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720p DLP™ Projector With Realta HQV™Processor
The DPX-1300 incorporates the highly anticipated Silicon Optix Realta HQV video processor. The Realta HQV algorithms provide exceptional 1080i motion-adaptive deinterlacing for HDTV broadcast video, and 1080i inverse-telecine deinterlacing for high-definition movies.
Deinterlacing
The Realta HQV is one of the first commercially available integrated circuit processors that provide these advanced deinterlacing processes for 1080i film and video sources.
Inverse-TelecineDeinterlacing
One of the key features of the Realta HQV processing is inverse-telecine deinterlacing for 1080i film sources. It worked exceptionally well to maximize the vertical resolution of 1080i D-Theater™ movies. It also eliminated annoying line twitter as the camera moves over the horizontal slats of a park bench in my X-Men test case.
Motion-AdaptiveDeinterlacing
It is much more difficult to eliminate artifacts when deinterlacing original interlaced video. There are always tradeoffs between line twitter, jaggies (static or moving stairsteps on edges), and a loss of picture resolution. This was my first opportunity to review a product with the Realta HQV processor, and I was extremely impressed by its pixel-based motion adaptive deinterlacing, which also includes directional interpolation to reduce jaggies on diagonal edges. I use the Video Essentials “Montage Of Images” as repeatable source of difficult to deinterlace original interlaced-video sequences. In my opinion, the Realta HQV algorithms produced a sharper picture with less line twitter than the previous generation of deinterlacing processors. There were also no jaggies on the bobbing frozen branch or the stripes of the rippling Americanflag, and there was no color bleed between the red and white stripes of the flag. The zooms into the leafy tree and out of the city were slightly sharper with less line twitter. The pan of the stadium seating was particularly impressive with minimal moiré. Although the 480i motion-adaptive deinterlacing was excellent, the 1080i motion-adaptive deinterlacing with directional interpolation was even more impressive. Most projectors and standalone scalers convert 1080i video to 720p using interpolation to scale each individual 1080i field directly to a 720p frame. The actual vertical resolution of the displayed image is limited to the 540 line vertical resolution of the interlaced fields. The vertical interpolation also acts as a filter, which reduces the vertical resolution and further softens the image. The Realta HQV converts 1080i video to 1080p using motion-adaptive deinterlacing, which applies interpolation to image areas that are in motion, but merges information from odd and even fields in static image areas to produce more vertical resolution. The 1080p frames are then scaled down to 720p, which retains almost the entire 720 line vertical resolution of the projector in static image areas. In addition, directional interpolation reduces jaggies and improves the resolution of areas in motion. A few previous projectors have had custom 1080i motion-adaptive deinterlacing, but the DPX-1300 performance is quite remarkable. The 1080i image clarity far exceeds what I have seen on other 720p projectors with motion-adaptive deinterlacing. There is no longer a dramatic loss of image sharpness when an object is moving. That is an extremely annoying effect, called resolution pumping or breathing, which occurs when the image resolution suddenly and severely decreases with movement. One way to reduce that annoyance is to partially decrease the resolution on still images so the breathing is not as noticeable. That is not the case with the Realta HQV algorithms. While the specific details of the motion-adaptive deinterlacing are proprietary, it is apparent that the Realta HQV algorithms provide higher resolution in the moving image areas, so there is no need to intentionally decrease the resolution in static areas. It may also be that the Realta’s pixel-based motion-adaptive algorithms are more per-pixel based than others. Whatever the reason for its superior performance, the image resolution and clarity are exceptional, and breathing is seldom intrusive.
HDTV Viewing
The CBS Late Show With David Letterman has now joined NBC’s Tonight Show With Jay Leno and Late Night With Conan O’Brien as superlative examples of 1080i video broadcasting. They are a nightly showcase for evaluating 1080i motion-adaptive deinterlacing, scaling, and high-definition projection. Each of these programs has colorful sets with complex, finely detailed backgrounds. The brilliant color, exceptional contrast, and deep black levels are nothing less thanspectacular under the bright studio lighting. The DPX-1300 1080i motion-adaptive deinterlacing is phenomenal in its ability to maximize clarity and detail in the presence of motion, while avoiding the annoying changes in sharpness and resolution that occur at transitions between motion and still imagery. In addition, I have never seen so little flickering in the fine structure of Leno’s cityscape background, nor so little line twitter or so few jaggies in Conan’s set. The clarity in the patterns of Letterman’s suits is also impressive. However, the image definition is so good that it does reveal the projector’s 720p pixel structure on the white lettering of the Tonight Show coffee cups. Although a native 1080p fixed-pixel projector can ultimately resolve finer stationary detail and has a less visible pixel structure, the DPX-1300’s Realta HQV 1080i deinterlacing produces moving images that have exceptional clarity and dramatically reduced resolution pumping, thus creating an extremely satisfying viewing experience. The high-definition motion-adaptive deinterlacing was also impressive while viewing 1080i football broadcasts. Images were extraordinary clear, with very little difference in resolution between still images and moving images. Line twitter was virtually nonexistent, even when cameras moved vertically over horizontal edges and lines. However, vertical edges were so sharp that it was easier to see the 720p pixel structure in bright areas of the picture as a camera panned across vertical edges. Nevertheless, that was preferable to a softer picture that would have better hidden the pixel structure.
Summary
The Yamaha DPX-1300 tops the list of 720p projectors that I have evaluated.
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