This is a standalone deinterlacer/scaler, not a DVD player, but we included it for comparison
purposes. The shootout is primarily about deinterlacing, and people often wonder
if outboard deinterlacer/scalers will give them results as good as a progressive
DVD player.
Deinterlacing
The deinterlacer at the heart of the CS-1 is the SiI504 from Silicon Image,
which is an excellent product and passed all the key tests in auto mode with one
small hiccup on the High Detail test pattern. Things get a little uglier in the
film bias mode. We highly recommend you do not use film bias.
The CS-1 doesn't hide
the interlaced chroma problem, but then nothing really does other than Faroudja
and the DVDO iScan Ultra. We wouldn't call this a deal-breaker. If they release
a new model next year, though, we would hope it would have a chroma filter.
The Basics
While the deinterlacing is handled by the SiI504, as mentioned above, we are not sure which scaling engine they are using. It comes with several
pre-defined scan rates, and with their software you can create your own.
Because we didn't get our evaluation unit until after we had run our video
quality testing, we did not measure any of the video characteristics of this
product, like Y/C delay and frequency response.
There are plenty of inputs on the back panel, which makes it useable for most
people as the core video switcher in their setup. There are 2 composite, 2
S-Video, and 2 component interlaced inputs. These will accept any 480i material
for de-interlacing and scaling. There is also a 480P input for VGA and
component. This is great for those of you who want to use your X-Box or other
high resolution gaming systems and want to use the native resolution of the
game. The progressive inputs bypass the SiI504 deinterlacer and just go through
the scaler.
Two output formats are available: VGA (RGB+HV) or component (YPbPr).
Pre-programmed output resolutions include all the standards: 1080i, 720P, 480P,
800x600 and others. Those looking for more flexibility can hook the CS-1 right
into a PC via a RS-232 connection. With the PC interface, one can customize
resolutions and synch signals as well as aspect ratios. Like most units that
use the SiI504 chip there is some aspect ratio control. Users can choose
between an anamorphic source or a 4:3 window box for full screen material.
Unfortunately there are no zoom functions for letterbox material, which
surprised us greatly.
The user interface is simple to navigate and can be controlled from the front
panel or the supplied remote. There are simple input and output switches that
choose the source and output. There are controls for the deinterlacer on the
setup menus as well as picture controls including contrast, brightness, color
and tint.
There were some visible scaling artifacts when looking at the WHQL wedge.
Horizontal lines (vertical resolution) contained patterns of darker lines. It
isn't terrible scaling, but we've certainly seen better.
Overall this is a very user friendly scaler that offers excellent
deinterlacing and decent scaling.
