Darbee Darblet

[gadgtfreek]

Well, when this little device first came out I shrugged and rolled my eyes. I felt we were heading into another area like most of those useless video enhancements you are supposed to turn off on displays and blu-ray players.

Some time has passed now, and the darn thing is getting good reviews from a lot of respected people, and I have seen almost zero unhappy owners. A shipment is expected this week and I was able to get one, they have a new FW version installed that fixes an RGB output issue. I still remain skeptical, but it's easy on and off so comparison should be easy to see if it works.

A Plug and Play accessory to enhance your HDMI video entertainment. Darbee Visual Presence™ (DVP™) technology establishes a fundamental breakthrough for image realism. By embedding 2D and 3D pictures with depth information, a new visual experience is born.

Images actually help you to see them better.

Enabled by parallel processing in a single chip, DVP™ represents the next gneration of computational image processing for depth and realism. Your eyes will thank you!
Form

Few Reviews:

http://www.highdefjunkies.com/showth...971#post348971

http://www.highdefdigest.com/blog/darbeevision-darblet/

http://darbeevision.com/assets/docum...y_Aug_2012.pdf


Video Hi Res posted in Joe Rod's thread:




I'll post some impressions after I can get it in and test.

[gadgtfreek]

Kris Deering from Home Theater Mag just responded at AVS, to someone who has said negative things about the Darblet without ever seeing it in action. Sounds like more positive news, and I'll guess we will be seeing it in HTM soon.

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1399154/da...#post_22265836

With the Darblet properly dialed in it looks nothing like the processing shown on the website. That is a pretty poor example of how it can look and is more representative of turning on the most aggressive mode to its highest level. With the right settings the results are vastly different with a far more subtle effect. The Darblet is definitely not a sharpening tool in the traditional sense and acts NOTHING like the detail enhancement or sharpness settings on a display. I just completed a review of the Darblet and many of my sentiments and concerns going into the review based on the information on hand and their website were very almost identical to what you've expressed here. But my thoughts on the matter now are completely different and I'm glad I gave the Darblet a look.

[gadgtfreek]

Well, their shipments did come in yesterday and today. Did not get tracking info yesterday, so hopefully I get something today and make this batch. I was pretty sure I did, dunno now.

[gadgtfreek]

I've now been charged, so it should ship today.


Edit: Should have Sat/Mon.

[gadgtfreek]

Buyer beware. There is currently some form of handshake issue between the Darblet and Lumagen VP's. If I understand it correctly, they are in contact with each other and Lumagen may issue a FW update.


On another note, I spoke with Jeff Meier this AM, and he is actually getting one out of this batch as well. He likes them for projectors because it helps with some of the issue created by the projector, but he isnt too sure how much itll help on say my plasma. Right now, he is using 1-15% when tweaking a projector, but I know a lot of folks are running upwards of 45%.

[AVJeff]

Huh very interesting indeed. I wonder how long before the technology is sold and manufactures start putting it in their products from the get go?

[gadgtfreek]

I was thinking the same thing. This is something that goes from box to built into tv one day.

[AVJeff]

I was thinking the same thing. This is something that goes from box to built into tv one day.

Or Blu-ray player or Receiver/pre-pro. That is also where the money is for these people. The average joe does not buy gadgets like this but getting a royalty like Audyessey or THX etc. does would be much more lucrative monetarily in my opinion.

[gadgtfreek]

Yepp.

[gadgtfreek]

My cables dont arrive until Monday, but I wasnt gonna wait

Watching food network right now, in HD Mode with it at 50%. Im pretty surprised how it snaps things into focus when you turn it off and on. So far, I like it, but it's gonna have to go thru a lot of paces before I sign off. When you get close to the screen, as it goes off and on, you can see the color stand out more and more detail shows up in peoples faces, hair, or like the shrimp in my pictures. Hopefully they are good enough to show a little difference. I'll try and get some closeups in a bit, because there are taken from a distance.

OFF


50%

[gadgtfreek]

I tried to catch other shots, but I just can't get it to carry over to my digital camera.

All I can say for now, with like a zoomed plate of food or a closeup of someone, if I pause and turn it on and off its very obvious and I like what it does for the detail.

[gadgtfreek]

Found another good still to try out. Watching Aliens on Cinemax right now, and there was a good spot where Hudson was on screen, from waist up. I paused it, and the Darbee ON really sharpened up his entire image, especially uniform and helmet detail. Another cool thing it did was bring out more detail in the camo on his Marine armor. With it off, the camo seemed to be more of a blend of the same color, but when you turn it on, the darker splotches stood out more from the lighter colors, so it looked more like real camo. Pretty neat. Once again, I currently like the effect, but not sure it's worth $269, and I agree with Jeff and see them marketing the software/hardware to be built into later devices.

[gadgtfreek]

Ok, now for the problems. While watching some dvr'd recordings, on channels that might show more compression, the edginess that the Darbee creates really asses up the image IMO. I actually had to cut it off on several shows, to improve the PQ. Now, I've read it may not be for all sources, then some say it is, but the last thing I want is something I have to start watching a show with, to determine whether it needs to be off or on.

So, it surely isnt one size fits all with my plasma (Ive heard the results are more geared to large projectors because of the way the inherently display images, and thats from a Jeff Meier and others), and Im not sure I wanna deal with cutting it on and off as needed. Little more work than Im interested in

So, as of now, I may not be keeping. It would be different I imagine if I have a dedicated display/projector for one type of content, but I watch a lot of mixed content on this one display.

[mechman]

Jason,

Good to see your opinion! It's somewhat similar to the conclusion that Leonard came to at HTS as well - that it's not for all content.

Thanks!

mech

[gadgtfreek]

No problem. I actually just posted my final impressions over there too.

After more time with it, I think it has a use, it's just not in my setup and I'd encourage anyone to try it with a good return policy. You should be able to figure out if it works for you or does not in a short period of time.

[gadgtfreek]

FYI to anyone that wants to try and is hesitant about the $$$. Mine sold on eBay in about 30 mins.

[mechman]

I'll let you know how our review unit works with my projector.

mech

[HStevens]

I'm enjoying mine and consider it a welcome accessory to my setup (55VT50). For me it has been "set it(HD 55%) and forget it". Here are my thoughts for anyone that may be considering this product:

1. It works as advertised, no snake oil.
2. You can clearly tell the difference between on and off with all modes, HD, Game and Pop.
3. In layman's terms, I would call it a "Focus" tool not a "Sharpening Tool".
4. I have not noticed from my observations any alterations with color or "edge enhancement". Not scientific, sorry.
5. It appears to alter shadows and the white or light area of the images which creates the effect. Effect may be the wrong term for those who understand what this device is actually doing.
6. It does not appear to behave like a contrast adjustment as I have not observed a darkening of the overall picture as some have mentioned.
7. It does improve the picture of mildly soft satellite/cable stations, think LMN.
8. Poor quality stations look terrible with the Darbee on or off, you know what they say about polishing a turd.
9. It is not a noise reduction device, nor does it clean up a bad signal. It works with what you feed it.
10. DVD's are improved, this is based on the 6 that I sampled for about 20 minutes each with various settings.
11. Blu-Ray looks really good without the Darbee and really, really good with it.
12. 3D with the Darbee is similar to 2D, it appears to focus in and highlight details.
13. With 100 increment adjustments, you can easily find a setting that works for you with any material. Set it and forget it.
14. In response to the "Reference vs. Preference" debate that has occurred elsewhere. MY preference is MY reference.
15. I guarantee that Carrie Underwood would want you to watch her in concert with the Darbee. She looked hot with it off and smokin' with it on.
16. I'm very satisfied with my purchase, no issues what so ever. It does exactly as described on their website.
17. I am not affiliated in any way with the manufacturer or any associated dealer.

[gadgtfreek]

I pretty agree with everything you said, except for me it's not set it and forget it. A lot of the stuff looked good, some of it didnt, and Im talking Directv HD. So for me, at $269, not worth the hassle. As stated above, I'd encourage anyone to try it because if you do not like it, it'll sell fast one eBay because they are in demand. I was not exaggerating when I said mine sold in 30 mins.

[Hi Resolution]

It needs a remote!