User manual

Issue 1.3.5 14 December 2007 © Calibre UK Ltd Page 30 of 32
DO NOT use this mode if you wish to use the audio capability of the HDMI output. Incorrect use of
this mode can lead to the HDMI audio output format being incompatible with the connected display,
leading to loss of audio or distorted audio.
From firmware revision 1.2.0 it is possible to select the audio channel format which is requested from
the source. From firmware 1.2.1 it is also possible to change the native video mode requested from
the source. (Note: Not all HDMI sources will obey these requests, this depends on whether they act on
the information contained within the EDID and whether they are able to provide the requested
audio/video formats.)
HDCP Handshake delays
HDMI inputs can suffer from delays in locking to a new input source, or a source which has just
changed resolution or format. These delays are handshake delays which relate to the inherent HDMI-
HDCP handshake period between your display device and your source equipment. This is
unfortunately outside of the control of Vantage-HD which simply relays HDCP information between
display and source, as is mandated by the HDMI-HDCP licensing rules.
This kind of issue affects switchers as well as processors and is a real nuisance. The only legal
way around it is not to use HDMI which in many cases is undesirable or impractical.
Can Your HDMI Source Output an Unprocessed Signal?
The ability to access your DVD player's native format depends on whether the designer of your DVD
player provided you with the ability to output 480i or 576i from the HDMI output on your player.
Unfortunately most players do not have this ability, although some do exist which can.
Native PAL is 576i and native NTSC is 480/484i, so if you are outputting 576p or 480p then this has
already been de-interlaced by your DVD player. You can check this by looking at the menus to find out
if the line rate is
approx 15KHz (i) or approx 31KHz (p).
A common mistake when using Vantage-HD is for the user to allow the DVD player to de-interlace or
scale the signal from its native format. This is very bad for picture quality since the de-interlacing and
scaler within Vantage-HD is far better than that within a DVD player itself.
If the picture content has already been degraded up by the scaler within the DVD player, the
improvement seen when using Vantage-HD is not as great as when Vantage-HD is given a native
format signal. Remember, unless you have a true HD-capable DVD player (a Blu-Ray or HD-DVD
player) then your native format is 480i if playing an NTSC DVD and 576i if playing a PAL DVD. All
other formats are NOT native since they differ from the format in which the DVD itself was recorded.
Unfortunately many HDMI-capable DVD players refuse to output unprocessed "i" formats on their
HDMI connectors, which is very annoying of them since to get best performance you ought to let
Vantage-HD do all the processing, including the de-interlacing. This can be a significant reason for
using Component instead of HDMI since you generally have more control of Component via the menus
on your DVD itself.
Which is better, HDMI or Component? Well, you can argue this forever, we all have our own opinions,
but what
matters is which works best for you in your own install with your own gear. If you get best picture
performance with HDMI then go ahead and use it, but if you get best performance with Component
then use that instead.
We ourselves have tried many DVD players from several leading manufacturers, each with varying
results in terms of how "HDMI Compatible" they were. Our Company view is that component video is
the preferable connection medium when using a standard definition source such as a PAL or NTSC
DVD player since it is so important to output from the player at native resolution.