Specifications

Bob Stuart answers Questions about the Meridian 800 V3
Page 5
19 What about PAL and NTSC?
800 will play discs authored in PAL or NTSC. If you select Auto TV standard in the Video
Settings menu then 800 will play the disc in its native format.
20 Does the 800 convert PAL to NTSC and vice-versa?
If your display doesn’t support PAL or NTSC then the 800 has a translation feature that allows
you to enjoy the movie. You can enable this in the Video Settings menu or from the front
panel. However there are some limitations in the handling of menu overlays and it is better if
the display device can handle both formats.
21 Does 800 have a progressive output?
Yes. We provide Progressive output as an option because Progressive analogue video
outputs are not optimal for every installation. The VE10 option card provides what is probably
the industry’s best progressive output by combining Meridian’s advanced video processing,
state-of-the-art conversion and analogue stages with a special implementation of the DCDi
technology from Faroudja. Progressive is available for NTSC signals. See Qs 23 and 24.
22 Does 800 have a digital video output?
There are no definite plans because of current copy protection restrictions. When a high-
quality industry standard has been agreed both for players and display devices we will make
a suitable output card available as a plug-in option.
23 Are there plans to offer video scaling?
Not at the moment. Currently content copy protection rules imposed on DVD-Video prevents
the use of more than 480 active video lines in any non-interlaced format. This means that
both progressive for PAL and scaling are still under review.
24 Why not always provide progressive outputs from a player like 800?
Video is not always stored in progressive form on DVD. A large amount of material originates
from, or contains, interlaced material. Therefore to provide a progressive output the player
needs to provide processing which, in some cases, risks degrading the image. As with all
high-end issues there can be a trade-off.
800 provides direct access to the original interlaced material on its Component outputs with
extremely high-quality. Through our low-noise and carefully optimised analogue sections we
ensure the highest quality result on those – often highly developed – display devices or video
processors that support it. Examples include outboard line doublers, scalers and of course
SCART-based displays (which are optimum in the interlaced domain).
From a system viewpoint you may prefer to gather all video sources in the interlaced domain
(as Component or as NTSC) and route them through a common scaler, deinterlacer or
display device.
800 comes fitted with a very high performance video encoder and by providing an interlaced
output we are giving the very best shot to state-of-the-art outboard processors.
Of course we recognise that many display devices do perform better with a Progressive input
and there are obvious advantages to providing an internal digital connection between the
MPEG decoder and an on-board deinterlacer. This is the reason we developed the VE10
Progressive output card.