Silicon Image / DVDO technology

Scaler I.scan Pro

A specialist and supplier of electronic components for a number of major brands such as Pioneer, Denon or Kenwood, Silicon Image offers a machine whose pretensions, in terms of price and performance levels are extraordinary given that the I.scan Pro is the cheapest scaler/de-interlacer on the market.

Note: The principle of video interlacing, or progressive scan, consists here of transforming a video signal whose native resolution is of 480 lines "interlaced" (standard used on TV’s, VTR’s, DVD’s, Laser Discs etc.) into a “de-interlaced” signal, no longer having one, but two separate video rasters.
This procedure presents the advantage of erasing the black lines and thus refining the quality of the image.

With their savoir faire in the field of video processing, Silicon Image have thus decided to produce this scaler/doubler, which disposes of a “boosted” version of the Pure Progressive microprocessor used by most manufacturers in their DVD players for domestic use (i.e.: the Pioneer DV-737).

Several points differentiate the I.scan Pro associated with a DVD player. For DVD players including progressive scan, this comes notably in terms of compatibility of de-interlacing with signals encoded in PAL, because only the I.scan Pro is able to manage both PAL and NTSC (note that at the end of the production line, the chip is compatible with both standards, so why do manufacturers insist on only proposing NTSC compatible processors? Could this be seen as encouragement to de-zoning???).

Another major advantage is that you can keep your old DVD player even if it doesn’t dispose of this technology. Inserted in between the video diffuser (see table of compatibility in the downloadable PDF file, on the left of this article), and the source, the I.scan Pro will become the “best friend” of your video installation, being, according to some, more efficient than some of its competitors sold at a much higher price. Note however that this material compatibility is only possible with diffusers disposing of a minimum scanning frequency of 31.5 kHz.


Adjustments...

This scaler disposes of a few adjustments allowing the user to improve the image. It is thus possible to adjust, thanks to potentiometers on the front panel of the machine, levels of contrast, colour, tint, sharpness and luminosity.


Interfacing

As opposed to its competitors which are prone to multiplicity (complexity?) of domestic (cinch) and professional (BNC) connections, the I.scan Pro contents itself with a sober, but sufficient interface. One can find:

- 1 YUV component input (cinch),
- 1 S-Video input (ushiden),
- 1 composite input(cinch).

The signals headed for the diffuser (output) are transported by one sole interface possible: sub-D15. This allows for the transfer of RGB video signals (with Horizontal/Vertical synchro.), as well as YUV (which facilitates the task of the user, because most video projectors and monitors dispose of this type of connection).


Silicon Image thus propose a highly satisfactory solution at a very low cost, which will mean that certain people not wishing to invest a fortune in a scaler will be able to equip themselves with a high performance machine. Marketed by the company FVS the I.scan Pro sells for 1525 Euros.