Optimizing 3D's potential using Darbee Video Processors

[i007spectre]

It's $129 at Monoprice.

[Joe D.]

Originally Posted by i007spectre

It's $129 at Monoprice.

Shucks, with my bonus points, still paid ten dollars more.

But it is worth the investment. If one is happy with his or her set, this might very well be the compromise between that and a new 4K one. Cannot give a guess as to the increased resolution but it's there, for sure.

BTW, 007,

Whose going to play you in the next film?

[Joe D.]

Second update.

Did not realize default was set at five percent increments rather than one percent so fooling around a bit. Increased from 60 to 68 Fine tuning helped. . Found my "custom" mode setting with this is perfect for all my video options including DVD so no longer need to switch picture mode on set. Gather THX optimizer on DVD not efficient when up converted from 480p which I experimented with using another of.my set's picture modes.

Initial set user settings do have profound affects on the darbee so not to change them.

[evoll]

Would super resolution setting on oleds or sonys do the same thing as this darbee?

[Joe D.]

Originally Posted by evoll

Would super resolution setting on oleds or sonys do the same thing as this darbee?

Hi evoll,

These are from the darbee q and a page:

How is DVP different from a contrast filter, color enhancer, or sharpener?

DVP does not affect the image in a global fashion and will not cause most of the typical image artifacts and degradations that are common to contrast, color, or sharpening filters. DVP will not change the gamma, and will not ring edges. DVP conditionally modifies the luminance of individual pixels. It never changes the hue of a color, although it may modify the chroma saturation to follow luminance changes appropriately (so that red does not become pink, for instance).


Should I have my equipment calibrated before or after I install the DVP 5000S?

Calibrate and then add the DVP 5000S. The DVP 5000S will not affect your color, brightness, contrast, or gamma settings for the calibration.

http://www.darbeevision.com/faq/#

Hope this helps. I do see a difference as others do. If curious, purchase from a site that gives you ample time to return it for a full refund with no restocking fees or questions asked. Also use free shipping for shipping charges might not be refundable.

[Jbug]

Good news for 3D fans but now I'm wondering if it works with video games.

[Joe D.]

Originally Posted by Jbug

Good news for 3D fans but now I'm wondering if it works with video games.

Hi Jbug,

From their q&a section:

"Gaming Mode provides a stronger enhancement and fairly strong artifact suppression. It's great for clean computer-generated video, such as games and animated movies."

Hey, if anyone is interested, my setting is now at 61 as I'm getting more used to its precision enhancing. The detail remains but able to not overdo it with grain which 68 did. Best way to determine this is to compare turning it on and off to see if increased detail is accompanied by grain or harshness. At 61, it isn't. Darbee also says consensus is 60.

[evoll]

I may pick this up from crutchfield since I have about $50 in points to put towards it. Just curious to see how it looks compared to using the oppo with +1 sharpness.

[Paul H]

Originally Posted by nycomet

(I believe forum member Paul H daisy chains FOUR Darbees in his set-up!).

My eyes perceive more contrast and a sharper image. It might be an illusion, but to me it brings the quality of the viewing experience up a few notches.

Agreed, Very True!
Actually, I have two sets of four Darblets that I use for different setups.

Originally Posted by evoll

Would super resolution setting on oleds or sonys do the same thing as this darbee?

Could be wrong, but I think "Super resolution" on the LG OLED expands the 4K up-conversion processes to resolve two 1080P image Views, not just a 2D image. The increase in detail seems very effective.

Originally Posted by evoll

Just curious to see how it looks compared to using the oppo with +1 sharpness.

The Darblet increases visual dynamics at individual pixel levels. The enhancement builds from the individual pixel, inside out, not the other way around.

When using four DVP-5000 Darblets in daisy chain, it compounds the dynamics using very low settings. Artifacts only become noticeable trying to get the same results from one unit.

[i007spectre]

Bought one this past weekend. Says it wont be delivered until Saturday though.

[Joe D.]

Originally Posted by i007spectre

Bought one this past weekend. Says it wont be delivered until Saturday though.

Hi 007,

Blessed is the one who waits......

Congratulations. I think you'll notice a difference. Keep your set calibrations as they are now. Let me know what you think of it.

Joe

[infiniteCR]

Hooah, never saw one of these before. I'm joining the party and just ordered one

[Joe D.]

Hi Althus, Everret, NY Comet, Paul H. and anyone else who might own the Darbee or are thinking of it.

Recently replaced my remaining James Bond films with blu ray editions (got cheap, used copies on sale, of course). "Goldeneye" was the last one caught up with, last night. I knew there were problems with the disc from reading blu-ray.com's review:

"GoldenEye, unlike just about every other film in Bond 50 collection, has been given a moderate-to-heavy dose of digital noise reduction in most scenes, freezing grain, smearing it into an unnaturally smooth patina, and occasionally giving the actors' faces that distinct wax figure look. Along with the DNR, you'll be able to spot the side effects of edge enhancement, an artificial sharpening process that has a tendency to ring hard lines with black or white halos."

Could the Darbee help?

Yes. It eliminated a lot of the "wax" type effect in faces. Easily saw the more pronounced appearance of blemishes, cysts, wrinkles on the forehead, razor burn, etc. on Pierce Brosnan. At the same time, though not eliminating them, there was also no increase in the halos and the harshness caused by edge enhancement (while with the accompanying better detail they were less noticeable).

blu-ray.com concluded:

"And clarity, though inherently hampered by the noise reduction—which essentially blurs out grain, removing fine detail in the process—is much tighter in high definition. I'm not sure exactly what happened here—why the film has been treated so callously compared to the other Bond movies—but there is a decent upgrade in picture quality here for those who can live with the DNR."

I agree about the loss of detail, however, the Darbee did seem to restore some of it.

[infiniteCR]

Monoprice got this to me in 2 days. I am impressed! I tried it out on some 2d and I like it. I think this will really help the 3D mode out. Leaving it at the recommended 60 for now.

[Joe D.]

Originally Posted by infiniteCR

Monoprice got this to me in 2 days. I am impressed! I tried it out on some 2d and I like it. I think this will really help the 3D mode out. Leaving it at the recommended 60 for now.

Hi Infinite,

So glad. This means not having to worry about popping out of your 3D set cause I pushed you into buying a lemon!

I've had mine set at 61 but found there are times it needed to be readjusted due to the original source material.

For example, They did a wonderful job restoring the original 1932 King Kong on DVD, however, I read even the blu-ray could not eliminate the grain. When I put in on, the picture was too harsh at 61 with the grain heavily pronounced. Lowering the darbee to 44 (Hank Aaron LOL) eliminated the extra grain and harshness while retaining the added sharpness, detail, black level, etc.

On the other hand, was able to increase the darbee to 74 for DVD copies of Star Wars III and Les Miserables (the movie, not the 20th anniversary concert) because they are top notch DVD quality while older releases of films circa 1960 like Journey To The Center Of The Earth and The Time Machine looked best at the 61 level.

Of course, it really does the job on blu-ray and high definition cable. After getting used to how well the darbee functions, I think I'm better able to discern the finely detailed differences between even the slightest of increments. So this morning I also lowered my setting slightly to 57. You might find it will take a while before settling in on a general setting, changing it only for certain source material, like the examples I cited above.

Again, glad you are impressed. You will find that the enhanced picture will carry over to 3D making it a more impressive experience as well and perhaps causing you to again watch some films you just recently saw.

And after a while you will become so used to the increased detail that you will be turning your darbee off just to see if it is still working!

[i007spectre]

Originally Posted by infiniteCR

Monoprice got this to me in 2 days. I am impressed! I tried it out on some 2d and I like it. I think this will really help the 3D mode out. Leaving it at the recommended 60 for now.

You must have paid for two day shipping. Mine won't be in till Saturday.

[Paul H]

I'm finding when playing 1080P 3D on the LG EG9600 UHD that artifacts become very noticeable (and irritating) when the Darbee is set at higher levels. It doesn't take much to achieve results when the image is already unconverted to 4K and the "Super Resolution" feature is turned on and set to High.
Best results I see are when four Darblets are daisy-chained, and all set at a low #9. The first in the Chain set @ HD to 9, the two in the middle set at Full-Pop to 9, and the last in the chain set at Gaming to 9. The combination enhances (clarifies) the 3D detail with absolutely no noticeable artifacting.

[Joe D.]

Originally Posted by Paul H

I'm finding when playing 1080P 3D on the LG EG9600 UHD that artifacts become very noticeable (and irritating) when the Darbee is set at higher levels. It doesn't take much to achieve results when the image is already unconverted to 4K and the "Super Resolution" feature is turned on and set to High.
Best results I see are when four Darblets are daisy-chained, and all set at a low #9. The first in the Chain set @ HD to 9, the two in the middle set at Full-Pop to 9, and the last in the chain set at Gaming to 9. The combination enhances (clarifies) the 3D detail with absolutely no noticeable artifacting.

Hi Paul,

Obviously do not have the set-up you do. But now that I am visually getting used to what the darbee can do, am finding it easier to visually differentiate between the desired level of improved detail and too high a setting leading to the slight creation of grain and slightly too harsh a picture. What's great is a noticeable increase in natural detail being quite evident even at too soft a setting - long before there is even a hint of added grain.

For my purposes, know that 44 is the absolute minimum but still on the fence regarding 57 or 61 being too high. Though tempting, learned not to base settings on any one source but rather a 1080p test pattern because some source material could be naturally too soft while others could be too harsh and thus one could easily be fooled.

Well, at least I know I'm getting there.

[evoll]

Originally Posted by Paul H

I'm finding when playing 1080P 3D on the LG EG9600 UHD that artifacts become very noticeable (and irritating) when the Darbee is set at higher levels. It doesn't take much to achieve results when the image is already unconverted to 4K and the "Super Resolution" feature is turned on and set to High.
Best results I see are when four Darblets are daisy-chained, and all set at a low #9. The first in the Chain set @ HD to 9, the two in the middle set at Full-Pop to 9, and the last in the chain set at Gaming to 9. The combination enhances (clarifies) the 3D detail with absolutely no noticeable artifacting.

Do you use super resolution with the darbee or turn it off?

[Paul H]

Originally Posted by evoll

Do you use super resolution with the darbee or turn it off?

Super Resolution is set to High when watching 3D, keeping it on when the Darblet's are attached and set at very low settings of 9, for clear reproduction, no noticeable artifacts, and producing a mirror-like window ora (glow?), giving me an experience of detail visualization of volume that looks remarkably real as though I'm looking through a window on the production.