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Author Topic: Blu - Ray, Scaler & Sound... Marco Giustini Film God Posts: 2713 From: Reading, UK Registered: Nov 2007 posted 02-03-2013 07:29 AM                     I have never used the AP20, only read the specs. Automation-wise I don't really think that you'll ever need a remote fader: if you have a Dolby you can control the fader from any remote screen in real time. On a doremi you can run a macro. Why would you need a remote? You could actually send RAW commands from your mobile. Or you could use an android app a friend of mine has developed! That said, it really depends on the price list of the AP20. The 750 is quite limited in features - still featuring the old fashion 31-bands EQ! - but it's quite cheap. DTSwise, I used to be a fan of the brand, but I think they made big mistakes in the past and personally I feel I shouldn't trust them anymore. I would rather invest money in a Home Theatre receiver to be connected to the 6ch input of the 750. Again, I appreciate that FIR filters are ineteresting, I am not saying that 31-band EQ is better!  |  IP: Logged Carsten Kurz Film God Posts: 4340 From: Cologne, NRW, Germany Registered: Aug 2009 posted 02-03-2013 11:42 AM                     A lot of cinemas simply want wall controls. Remote control apps would be no option there. If people spend the money for a CP650, they could as well afford the AP20, which has WAY more options right out of the box. The JSD80 is a very nice CP as well, but even that is limited compared to the AP20. CP750=DCP only, no bells and whistles at all. What do I gain from AC3 only, when as it seems most BluRays come with DTS now? We now have more and more special events where we could actually use a mix of film-sound and external sources. The AP20 is the only CP capable of integrating classic music acts with filmsound due to his flexible routing. Plus, to my knowledge it's the only CP currently available with access and routing options for ALL 16 DCI audio channels simultaneously. - Carsten  |  IP: Logged Marco Giustini Film God Posts: 2713 From: Reading, UK Registered: Nov 2007 posted 02-03-2013 12:01 PM                     Sure, I am not saying that the features available on an AP20 are not interesting. Just that I tend to be sceptical with DTS now. Does anybody know the list price of an AP20? Again, the 750 is limited but also quite cheap.  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 02-03-2013 12:04 PM                     The AP20 is certainly a flexible piece...it was designed to be. The HDMI inputs was a nice touch too. The CP750 does provide a very cost effective solution for DCinema with Alternate content accommodation, if you limit yourself to "low bandwidth" multichannel audio or pre-decoded multi-channel. If I have an Oppo connected to the CP750's analog inputs...it provides, from a BluRay stand point, the same level of audio but at a fraction of the cost of the AP20 with a BluRay player. Likewise, if the customer just wants AC3 or prologic from 2.0 LPCM...then the CP750 is fine. In a more sophisticated room, the CP750 is insufficient, for sure and devices like the AP20, DCP200/300, Crestron, RANE, BiAmp....and on down the line until the system fits the need of the room. There are some that will be just fine with taking the analog stereo output and getting a prologic decode too! As I said earlier, a device like the one Crestron is coming out with will be very appealing to my upper-end/more sophisticated rooms where there will be considerable switching upstream (that will far exceed the capabilities of a device like an AP20). It is all a matter of fitting the boxes to the needs of the room/customer and now we have a very considerable range! There is no reason to have to even limit ourselves to "Cinema" industry boxes...DCinema outputs LPCM...there are many boxes that can take that and do with it what is needed. I would put the CP750 towards the bottom end of the scale in terms of functionality but I would also say it satisfies about 90% of the systems I've installed and, without exception, people have liked the way it sounds too (though I think it is getting credit for using LPCM discrete tracks versus some poorly set up knockoff-SR film boxes).  |  IP: Logged Steven J Hart Master Film Handler Posts: 282 From: WALES, ND, USA Registered: Mar 2004 posted 02-03-2013 12:40 PM                        Please pardon my ignorance, but why use a scaler at all? We run our blu-ray hdmi output directly into the projector's DVI input, then create custom screen and lens files for each common blu-ray aspect ratio. This seems to work like a charm. We use the second DVI input for our screen advertising (from a hardware player) and have screen and lens files programmed in for that as well. As for audio, we take the coax out from the blu-ray and run it through a Denon Pro preamp (with balanced XLR analog outputs) which decodes whatever audio format coming from the blu-ray into 7.1 analog which is fed into our USL JSD-100 analog inputs.  |  IP: Logged Marco Giustini Film God Posts: 2713 From: Reading, UK Registered: Nov 2007 posted 02-03-2013 03:52 PM                     I guess it's for VGA, composite, component and all sort of strange analog video you may want to feed to the projector. If you only plan to use BDs or DVDs, you can set your BD player to scale everything to 1080 and be happy. Speaking of scalers, I am surprised that the Barco scaler does not support 24p...  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 02-03-2013 04:06 PM                     If you are running just a BluRay and you have a fixed output rate...then a scaler may not be needed. If you are handling a multitude of video formats/resolutions...then scalars are indispensable. If you want to have a smooth crossfade between a DVD or BluRay to a laptop outputting "XGA or like analog"...or have HDCAM mixed in there...they are handy. If your lens can zoom out to 2048 but can't zoom all of the way from 1920 for scope a scaler can take care of that. Scalars support more input rates, typically, than a DCinema projector. And while it is possible to do some scaling within a series 2 projector (less so in a series 1), you would fill up your preset slots with all of the permutations. But again, if you JUST have a 1080p output and a handful of aspect ratios...then a scaler may not be needed and even ad a layer of complexity that isn't desired.  |  IP: Logged

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