The first part of my evaluation was done with DVD at 480i being
de-interlaced and scaled to the appropriate resolution for the respective
projector. I started here because DVD is still the primary medium in home
theater right now and represents the lions share of the software available
to consumers. We put the D2 through our progressive scan benchmark and the
Gennum VXP did an incredible job with al of our tests. The VXP really does
represent the next generation of performance in video processing and is more
in line with the offerings of the Silicon Optix Realta chip and the Anchor
Bay Technologies ABT-102 board. These chips have taken video processing and
cadence based de-interlacing to the next level, so much so that we will be
updating our benchmark by year's end to take into account what is possible
now and raise the bar on what constitutes top of the line de-interlacing
performance.
The Gennum was exceptionally good with bad edit detection and locking on to
cadences and staying locked. This was especially true with bad edits in
source material. The VXP is one of only two chips that I've seen hold things
intact through loops with difficult material, especially the famous Super
Speedway clip found on the HQV benchmark DVD. Even the Realta chip with HQV
processing can't hold things together through that loop. It passed every
test in both our benchmark testing and the HQV test disc. It faired very
well in the new DVDO Video Reference Series disc but tripped up with some of
the harder mixed cadence tests.
The VXP does an excellent job with diagonal line processing with video based
material. Up until recently the Faroudja DCDi solution was the only
processor available to the general public that did well with diagonal line
interpolation. That changed when the Silicon Optix Realta chip premiered in
our reference DVD player, the Denon DVD-5910. While the VXP doesn't do quite
as good as the Faroudja solution overall, it is pretty much on par with the
Realta chip.
But the real standout for the VXP was its high definition video processing
performance. Test patterns for high definition de-interlacing are extremely
rare when it comes to video processing and I was lucky enough to see an
early version of a new test disc that will be available in the next year.
Stacey Spears and Don Munsil, former writers for Secrets of Home Theater and
Hi Fi and the creators of the DVD Benchmark, have formed an outfit called
Spears and Munsil (S&M) and are working on a disc for evaluation of high
definition video processors. They are also the creators of Anchor Bay
Technologies new Video Reference Series disc that is shipping with their new
de-interlacing board, the ABT-102. Using the new Toshiba HD-A1 we were able
to feed the D2 true 1080i test patterns for video setup and de-interlacing.
The VXP did an exceptional job with the tests and passed the majority of the
cadence tests including 1080i material mastered with 3-2 and 2-2 based
cadences. It also held together through the brunt of the mixed cadence and
bad edit tests, regardless of the amount of detail. It also does the same
diagonal line processing for HD sources as it does for SD sources. The only
other inverse telecine high definition processor (other than the Gennum chip
in the Marantz projector) we had on hand was the Sony Ruby itself. The
projector's internal video processor does handle 1080i material but it is
not near the same level as the Anthem Statement D2. It had issues with even
the basic 3-2 patterns on the S&M test disc. We plan on creating a new high
definition video processing benchmark at Secrets in the next year as more
test material is created and will be incorporating most of the test patterns
included on Stacey and Don's disc. We wish them both the best of luck with
their business and thank them for the opportunity to try out the beta of
their new disc.
For component to HDMI conversion I used the output of the new Xbox 360,
which is limited to component but is 720P. The D2 worked without a hitch in
its conversion to HDMI and I didn't notice a single instance of latency
during any games including fast paced racing and first person shooters. All
of the resolution of the 360 was kept intact and the image looked razor
sharp. At this time this is the only source I have in my system that I use a
component output for.
For subjective evaluation of DVD I used a variety of players including the
Sony 9100ES, Marantz DV-9600, Oppo DV970HD and Denon DVD-5910. All of the
players worked without issue via HDMI except the Denon DVD-5910. For some
reason this player would immediately lock up completely when connected to
the D2 via HDMI. No matter how I set up either the player or the SSP the
player would lock up. I am going to send the player to Anthem shortly so
they can investigate the issue and hopefully resolve it. Over the course of
development for the D2 Anthem have found a lot of issues with various HDMI
products not meeting the specifications that they should to have HDMI
outputs. Because of this they've had to continually update the D2's software
to find workarounds to make products work correctly with the D2. This has
included several cable boxes and DVD players. In the time I've had the D2
Anthem has corrected all of the compatibility issues I've found with DVD
players and D-VHS players with the exception of the DVD-5910, which they
haven't had yet to evaluate. So needless to say, product support has been
phenomenal.
Moving on to high definition subjective evaluations were done with a variety
of sources. On hand I had a Comcast HD PVR, a JVC 5U D-Theater D-VHS player,
and the Toshiba HD-A1 HD DVD Player. I was able to look through quite a bit
of pre-recorded content on HD DVD and D-Theater as well as material I had
taped off of cable. Watching the pre-recorded content from D-Theater and HD
DVD was by far the highlight of the evaluation and represented the best high
definition viewing I've done to date. Using the Sony Ruby projector you got
to see what the full extent of high definition could be with true inverse
telecine de-interlacing of just about flawless HD material. In fact the only
gripes I had was the motion artifacts present from the over compression
present in the cable broadcasts. Unfortunately even the noise reduction
filters in the D2 can't remedy this issue. HD DVD looked exceptionally good
with no noise to bother at all. Titles like Serenity and Phantom of the
Opera had amazing depth, clarity and color fidelity making them standouts in
the evaluation. The difference between these HD DVDs and their standard DVD
counterparts was not even close to subtle in A/B comparisons regardless of
the source device. I tried the Marantz DV-9600 into the D2 at 480i via HDMI
and also the Denon DVD-5910 and despite having some of the best video
processing capabilities on the market available, they were just no match for
the inherent resolution and color capabilities of the HD DVD format. I did
have some issues with the D2 locking on to the correct colorspace for the
Toshiba HD-A1 in the beginning but Anthem resolved those within about a week
and I've not had an issue since. I do, however, have random HDMI
communication link dropouts between the HD-A1 and the Statement D2. The
HD-A1 has some HDMI output issues that are to blame and this became a rather
frustrating issue over the last few weeks. Anthem is currently working with
Toshiba's new firmware and hopes to resolve these issues soon.
Currently the Anthem Statement D2 represents the best high definition video
processor we've evaluated to date. Its standard definition processing is
better than any SSP or receiver I've tested and in line with the best
processors I've seen on the market yet. The Realta HQV chip and the DVDO
ABT-102 still do a bit better with mixed cadences. The fact that this add-on
costs considerably less than what it would cost to buy a processor that
would even be in the same league makes this one of the best values I've ever
seen; especially if you are already a D1 owner.
Audio evaluations were a bit of a moot point. We've already covered the D2's
audio capabilities extensively either as a footnote to existing reviews or
in Brian's excellent review of the D1. Nothing has changed in this regard
except for support of HDMI. For this I used the JVC 5U D-Theater deck, the
Xbox 360, the Toshiba HD-A1 HD DVD player and the Pioneer Elite 79AVi.
Dolby Digital and DTS soundtracks were supported via HDMI without a single
hitch regardless of the format. I tried this with D-Theater, DVD and HD-DVD
as well as games on the Xbox 360. There wasn't any difference in overall
quality either compared to the standard coaxial or SPDIF inputs.
DVD Audio was probably the biggest difference. I used the Pioneer DV-79AVi
for transmission of high resolution DVD Audio via its HDMI output. This
means the player decodes the MLP compressed material and sends the raw high
resolution PCM data to the Anthem without any post-processing such as time
alignment or bass management. All of this is done within the Anthem. Like
all incoming digital signals, the Anthem upsamples the high-resolution data
to 192/24 and will add any post-processing you want to the signal. This
again includes THX modes or enhanced surround modes like PLIIx, all in the
digital domain. The difference was noticeable in comparison to the analog
outputs of the Pioneer Elite player. Bass response seemed a bit cleaner and
imaging was tighter with the majority of the material I used. I was really
bummed that I didn't have the chance to try out the Denon DVD-5910 like
this. It supports HDMI 1.1 and has excellent audio playback capabilities
through its analog outputs. But I have found over the last few years that I
like the D1 better for stereo playback with the Denon 5910 feeding it coax
digital information. CDs sound considerably better with a broader
soundstage, more body and tighter bass. I was anxious to see if this would
be the case with DVD Audio as well. I hope to have that chance soon.
Anthem is the only company I know of that is allowing the end user to set
their speaker configuration for DVD Audio with HDMI. HDMI does not dictate
what channel is what with high resolution PCM. There is an auto setting in
the D2's setup that worked every time though and placed the outputs to the
correct amplifier channel, but I use a different speaker configuration for
DVD Audio playback. Instead of using my dipole surrounds, I use my direct
radiating rear speakers for the surrounds with surround sound music. Anthem
is the only company I know that lets you dictate what channel information
goes to what output with HDMI but unfortunately they are not support the
rear speakers for this. I have my fingers crossed that at some point the D2
will allow me the option of doing this like they do with the analog inputs.
It is one of my favorite features of the D1!
I would say the most exciting part of the audio evaluation for me was trying
out the new HD DVD format and Dolby's new DD+ format. For this I used the
Toshiba HD-A1 HD DVD player and had the player output multi-channel PCM. The
internal Dolby Digital decoder decodes the DD+ soundtracks to PCM. For some
reason Toshiba has included some type of post processing because all of the
PCM coming out of the HD-A1 was upsampled to 96/24. The Anthem then
upconverted this audio to 192/24. I had the D2 set to apply Dolby PLIIx to
all incoming multi-channel signals. The soundtracks sounded superb.
Universal's release of Serenity was especially impressive with ample use of
the surround channels and very clean bass. I am really looking forward to
doing some A/B comparisons as more titles are released in this format.
Since HD DVD and Blu-Ray decode their high-resolution soundtracks internally
and output high resolution PCM, this brings up a major concern for outboard
video processors and a major advantage for the Anthem D2. Currently only a
handful of outboard video processors handle HDMI, and I don't know of any
that will pass through high resolution PCM. Most will output the standard
Dolby Digital and DTS soundtracks though. But how do you handle this with
HDMI? Most video processors only have one HDMI output and that needs to go
to the display, so how do you get the PCM data to your SSP or receiver? I
suppose you could use a splitter for the signal, but since most video
processors don't pass through high resolution PCM, that data is lost. That
means you are stuck with either resorting back to the analog outputs or
something like the Anthem Statement D2. With these new formats coming out it
is becoming apparent that the need for an all-in-one audio video processor
will become a factor if you want the most out of the new formats. Either
that or outboard video processors will need to find a way to pass through
high resolution PCM and have dual HDMI outputs so that one output can feed a
display and the other can feed a receiver or SSP. Anthem went above and
beyond this and offered a one box solution that does everything and it does
it extremely well.
Conclusion
The D2 encompasses one of the best add-ons I've ever seen for any product,
period. As a stand-alone video processor it is outstanding and better than
the vast majority of video processors I've ever evaluated. The fact that it
does true HD video processing makes it a standout in a very limited market.
Couple this with the HDMI switching and the fact that it supports all the
audio formats that will be soon become the new standard with HD DVD and Blu-Ray
and you have an investment that will pay off for a long time to come. The
Anthem Statement D2 will continue to be my reference Audio/Video processor
and I could not recommend a product more.
- Kris Deering -
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