Something for your "wish-list"

[Amukidi]

I've just done a cracking gig at the BBC, where I got to play with 11 big Sony plasma screens and a huge pile of other "no expense spared goodies!!! The bit of kit that I came away lusting after was a Sony 1024 scan converter! These babies cost 1500 - 2000 pounds sterling (the cost of a lappy) but once bought, you will never want for more! They take about 20 seconds to set up, and although they are not full broadcast quality, I challenge you to tell the difference. As ***** warned, I had to tone down the out-put, as the Sony screens are BRIGHT, even in a well lit white environment. I was mixing Video with my Flash animations, and as the output quality was sooooo high, I was able to get some wonderfully subtle texture going, far beyond what I am used to. I'm gonna get one of these muthas before I buy anything else. As most of my gigs involve projectors, it will give me more flexibility of image to play with. I believe they cost about 115 pounds to hire - trust me, try one out!!

[dronkie]

Well, I must agree with you that the DSC-1024 is one of the best scanconverters ever made. Though you have to know 'em (they yend to fuck up from time to time) there's no machine so usefull as that one. Every VJ or vidiot should have one in his toolbox.

HOWEVER !!! it has some disadvantages. As there are : the video processing. If you scale up from video to let's say 800x600, it's usefull that you can do it, but it's far from as nice as some of the modern scalers. Of course, I don't care, because the machine permits you to do whatever you want. Nevertheless, video to PC = not so nice. Another disadvantage is the fact that most of the settings are to be made through an on-screen menu. Pretty messy if you want to revert to settings you noted before. And the last disadvantage is the fact that from time to time, they tend to 'stall'. Just switch it on/off, and it's back on the road again, but it's not funny during a gig...

So ... Please don't misundertand me : I really adore the machine.
But Beware : they are no longer being made !!! Boohoo ... for some strange reason, Sony stopped producing this thingy. No-one understands, but every machine is gone, and they don't continue it anymore. So if you want one : you'll have to find one secondhand, and whoever has one, doesn't want to sell it.

So I started looking for a

[dronkie]

... Looking for an alternative. And for years, there was NO answer whtsoever to the needs of someone with a 1024.
THAT IS : until Extron released a machine called the USP 405

For those who can't wait : here's the linl to the cross-ref table at extrons website.

http://www.extron.com/product/prodtype06.asp?step=4

It has been mainly designed to compete with the DSC-1024, and it pretty well does the trick. It overcomes the onscreen-display problem by having a small lcd display, the sizing and shifting capabilities is fantastic (believe me , I seen 'em do it!) as is the zoom-function, the video-processing and everything else. You can configure the machine with SDI - inputs, and most important : it's genlockable. So hook up you PC to any old school mixingtable with external genlocks (like a JVC KM-3000 component mixer or someting) and of you go. Also : the price is pretty cool. Originally, it was at around 5000 (!!!) euro's, but since ther's a big Boom of low-priced scanny's, they tend to lower their price by 50 % (!!!). I know 2500 ? is still a lot of money, but the machine is pretty fucking worth every cent ...

If you have further questions, mail me ...

Dronkie

[Amukidi]

Thanks for that info and link dronkie - bummer about the Sony being out of production! I notice that the bigger plasmas have a scanny built in now!!! The Extron products do look the bollocks tho - cant seem to find any "where or how to buy" section on the site, but it is early!! I don't think 2000 euros is too out of order, considering that this bit of kit os not prone to going out of date - a good scanny should out-live any projector!