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Post by Deleted on Jan 17, 2016 2:09:13 GMT
I have an offer to pick one up at a good price. Is this DVE a different piece of hardware than the Upgrader? My plan is to run mc extreme to upgrader to 4k TV. Where does the DVE link in this train? Thank you.
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Post by Rick in NWArk on Jan 17, 2016 17:00:22 GMT
Hey Nick, I'm not sure what you mean by the DVE.
Do you mean the HDMI upscaler? Or do you mean the MCV-1-E Video Frame Grabber with VDVE?
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Post by Deleted on Jan 17, 2016 17:22:24 GMT
Upscaler. Dope slap! It's an older piece of mallincam hardware. Supposed to help with contrast i.e. blacker skies. Since I am not using a computer I will give it go.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 17, 2016 19:02:18 GMT
Upscaler. Dope slap! It's an older piece of mallincam hardware. Supposed to help with contrast i.e. blacker skies. Since I am not using a computer I will give it go. It darkened the background but also removed a bit of the fine detail. Some liked them some didn't, all a mater of preference. It seems that the jet black background has fallen out of favor. I could care less about the background as long as the object I am viewing is as good as the circumstances will allow.
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Post by Rick in NWArk on Jan 18, 2016 22:16:34 GMT
I have both the Upscaler (http://www.mallincam.net/miscellaneous-accessories.html#ma02) and the MCV-1-E (http://www.mallincam.net/miscellaneous-accessories.html#ma15).
The Upscaler takes an S-Video or Composite input from your video camera and up-converts it to 1080p resolution over the HDMI output. I've used it twice and was not impressed either time. It supposedly makes the colors more vivid but what I saw was a lot of blurring and stretching. Been telling myself I need to get it back out and fiddle with it more to try to get better results, but I just haven't had the time.
I'm very happy with my MCV-1-E grabber. I use the DVE (the little black knob you can turn) too and it works pretty well to produce a dark black background to make the colors pop. This only works with the S-Video stream, however.
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Post by Dragon Man on Jan 19, 2016 11:34:24 GMT
Rick, what Nick means by the DVE (Digital Video Enhancer) is one of these: They are illegal in Australia. I think I bought the last one before they were all pulled off the shelves
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Post by Rick in NWArk on Jan 19, 2016 15:14:40 GMT
Cool... never seen that product before.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 19, 2016 18:56:15 GMT
They are illegal in Australia. I think I bought the last one before they were all pulled off the shelves That stirred up some long unused neurons. I seem to recall those things were originally made to allow people to copy the old copy protected VCR movies. That's why they were illegal. To make a long story short they stripped out all but what the unit believed to be picture information. That included very small signal changes that we often see as electronic noise. Unfortunately it also took the fainest detail with it. Not really noticeable when Arnie blew up all the bad guys but to some it took out a little too much.
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Post by ChrisV on Jan 20, 2016 12:52:18 GMT
So does the box just enhance contrast, and set the black level of video signals ?
Are they useful for eaa ? I have a few at work. Could borrow one for a few days. Might be interesting
Chris
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Post by Dragon Man on Jan 20, 2016 13:05:21 GMT
Yes Chris. The box was designed originally so people could copy Videos that are copy protected (Disney mainly, but some other too), and were easily available. Here in Australia they were advertised only as Video 'enhancers' to get around the copyright laws prohibiting them from being used to copy protected videos.
But the Telecommunications Authority caught on and banned them. I got Jaycars last one. I don't know how you'd go with customs by importing one of the ones from ebay, but they aren't worth having anyway. They don't help.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 20, 2016 20:23:01 GMT
So does the box just enhance contrast, and set the black level of video signals ? Are they useful for eaa ? I have a few at work. Could borrow one for a few days. Might be interesting Chris I think you will be further ahead with on the fly processing. I get very good results with stacking. I push my cameras to the point that the image is quite noisy then let the software clean it up. Technically not video any longer but what is the difference between video of a stationary object or a screen shot of the same video? Dark subtraction takes out amp glow if it gets bothersome. I don't bother with making darks at every session. I have a set of darks and chose the one that is the closest in appearance. Thr results vary but generally the amp glo is reduced enough for my satisfaction.
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Post by ChrisV on Jan 24, 2016 22:33:25 GMT
Definitely ! I tried my contrast enhancer. Wasn't great.
I've tried stacking and dark subtracting with astrotoaster but can only do it posthoc. I can't control my camera (Rev Imager) and frame grab automatically etc, so have to manually grab shots when each is taken.
Maybe i need to upgrade cameras !!!
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Post by Dragon Man on Jan 25, 2016 9:21:23 GMT
. . . . I can't control my camera (Rev Imager) and frame grab automatically etc, so have to manually grab shots when each is taken. Maybe i need to upgrade cameras !!! I don't understand what you mean Chris. What is it you can't do with the camera? Software should allow you to have complete control over the Video settings: Brightness/contrast/hue/saturation/sharpness etc etc, and the remote control should give you control over every aspect of the Camera: integration/white balance/stacking etc etc. Software should also allow you to take shots from the video.
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Post by ChrisV on Jan 25, 2016 11:33:35 GMT
I know I'm not being very clear - I rarely am !!! I'll try again. So far I've mainly being using just a monitor direct from the camera. It has control over all the stuff you mention. Occasionally I've also hooked up to a computer and been frame grabbing to stack them, and to keep them for posterity. I was watching one of your sessions on the mallincam doing the hdr stacking. The software was automatically grabbing the frames and then stacking them. I suppose that's the advantage of something like the mallincam which has integrated software. To do software stacking i have to manually grab individual frames when the camera updates each pic and then get the software to stack the frames later. No great problem - just your setup looked like a nice smooth operation. I suppose eventually I'll upgrade cameras (in terms of camera and software). In the meantime I'll learn how to get the most or of what i have, and stop having a whinge. . . . . I can't control my camera (Rev Imager) and frame grab automatically etc, so have to manually grab shots when each is taken. Maybe i need to upgrade cameras !!! I don't understand what you mean Chris. What is it you can't do with the camera? Software should allow you to have complete control over the Video settings: Brightness/contrast/hue/saturation/sharpness etc etc, and the remote control should give you control over every aspect of the Camera: integration/white balance/stacking etc etc. Software should also allow you to take shots from the video.
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Post by Dragon Man on Jan 25, 2016 13:19:19 GMT
Ahhhh OK Chris, now I see what you mean.
Yes, you will need a camera that is controlled by the computer (Mallincam Xtreme and Xterminator) to use the HDR feature.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 25, 2016 17:56:02 GMT
To do software stacking i have to manually grab individual frames when the camera updates each pic and then get the software to stack the frames later. If you have a bit of programming knowledge or want to learn take a look at an app called AutoHotKey. It is a Macro based programming language that allow you to control other programs. You could write a simple script that recognizes when a new image has been loaded then automatically saves it to a folder that is monitored by DeepSkyStacker Live. The app is very easy to use and is free. It can also do some very serious work if you want it to. I use it to automate MaximDL, Mallincam Software (Xtreme/Xterminator and Universe) and DeepSkyStacker Live. That combination of software is like Miloslick on steroids.
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Post by ChrisV on Jan 25, 2016 23:12:35 GMT
Thanks. I'll have a look at that.
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