I got sick of waiting for a HD PVR so went out and bought the Topfield Masterpiece SD PVR. This comparisons are done on a Fuji 50 US plasma.
Im still playing with it at the moment so its still early days.
Today I watched the cricket and compared Ch90 on the Ausid Vs Ch9 on the Topfield and to my surprise the Toppy was just as good !
Both signals are via Component.
I will post more as soon as I have more time.

Ah...Big_Marcelo will be proud of you........





The new Toppy ????





Actually, I had to watch a bit of SD last night via the J35, and it honestly was pretty darn good. Surprisingly good !! Must be the Fuji panel that does it !!

As far as I can see, one of the problems you're gonna have with the Toppy is TAP's.

More tweaks and fiddles to get everything just right !!!

I'd be like a kid in a candy store, I'll have this one, and this one and this one and........

And of course, like everyone else around here, it's never going to be "perfect" !!

But first thing I'd be doing is getting an EPG up and running !!!!!

Keep us informed,

Austen.

PS, First tweak...Reprogram the Harmony

Hey Austen
Your a very cheeky boy !
I could have waited another 2 weeks and got the LG HD PVR but Im sick of being the TESTING MULE.
I figured with the Masterpiece its been out for a while and no complaints. The other thing which made me go with the Toppy was you cant record HD and store it on a disc youll always need a hard drive of some sort.
Until the Blue Rays and HD DVD recorders get here I THINK Im going to stick with the Toppy (I think )

He's back - with a new "toy", wondered where you were

Yep seems the only good thing I was good for lately is to start a flame war

them Straight!!!!!!! Very proud indeed!!!!

Go Toppy!!!!

Imagine that with a VP30 to sweeten things up ....

Keep the news coming guys..... !!

Cheers,

Marcelo

I am surprised to see this.

I have a Hitachi screen and a Topfield 5000 connected via component and an LG 5100 HD STB connected via DVI to RGB and there is no comparison in terms of quality.

The LG is just about perfect, and while the Toppy is very clear, the colours are way over the top. The cricket in particular looks like its been played on a billiard table - the green is soooo green. Other colours - reds, blues - are also very much accentauted on the Toppy.

DVD's (component connection) play with realistic colours and the Foxbox, while crappy in quality is fair on colour, so I think the Toppy just isn't as good as the LG (or the other components) at least as far as colour is concerned.

Has anyone else noticed this?

I have Foxtel Digital conected as a pass-through the Topfield 5000 with both being set to RGB. From there I use RGB>YUV converter to Toshiba 9UA. With Channels 2 and 10 its hard to tell the difference. Channel 7 through Foxtel varies immensely but that is what you would expect.

hornblower

Yep the colors (mainly red) are over the top but Ive adjusted the colors on the plasma to suit.
As Ive said the jury is still out on myside. Ill report back when I ve lived with the Toppy for more than a week.

The Masterpiece also passes through YUV so no need for a converter

Hi Guys,
I got a Masterpiece about 6 weeks ago. This was to replace a Strong 5290 PVR which I have had for 2 years. Compared to the Strong the Masterpeice is simply brillant! I know this sounds lame, but it just works! No missed recording, no lock ups, no reboots (you may of guessed I had a few issues with the Strong ). I use ICETv's EGP and this makes recording shows a pleasure. The downloadable EPG is the killer feature that makes the Toppy stand out over other PVR's. Needless to say I'm very happy with the Masterpiece.

On the colour saturation isssue, the original Toppy 5000's have a saturation issue when outputing component through the SCART. This is a well known bug. If you output RGB via the SCART you should not have an issue. I haven't tried outputing component via the SCART on my Masterpiece (to see if the issue still exists) as it is connected to the TV via SVideo.

Also for anyone interested, this month's 'Sound and Image' has a review of the Masterpeice and the ICE TV Guide.

cheers,
Stephen

The Topfield 5000 was modified to correct YUV saturation on TV SCART only. The pass-through YUV could not be modified hence the need for a RGB > YUV converter.


hornblower

If there are colour issues with this and the AUSID is not as good how good can the AUSID really be then? Doesn't make sense?

Who said the AUSID isn't as good as the Toppy ???

Austen.

So, as I have a spare RGB connection on my Hitachi plasma, if I get a Scart to RGB cable, that should solve the issue? Yes?

Depends on the type of RGB connection on your Hitachi.....

If it has a VGA style connector then it will be looking for a RGBHV signal, the Toppy outputs an RGBs type signal and would then require a converter box.

If the Hitachi has a SCART connection for the RGB then you should be ok.

Unforunately its a VGA connector.

Whats the likely cost for a RGBHV convertor box and where do you get it? Is it just a scart to vga convertor or, as I suspect is there some processing involved?

You're right there is processing involved!

The only SCART to VGA converter box I have come across is sold by Jaycar and retails for $130.

See product here

You will also have to supply a SCART male to male lead yourself.

This is a powered converter box so a power point will have to be available.

Cheers,
Peter

Many thanks for your help Peter.

Not knowing just how much this might improve my picture, I think for the time being I'll put up with a bit of oversaturation.

Its not unbearable and after a few minutes doesn't really becomes so obvious, but good to know there is a solution if I decide to go that way.

Okay today I compared moon face , Kerrie Anne, CSI and the show straight after it .
Yep HD on the Ausid is better than the SD on the Toppy....I guess if you wanted the WOW factor then the Ausid is the goods(On SD the toppy is better than the Ausids SD though).
But could I live with the Toppy ABSOLUTELY.

Had a look at this in Jaycar today and it includes a male to male lead so not bad value.

Wanted to be sure I had the right item so didn't buy on the spot. Jaycar even said I could try it and if it didn't improve the picture, I could return it. Pretty good offer, so I think I'll give it a go.

From memory it has a male to male VGA lead for one side but no male to male SCART lead for the other........

I am fairly sure the scart lead was there, in fact I thought it was "built in" ie there was a scart connector on a lead which went straight into the box, though that isn't what is shown on the picture on the Jaycar site.

The product might have changed since last I saw it then.....

Let me know how it goes.

Cheers,
Peter

You can use the composite signal (available at all times on the Topfield) as a HV sync for the RGB signal. Thus there is no need for an active converter.

hornblower

Sorry, don't know what you mean by that. Just what connections does that use?

I'd be happy to try anything if it means avoiding the $130 convertor and gives me a less colour saturated result.

This will only work if the screen accepts an RGBs type signal, not many do.......

If it has SCART input you might have a chance.

EDIT: just checked the Hitachi website, none of the plasmas accept an RGBs type signal....

Thanks for checking Peter, so we are back to the Jaycar convertor - yes???

Chask,

How do you have foxtel connected? Does it share the Component via the Toppy's passthru?

If the Toppy is the only device connected to the Component port then you may simply be able to adjust the colour levels on the Component input port.
(Most screens have discrete settings for each port)

Another way is to connect the toppy via Svideo which will solve the colour saturation problems but you will suffer a slight loss in signal quality.....

Or if the Foxtel shares the Componnet then run the Foxtel by Svideo and adjust the Component as decribed above.

What is the model number of your Hitachi screen?

Hope this helps,
Peter

Just to be clear, earlier on, you were comparing the same SD channels with the Topfield vs the AusID rather than SD on the Toppy vs HD on the AusID? That makes your OP much more believable.


Try this link for the connections

Hi Chask,

Is your Toppy one of the early ones? If so, I'd be calling Jai from Topfield and telling him that your bitterly disappointed in the saturation seen on the component output to your plasma, as there was a simple modification which replaced a capacitor to correct this and I think he would repair this out of warranty as it was a known fault.

Markus.

No the Hitachi doesn't allow for that (Idon't think) - but in any case I also have my DVD conneceted via component and don't want to adjust that colour

Brilliant!!! That is the obvious answer which I should have thought of. Have just tried that and the colour is now excellent and very little noticable difference in picture quality in terms of clarity. Thank You!!!

Its the 42PD7800AT. Has 2 RGB connections - one used for the LG HD STB (DVI), 1 HDMI - not used, 2 component connections - one used for the DVD, and 2 composite, one with s-video - now used for the Toppy. Also has a pc type connection covering USB and composite with S-Video.


Sure did, many thanks.

Markus, Thanks for that suggestion, I'll do that.

Not sure how old the Toppy is. I only boought it a cupla months ago, but who knows how long it was the Myers storeroom. I had to download at least 2 lots of firmware upgrades.

Is Jai easily contactable by phone, or will an e-mail work be as effective?

phone phone and phone again

hornblower

PS He is usually pretty good.

Must admit that apart from the Fuji Plasma the Toppy has been the only new toy Ive bought which does what is supposed to do.
Im a happy little camper.