[Aaron Pulicano]

I already checked into this with AJA (to be sure I wouldn’t have any problems), they said I should not have issues. Them saying so makes me think that is enough. Are you saying that information is incorrect though? Anyway, I unable to add more drives to the array as the controller is limited to six ports (using six drives as it is). If I do have issues, I can always look into using a intermediate like Cineform.

From my discussions with AJA I learned that the LHi frame buffers are SMPTE 4:2:2 – which is YCbCr. Anything in or out is converted to/from the internal frame buffer 4:2:2 format. For example, to capture 1080p60 RGB via HDMI input, it is converted to 1080p60 4:2:2 before it is written into the frame buffer.

What I am unclear about at that point is the read/write requirements. I mean, is it based on RGB or YUV due to the conversion? 10-Bit YUV 1920×1080 is 331.44MB/s and 10-Bit RGB 1920×1080 is 497.17MB/s.

[Aaron Pulicano]

One of my sources is full range output.
This was the reason I was asking if one of the “CGR” or “SMPTE” will remap full range to limited range

Yeah, uncompressed 10bit 1080p is about 497mb/s.
My raid array is 561mb/s write and 616mb/s read.
So there should be no problems.

Also, if anyone owns an LHi card, I would appreciate if you could clarify how the audio capture works.
In the manual, it says up to eight channels of audio capture is supported over SDI or HDMI.
But it goes on to say “XENA cards support up to eight channels (four stereo pairs)”.
Normally eight channels would be eight mono tracks, so how are the four stereo pairs stored in the avi container for a video/audio captured?

Additionally, how is the channel mapping done? In the captured file, is it made clear which is front left, front right, LFE, Center… etc?

Thanks

[Aaron Pulicano]

Hi,

Does this update also apply to the Xena LHi?
(checking the AJA Xena LHi website it would seem that it doesn’t)
Will the Xena LHi receive a mirror version of this update soon?

Thanks

[Aaron Pulicano]

Ah, sorry, forgot about your other post. Well, one would expect Wii not to output full range as it is a analog console. As for PS3/360, you need to set them to output full range before they will, as their default settings are both set to “limited” range. Again, though, I do believe their games are nativity done in full range though. But if one should capture them as such is another story I guess.

Was hoping Arthur would reply about some of the other Kona settings, but guess he hasn’t had time.

[Aaron Pulicano]

What were you findings during your tests?
And what hardware did you use to determine it?

Thanks

[Aaron Pulicano]

Hi,

Well any current generation graphics card (like the AMD 5870 for example) only has native options to set 4:4:4 or 4:2:2 RGB output over HDMI. But in the case of 360/PS3, are you you set 360 to “extended” color range and PS3 to “full” color range?
limited/standard = 16-235 and extended/full = 0-255

I do not own the Xena LHi card yet (still thinking about it), so I can not tell you the available options on the Kona control panel. But Arthur owns the Kona LHi, so maybe he can reply with more information on that.

A quick search of Google will show that Xbox 360/PS3 games are all done in native full range RGB.
Just that both consoles feature the options to re-map them based on your individual needs.

For example, here is how the PS3 works over HDMI:

DVD/Blu-Ray Playback
YCbCr = 16 “standard color range for DVD/BR” 235
YCbCr + super-white = 0 BTB 16 standard color range for DVD/BR 235 WTW 255
Limited RGB = 16 “standard color range for DVD/BR” 235
Full RGB = 0 “re-mapped standard color range for DVD/BR” 255

Games/XMB
Full RGB = 0 “color range for 8-bit RGB per channel” 255
Limited RGB = 16 “re-mapped color range for 8-bit RGB per channel” 235

[Aaron Pulicano]

Hi Gary,

Correct, normally YUV 16-235 is for broadcast (TV) and RGB 0-255 is for web (Monitor). Games from HDMI sources like Xbox 360 for example (Playstation 3 and P.C as well) are all native full range RGB. The capture sources I will be working will almost all full range RGB, so correct capture of them is really important to me. According to the Xena LHi Specs, RGB should be supported, so why would Arthur’s test capture have white/black crushing (assuming you have worked with the LHi)?

Thanks

——————————————————————

XENA LHi Video Input Specifications:

Digital:

3G/HD/SD SDI, SMPTE-259/292/296
HD-SDI 1.5Gb and 3Gb

HDMI v1.3, 30/36 bits/pixel,
RGB or YUV, 2.25Gbs, SD,
HD, 1080p50/60

Analog:

SD and HD Input, BNC

HD: YPbPr, RGB
SD: YPbPr, RGB

(component mode) Composite/YC
(composite mode) 12-bit A/D

[Aaron Pulicano]

Thanks for checking into that.

But why would it be crushing whites and/or blacks if it the source is outputting full range RGB and the LHi is to capture full range RGB?
Is there another setting in the LHi control panel that might need to be adjusted?
If not, that is really disappointing.

Yeah, if you have any 4:4:4 sources, would really appreciate if you could let me know what kind of results you get when the LHi is set to capture at 4:4:4.

And if you don’t mind me asking, what kind of sources are you using you LHi with? Sources that are outputting YUV with 16-235 color ranges?

[Aaron Pulicano]

Hi. Sure, no problem.
So you are only having problems with HDMI Xbox 360 using DVD movies though?
Games work without issue, right?

If you don’t mind, could you answer some questions for me?
I am interested in purchasing the Xena LHi (as I have PC).
Kona LHi/Xena LHi are the same specifications.

Have you tried doing any captures from the Xbox 360 over HDMI (gaming) when set to:

Reference Levels: Extended (0-255)
HDMI Color Space: RGB
Then setting the LHi to capture full range RGB

Are the color ranges correct? Is it free of black/white crush?
You might not be aware, but the LHi converts RGB to YUV then RGB on capture.
So I wanted know if full range RGB is captured correctly.

Also, have you tried any 4:4:4 RGB input sources?
Again, LHi converts 4:4:4 to 4:2:2 then back to 4:4:4 on capture.
So once more, wanted to see what kind of quality you encountered when inputting 4:4:4 RGB.

Visual Differences Between 444 (RGB) and 422 (YUV) Chroma: https://techblog.cineform.com/?p=315

[Aaron Pulicano]

Hi,

The “horrid buzzing noise” could be the normal sound of AC3/DolbyDigital when there is no decoder present. Kona/Xena LHi accepts LPCM audio only (from what I understand). You said you tried setting everything LPCM audio, so that might not be the issue. Something else that could create this issue is that Xbox 360 uses no HDCP for games, DVD/HD-DVDs, however, have active HDCP. So that could also be why you are having problems.

Hope this helps.