SAFETY INFORMATION IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS 1. Read these instructions. 2. Keep these instructions. 3. Heed all warnings. 4. Follow all instructions. 5. Do not use this apparatus near water. 6. Clean only with a dry cloth. 7. Do not block any ventilation openings. Install in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions.
ADDITIONAL SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS • To ensure maximum performance, please read this manual carefully. Keep it in a safe place for future reference • Install this unit in a cool, dry, clean place – away from windows, heat sources, sources of excessive vibration, dust, moisture and cold.
If any part of your system is missing or appears damaged, contact your dealer immediately. Before you start, please check that you have all of the following contents with you: 1. Crystalio II VPS3300/VPS3800 Video Processor 2. Backlit Crystalio II Remote Control 3. Mains power lead 4. Crystalio II Owner’s Guide 5.
TABLE OF CONTENTS Safety Information Important Safety Instructions Additional Safety Instructions Welcome 1. About Crystalio II Why do I need Crystalio II? Video Processing History Video Processing Technology Primer 2. Familiarizing yourself with Crystalio II Crystalio II Front Panel Crystalio II Rear Panel Remote Control 2.3.1 Main Crystalio II remote control...
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5. Crystalio II Configuration INPUT Sub-Menu IMAGE Sub-Menu OUTPUT Sub-Menu AUDIO Sub-Menu SYSTEM Sub-Menu 6. Front panel configuration Front panel LCD menu tree 5.1.1 Input Select 5.1.2 Input Port Configuration 5.1.3 Analog Input Adjust 5.1.4 Hide Input Source 5.1.5 Input Profile 5.2.1 Video Settings 5.2.2...
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7. Advanced OSD options HDMI Input Configuration Advanced Gamma Correction 7.2.1 User Defined Gamma Curve 7.2.2 R/G/B Individual Gamma Curve Y/C Delay Noise Reducer Smooth Scaling Faroudja Processor Chip Advanced Options 7.6.1 True Life 7.6.2 Film Bias 7.6.3 Film Detect Advanced Output Port Configuration 7.7.1 Voltage Pump...
1. ABOUT CRYSTALIO II With the huge success of Crystalio in past years, Pixel Magic Systems Ltd. is now proud to introduce an absolute must for any videophile passionate about their hi-performance home entertainment system: Crystalio II. It has been designed to deliver the most natural and artifact- free images with smooth motion, true colors and stunning detail that you have ever experienced.
VIDEO PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY PRIMER Crystalio II gets to the very heart of this problem by a combination of expert video engineering design from Pixel Magic together with the awesome power of the Gennum Visual Excellence Processing (VXP) image processor. Crystalio II is the first video processor on the market to use the latest Gennum VXP processor so, if you want to enjoy the benefit of the new benchmarks for video realism and processing flexibility, Crystalio II is your video processor of choice.
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FAROUDJA TECHNOLOGIES: DCDi ® DCDi ® eliminates the jaggedness that conventional up-converters cause to diagonal edges in ® video. DCDi ’s unique algorithm identifies all the moving edges in a scene and adjusts the angle of interpolation at each pixel so that the interpolation always follows the edge instead of crossing it, eliminating staircasing or jagged edge artifacts.
2. FAMILIARIZING YOURSELF WITH CRYSTALIO II CRYSTALIO II FRONT PANEL POWER button Press once to switch on; press once again to switch to standby. The status is shown by the power indicator LED. Caution: When Crystalio II is switched off, please wait for at least 10 seconds before switching it on again.
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FILM & 2:2 PULLDOWN indicator LEDs Film 2:2 Pulldown PASSTHRU indicator LED LCD Display The LCD display has 2 distinct modes see Status Display By default, the LCD displays the current status of Crystalio II, which includes the following information: •...
640x480, 848x480, 852x480, 854x480, 856x480, 1024x576, 800x600, 1280x720, 1024x768, 1280x768, 1360x768, 1366x768, 1368x768, 1400x788, 1280x1024, 1400x1050, 1600x1200, 1920x1080 HD-SDI/SD-SDI 1; HD-SDI/SD-SDI 2 VPS3800 Pro supports all HD-SDI formats; 480i, 576i, 480p, 576p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p24sf VPS3300 supports only SD-SDI formats; 480i, 576i Analog Component 1 Supports the following formats and resolutions: •...
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Component 3, Component 4 Support the following formats and resolutions: • Component Video YPbPr; 480i, 576i • RGBS (RGB with composite sync); 480i, 576i • 2 x Composite (CVBS) Video and 1 x S-Video; 480i, 576i AUDIO INPUT TERMINALS Digital Optical Coaxial 1;...
There are two remote controls; one for main Crystalio II functions and one for media player functions on Crystalio II model VPS3800 Pro (please refer to the Crystalio II Media Player User Guide for detailed information about the Media Player and the remote control).
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1 OSD group keys Keys for OSD operations are: • Menu - enters and exits the on-screen display (OSD) • Arrow keys: Up, Down, Left, Right - selects different items, or adjusts values • OK - confirms the selected item, or performs an action •...
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• Pressing Up arrow key will increase the numeric value by 1 • Pressing Down arrow key will decrease the numeric value by 1 • Pressing OK key confirms the numeric entry • Pressing the Back key will cancel the numeric value entered, and escape from the numeric entry box When in text entry box, pressing number keys enters the associated characters.
• Digital DVI • SDI (Serial Digital Interface) • HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) • HD-SDI (High Definition Serial Digital Interface. Model VPS3800 Pro only) Any analog or digital display device capable of accepting input in the form of: • Analog RGBHV •...
referred to as SVHS. 5 Composite - the most common and lowest performing video connection. TIPS: It is recommended that you try to bypass any internal processing in your source by choosing the output signal that matches the media type. For example, choose the interlaced output from your DVD player or standard definition set-top-box instead of the progressive (e.g.
4. BASIC SETUP CONFIGURE YOUR VIDEO SOURCE Even if your standard definition video source has the option to output progressive video (denoted by a number and then the letter ‘p’, for example 480p), for maximum results, it is recommended to disable such an option and select interlaced video mode instead (denoted by a number and then the letter ‘i’, for example 480i).
Press the Output remote control key and a mini menu selection list pops up. Select the output terminal via which your display device has been connected and press OK to confirm. Using the front panel control 1 Press OK button to start Main Menu 2 Select Output and choose Output Select 3 Choose output terminal to which your display device is connected 4 Press OK button to confirm...
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If viewing these images on a computer screen please use the zoom function in Adobe Acrobat Reader to properly view the differences between these images Video Test Pattern: Horizontal Line 50 Pixel Perfect Video Test Pattern: Vertical Line 50 Pixel Perfect Video Test Pattern: Pixel Magic Pixel Perfect TIP: If you think that you have set Crystalio II to your display's native resolution, yet the images above still don't appear...
4.6.2 OUTPUT 50HZ OR 60HZ AUTOMATICALLY If your display supports 50Hz input and can produce real 50Hz refresh rate video image*, it is better to configure Crystalio II to output 50Hz resolution when source video is 50Hz (i.e. PAL signal); and output 60Hz resolution when the source video is 60Hz (i.e. NTSC signal). This is because the output video will be perfectly smooth if the refresh rate of video image displayed is the same as that of the video source.
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• If you are not sure which video level is correct, leave it at the default setting. Or, if the picture is excessively dark or very washed out, try changing the HDMI output level to see which one looks the best Step 3: Calibrate the black level (brightness) of your display: •...
4.6.3.2 CALIBRATE THE VIDEO LEVEL AND COLOR BALANCE OF YOUR VIDEO SOURCES Once you have calibrated your display for correct video output levels and color balance, you don’t have to calibrate your video sources if they also have correct video level and color balance. But in practice, however, most of the video sources will still have some form of problem with video levels or color balance and we have to calibrate them one by one for perfect results.
Step 6: Repeat step 3 to step 5 until the brightness and contrast settings need not be changed, and R/G/B Offset and R/G/B Gain settings of the video source are satisfactory. Step 7: If the color balance of the video source still isn’t satisfactory after the R/G/B Offsets and Gains have been calibrated, use Crystalio II’s Advanced Gamma Correction* function to make further adjustments.
If your projector’s native output is 4:3 (e.g. some 1400x1050 LCOS projectors) and you are using an anamorphic lens to compress it to show a 16:9 image, you need to configure the Screen Shape to be 16:9 instead of the default 4:3. Follow the steps below: •...
refresh rate. For example, let’s take a 1280 x 720 @ 60Hz timing which has 720 active lines, a vertical front porch of 3, a vertical sync width of 7 and a vertical back porch of 23. Total vertical figure becomes 753; multiply this by the vertical refresh rate of 60 and the answer is 45180.
4.7.3 BASIC CALIBRATION Section 4.6.3 for help with picture calibration. Most of the basic steps for pixel-based displays apply except for CRT projectors. They may have more control over color balance, which generally involves the ability to calibrate and store color balance per projector source memory. Setting contrast or peak white level is more difficult with a CRT projector as the blue tube will normally be close to beam current-limiting at full IRE100 output over the whole screen.
This option allows you to select the active video source. • If you have configured Crystalio II to hide one or more sources, the hidden sources will not be shown (see • Input source Media Player is available in Crystalio II VPS3800 (Pro) only Section 5.1.4 for details)
5.1.2 INPUT PORT CONFIGURATION This option is used to define the characteristics of the input ports • You can define the format of the component input ports • You can assign a name to each input port to improve day to day operation. For example, the input port for DVD could be called ‘DVD’;...
• Use the Left/Right arrow remote control keys to adjust the sliders • Use the Up/Down arrow remote control keys to select between Pixel Clock, Position and Clock Phase • When OK is pressed on the remote control, the whole OSD is hidden and only the slider control is shown at the lower left corner of the display •...
• Store the input profile by pressing any of the profile numbers under Store • Recall any input profile by pressing the desire profile number under Recall • By pressing the • You can define names for each input profile •...
5.2.2 COLOR TEMPERATURE • The effect of Offset is roughly the same as “Brightness”. It adjusts the overall video level of the image. The most obvious effect is that when it is increased, you’ll see the black level of the image become brighter •...
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When the action button is pressed, the OSD turns to the following page: • Type is either Standard, Low IRE, High IRE, or S-Shape • Values can be positive or negative • A value of '0' results in no gamma correction. The diagram below illustrates the shape of the correction curves •...
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When the • Store the gamma profile by pressing any of the profile numbers under Store • Recall any gamma profile by pressing the desired profile number under Recall • There are 10 gamma profiles in total When the • You can define names for each gamma profile. This feature allows you to name the gamma profile to help with identification, for example ‘Hi-Contrast’, ‘Film’, etc.
5.2.4 ASPECT RATIO This option is used to set the image aspect ratio. • 4:3 LetterBox is for 4:3 LetterBox material, which is a 4:3 source, with black bars at top and bottom and which places meaningful video data at the centre of a 16:9 area •...
• When overscan is smaller than zero, the image is reduced in size and borders are filled with the background color (see • Use the Left/Right arrow remote control keys to adjust the slider • When OK is pressed on the remote control, the whole OSD is hidden and only the slider control is shown at the lower left corner of the display •...
When the • The background color can be defined by selecting the color and pressing OK • Default background color is Black 5.2.8 DEINTERLACE This option allows the user to select the deinterlacing method of Crystalio II. Since Crystalio II is a dual processor design, you can define deinterlacing of both the VXP processor chip by Gennum, and the FLI2300 processor chip by Faroudja.
• NTSC@30: Crystalio II will automatically select the deinterlacing method from one of the below: • 2:2 Even: Crystalio II will only use 2:2 reverse pulldown (even) • 2:2 Odd: Crystalio II will only use 2:2 reverse pulldown (odd) 5.2.9 NOISE REDUCER This option can be use to remove noise from the source video.
5.2.11 VIDEO PROFILE This option stores video image configuration parameters, which include: • Image Aspect Ratio • Overscan • Image Position • Image Crop • Video settings: Brightness, Contrast, Sharpness, Saturation, Hue • Color Temperature settings • Deinterlacing modes • DCDi Enabled/Disabled (bypass FLI2300) •...
OUTPUT SUB-MENU The Output sub-menu consists of all options related to the output of Crystalio II. 5.3.1 OUTPUT SELECT This option is used to select the Primary video output port. • Video output of Crystalio II is targeted for the Primary output port •...
5.3.2 OUTPUT PORT CONFIGURATION This option defines the characteristics of output ports. • You can define the color space of the analog output port • You can name each output port When the • You can define names for each output port, to help with identify which display devices are connected to the output ports.
5.3.3 OUTPUT RESOLUTION This option defines the output resolution. Select one of the following: • Standard Format, such as 480p, 720p60, 1080i60, etc • Fixed Resolution, such as 1024x768p60, 1280x1024p60, etc • Customized Resolution, which is user defined • After a resolution is selected, press the effective.
• To add a new customized resolution, edit the timing parameters and press the action button • If you want to define a customized output resolution with 24Hz (or 48Hz/72Hz) refresh rate, enter 23.98 (or 47.95/71.93), instead of 24.00 (or 48.00/72.00), in the Refresh Rate numeric box.
output resolution. Example: 1280 x 768 pixels is 1.66 (1280 divided by 768) and 1280 x 1024 pixels is 1.25 (1280 divided by 1024). This setting is normally used for non-standard display aspect ratios. In the case of 1280 x 768 pixels the ratio is 15:9 instead of 16:9 Define any custom display aspect ratio by selecting Customize and pressing the button.
When the • The mask layer color can be defined by selecting the color and pressing OK • Default mask layer color is Black 5.3.6 OUTPUT PROFILE This stores output configuration parameters, which include: • Current primary output port • Port configuration of current primary output port •...
When the • You can define names for each output profile to help with identification • Maximum number of characters in the text box is 20 • Clear the name by pressing the AUDIO SUB-MENU The Audio sub-menu consists of all options related to the audio features of Crystalio II. •...
5.4.1 AUDIO INPUT SELECT This option selects the audio input port that should be mapped to the current video input source. • Any audio input port can be mapped to any video input source, with the following exceptions: • HDMI1 audio can not be mapped to HDMI2 video source •...
5.4.3 AUDIO DELAY This option sets the audio delay, or time difference, between the audio input and audio output of Crystalio II. Since all video processors require a period of time to deinterlace and scale video this option allows the audio to be synchronized to the video. •...
SYSTEM SUB-MENU The System sub-menu consists of all options related to the system settings of Crystalio II. 5.5.1 OSD OPTIONS You can change some characteristics of the OSD, such as: • The transparency of the OSD • The size of the OSD* •...
5.5.2 FRONT PANEL This option controls the behavior of the Crystalio II LCD front panel, including: • Back light of the LCD front panel • Front Panel LED lights For the LCD panel backlighting, the Active setting means auto dim after a preset period of time.
5.5.4 ADVANCED OPTION This option controls whether advanced options are shown or hidden inside the OSD. Please refer Section 7 for details of advanced OSD options available. 5.5.5 FACTORY SETTINGS RESET This option resets all settings to Factory Default. When the Proceed option.
5.5.6 FIRMWARE UPGRADE This option is used to do firmware upgrades. If your firmware is downloaded onto a USB disk, insert it into Crystalio II’s USB port and press the 5.5.7 IMPORT/EXPORT SETTINGS Crystalio II’s settings can be exported and saved onto a USB disc for later import and restore. This option is available only in firmware version 2.00 or later •...
6. FRONT PANEL CONFIGURATION A sub-set of Crystalio II configurations can be done using the front panel and LCD Display. The menu tree diagram on the following page illustrates the navigation of the menu and the configuration options available. For details about how Crystalio II can be configured using the options, please refer to Section Options.
7. ADVANCED OSD OPTIONS HDMI INPUT CONFIGURATION This option is used to set the input format of the HDMI input ports. When the Input Configuration page: • Default is Auto Detect (both Color Space and Video Level), which means the input video format of HDMI ports are auto detected.
ADVANCED GAMMA CORRECTION This option is available only in firmware version 2.00 or later 7.2.1 USER DEFINED GAMMA CURVE When User is selected as the Gamma Type and the turns to the following page: Use the Left/Right remote control keys to select one of the 20 Input IRE Adjustment Points (refer to the graph above).
Use the Left/Right remote control keys to adjust the Output Luminance at that IRE value. To return to the User IRE slider press the Back remote control key. • User IRE slider has values from 7.5 (black) to 100 at 5 IRE intervals from 10-100 (refer to the graph on the previous page) •...
Y/C DELAY This option is used to set the Y/C delay of the source. • Sometimes the timing of Luminance (brightness) and Chrominance (color) of the video source signal may be slightly mismatched due to transmission delay, long S-Video cable runs, or incorrectly encoded source material.
• High values of smoothness can reduce the “Staircase” effect when the resolution of the input video source is low, or when it has a certain degree of pixelization • Low values of smoothness can make the image look sharper •...
7.6.1 TRUE LIFE When the When the • Enter value in the [numeric entry box] • Press the • Press the • Threshold sets the point where an effect starts • Effect sets the level of the effect being adjusted •...
7.6.2 FILM BIAS This option adjusts the deinterlacer’s level of bias towards either film mode or video mode while operating in any automatic detection mode. • Select Film Bias in the dropdown list • Press the action button to apply the changes •...
• For the analog output port, you can define the following: 7.7.1 VOLTAGE PUMP Voltage Pump is used to compensate for losses over long cables runs. When the Voltage Pump option is Low, the analog port has +3.75% higher voltage output. When the Voltage Pump option is High, the analog port has +7.5% higher voltage.
Primary output port HDMI RGB HDMI RGB HDMI RGB 16-235 Video Level HDMI YCbCr 4:4:4 Analog RGBHV or RGBS Analog RGBHV or RGBS Analog RGBHV or RGBS Analog YPbPr 7.7.3 OUTPUT SYNC POLARITY/SYNC TYPE • Output Horizontal and Vertical sync polarities of HDMI can be defined as Positive or Negative •...
If the Analog output is configured as YPbPr, the OSD turns to the following page: 7.7.4 OUTPUT PORT CONFIGURATION WHEN IN PASSTHRU MODE • Passthru from SDI and analog input is available only in firmware version 2.00 or later • Passthru to Analog output is available only in firmware version 2.00 or later This option defines the characteristics of output ports when in Passthru mode.
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When the Crystalio II simultaneously outputs video to all three output ports. However, priority is always given to the Primary Output Port (see configurations here describe the characteristics of a port only when it is set as the Primary Output Port. However, in Passthru mode, Crystalio II will still output the video to the secondary output ports and attempt to maintain the Color Space and Video Level of secondary output ports;...
7.7.5 OUTPUT SYNC POLARITY/SYNC TYPE WHEN IN PASSTHRU MODE • Output Horizontal and Vertical sync polarities of HDMI can be defined as: • Positive • Negative • Same as Input • When Analog output is RGBHV or RGBS, Horizontal and Vertical sync polarities can be defined as: •...
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• Select the correct polarity for your display. Consult the display manufacturer’s user guide for help • If polarity is unknown, select the polarity that gives a stable picture. Incorrect vertical polarity often results in a rolling image. Incorrect horizontal polarity may result in loss of picture or the picture moving to one side of the display •...
AUDIO DELAY PROFILE You can define different durations of audio delay and save it to audio delay profile. There are a total of 10 profiles and each can be named. • This option is available only in firmware version 2.00 or later •...
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When the • Define the secondary passthru video path by selecting the Passthru Video From option • Video Input: • You can select video input from any of the HDMI, Component 1 and Component 2 ports as the “source” of “secondary passthru”, but with the following exceptions: When video input of “normal processing”...
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• Video Output: • You can select any of the output ports as “secondary passthru” output port. However, when the output port of “normal processing” and “secondary passthru” is the same, “normal processing” has the priority • You can also set the output color space •...
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The passthru path and settings can be stored in profiles. When the pressed, the OSD turns to the following page: • Secondary Passthru profile consists of the following: • Secondary Passthru ON or OFF • Passthru Video From • Passthru Video To •...
7.10 PICTURE IN PICTURE/PICTURE BY PICTURE • When Crystalio II is in “Picture In Picture” (PIP) mode, there is a small sub-picture on top of the main picture, which comes from another video input source. In PIP mode, you can: •...
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• Audio Output: • You can also define any audio output port as the output of sub-picture audio. In this case, the audio output port(s) is switched to output audio from the “audio source of sub- picture” rather than audio from the “audio source of normal processing” •...
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When the When the • PIP/PBP profile contains the following: • You can define names for each PIP/PBP profile, to help with identification • Maximum number of characters in the text box is 20 • Clear the name by pressing the action button is pressed, the OSD turns to the following page: action button is pressed, the OSD turns to the following page: •...
7.11 DYNAMICVP Crystalio II can perform a set of programmed actions according to the video input format. For example, output resolution can be changed according to the input video frame rate. • DynamicVP will take effect only when the DynamicVP Mode is “ON” •...
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• Action/Resolution dropdown 1 options: • Action/Resolution dropdown 2 options: • Action/Resolution dropdown 3 options: When the • DynamicVP Profile contains the following: • Output Format • Output Resolution • Custom Resolution (available only if customized resolutions are defined) • Load Output Profile •...
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• DynamicVP mode (including ON and OFF) • All the DynamicVP rules (including the “Otherwise” condition) When the action button is pressed, the OSD turns to the following page: • You can define names for each DynamicVP profile, to help with identification •...
8. TROUBLESHOOTING Problem No Picture Remote Control not working No Sound Picture is displayed but is unstable Picture is displayed but the color is wrong Picture is displayed but it is “very washed out” (or “excessively dark”) Solution • Check power cable •...
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(or left) Objects in the image appear to be too tall or too wide Crystalio II VPS3800 (PRO) owners, please refer to the separate Crystalio II Media Player Owners Guide for Media Player troubleshooting. Solution • Adjust the Position of Analog Input Adjust if necessary (see Section 5.1.3)
Crystalio II. PRODUCT WARRANTY Pixel Magic Systems Ltd. warrants Crystalio II for One-Year from date of purchase to the original purchaser that this product is free from defects in materials and workmanship. If, after inspection, you discover any defects in materials or workmanship, Pixel Magic Systems Ltd. will have the option to repair, or replace the defective Pixel Magic Systems’...