Info and forum posts by 'Gavin'

RE: what can cause a coloured patch on tv screens -

mobile phone?

RE: Eclipse 695?

It is exactly the same as the mico 980 (except cosmeticaly) so if you want more info, hacks etc. then search for that instead and you`ll get lots

RE: Can a DivX movie be played on a DVD player?

I believe that there is a hacked firmware for the X-wave which lets you play DivX :-) . Unfortunatly, It is based on a very old version of the x-wave software with some loader problems. Also I am unable to find it. The website where you can get it is in dutch and is very hard to navigate. You have to sign up just to download firmwares. (not easy in Dutch)

VCD/SVCD RECORDER

This is no joke, some serious processing power.

http://www.amoisonic.com/product/vdr_cata/VDR2000.html

This item was edited on Thursday, 31st May 2001, 23:17

RE: DVD to video CD??

I`ve got a xwave 1000k (macro free £220). Could have bought a 900 model for only £149 from aria.co.uk. (the same internally). Another tip if using a PCDVD player is a program called girder which can control any program using an old remote control and IR receiver (£15). much better than getting up to ffwd your film.

This item was edited on Thursday, 31st May 2001, 16:13

RE: VHS to VCD?!?!?!?!?!?

Mike`s right, I wouldn`t bother, VCD is usually lower quality than VHS. However if your determined to get rid of those old tapes, get yourself a tv tuner card (capture card) from dixons (£30 PCTV Rave) then follow the link below

http://www.vcdhelper.com/capture.htm

RE: DVD to video CD??

Perhaps not quite a day. I use SVCD instead of DivX so that I can play the discs on my standalone dvd player. The encoding takes about 8-9 hours on High Quality (Slow). The exact time depends largely on your CPU(s). VCDs take much less time to encode and you can normally get 50mins Video per CD but quality is below that of VHS. I prefer SVCD which is comparable to that of DVD. Here is a brief summary of what software/Hardware you will need.

First make sure you have 10GB FREE

Here is a rough guide on how long it will take to encode a 100min film
Athlon 1Ghz = 8.5Hrs (High Quality), 6.5Hrs (Normal)
VCDs take about a third of this time.

N.b. I always use HQ because the quality is significantly improved.

1)Download “Smart Ripper” and use it to rip the .vob files (the film) from the DVD to your hard disk. (15mins)
2)Download “DVDAVI”. Open the first .vob file using “DVD2AVI” (it will automatically find the other .vob files). Select save project from the file menu and save it to the same place as the .vob files. This will create 2 new files, a soundtrack (.wav) and a project file (*.dv2). (15mins)
3)Download “TMPGenc”. Set the video source as the .dv2 file DVD2AVI created. Set the audio source as the .wav file.
4)Choose what type of film you want to create by loading a profile i.e. VCD or SVCD.
5)Hit encode. (This bit takes a loooong time)
6)Go out/to seep/to work/school. When the encoding is done you will have a 1.8GB .mpg file which is your SVCD.
7)Check the .mpg file works by opening it in your existing PC DVD software. Then delete the *.vob files
8)As you may have guessed this won’t fit on an 80Min CD. So in TMPGenc select “Fileà ToolsàCut”. Cut the film every 32mins so you have 3 new files which you can put on separate CDs.
9)Download “Nero Burning Rom 5.5”. Close the wizard which comes up when you first open it and choose SVCD from the list of CD available types.
10)Drag the first .mpg file into the bottom window of Nero (Should be about 760MB). Burn first part onto a 80min CD-R(W). Play the disk in your dvd player. If it works then create the next two disks.

All done. Not nearly as bad as it sounds.

RE: Advise needed please

Cyberhome from richersounds. Not exactly a looker though.

This item was edited on Tuesday, 8th May 2001, 18:41

RE: Built in DTS decoder

I have a yamaha dsp A-592. This is a pro-logic amp with a 6 channel input. I was hoping to get DTS without buying a new amp. The alternative is a budget dts amp such as the sherwood 6016 however these tend to have very poor Dolby Prologic reproduction.

Built in DTS decoder

Could someone please clarify this. Do players with built in "5.1 Channel decoders" normaly have DD and DTS or just DD like the LG 3550. As I understand it, only the more expensive players and the new M5 have their own DTS decoders. Are there any budget players (excluding the M5) such as the encore, xwave, mico which decode DTS?

Fixing Yamaha Amps?

My yamaha a592 has just given up the ghost. When i try to swithch between the inputs nothing happens. Is it worth trying to repair it? could i repair it myself?

If not what replacement dd/dts amp should I consider around the £200 mark.
I`ve heard good things about the yamaha a595/e800/a5 and the sherwood 6106

any help much appreciated

RE: For Everyone who plays Mp3s on their DVD Player

xwave 1000k

I used Easy CD Creator 4. Nero should be fine though. looks like it`s a no go for the scan.

RE: For Everyone who plays Mp3s on their DVD Player

It works by dispalying a different bitmap when each song is displayed accross the entire screen so it has nothing to do with the firmware. each image is approx 100kb so you have to add this onto the size of the mp3. The picture is stored as a .bin file with the same name as the .mp3. This instructs the player to display the image. For example, when i play stan.mp3 it will display stan.bin (see screenshot in previous message).
Hope this helps.

RE: What player do you have, so I can work out the which players have sold the most.

X-Wave / Webtronic 1000K good but noisy.

For Everyone who plays Mp3s on their DVD Player

I know this is technically software but I just had to share it. There is a really good program that you can use to replace the crap MP3 menus on your dvd player with customized pages. It works with any player that can display images while playing songs (which I think is most players that play mp3s. you might need a firmware update).

Here are a just a few of the features:

Different colour schemes (true colour)
Support for titles up to 24 Characters + Artist name + Track length
ID3 Tags!!!
Different fonts/sizes
Background images
MPU Playlists
Built in CD Burner Software.

For more info/download
http://home.t-online.de/home/aoeser/
you also need to download a dll and put it in your system directory (it allows you to scan in cd covers)

ftp://ftp.u-aizu.ac.jp/pub/graphics/image/uthscsa/it/EZTW32.DLL

Here are some screen shots: (70Kb Each - Be patient, my host is really slow)

http://www.alves.org.uk/Stan.jpg
http://www.alves.org.uk/usher.jpg

There is some loss of quality because of the jpg it`s all good on the TV though (4:3). This is what I see on my X-Wave,
Hint: press `angle` to get rid of the original menu (works on x-wave).

This item was edited on Friday, 16th February 2001, 21:20

RE: mp3 players

The LG 3350 is a good option if you can afford it because it displays the first 16 characters of the title on screen (if you use nero 5). Another alternative is the x-wave 900 from www.aria.co.uk (£149) it does everything and it displays the first 8 characters on screen. Very useful when there are 200 tracks on one disk.

AVOID the portable napa at all costs.

This item was edited on Tuesday, 6th February 2001, 21:25

RE: Looking for a firmware upgrade or remote hack for Labway DVD 1000k

Could someone please outline the differences between the LB900 and 1000K apart from the cosmetic aspect. I just bought a 1000k and am wodering why it is £100 more.

http://members.boardhost.com/bignandvd/ (info about Labway)

RE: S-video on Sony trinitron 25

I just checked the model it is KV-X2542U. I am going to try a s-vid to scart cable from maplins (£7.99)

Regards Gavin

P.S Perhaps I was a little unfair about the composite image, it`s not that bad.

RE: mp3 burning

Nero`s main advantage is that it preserves file names more accuratly for display on the DVD menus. This is certainly true for the LG 3550 and X-Wave 1000K. Just select the ASCII option in the CD properties dialogue.

RE: Universal remote controls

The cambridge audio M500 can be bought from maplins for £25. It is quite good but it takes ages to programme and when i press vol down, it always activates channel down instead.

This item was edited on Friday, 19th January 2001, 19:31

RE: Need for buit in decoder??

built in decoders are only usefull if:
A)you have a newer pro-logic amp with 6 inputs
B)you don`t mind connecting up 3 separate amps for all six channels
C) you have 5 active speakers and a sub.

As for two scarts, who cares?

RE: S-video on Sony trinitron 25

Thankyou for the reply. I will check the model number ASAP. My TV doesn`t have the s-video on the front but it does show the 2[-->s] option on the OSD.

S-video on Sony trinitron 25"

I have a 25" sony trinitron that is about five years old. It is the nicam version with the chunky remote, does anyone know is it supports S-Video through either of the two scart sockets. Unfortunatly, I`ve lost the manual and the picture through the single composite picture is crap. Thanx

RE: 3 Phono RGB -> Scart

Thanx for all the replies, unfortunatly the component outputs on the Xwave are not RGB but YUV or something. Looks like i`ll have to buy a new TV with s-video.

RE: eclipse dvd595

I took the eclipse back and bought a Xwave 1000k

http://www.business-ecommercesoftware.co.uk/business/svpcomm/Online_Catalogue_DVD_and_MP3_Players_8.html

The player is very good and displays MP3 titles on sceen during playback for easy navigation which is great. It also comes macrovision free. One bad point about this player is that the drive is quite noisy during the first 12 scenes of most films. I have forgoten the secret menu for the eclipse but you can find it if you search for "eclipse 595" at www.deja.com/usenet. (it is the same as the mico a980`s)

3 Phono RGB -> Scart

I have an X-Wave 1000k DVD player (www.labway.com.tw) and a 5 year old Sony Trinitron “25 TV. They are currently connected using a single yellow phono cable. The picture quality is slightly disappointing (as expected giving this method of connection). The DVD player has an S-video out but the TV cannot handle the signal, I have tried feeding it through the scart with no success. I was wondering whether it would be possible to feed the RGB signal from the dvd players phono sockets directly into the tube to increase the quality of the image. The X-wave outputs the RGB via 3 phono cables but my TV only has two scart inputs (one of which can accept an RGB signal).

I have a lot of questions so please be patient ;)

1)Does anyone know whether the RGB signal sent out by my DVD’s phono sockets is compatible with that of an RGB Scart?
2)If so, has anyone had any success with such an arrangement and what results did they find?
3)Can I expect to find huge improvements in picture quality?
4)Where can I purchase a RGB to scart cable? / how can I make one?
5)If the above is not possible, what else could I do to improve quality (without buying a new TV)
6)What does the Scarts ‘sync’ pin do? (I figure it must be important)

Many thanks to Everyone.

RE: eclipse dvd595

I owned this player for one week then took it back.

Basicly it is identical to the mico 980 (Not good news). As for R1 and RCE, it plays them all but picture quality is not up to the competition. It does appear to do everything but it looks cheap and nasty. There is a secret menu to disable macrovision and change the region manualy if you need it. overall, its not bad but not good either

X-Wave 1000K

I just bought my xwave 1000 from svp for £220. Altogether it is much improved over the last model but I have a few complaints.

The drive mechanism (a PC dvd drive) is very noisy at the start of some discs. although it does quieten down about halfway through.

Some copied VCDs are a bit choppy.

Sound and picture are excellent though, as is mp3 playback. This is one fast player

XWave 1000 K

Does anyone have any comments on this player, the older model (LB900) is available at aria.co.uk for £149 +Vat. The 1000K is available at

http://www.business-ecommercesoftware.co.uk/business/svpcomm/Online_Catalogue_DVD_and_MP3_Players_8.html

for £226

the spec looks realy good especialy the mp3 playback with titles.

does anyone have any experience with either of these players?