As many of you are aware, I've used a VDigi VD-Z3 VGA convertor to hook my Xbox to my PJ since the beginning. The picture was always good, but I had always wished I could control the brightness like with a HTPC.

Well... I stumbled across something. Here's how to increase the brightness considerably (not physical lumen brightness, but it will do similar to what a HTPC does... make darker images lighter without washing everything out). You'll have to fiddle with your LCD controls afterwards because it will most likely wash it out on really white scenes if the brightness and contrast is all the way up on the LCD.

First of all, the default pin switch settings are like this (bold means "ON" or in the downward position): |1|2|3|4|5|6|

You need to change the switches to this configuration: |1|2|3|4|5|6|

Like I mentioned above, you'll need to adjust your LCD settings to tone down the brightness and/or contrast until you get a nice, lightened image.



I messed around with all of the switch positions, and this seemed to be the only improvement over the default. If you leave #2 enabled and all of the other switches disabled, you'll get a completely washed out image. If you enable any of the other ones, the image will get darker. The #2 and #4 combo is the only setting that isn't too bright or too dark.

It's actually quite an improvement. Anyone with the VD-Z3 should definitely give this a try.
Hope this helps someone.

P.S. Halo 2 is now EXACTLY as it should be! No more darkness problems. You'll have to blame your lack of kills on something else now.

http://hardware.teamxbox.com/articles/xbox...oder-Review/p1/

"Originally, the image displayed was too dark and when using switch 3 (brightness) for adjustment, the image became purple instead of becoming brighter. Tech support suggested increasing the brightness using the brightness control located towards the power input. Once I configured the VD-Z3 following the new instructions, the image displayed properly."

"The new Xboxes, v1.4 and v1.5, have a new FOCUS video encoder (FS454) which replaced the old Conexant version (CX25871). The VD-Z3 works with all models thanks to its DIP switch. The tech support explained to me that this was a new version of the VD-Z3, where switch 3 is intended for optimal performance with Xbox v1 through v1.3 (switch 3 OFF) and PS2/GC/Xbox v1.3+ (switch 3 ON). "


Read thru that review, it has a chart showing all the dip switch settings and tells there is a brightness adjustment screw....
have you tried that yet?

I have a question about the VGA signal the VD-z3 outputs. if you give it a 480p signal, what vga signal does it output? a 640x480?

Thanks for that link. I lost my quick setup card with all of the dip switch settings on it, so I was left to just try each one out.

Next time the PJ is running I'll fiddle some more and report back.

480P in means 480P (640x480) out. These things do not do any scaling or image manipulation at all.

What you put in is exactly what you get out.....and as a result you get the highest quality image from them.

OMG... The magic settings!!!
|1|2|3|4|5|6|

Seriously. If you use this, there will be no difference between your PJ and the LCD it's made out of. This is freakin' incredible!

I only wish I had batteries to take some pics for you guys. Maybe I'll pick some up tomorrow.

YOU'RE NOT GOING TO BELIEVE IT ONCE YOU SEE IT. BRACE YOURSELVES. More to follow tomorrow.

Good deal, can't wait. What version of XBox do you have?

v1.5

I seriously think that those with Xbox's will be in awe of the Halo 2 screenies to come. Might make some people take the plunge and get a VD-Z3. It sucks how long I've dealt with mediocrity, though.

*Pics taken as point and shoot. I didn't use night mode, manual shutter, or a tripod. I found that doing it this way (full auto minus flash) produces the closest representation to real life. The images are sharper than they appear; I lost quality while resizing.

All right. Here are a few pics. If you've played Halo 2 on your PJ, you should see the improvement. The second shot, for example, used to be completely black-- I couldn't see anything when I wandered back there. Now look at it.







I tried to choose levels that were too dark before. These images, if taken before my VD-Z3 tweaks, would have been too dark to tolerate. Now they appear as they would on a regular TV screen.

I'm really having trouble enjoying Halo 2 with all the dimness...

And one from Fifth Element for reference. The wall to the left of her face is no longer completely dark. You can see how the black levels were raised up, but notice how it didn't affect the actual image much.


*I should add that games like Amped (snowboarding game) AREN'T washed out. This was a major point I didn't want to cross. The overall image is lightened but there's still plenty of contrast to display the lighter areas.

I'm happy.

I found turning down the contrast on the lcd does roughly the same thing but colors end up closer to gether so its just as difficult to distuingish one object from the next.

I thought this was interesting. Check out the before and after.
Before:

After:


I couldn't have accomplished this using only the controls on the LCD.

Is it just the picture you took, or does that fifth element shot really look that light?
Is there an in-between brightness setting on the Vdigi?
Can you also change the black level with the dip switches?

I am trying to duplicate the "Vdigi dip switch settings" with the transcoder I built. I can make dark scenes in Halo 2 look about the same brightness as yours, but lighter scenes and images look completely washed out. Instead of the loss of detail I had in dark before, I now have loss of detail in light images. I haven't experimented with tuning the RGB black levels yet, but I don't think it will help.

For instance, in the pic below, the clouds on the right completely lose all detail, and blend in with the rest of the sky.

Could someone that has a modded Xbox please load this image into the Xbox, and tell (or take a pic) me if the image looks washed out with the Vdigi in "brighter" mode?
Vroom: could you please take some more pics of a lighter game such as Amped?

That's how the Fifth Element looked on the PJ with the "bright mode" on the VDigi.

I'll take more pics in a couple days, including one with the pic you posted. I'll be busy today and tomorrow for sure, though.

Thanks.

After further reading and experimenting I believe the adjustments I made to my transcoder is the equivalent of adding a contrast adjustment, hence when increased, the image appears brighter, but lighter colors become washed out.

Do the dip switch changes on the Vdigi act more like a gamma adjustment than a contrast adjustment?

Some do and some don't. As I mentioned before, certain combinations of the switches make the picture too dark and some make it too bright and washed out. The combination I'm currently using is just on the brink of being too much, but you'll see what I mean when I post some lighter screenshots. It doesn't take much to switch back to my earlier settings while watching a movie or something other than Halo. Halo just seems to be the darkest, most un-PJ-friendly thing I do.

Here are some of shots of the beach scene with various VDigi/monitor settings.

Original (default):

A little tweaking:

Halo 2 screenie settings:

Halo 2 screenie modified settings:


Yep, those clouds just don't stand a chance when I let the VDigi go all out. The last shot is an improvement, though. I gained back some black levels and a little bit of the clouds, while still being a lot brighter than the original default settings.

Switching modes on the VDigi shifts the image to the right. I didn't take the time to fix this on the last two shots, but you can see most of the clouds anyway. Compare the hut on the far right on all of the shots and you'll see where the cutoff is.

I must say I like this Leeloo better:


Bump up the warmth? Okay...


EDIT: As always, the screenshots look dark on the PC monitor at school. Looks perfect on my Mac with higher gamma, though. Stupid gamma differences.

I guess I could do this, but I'm not on my Mac and I don't want to open Photoshop for screenshots:
http://www.photoshopsupport.com/tutorials/cb/gamma.html