Algolith Dragonfly home theatre processor-scaler delivers precision image processing
Algolith have released their high-spec Dragonfly Home Theatre Processor-Scaler which is described as 'an absolute must for any videophile passionate about their hi-performance home entertainment system'
Featuring Hollywood Quality Video (HQV) technology, it's an image processor and up/downscaler that works on a pixel-by-pixel basis, and claims to cater for any film cadence, not just the most common 3:2 and 2:2 used in DVD films and video sources.
Working at the pixel level, it offers better processing of mixed images, such as those where film-based material is superimposed with video titling. Without this, content resolution may be lost, or artifacts may appear around titling.
The HQV platform is "a system-on-a-chip that encompasses true 10-bit video processing, full four-field, pixel-based, motion-adaptive video deinterlacing for SD and HD signals, temporal-recursive and codec noise reduction, automatic multi-cadence detection, and pixel-based detail enhancement. It uses the same video processing power - one trillion operations per second - as the famous $60,000 Teranex Xantus box."
Other features in this professional piece of kit include:
- True 1080i and 1080p de-interlacing: uses the full four-field processing window for HD video de-interlacing and cadence detection, preserving the rich details in HD imagery.
- Detail enhancement: claiming to enhance SD content to a level approaching HD quality.
- Automatic Film Mode Cadence Processing: including support for 'vari-speed' cadences often used in animation and TV broadcasts.
- Upgradeable algorithms: making it "virtually future-proof".
- eWARP-2 engine: allows placement of projector anywhere in the room, maintaining the highest quality graphics, fine text, and crisp HD video.
- Optional: Noise reduction - fully-automatic per-pixel adaptive software algorithm that adds a fourth dimension of pixel-by-pixel noise and motion measurement, detecting and reducing the analog and MPEG noise that currently plagues DVD and broadcast sources.
- Optional: SDI: A small external converter allowing you to pass 480i and 576i through to the Dragonfly’s digital input.
If you want to get your hands on a Dragonfly, it'll set you back US$2,995 (not sure on the UK price at present), so you'll be pretty serious about image processing.
Too bad they stole my nickname. I had it first.
Posted by: David Davis | June 27, 2006 9:37 PM