Scan Converters

[Alfie]

Hi All,

Wondering if anyone can offer advice on a bit of a techie subject - it is Zionworx related, but tangentially! I know there are some serious video techies out there...

We've decided to go for a "proper" setup here and have bought a video mixer (an Edirol V4) to mix the different video sources we want to project (PC, DVD, and Video). In order to pass the PC Image into the video mixer it needs converting into S-Video format so we bought a scan converter to do this. Unfortunately at the moment the scan converter is producing a terrible image when passed through the mixer, and it looks like it may be too cheap and to do a proper job when used with such a high quality piece of kit. (The scan converter is a Trust Televiewer RC 1610).

Having done a bit more research it's apparent that really good scan converters cost over a thousand pounds, which is a lot more than we have and I'm wondering if people can offer me any advice:

1. Can I get the current setup working?
2. If not, what's a good but not exorbitant scan converter to use?
3. Does anyone want to buy a Televiewer RC 1610 !!??

Alfie.

[Diceman]

Hi Alfie,

Havn't used the mixer - convertor combination youv'e got but I have used many others.

Problems with video mixers and scan-convertors can be, Mixer incabable of syncing the source (not an isue with yours as it has independant timebase on each side of the roll). Older mixers (and some pro ones) require a sync line from the gen-lock.

Have you tried different refresh rates? - Some scan convertors choke-up on some resolutions and refresh frequencies.

If your scan convertor is just rubbish. Prices for PRo scan convertors are high and if it's consumer priced stuff your after then your often better with a good video out enabled graphics card with a good ramdac, it makes for one less stage and you'll get less quality loss through processing.

For good value, good quality VGA to composite I'd recomend http://www.Lindy.co.uk.

They have two convertors here's the economy one:
http://www.lindy.com/uk/productfolder/0 ... /index.php
and the 'pro' one:
http://www.lindy.com/uk/productfolder/0 ... /index.php

Insidentally in case anyone's interested I spotted a couple of Matrox PCI dual head graphics cards going on ebay for a less than £10.

Hope this helps

Dice