Meridian Audio VP-400-A Owners manual

The Faroudja

VP400A/VP400AU Video Processor

A Technical Overview

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HISTORY

Faroudja Laboratories, located in northern Califor­nia’s Silicon Valley, was founded in 1971 by Yves
and Isabell Faroudja to develop state-of-the-art
video processing technology. Over the last 20
years, Faroudja Laboratories and its companion
R&D center, Faroudja Research, have indeed devel­oped hundreds of advanced electronic processes
to improve video enhancement, noise reduction
and NTSC encoding/ decoding technologies. Many
of these processes are used under license by
the world’s leading electronics companies in a
wide range of high performance video products.
Faroudja professional video equipment is also
currently hard at work in hundreds of television
studios. Thus Faroudja technology is utilized and
enjoyed in millions of American homes every day.

Yves Faroudja has devoted his career and his com­pany to the goal of enabling home video systems to
achieve the image quality of 35mm motion pictures.
In pursuit of this goal, Faroudja Labs has made use
of techniques from Faroudja professional video
equipment and incorporated these in the LD200,
VP250 line doublers and VP400A/VP400AU Video
Processors.

This booklet will provide the reader with a hands­on look at the VP400A, its operation and benefits.

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Also supplied is an overview of the proprietary tech­nologies utilized in this extraordinary device and an
explanation of the visual improvements it provides
in home video playback systems.

First, before we discuss the VP400A, let’s take a
quick look at the history of the current television
standard. Today’s 525 line TV picture standard was
actually developed in the 1940’s when broadcasts
were only in black and white. Keep in mind that
back then, the transistor had not yet been invented!
In 1953, the National Television Systems Committee
(NTSC) adopted what is still the present method of
color TV broadcasting. It was designed to be fully
compatible with the older technology of black and
white transmission. Unfortunately, this need to main­tain compatibility with old technology led to
unavoidable compromises in NTSC picture quality.

Today, thanks to the advent of new thinking and
new technologies realized by industry pioneer Yves
Faroudja, these compromises can be nearly
eliminated. Faroudja’s unique approach focuses
on critical problem areas in the NTSC and PAL
broadcast format. With patented engineering and
design work, Yves and Faroudja Laboratories have
created an exceptional product that brings new lev­els of visual reality to the enjoyment of discerning
video enthusiasts around the world.

Some Video History and the Faroudja Approach

NOTE: For reasons of clairty, this overview has been written specifically for the VP400A.

This description applies as well to the VP400AU.

LICENSEES AND AWARDS

1987: SMPTE

DAVID SARNOFF GOLD MEDAL AWARD

for

“Contributing in Optimizing NTSC Performances”

1988: MONITOR AWARD

for

“Excellence in Engineering

NTSC Encoders and Decoders”

1989: BM/E AWARD

for

“Excellence in Engineering”

1991: Technology Executive of the Year

from Cable TV Business

1991: EMMY

from The National Academy

of Television Arts and Sciences

for

“Techniques for Minimization of NTSC Artifacts

Through Advanced Encoding Techniques”

1992: VIDEO GRAND PRIX AWARD

Audio/Video International

LD100 Line Doubler “Advanced Technology Award”

1993: VIDEO MAGAZINE

Video Visionary

LD100 Line Doubler “10 Best Products”

1995: BROADCAST ENGINEERING AWARD

“Pick Hit” Award NAB Convention

VP400

1997: VISUAL GRAND PRIX AWARD

Audio Video Review Magazine (Japan)

LD200

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Licensees Around the World

Faroudja’s inventive approach to improving the qual­ity of video imaging has caught the eye of some of
the world’s greatest high technology companies.
The following list represents those that have recog­nized the value of Faroudja’s solutions to imaging
problems and pay for the opportunity to incorporate
this technology in their advanced video products (as
of April 1996):

Canon Microtime
Conrac Mitsubishi
General Instrument NAC
Grass Valley NEC
Hitachi Sanyo
Ikegami Sharp
JVC Sony
Matsushita (Panasonic) Toshiba

Awards and Achievements

Yves Faroudja and Faroudja Labs have garnered
worldwide recognition and a number of industry
awards. These honors are notable for several rea­sons. They are in response to the significant impact
that Faroudja’s technology has made on the serious
improvement of video quality. They are also a reflec­tion of his long term dedication to continually
improving and optimizing the performance of the
NTSC video format.

In chronological order, these awards and their spe­cific focus are listed including an EMMY in 1991 for
minimizing artifacts in the NTSC broadcast encod­ing process.

The Faroudja VP400A Video Processor is a preci­sion video instrument used to convert NTSC
Composite, Y/C, or 525 line RGB or Component
interlaced signals into 1050 line progressive outputs.
Using the VP400A Video Processor will produce
pictures with more details, remove unwanted picture
artifacts and, when used with projection systems,
produce pictures of exceptional quality, giving a
“cinema-like” feeling.

Front panel features include Power, Input Select
(Video, Y/C, RGB and Component), Brightness,
Contrast, Color, Auto-Tint, Noise Reduction, Detail,
Digital Filter and Freeze. Input switch settings are
memorized when the power is removed from the
unit. This allows the VP400A to be interfaced into a
system without the need to select the input when
the system is powered up. The remaining controls
may be left in factory preset or manually set by
pulling out and rotating the control until the desired
level is established.

Inputs to the VP400A include: Composite Video,
Y/C (S-VHS), RGB and Component (Y,R-Y,B-Y). The
Video input may be connected by either a BNC con­nection or a video RCA type connection. These
inputs are looped internally so that the signal may
be used by other devices. A selectable 75 Ohm ter­minator switch is provided and should be in the ON
position if the input loop is not used. The Y/C input
uses a standard 4 pin S-VHS connector. This input
is not available for a looped operation and is termi­nated internally. The RGB and Component inputs
use BNC connectors. As with the video input, these

inputs are loopable to other devices. Selectable 75
Ohm terminations are provided. If the looped inputs
are used, these cables should be kept short, (under
6' in length) or a video distribution amplifier should
be used. This allows the VP400A to keep the high­est signal bandwidth possible without having the
high frequency being attenuated in a long cable.

Output from the VP400A is provided on six BNC
connectors as well as one 15 pin ‘D’ connector. The
BNC outputs provided are Red, Green, Blue,
Horizontal Sync, Vertical Sync and Composite Sync.
Interface to monitors/projectors can be of a 4 or 5
wire connection. Note: 4 wire, meaning Red, Green,
Blue and Composite Sync or 5 wire, meaning Red,
Green, Blue, Horizontal Sync and Vertical Sync.
There is no sync present on the Green output. The
VP400A is capable of driving a monitor/projector
using the BNC outputs as well as a 15 pin ‘D’ con­nector, at the same time. The monitor and projector
have to scan at 62.94KHz Horizontal scan rate.

The VP400A features a RS-232 remote control
interface that will allow control of all line quadrupler
functions. The remote control uses a 25 pin female
‘D’ connector located on the rear panel. See appen­dix A for further information.

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SYSTEM DESCRIPTION

VP400A/400AU