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Meridian 800 Reference DVD Player (Version 2.5) Through the lifetime of CD, Meridian have been able to build the best players that provided better and better sound with each successive generation and with continually improving disc recording and mastering techniques. Important milestones were the identification and near-eradication of player design problems including jitter, mechanical feedback, servo instability, playability, converter linearity and interface design. |
Product/800 DVD Player
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Bob Stuart, Meridian’s chief designer and Chairman of the Acoustic Renaissance for Audio, has been heavily involved in the evolution of the audio formats for DVD – in fact MLP (Meridian Lossless Packing) has been selected as the definitive coding system for the DVD-Audio format. It should therefore be no surprise that Meridian’s design team has brought the full benefit of their experience to DVD. But there is more: Meridian also brought important psychoacoustic and psycho-visual insights to this design. As a result the 800 DVD is able to offer sound and picture quality that is second to none. It offers the kind of features needed to exploit DVD in a high-end home theatre and to interface with state-of-the-art digital surround processors (like the Meridian 861) and with projection systems. 800 DVD makes a perfect front-end to the Meridian 861 Reference Surround Processor – although it can also be configured as a player and even as a preamplifier in its own right. The Meridian 800 is fully compatible with other components in the Meridian 800 and 500 Series; it comes with a DVD version of the Meridian System Remote, and inter-operates as part of a Meridian Digital Theatre. The 800 is Meridian’s definitive statement on the current and future quality of the DVD medium. The digital video circuits provide the highest quality picture in a variety of formats. The digital audio processing provides the ultimate in resolution enhancement and low jitter. A selected DVD ROM drive extracts data from CD, CD-V or DVD. Specialised cards manipulate and decode the DVD data and prepare the video. This architecture ensures not only the highest absolute quality and flexibility, but also a high degree of future proofing for both audio and video disc playback. The Meridian 800 was one of the first DVD players to attain the THX requirements for DVD. |
Reads DVD-Video, CD, VCD, MP3 Superb picture quality Composite, S and Component/RGB video outputs Exceptional CD performance Exceptional DVD sound quality 96kHz digital out (with MHR) Full RS232 control and status Software updateable Modular internal construction facilitates future upgrade Rack-mount option |
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Sound Quality DVD provides a huge number of options for audio. The 800 allows unrivalled playback of all the mandatory DVD sound formats: MPEG, Dolby Digital (AC-3) and PCM at 48 or 96kHz with up to 24bit precision. DVD has the potential to provide the highest sound quality, but we would be mistaken to ignore the very real importance of CD in the coming years. So the 800 Reference DVD Machine takes a radical new approach to playing both CD and DVD discs. The 800 reads the audio and video data asynchronously in blocks using high-speed, high-integrity DVD ROM drives. This data is checked for integrity, corrected and triple buffered to ensure that the audio output timing is independent of the drives, and that the picture has incredible stability. Another Meridian ‘first’ is using the powerful DSP in 800 to enhance the playback of CDs so that the converters or Meridian DSP speakers can render the audio even more accurately by producing a high-resolution 88.2kHz 24bit signal. The 800 Reference DVD Machine can also be configured as a stand-alone ‘preamp’. Any of the 800 Series input cards can be fitted to make an 800 the centre of an unequalled 2-channel A-V playback system. The 800 can be used with a pair of Meridian DSP speakers, or the on-board DSP can provide variable outputs to feed a power amplifier but normally we would expect the 800 to be connected to a Meridian 861 Reference Surround Controller so that the full benefit of surround sound on movies and music can be enjoyed. |
Use 800 with: MSR Remote
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Picture Quality The pictures on DVD Video are stored using a high quality compression system called MPEG2. MPEG2 has a flexible data rate; this allows more data to be used for some scenes than others. Complex motions and textures can be conveyed accurately without using an unnecessarily high data rate on simpler material. Consequently, the encoders (that make MPEG2 streams from the original film) will be able to improve continually over the years – a situation somewhat analogous to CD, where recording equipment has steadily improved. Because the picture is stored as digital video, it has some remarkable qualities – including high bandwidth, low noise, very low frame and line jitter and the potential for deeply saturated colours. To recover this quality requires a superb MPEG decoder and immaculate care in de-jittering and processing the resulting video. The 800 DVD offers a number of video output options. The standard output card contains a video encoder of the highest studio-grade quality. This card provides NTSC and PAL. Video conversion and amplification of the highest quality provides options for RGB, Component, S and Composite formats. Meridian successfully pioneered audio systems in which the signal is kept in the digital domain from the source, through Digital Surround Decoders to DSP Loudspeakers. The Meridian 800 Reference DVD Player follows that example by keeping the video information in the digital domain until the last minute. The Future The architecture of the 800 ensures that all functional parts of the machine can be upgraded, improved, added to or swapped out. In this way we set up not only the best opportunity to stay ahead of changes to the DVD specification, or new formats that may come along, but we retain the maximum flexibility to improve performance through future changes to software or hardware. This architecture allows our customers to enjoy and invest in the best audio/video systems now. Set-up and adjustments are made using a supplied computer program. Since all the decoding algorithms are in video and audio DSP, the 800 can be re-programmed in the future to improve or extend its capabilities. Software updates are available on Meridian’s website. |
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Card Details Each 800 is factory fitted with a motherboard that has sections for both digital audio and digital video, a highly sophisticated power supply and a selection of 800 series cards, the total number of these being dependant on the combination being installed – see the 800 order form for more information. The following cards re mandatory and are fitted as standard inside a Meridian 800. C000: Control computer card. Complete with Flash memory, RS232 port for control and status, 3 configurable trigger outputs and Meridian Comms. DV00: DVD control computer card. Complete with Flash memory upgradeable via dedicated RS232 port. DV11: Video DSP card for DVD stream decoding of MPEG video, MPEG audio and Dolby Digital material. Also supports dts streams. VE00: Video encoder. Generates NTSC or PAL (software switchable) in composite, S-video or component formats. Features wide video bandwidth, low noise and extended black level setting. IE16: Digital input card with 5 SPDIF/IEC 1937 cable inputs (32 – 96kHz) and 2 TOSLINK optical inputs. Also 2 digital outputs one for bypass and one for Tape/ 2Room+. This card contains a DSP de-jittering system. To provide audio outputs, either one or both of the two types of output card must be fitted. OE20: Digital output card with 2 SPDIF/IEC1937 outputs on phono and 2 on AES/EBU (32 – 96kHz). Contains ultra-low jitter master oscillators. OA20: Analogue output card featuring 2 ultra-high quality outputs on both phono and XLR (balanced) with effective resolution of 24 bit, 96kHz. Further details on these and the other optional cards for the 800 series can be obtained from the specific data sheets available. |
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Technical Specification The following list illustrates the capability of the design. Refer to the Price List for standard combinations. Formats: DVD Video CD Audio (Red Book) CD Video (White Book) Drives: Supplied with 1 x ATAPI 2 DVD ROM drive and a second drive bay for future expansion. Audio inputs: Up to 11 analogue inputs with user-adjustable sensitivity. Up to 11 digital inputs all 32 to 96kHz sampling and up to 24-bit precision. All inputs have re-nameable legends. Digital and analogue tape loops Audio outputs: Independent copy and 2room+ capabilities where second room can receive raw or decoded audio streams. 2 digital outputs each on SPDIF and AES/EBU Option for simultaneous digital outputs at different sample rates from DVD and CD Option for simultaneous output of Dolby Digital compressed stream for a decoder (like 861) and a decoded version for a second zone. 2 analogue outputs on both phono and XLR (balanced). Audio DSP: 800 uses Meridian’s proprietary DSP software to provide on-board decoding for Dolby Digital and MPEG Audio, error correction, resolution enhancement, up and down-sampling and high-resolution digital gain control. Video in and out: Optional cards provide selectable inputs for composite or S-video in NTSC or PAL format. Outputs available as composite, S-video, component or RGB. Video DSP: Software-based video decoding for MPEG1 and MPEG2 video. Digital video backplane allows options for future video processing enhancements. Controls, etc: Front-panel fascia controls for Play, Stop, Pause, Previous, Next and Off. Hinged control panel provides additional switches for Drive switching, Source, Copy, DVD menus, Display, Mute, Volume Display: 20-character dot matrix display with adjustable brightness and contrast. Lights for CD, DVD, Drive A/B and Repeat. |
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