Extron video scaler

[shirsch]

Just wanted to let folks know about these gadgets. I've recently scored a handful of Extron RGB-HDMI 300A scalers on eBay for around $30 each. When new they were near $1k and state of the art for conversion of just about any RGB + H/V sync signal to HDMI (DVI w/ adapter). So far I've obtained great results with Apple //gs (nominal 15KHz horizontal) and, to my joy, a Corvus Concept (35KHz H) that has a very non-standard video out. Getting full utility out of them requires a Windows-based application talking to an RS232 port. The company is not interested in communicating with, or helping, owners of secondhand units, but if anyone has questions or is looking for the software, just PM me.

[maxtherabbit]

I have one too and love it. Curious what you thought was so essential about interfacing it serially with the PC. I did update the firmware on mine for giggles but it was just fine before that too

[shirsch]

I have one too and love it. Curious what you thought was so essential about interfacing it serially with the PC. I did update the firmware on mine for giggles but it was just fine before that too

I found it easier to tweak settings from the PC while watching the unobstructed display. But, more importantly, you cannot save a truly complete preset without issuing serial commands. It's sort of glossed over in the manual, but the three 'user' presets accessible from the on-screen dialog do not capture the specific input settings - only the mapping between input scan frequency and output. With the Corvus this was particularly annoying and I had to reenter 90% of the information on the input settings page every time. There is a second set of memory locations that captures 100% of the parameters and recalls them automatically. They call these 'input' presets and they are only available by talking over RS232. You could issue them from a terminal program using the documented syntax in the manual, but it's a one-click operation if you are talking to it from the control software already. This is discussed on p 19 of the manual.

[maxtherabbit]

I found it easier to tweak settings from the PC while watching the unobstructed display. But, more importantly, you cannot save a truly complete preset without issuing serial commands. It's sort of glossed over in the manual, but the three 'user' presets accessible from the on-screen dialog do not capture the specific input settings - only the mapping between input scan frequency and output. With the Corvus this was particularly annoying and I had to reenter 90% of the information on the input settings page every time. There is a second set of memory locations that captures 100% of the parameters and recalls them automatically. They call these 'input' presets and they are only available by talking over RS232. You could issue them from a terminal program using the documented syntax in the manual, but it's a one-click operation if you are talking to it from the control software already. This is discussed on p 19 of the manual.

Interesting, however in my use case I never had a problem saving screen positions through the OSD.

[shirsch]

Yes, the need to store specific low-level input settings is the exception, not the rule. The built-in memories probably cover 98% of the use cases. Trust me to own the other 2% .

[FishFinger]

How reliable is it at 15khz? The Extron website listing the specs says it only officially supports inputs down to 30khz. Upscaling old 8-bit computers would be my main use for something like this, so good 15khz support (and slightly out of spec video) is essential.

[RedskullDC]

Hi All,

I have a couple of Extron DVS304 units here (one is VGA out, the other DVI).

They will convert almost any input to almost anything else.

You can pick them up cheaply on Ebay since most TV stations have gone 4K now.

Cheers,
Red

[shirsch]

How reliable is it at 15khz? The Extron website listing the specs says it only officially supports inputs down to 30khz. Upscaling old 8-bit computers would be my main use for something like this, so good 15khz support (and slightly out of spec video) is essential.

It seems to work fine with my Apple //gs. That's 15.something kHz. It's possible that some aspect of the conversion (color trueness?) may suffer a bit at lower scan rates, but the conversion logic has no trouble producing a stable output. When I get some time, I'm going to try it on one of my Amigas and see if it handles some of the wackier video standards that box emits.

[Hugo Holden]

I have a question about the Extron Scaler:

I notice on some of the models, that they have two control knobs, with what look like width and height symbols, which indicate that you may be able to independently control the aspect ratio of the image in both the width and height ? Is that the case and if it is, does that work with an HDMI input ?

[shirsch]

I have a question about the Extron Scaler:

I notice on some of the models, that they have two control knobs, with what look like width and height symbols, which indicate that you may be able to independently control the aspect ratio of the image in both the width and height ? Is that the case and if it is, does that work with an HDMI input ?

I'm only familiar with a single model that expects RGB + H/V Sync input. The scalar is certainly able to control aspect ratio for that type of video signal. If you have a particular model in mind you may be able to find user documentation on the web.