San Jose-based IDT gave the press a preview of their new video processing technology at a private dinner at CEDIA Expo in Atlanta last week. After the acquisition of Silicon Optix and its Hollywood Quality Video (HQV) suite last year, videophiles were uncertain what the future held for this much-loved video processor. It looks like we've had little to worry about. The new improved HQV "Vida" processor builds upon the performance of the earlier HQV processing and adds new features and enhancements sure to satisfy the discriminating movie-lover or video aficionado.
Chief among the HQV Vida's features are StreamClean, Resolution Enhancement, and Auto HQV. Auto HQV automatically performs basic color and contrast adjustment to the image, adapting to changing input, while Resolution Enhancement helps standard-definition video look more like high-definition, and high-def appear even more detailed. But the demo which ran all night and therefore received most of the attention was StreamClean, capable of removing different types of noise from low-quality video, in real-time. It can do its thing on live compressed high definition video streaming as well as low quality video downloads (a 320 x 240 YouTube clip was one of the examples on screen), as well as heavily compressed satellite, cable or broadcast DTV signals. The improvement in before-and-after and side-by-side presentations was undeniable.
The potential applications for the new IDT HQV Vida processor are many, starting with incorporation into the more obvious home theater components such as TVs, DVD and Blu-ray players, and audio/video receivers. And as home entertainment continues to evolve away from the traditional living room, Vida might wind up in digital media adapters, media player docking stations, and even in video processing computer dongles.
Unofficially announced, and teased but with final details still under embargo, is a new and drastically updated version of the HQV demo disc that video reviewers (like us), calibrators and enthusiasts swear by. We'd love to tell you more about what to expect, but their minions are probably reading this too... so stay tuned.
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