Archive for June 29th, 2009
HDFury, Mitsubishi VS-60111 and Monoprice.com
Many CRT based HD Rear Projection TV(RPTV) such as the Mitsubishi VS-60111 were make before the HDMI days with only component video inputs. The problems is those stupid and greedy studios are not allow DVD player makers to upscale the video content sending out through component output. Anything more than 480P has to go through the HDMI output with HDCP handshake! While we believe these greedy studios have infringed our rights as customers to view what we have been paid for with best possible result, the reality is those of us with old component input only HDTV are out of luck.
One solution of course is to buy a new TV but this is a waste when the old TV still works ok. We also have seen some people claimed that since the DVD contents are 480P to begin with and the TV has built-in upscaler so taking 480P output via component video is no worse than getting upscale output from the DVD player. Well, to some TV with good built-in upscaler, that may be true but not for ones like the Mitsubishi VS-60111. We have tried a few DVD from oversea that are without the stupid HDCP restrictions, the 1080i upscale result from either the Oppo 980 or the long discounted Toshiba A3 HD DVD player are far superior than viewing the 480P output on the VS-60111.
In search of a solution, we came across this HDFury. The original HDFury will take a DVI input and convert it to RGB output and also provided the needed HDCP handshake to allow up to 1080P signal to pass from the player to TV. A newer version called HDFury 2 takes HDMI connection instead of DVI and output to either RGB or YUV instead of RGB only. The HDFury 2 supposedly also has a whole bunch of new features over the original version but also cost about $100 more. Reading posts from various forums seems clear that people from the main reseller of HDFury or HDFury 2 here in US subtlety and not so subtlety implied that one not only should buy HDFury 2 but more importantly should but either one from them, the curtplame.com.
The problem is at $199-$299 price tag that people at curtpalme.com wants for HDFury 2, it is about 1/5 of new 52” LCD TV’s price. One has to wonder about demising returns. Is it worth it or better save up for a new TV. Upon further search on the net, we found another retailer monoprice.com for the HDFury. Their price is about $50 cheaper than curtplame.com. While people at curtplame.com will more than eagerly to point out that their version of HDFury 2 came with power supply adapter while others don’t. But extra $50 for a $5 power supply? Now people at curtplame.com will also point out the extra service they provide, but the bottom line is at $299 or even $199, they have priced themselves out of consideration.
Even after we decided to give monprice.com a try, we still have to decide which version to order. monoprice.com was selling the HDFury for $58.90 and the HDFury 2 for $148. Although from the price stand point of view, HDFury is a no brainer, but they are other considerations. If your TV only has YUV component video input, then the piratical option is limited to HDFury 2 only. But since the VS-60111 has both RGB and YUV input option, the RGB output is actually preferred and so this is not an issue for us. The most important factor in making the choice is the compatibility between the Mitsubishi TV and HDFury. It seems Mitsubishi TVs are very picky about timing signal and was sent from HDFury. Many people have suffered an image left shift problem. A few even suffer both lift and up shift problem and HDFury 2 claimed solved this problem.
A second issue of the original HDFury is the output signal is not strong enough to drive long cable and may require bigger power draw from the DVI connector and thus more likely needs the external power supply than the HDFury 2.
With these considerations, we thought just on the safe side may be we should try the HDFury 2. But just when we are ready to order, mononprice.com ran out of HDFury 2! While we can wait for the new supply to come in, we thought since monoprice.com has a 21 days return period, we might as well try out the HDFury. If it works great, we saved a bundle. If it doesn’t, we can also return it for the HDFury 2. There are three variant of the HDFury with different type of connection cable. For the VS-60111, we need the “Green” version with VGA to 5 BNC RGB connector cable. Since the Mitsubishi VS-60111 has RCA connectors instead of BNC, we also ordered five BNC to RCA adapters from monoprice.com at only $0.55 a piece. Although we already have a 10ft VGA to 5 RCA RGB cable, since it was stated HDFury can not drive cable longer than the included one, we decided we should stick with the included one using BNC to RCA adapter connectors.
In order to connect multiple HDMI players to HDFury, we also need a HDMI switch. We got a refurbished monprice.com has a store branded 4×1 powered switch for only $20. Because the HDFury need to draw power from the HDMI devices, it is important to use powered switch. To connect the HDMI switch to HDFury, we need a HDMI to DVI cable and got a 28AWG 10 ft one from mononprice.com for $4.92. The two HDMI devices, the Toshbia A3 and Oppo 980 came with their own 6 ft. HDMI cable so we don’t really have to order HDMI cable but since monoprice.com has several choices at good prices, we order two different color ones just to see the quality.
Monoprice.com fulfilled and shipped the order in about one hour which is better than expected. When the package arrived is well packaged. The cable is of very good quality and one can easily spend 10x at BestBuy for the same type of cable. The HDMI switch almost looks like new and also packaged well. The color HDMI cables are about the same quality as the one included with Oppo, better than the one with Toshiba.
The same can not be said for the HDFury. It is packaged in the plastic blister package as shown on curtplame.com but what really surprise us is there is NO manual! The only instruction is at the back of the pack! Further more, there is NO sign of manufacture origin, NO regulatory such as FCC, CE approval AND there is even NO manufacturer’s name, NO phone number and NO address on the package!! One really has to wonder what kind of company is making this product and how safe it is or can it be legally sale in the US in the first place!
To try out, first connect the Toshiba A3 without the switch directly to HDFury and HDFury to TV. And it works! Add the HDMI switch in between the players and the HDFury, it still works! While the image does have a slight left shift, it is more like left side over scan than sift as there is NO black bar on the right as some people has seen. Without telling, most of people would not even notice such overscan so we will just going to leave it as is.
Switching between the two players using the switch’s remote is easy. The TV’s screen will flash a second or two as it needs to re-sync with the source but that is expected. There is NO need to use external power supply. If you need one, the mini plug is the same size as some Samsung Bluetooth headset’s power supply.
Image quality is good and about the same as using component upscale for none HDCP DVD and we are happy. Total cost of the project is $86.57 plus tax and shipping. Not bad to give the old TV a few more years of life.
Buy HD Fury from Amazon
