I've done some more testing. Yes, I now think that my unit is fine - it's just a case of the Nano GX performing poorly with finely detailed images at higher res (well, 1080p):
Checkerboard 1080p - pass:
http://image.ibb.co/eUFUfR/Checkerboard.jpg
Horizontal lines 1080p - pass:
http://image.ibb.co/mbrKfR/Hor_Lines.jpg
Very fine checker 1080p - fail:
http://image.ibb.co/dxWKfR/Fine_checker.jpg
Vertical lines 1080p - fail:
http://image.ibb.co/fGizfR/Vert_Lines.jpg
Fine checker 720p - pass:
http://image.ibb.co/cOZGS6/Fine_checker_720p.jpg
Vertical lines 720p - pass:
http://image.ibb.co/fHFZEm/Vert_Lines_720p.jpg
Gamma chart 720p - mmh:
http://image.ibb.co/dSSBS6/Gamma.jpg (artifacts on the right-hand side of the small boxes.. seems more like ghosting than ringing)
(Please be aware that all my captures show some noise and/or soft edges as a result of 4:2:0 sampling and H.264/MJPEG encoding - it's no way as dramatic as some pics above, that's 99% the DAC's fault)
BazookaBen wrote:But I do prefer the HD Fury 1 when I don't need an HDMI audio sink.
Yes, the HDFury 1 handles 1080p better. It's not perfect (zoom in on the boxes with control+scrollwheel on the
1080p gamma chart to see noise/loss of detail), but it's acceptable. The Nano GX is also acceptable with 720p and under (1080i is mostly fine too). I'll use it with the PSTV set to output 720p or 480p.
orange808 wrote:Looks like there's no perfect DAC solutions out there.
Indeed, or at least - if there's one, I've not found it. I thought the Nano GX could be it thanks to its audio out and on-board gamma adjustments, but not now.See
here for another guy's journey in the search for a good DAC. I don't fully understand his methodology nor his results, but he didn't seem to find a clear winner either.