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The Short Form
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| $799 (list) / ANCHORBAYTECH.COM / 877-382-3343 |
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Snapshot
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| An affordable, high-quality video processor with plenty of analog and digital A/V inputs and useful audio-routing features |
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Plus
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| • High-quality video deinterlacing and scaling • Easily integrates with existing A/V systems • Can automatically switch between 1080p/60 and 1080p/24 video output |
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Minus
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| • Auto lip-sync feature isn’t foolproof • Depending on your current system’s capabilities, a standalone video processor could be a solution in search of a problem |
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Key Features
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• Anchor Bay VRS video processing • 1:1 Frame Rate mode to automatically match video output to input format • Precision A/V lip-sync with auto and manual modes • Zero-latency Game mode • Backlit universal remote control • Onscreen setup wizards • Front-panel HDMI input • Audio-only HDMI “loop” output • Inputs: 6 HDMI (v1.3), 1 component-video, and 1 component-video/RGB+H/V, composite-, and S-video; coaxial and 3 optical digital audio; analog stereo audio; IR mini-jack • Outputs: 2 HDMI (1 audio-only); optical digital audio • 10½ x 17 x 2¼ in; 6½ lb |
Actually, I can think of a number of good reasons to do so right off the bat. Video upconversion with cable and satellite boxes leaves a lot to be desired, and many HDTVs also display shortcomings in this area. And you’ll likely need to dig deep into your pockets to score an A/V receiver that offers the Big Three of video processing: high-quality deinterlacing; analog-to-digital video conversion; and 1080p upscaling of HDMI signals. Sound & Vision has recently tested A/V receivers selling for more than two grand that don’t offer all of these features! Another problem with many receivers is that while they simplify setup by letting you run a single video cable to your HDTV, most don’t provide any picture adjustments (color, contrast, brightness, noise reduction), let alone custom picture memories for each video source. So, to get the picture looking right when you switch over from Blu-ray to satellite, you’ll often need to reach for the TV’s remote and change the picture mode. Inconvenient, to say the least!
Obviously, a need exists for an affordable processor to step in and fill the video gap when your other gear falls short. Meet DVDO’s new Edge. At $799, Edge, which features the same Anchor Bay VRS silicon found in the company’s $3,000-plus processors, can be a reasonably priced addition to a system in need of video help.
What’s most notable about Edge is that it’s designed to work seamlessly with your current A/V setup. Along with six HDMI (v.1.3), two component-video, and composite-/ S-video inputs, Edge has four audio-only inputs (three optical and one coaxial digital and one analog stereo) — enough jacks to accommodate most systems. While video is sent from Edge’s main HDMI output to your TV, audio signals coming in via HDMI, analog, and optical/coaxial digital inputs can be either sent on to the TV via the main HDMI connection or looped out via an audio-only HDMI or optical digital jack to your A/V receiver. It even comes with a universal remote control (with a backlit keypad, no less) that can be programmed to operate other components.
SETUP
To get things rolling, I sat Edge on top of my A/V preamp/processor (with its angled, hood-like face and no front-panel features other than a power indicator LED and HDMI input, Edge makes for an inconspicuous add-on to an existing setup) and connected HDMI cables from my Blu-ray player and HD cable box as well as component-video and optical digital audio cables from my DVD player. I then hooked up my Apple TV box using component-video and stereo analog audio connections.
Edge provides two Setup Wizards to guide you through installation: Display and Input. With Display, you first select a video output that matches your TV’s native resolution (1080p/60, for example) from a long list of signal formats, and then configure audio output. Along with Video HDMI for a direct A/V hookup to a TV, choices here include Audio HDMI and Optical (o ne of these should be selected when sending audio to a receiver or preamp via Edge’s HDMI or optical digital outputs.)
Edge’s Input Setup Wizard steps you through naming sources using an onscreen keyboard, designating a corresponding audio input for each video input (optical digital or analog stereo, for example), and setting input priority — a feature that works only when the Auto Input-select mode is enabled. Once finished, my setup allowed for analog and digital video signals to be upconverted to 1080p/60 format and passed to the TV via HDMI. And with the 1:1 Frame Rate option selected in the advanced setup menu, 1080p/24 signals from my Blu-ray player could also be sent to the TV unaltered, even when Edge’s video output format was fixed at 1080p/60. ( This mode automatically matches Edge’s video output to the active input format.) On the audio side, my setup routed signals arriving via Edge’s HDMI, optical digital, and analog connections through its audio-only HDMI output to my preamp/processor, an arrangement that allowed me to hear everything from regular stereo soundtracks to Dolby True HD ones.
A firmware update (version 1.1) recently issued by DVDO adds a number of video options. Along with the main video controls, which include basic picture adjustments along with mosquito noise reduction and detail and edge enhancement, an advanced menu now offers output Color Space and Colorimetry and input/output Video Level options. These adjustments let you do stuff like configure Edge’s video output for RGB computer or component-video color space, select between a BT.601 (SDTV) or BT.709 (HDTV) color gamut, and prevent clipping of black and white levels by optimizing the display range for video or computer graphic images. Edge version 1.1 can also generate multiple video test patterns — everything from crosshatch to color bars.
PERFORMANCE
Edge buzzed through our battery of video tests — an expected result, given S&V’s recent positive review of Yamaha’s RX-V3900, an A/V receiver that features the same VRS video processing found throughout the DVDO line. Both film- and video-based 1080i high-def images looked unfailingly solid. And it also excelled at DVD upconversion, displaying no jaggy artifacts on DVD torture tests with the exception of a few obscure ones contained in the Assorted Cadence chapter of the HQV test disc. The processor’s mosquito noise reduction did a good job cleaning up analog channels on my cable TV feed. Fine details tended to get siphoned off from DVD images with that mode’s High setting selected, however, so I’d leave it fixed at Low instead.
Another feature that Edge offers and your A/V receiver may not is automatic lip-sync to ensure that sound is in lock step with the picture. With the processor plugged in, there were nonetheless a few instances where I noticed a slight audio lag on programs. But by calling up the Audio Delay option in the setup menu, which provides an adjustment level up to 200 milliseconds, I was able to manually compensate for this.
Edge’s aspect ratio modes include Full (16:9), 4:3, 4:3 Letterbox, and Panorama, all of which can be selected with both standard and high-def programs. And there’s also a Zoom and Pan control. I found this adjustment useful when viewing standard-def cable programs with “time code” running across the top of the screen; zooming in just a few notches effectively removed the noise. (Another adjustment, Underscan, has the opposite effect, letting you “zoom out” when picture information is cropped by the display.)
BOTTOM LINE
With its Edge, DVDO brings the same technology found in the company’s top-of-the-line $3,500 video processor to a product with a $799 list price. And Edge’s ability to seamlessly integrate with existing A/V receivers and preamp/processors via its audio-only HDMI output distinguishes it from similar units that cost 3 or 4 times as much. Whether or not you actually need Edge depends on the video processing abilities of the other gear in your system — everything from the DVD or Blu-ray player to the TV. But if your system comes up short in this area — particularly if you own a mid- or low-priced A/V receiver, many of which have limited features for handling video — then Edge could be just what the doctor ordered. Think of it as your receiver’s missing piece.
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