CED VideoDisc and Player Discussion

[Rixrex]

I have a few of the B-stock (overstock) Hitachi AVC08U HD Up-converter/HD Tuner units and am selling what I don't keep for myself. I made a listing for the CED Magic classifieds:

http://www.epage.com/js/browse/c1064/b1064/r31118/?cat=1000&c=1064&b=1064&r=0

The reason I put these here is because they are great for converting both CED and Laserdisc (or VHS & Beta) to HD levels for the newer TV sets, and convert these vintage devices' video and sound to HDMI output, and give you a good aspect ration selection. The up-converted video is really of a very good quality. They're also good as a switcher.

They convert these by using either composite video/audio or ANALOG TV RF signaL output through Channels 3 or 4, as the unit also has a built in combo analog/digital tuner. So you can use the older CED or videotape units that don't have video out, only RF out. I lile this device as much as my way more expensive DVDO unit.

[Rixrex]

I got several emails all asking the same basic questions, generally wanting to know what this converter does and why get it. So let me put a post here that may help to explain.

The Hitachi unpconvertors take the analog video signal (and audio too) and change it into a digital signal. There are 5 inputs for analog video, two composite, two component and one RF (which accepts analog and digital signals both, as it has tuners for analog and digital, plus a cable/satellite tuner), they do such things as practically eliminate dot crawl, diminish jagged edges, reduce rainbow effect and color bleeding, eliminate the 3:2 pulldown shudder effect, etc. These also have the added feature of piping the audio through the HDMI as well, whether it's mono, stereo or 5.1 dolby surround, or alternately letting you use its optical audio output. They can also take the digitized signal and give it a wide variety of aspect ratio choices while maintaining the same scan line resolution.

This is the only upconverter I've seen that can do this with an analog RF channel 3 or 4 input, making it useful for the CED players that only have RF out. Also, the RF audio will be converted to 2 channel audio and sent through the HDMI or optical out.

They also have 3 HDMI inputs, so they work well as a switcher too. This means you can have 8 devices passing through the unit, 5 analog and 3 HDMI. You could also piggyback on the RF input to add more devices there, as was done in the old days when your TV had one RF input only. The HDMI output is your choice of HD for 720p/1080i or full 1080p HD.

Again, they are only good for Plasma or LCD/LED sets with an HDMI input. Hope this helps.