Elite Video BVP-4 Plus is defective?
 

Hello,

I just got this one on ebay for $318 + $20 shipping. The unit was described as fully working. However, it looks like it is defective. I have never owned one so I am not 100% sure that what I think is defective is not a feature. However, the quality especially for composite input is awful. I figured out about the slider that gives pass through image which is on the left and it can be controlled by the knob. So I'm attaching 2 images. I connected my DVD player to BVP-4 via composite and ran composite out to ATI 650 Sapphire capture card. The file name is BVP-4.png. Then I connected the DVD's player composite directly to my capture card. For the first image look at the left half of the picture. There are obvious ghosts (shadows) shifted to the right.

The seller told me that his neighbor asked him to sell one and assured him that it was in fully working condition. He gave me an option to return it or to have repaired at seller's cost. What do you guys think? I have a couple of days to decide.

I've seen this on all units, and it can be heavier and readily-noticeable on some of them. It's a byproduct of the method used to alter certain properties of IRE, luma, and contrast. This is the main reason I don't always use the BVP4+ units at all times. It's worse on composite signals because it's a composite signal. In my opinion, the BVP4+ almost shouldn't have composite in/out, because it's really quite horrible. Always use s-video, even if that means juggling some extra VCRs to make it happen.

It is in fully working order, yes. :2cents:

You can tweak the internal pots with a screwdriver, and it may help to clear this up.

I had no idea about it. Thank you. So are there any proc amps with good composite signal? Not by Elite, but others? Actually all I need is Gamma correction.

My experience shows that the line on the left, actually the demarcation line between split-screen preview, is affected by both the software, and the capture card. Some combinations leave the demarcation line well within view, and others leave that dreadful line just within reach of a mask. It seems the two odd-ball screw adjustments WILL affect the display, depending on the software and capture card.