterlacing Card ($499), which is specifically designed to get rid of any 480i artifacts, so I was surprised that the problem appeared. When I anonymously called DVDO’s tech-support line and asked about the problem, they said the cable and satellite companies didn’t allow sufficient bandwidth for the programming. In other words, it’s not the VP30’s fault. They are probably right. The issue was unpredictable and not readily recreated. In any case, it was sporadic and only occurred a few times. Final thoughts
Choosing between the Lumagen and the iScan is a tough call. You have to decide for yourself where your priorities lie. The Lumagen’s strengths reveal themselves over time. The viewing experience was, for me, relaxing, akin to the feel you get when listening to a powerful amp with lots of headroom: you forget the amp is in the chain. I never worried about any aberrations. Plus -- and this is really personal -- the Lumagen’s rugged but beautiful build quality reminds me of a Krell amp. On the iScan’s side are some compelling pluses: Its remote control is a much better interface, its price is $500 lower, and even including the $499 upgraded deinterlacing card, DVDO’s generous discount when you buy the VP30 and card together means that the total is still $300 less than the Lumagen. The LipSync feature is a God-send for those of us who’ve had to twiddle with the feature on a processor, while still never getting it just right. It also takes up less space in your equipment rack. And a perk that will tip the scales for many a videophile: DVDO gives you a 30-day return policy, and always gives you an upgrade path. In any case, the iScan VP30 is a fine piece of equipment, one I think anyone would love. And given the 30-day return policy, you can see and hear for yourself the improvement it creates in your home theater. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised at just how much your viewing experience will be enhanced. …Wes Marshall DVDO iScan VP30 High-Definition Video Scaling
Processor DVDO by Anchor Bay Technologies, Inc. E-mail: Help@DVDO.com
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Because most people spend less than
$2000 for their main TV, $2000 for a device that only scales, switches, and deinterlaces
can sound like a lot of money -- especially when you consider that all of those things ought
to be done properly by the equipment every home theater already has: a receiver/processor,
a display, and a DVD player or satellite source. Ideally, you’d have a display that
pixel-matched your source, but who has enough time, space, or money for three or four
separate displays? So, at least for the foreseeable future, the gold standard is to take a
direct digital feed from a source that mirrors whatever is driving it -- 480i for non-HD
broadcast, 480p for DVD, 720p for ABC and ESPN, 1080i/p for the other HD over-the-air and
cable sources and HD DVDs -- and use the best possible technology to scale, switch,
deinterlace, and send a digital signal that is a pixel-perfect match for your display.
The VP30 has one analog and
one digital video output. The analog output can output YPbPr component, RGBHV, RGSB, and
RGBS. The HDMI digital output offers RGB 4:4:4 (8-bit), YCbCr 4:2:2 (10-bit), or YCbCr
4:4:4 (8-bit). The audio output is strictly digital: one coaxial, one optical.
