Videophiles: SDI video purposeful outside of Production?

Post by **undamned** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 9:24 pm

So, I understand from back in the day before HDMI and HTPC's (Home Theatre PC's) were big, the desire to mod your DVD player for SDI out and then run that through your video processor.

Now with DVD-ROM drives and fast PC parts being cheap, doesn't the whole "purely digital" approach fall into the very accessible realm of HDPC's? Basically, I'm asking, does SDI have a place in the home theatre today?
-ud

brokenhalo · Post by **brokenhalo** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 1:09 am

i don't really know a ton about this sort of thing, but i found it odd that when i was shopping for an upscaling dvd player i was finding oppo's with this mod on ebay. the oppo uses the genesis farouja (sp?) upscaling chip which is supposed to be as good as it gets. but videophiles (and audiophiles) are crazy people sometimes, and i guess if they can't run their content through a rediculously overpriced outboard processor they won't be happy.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Pre-modified-Oppo-D ... 18Q2el1247

so i guess there are people still interested in this sort of thing. i'd love to see a stock oppo side by side with whatever rig people run the modded one through though. i can't imagine there is a noticeable difference....

Fudoh · Post by **Fudoh** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 12:50 pm

This is definitely the wrong forum to ask about it

And yes, SDI's the king, was, is and will always be. I have a SDI modded Sony DVD Player going into my VP50pro scaler. There are DVD players whose HDMI signal is close to HDMI, but it's always affected by the players video processing unit, so it's not pure.

I will get a HD-SDI modded BD player later on this year. A more important reason for SDI vs. HDMI is the lack of any copy protection and therefore less HDCP hassles. If you get a SDI player you can use RGBHV output, can use CRT displays or CRT beamers, something you officially can't with HDMI anywhere in the chain.

D · Post by D » Wed Sep 17, 2008 1:12 pm

Fudoh wrote:This is definitely the wrong forum to ask about it

And yes, SDI's the king, was, is and will always be. I have a SDI modded Sony DVD Player going into my VP50pro scaler. There are DVD players whose HDMI signal is close to HDMI, but it's always affected by the players video processing unit, so it's not pure.

I will get a HD-SDI modded BD player later on this year. A more important reason for SDI vs. HDMI is the lack of any copy protection and therefore less HDCP hassles. If you get a SDI player you can use RGBHV output, can use CRT displays or CRT beamers, something you officially can't with HDMI anywhere in the chain.

Better results than upscaled dvd's on the ps3?

Fudoh · Post by **Fudoh** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 3:46 pm

Better results than upscaled dvd's on the ps3?

the PS3 is "ok" with upscaled DVD, but a SDI player with a decent external scaler is considerably better (but more expensive as well).

One installed SDI is no rocket science at all. The good thing about it, that it's just a single coax line, a single BNC plug on each side and you can easily lay out 100ft without any degrading of the signal. Even been to a TV Studio ? They're basically running SDI all over the place. All the cameras are hooked up via SDI...

Post by **undamned** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 5:17 pm

Fudoh wrote:The good thing about it, that it's just a single coax line, a single BNC plug on each side and you can easily lay out 100ft without any degrading of the signal. Even been to a TV Studio ? They're basically running SDI all over the place. All the cameras are hooked up via SDI...

I wonder what the chances of the projectors at my church having SDI inputs are. I know they are running coaxial cables to the composite inputs, which means if the projectors can take SDI in, they can leave their cabling as is (rock) and pop some SDI out cards into their multimedia PC's. That would rule. I cringe every time I see rainbow effects and scrolling waves across the screens.
-ud

Fudoh · Post by **Fudoh** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 8:04 pm

they don't.

brokenhalo · Post by **brokenhalo** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 8:21 pm

D wrote:Better results than upscaled dvd's on the ps3?

my oppo upconverting dvd player looks way better than the ps3's upscaling. no contest.

PC Engine Fan X! · Post by **PC Engine Fan X!** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 9:04 pm

Fudoh wrote:
Better results than upscaled dvd's on the ps3?
the PS3 is "ok" with upscaled DVD, but a SDI player with a decent external scaler is considerably better (but more expensive as well).

One installed SDI is no rocket science at all. The good thing about it, that it's just a single coax line, a single BNC plug on each side and you can easily lay out 100ft without any degrading of the signal. Even been to a TV Studio ? They're basically running SDI all over the place. All the cameras are hooked up via SDI...

Are there professional-grade TV monitors that accept SDI input?

And could a PS3 be further upgraded with SDI output for best picture output even better than HDMI output?

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

Fudoh · Post by **Fudoh** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 9:41 pm

Are there professional-grade TV monitors that accept SDI input?

yes, CRTs and Plasmas as well. There're SDI blades for all the Panasonic Professional Plasma Displays.

And could a PS3 be further upgraded with SDI output for best picture output even better than HDMI output?

no, for various reasons. a) it probably can't be done, b) games are rendered in the system, so the HDMI output is at good as it gets, c) HD-SDI can't do 1080p60, d) what would you do with the output signal ? Without using a high-end scaling machine, there's little sense in adding SDI.

I highly recommend SDI for editing purposes and the high-end DVD playback. I would only recommend HD-SDI for CRT applications which do not allow HDCP copy protection and I think from a gaming standpoint SDI is just a shot too long...