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Lumagen VisionHDP Video Processor

Manufacturer: Lumagen Inc.

By David Vaughn
SPot Editor

Model number:  VisionHDP

2005-11-25 - " Do you need a Scaler in your system? That is a question I posed to myself before I contacted Jim Peterson, President of Lumagen, Inc. who was gracious enough to supply me with their midsize model scaler, the VisionHDP, which retails for $1499. Lumagen also has two other scalers in their line, one for $999 (VisionDVI), with a step down in video processing, and the top of the line VisionProHDP, which retails for $2499 a nicer look to it as well as more input options. I have lived with the Vision HDP for about 5 months now and have fully put it through the paces in my system. "

Review:

Features

To be frank, when the VisionHDP first arrived, I was taken aback by how plain it looked. Measuring 12”W x 5”D x 3.5”H it looks like the black box you hear about when an airliner goes down, not a piece of AV equipment. But, it’s what’s on the inside that counts, and the VisionHDP delivers.



One of the best features of the VisionHDP is its switching capabilities. It accepts 2 incoming DVI sources, 2 component sources, 2 composite sources, 2 S-Video sources, as well as optional dual SDI input upgrades ($400) as well as a BNC output upgrade ($100). The VisionHDP that was sent to me did not have these upgrades, so my output to my display was run through the sole DVI output to my Hitachi 57SWX20B. The user then has the option of selecting the output resolution of the scaler from 480P all the way up to 1080P, the highest standard available today. For my tests, I found that outputting a 540P signal to my Hitachi provided the best picture. Some may wonder why I chose to output at 540P instead of 1080i, I did this at Jim’s suggestion since 540P is really the same scan rate at 1080i, but in a progressive format. A progressive signal always looks better than an interlaced.



Another great feature of the Vision HDP is its ability to scale HD signals and not just pass them through as is. The benefit of this is that you can have your STB output the native incoming signal that it is receiving and have the VisionHDP take care of the scaling. There was noticeable improvement in the video quality of 720P broadcast material when the 720P was scaled to 540P by the VisonHDP, compared to the scaler built into my LG 3410-A STB converting the signal to 1080i before outputting it to my display.

Both of the previous mentioned features are nice, but the best feature of all is the ability to tweak the output signal to your hearts delight! My Hitachi display does not track grayscale very well on blue, with the VisionHDP’s 11-point grayscale calibration, I was able to tame the blue hump out of the middle IRE’s and ended up with near perfect D6500 grayscale tracking. But, the only way to use this feature is to have a color analyzer. I used the Milori Colorfacts system to perform this adjustment. Other adjustments that can be made are black-level, contrast, color, red-color-offset, green-color-offset, hue, red-hue-offset, green-hue-offset, Y/C delay as well as 4 independent configuration memories for each input in which you can adjust all of the aforementioned adjustments independently! The benefit of this is you can have a daytime and nighttime setting that you can switch on the fly with your remote as well as to be able to correct red and green push/pull without having to enter the service menu of your display. Last but not least is the ability to correct the overscan on your display, without having to adjust your TV. The VisionHDP has the ability to size it’s output to whatever amount of overscan that you want (I chose 2%).

RGB Before:


RGB After:



Color Temperature Before:


Color Temperature After:



The importance of a properly calibrated display cannot be understated. If you are in the market for a HDTV, or scaler for that matter, be sure to put in you shopping budget some money for a calibration. I would suggest talking to one of the many calibrators here on The Spot to see if they do work in your area.

Setup and Use

If you decide to go the route of the VisionHDP, I recommend you set aside ample time to set it up properly. Once you have hooked up all of your sources to the back of the scaler, it is time to venture into the menu system. This can be a little overwhelming at first, but once you get the feel of the user menu, it isn’t as bad as the first impression. Once you set the output type (DVI-D in my case), you then set the output resolution (540P) and output aspect ratio (16x9). Next, set the input level for the analog inputs (0 IRE, 7.5 IRE), as well as the input level for the DVI-D (Video, PC). Once all this is done, it is time to take out your Avia (or DVE) disc to set the input size and position and then the output size and position (overscan). From here, you then calibrate black level, white level, color, hue (for blue, red and green), as well as the Y/C delay test on Avia. If you have a color analyzer, here is where you would then set the grayscale output to your display. You then have the option of copying this configuration to all of the memories as a baseline to tweak each additional input from there. When you are done with the setup, save the configuration and lock the configuration so that you don’t accidentally erase it down the road.

Once the scaler was setup properly, using it was a piece of cake. Just turn it on to the proper input and let it do its magic producing an outstanding picture. I was able to program macros into my MX-700 to turn on the VisionHDP and set it to the proper input for whatever source I chose at startup in a Macro. This made it easy on the rest of the family to benefit from the picture produced by the scaler. My only gripe with the VisionHDP though, is by looking at the unit, there is no way to tell whether it is on or not. Upon looking in the User manual though, I found that this option could be turned to the "on" position, but the default is off. I would have preferred it the other way around, but this is a minor complaint at best.

I tested the deinterlacing capabilities of the VisionHDP and it was equal to the capabilities of my Denon 3910 in this regard. I chose to input a 480P signal to the scaler though at Jim’s suggestion because of the way the scaler processes the signal.

Conclusion

While there was a benefit of using the VisionHDP with my RPTV, I can only imagine how much more useful this scaler would be for a Digital Display, be that a Front Projector or a flat panel display. The scaler has the ability to output a pixel-perfect resolution to the native resolution of these types of displays, but be sure that your display actually accepts this, if not, extra scaling is done and there may be a softening of the picture. I'm sold on the VisionHDP because of it's ability to have perfect overscan, the DVI switching capabilities, and perfect grayscale tracking. If you want the best possible picture and are considering adding a scaler to your system, I would seriously consider adding the VisionHDP to the top of your list.

Features:
  • HD analog/digital inputs with transcoding and scaling
  • SD analog/digital inputs with transcoding and scaling
  • SD and HD (newly added) per-pixel motion adaptive deinterlacing
  • User adjustable image enhancement
  • Transcode Component and RGB analog HD sources
  • Component and DVI inputs auto-switch between SD and HD source modes.
  • DVI input accepts 480/576i, 1080i, 480p to 720p input formats
  • Source aspect ratio selectable as 4:3, letterbox, 16:9 and 1.85
  • Programmable output aspect ratio from 1.33 to 2.35
  • Zoom in any source up to 33%
  • RS232 interface for field upgradeability and control
  • NTSC, PAL and SECAM auto-detection
  • Programmable output resolution from 480p to 1080p, plus 1080i
  • 10 bit DAC for analog outputs
  • Four configuration memories per input
  • All setup parameters are unique for each memory.
  • Can correct for red or green push in a display
  • Input-cropping, black, contrast, color and hue setup
  • Adjustable non-linear stretch display mode
  • Y/C-delay calibration.
  • 2/5/11 point parametric grayscale calibration
  • Gamma calibration
  • CUE and ICP filtering
  • Extensive suite of built-in test patterns
  • Programmable input and output color-space
  • 2:2, 3:2, 3:3 pull-down for film sources
  • Universal power supply
  • Optional rack mount ears
Rating:

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Performance:
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