Attached at the bottom of this first post is the scanned* User Manual / Instruction Manual for the Elite Video BVP-4 Plus Broadcast Video Processor, or proc amp (video processor/amplifier, or "color corrector"). It's an excellent read, well worth your time, even if you're an experienced video hobbyist or professional. This should be a must-have for any BVP4 or BVP4+ user.
Note that the wiggly lines and geometric imperfections were in the original manual, that was not my doing. It was a sloppy photocopy job, bound with a semi-nice cover. I did my best to correct distortions with the transform filters in Photoshop.
(* It actually was not "scanned" but rather photographed with a Nikon D3s, tripod mounted, shot at f/7.1 and bounce flash, with the book in a custom made book mount, used to "scan" rare books that cannot be destroyed by smashing it flat into a scanner. Then cleaned in Photoshop, and PDF'd with InDesign. Just some trivia for you.)
Update -- Forum member Steve(MS) was kind enough to share his copy of the original Elite Video BVP-4 demo disc.
While it makes for an interesting watch, and will no doubt help some BVP-4 beginners, there are many "corrections" shown that make me cringe. Sometimes the corrective adjustments are great examples of bad videography, with what I could only describe as ham-fisted and brutish mishandling of the knobs. I saw several times where tonal values were utterly wiped out by overuse of black depth restore or PTP luminance adjustments. Don't do that. You're supposed to make the video better, not cook it to death.
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Thanks, this should come in handy when the "as-is/not working" BVP4+ I just got off ebay for cheap comes in. Hopefully its something silly like a blown fuse.
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lordsmurf (06-28-2011)
Here's the archived marketing text from the old EliteVideo.com site:
Quote:
Video Processors, and the Differences Between Them
Normal video processors are ok for basic video processing but the BVP-4 processors do so many things other processors can’t begin to do.
Even though you see other processors advertising fleshtone fix, black fix and other similar things, the BVP-4 processors are the only machines that can truly change things like fleshtones and black without affecting other colors. It has special circuits just designed for this. The fleshtone works like no other control on any box. If you try to fix fleshtones with a tint control, the flesh might be fixed but the other colors will be off. With the BVP-4, you get better fleshtones without adversly affecting the other colors in the dresses, or the grass or the background.
Plus, the BVP-4 is the only unit with real resolution boost of 90 lines to your picture. This is a great advantage you can clearly see over any other unit. It uses advanced digital homomorphic signal processing with circular convolution to give you the boost without adding edging or ghosting. This is the same process used by NASA on their landsat satellite still imaging systems, although we use it on moving images. See the demo video for a excellent demonstration of this feature.
The Elite units have a digital gamma compensator for improved picture from digital input, this brings out the detail in the darker areas of the picture
The bvp-4 plus has 1200 lines pass through; though other boxes may claim similar, testing by an engineer will show that the bvp-4 plus is the only one to achieve true 1200 lines with 70 s/n . This is done by affecting your signal digitally that is kept in analog all the way through. It is a hybrid mix or advanced analog and digital technology - unique to the bvp4 processors.
Also with other processors, when you try to brighten the signal you get washout, things can tend to look milky white; with the bvp-4, you can a unique PTP luminance control giving you a brighter picture without the washout associated with all the other processors. This is great for event and wedding videographers. You see this in our demo along with the improvement the other features make.
The bvp-4 color level is the only color level on the market with super saturation circuitry; this means you can actually add more color (about 15 percent) without getting distortions. Other processors will add noise when you try this.
The BVP- 4 also has 360 degrees of color control where other processors only give you 90 or 180 degrees. This color control doesn’t just tint like video mixer color controls do, but actually changes colors without affecting the white of the picture. It is a true phase color control meaning that the colors change in direct phase angle proportion to each other.
The BVP-4 has a fully movable split screen where other units only have a fixed position split screen.
The BVP-4 uses military and industrial grade components . As you know, you usually get what you pay for in the video business and the bvp-4 processors are more expensive than others, but do so much more than your normal processor. See the demo tape.
The BVP-4 processors have black restore , this feature allows you to dial in jet black without affecting any other colors what so ever, see the demo video to see exactly how this looks. Other processors claim to fix black, and in some minor ways they do so, however the only way to do this without affecting the other colors is with the Elite video BVP-4 or BVP-4 plus. This control makes a big difference and can only be found on the BVP-4 and BVP-4 plus Broadcast Video processors.
I do somewhat roll my eyes at their low-end take on video, and the skills required to make a living from it.
Elite seems to have treated video, to a degree, as a money-making scheme.
I also disagree with some of the theory talk regarding Kell factor, as it's not necessarily how video works in reality.
It sounds great on paper, but doesn't always work that way.
Does anyone here have a copy of the tutorial video mentioned in the manual? It doesn't seem to be available anymore. I'm kinda curious about whats on it.
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lordsmurf (06-28-2011)
There appears to be a "still" version of that video, and it can be found digging through the archive.org copies of the old elitevideo.com site. The before/after images were quite honestly ridiculous, mostly showing what I could only consider video butchering. For example: cranking saturation up above NTSC safe levels, altering the tint to make people green, coring the video with heavy use of the IRE knob, etc. It was really quite silly. Most proc amp use would be to correct video, not ruin it further. Editing effects of color would more likely have been done in an NLE of the era (Premiere, Avid, Final Cut), and with more nuanced adjustments -- not the wild knob turning seen in the samples.
You didn't miss anything.
-- merged --
Below is another review, circa 2000 to 2004 (date unknown), as found on the old EliteVideo.com site.
I'm amused by the deflection that the device is "not a proc amp" and has instead been spun (marketing) as some kind of magic enhancer -- at the same time calling a regular proc amp a "magic box". What sort of goofy game were they playing? It adjusts colors -- it's a proc amp. The end.
I also cringe at the absolutely horrible writing quality of the author. When I was grading journalism students in years past, I'd have given this guy an easy "F" on this assignment. Urgh! It's made even worse by the lousy OCR scanning that Elite must have done to copy it to their site. I've cleaned it up as best as I can, without resorting to rewriting it -- which is exactly what I'd have made a student do!
Anyway, enjoy...
Quote:
"PowerPlay" by Lancelot Braithwaite, Video Magazine
THERE'S NO DOUBT THAT ELITE VIDEO'S BVP-4 PLUS is a very powerful device. Recommending it for average TV viewing would be like recommending a turbo-boosted engine as backup power for a tricycle. But if you're the proud owner of a very large screen tube or projection TV, harnessing the power of this broadcast video processor will elevate your signals from blah to buff without blowing you out of the room.
Before you run out to give your video a face lift, Elite is quick to point out that its device is not a "proc amp" (processing amplifier), that dear old piece of gear broadcasters and production houses used to bring video signals up to snuff 30 years ago. Those were truly magic boxes. They could nudge color into correctness and make all of the parts of the signal meet tough FCC specifications. In the BVP-4 Plus, squeezing the best picture onto the screen from any video or S-Video source is a secondary function. The unit was primarily designed for sophisticated amateurs and semi-pros to enhance video footage for edit masters and dubs. But this review is geared to those who want to use it to improve the display of a video signal on screen; of course, videographers will recognize it as a tool to create better videos from the description of what power it has to modify picture quality.
The BVP-4 Plus ($1,195) is a 5.8 pound black box with white logos and legends. It measures just 3.13 x 15 x 8 inches (h/w/d) including the projecting knobs and switches. The top, bottom and sides are bare; the rear is sparsely populated with a dual-concentric jack for power, a switch for digital/analog source format, one video and one s-video input with a switch to select the active input, and video and S-Video outputs, both of which are always active. The unit is powered by a ubiquitous 12-volt DC adapter.
The front face boasts a sinple row of controls. From left to right are a power indicator, switches for power. and the herring-bone filter (described later); rotary controls for split screen, color level, and flesh tone are followed by switches for pass/adjust and +180/-180. Next are rotary controls for 0 to +180 and 0 to -180 for color adjustment, PTP (point-to-point) luminance, IRE adjustment, and resolution boost. At the far right is an on/off switch and rotary control for black-depth restore. Although the BVP-4 has nine knobs and six switches, not including power, it controls just six real picture quality functions: color level, tint/flesh tone. black level, white level/gray scale, resolution/sharpness, and gamma correction plus elimination of AC leakage-induced distortion.
When an AC line signal leaks into the video stream it results in a type of distortion called 'herringbone" in video parlance because it looks like herring bone fabric is superimposed on the picture. The HBF (herringbone filter) switch turns on a filter that specifically removes 60 Hz (AC) hum from the video signal. It should only be used if you encounter a hum problem.
The digital/analog input switch is used to correct the slight difference in gamma between analog and digital source material. Gamma is a characteristic of brightness that describes the linearity of reproduction of shades of gray. Neither analog nor digital video (or films) reproduce gamma curves identically. For that matter, neither do our eyes. Most current video systems are balanced or corrected for analog video sources. Digital video sources (like DV camcorders, for example) use a gamma curve which is a gentle S-shape and must be matched to the analog curve or there would be noticeable shifts in brightness in the middle tones when you switch sources. Although it's not exactly playing by Marquis of Queensbury rules, you can get a pleasing effect using the digital position for some analog sources -- but this dodge is really only applicable to creative editing applications.
Ancillary controls include video/s-video input switching, and split screen to let you see the processed vs. the unprocessed image on the same screen. Note that both the composite and the Y/C outputs are always active and both may be used to feed different signal streams at the same time, so the box may also be used to change a composite source to Y/C or vice versa.
The chief virtue of the BVP-4 is its ability to transcend what an ordinary TV set can do to correct picture quality. For instance, fine detail in a picture is carried mostly at higher frequencies and most resolution-boost systems increase all of the high frequencies, effectively creating an increase in picture noise. Elite's resolution boost selectively increases an adjustable narrow band of only those frequencies that add detail, but not those with no detail that would just add noise. To boost resolution, you turn the control clockwise until you see the first signs of video noise then back off a hair.
Most TVs have a brightness control to set black level and a contrast control to set maximum white level. Each control does a reasonable job, but they are frequently set incorrectly and interact with one another. Let's say you have a set calibrated by a registered technician. Chances are that set's as close as it can get to perfect. But what about the signal you're feeding the set? Are black, white, and the points in between where they should be? The BVP-4 lets you set the black signal correctly using the rotary IRE adjustment, a fancier brightness control. But the PTP luminance control is not exactly like contrast because it doesn't just set the peak white level. According to Elite, it uses internal analog computers to carry out a dynamic range expansion without altering the perception of black, white, and gray signals. To finish off the job, the black depth restore knob uses the internal analog computer to separate the dots that are black from those that are gray and restores only the black dots to true black level. Although these manipulations may not be truly purist, the observable result is that blacks look blacker, whites look cleaner (less gray haze over pure whites), and objects look crisper.
Another of the BVP4's tricks deals with color control. The color level control takes color to higher levels of saturation without undue distortion or the addition of color noise. It's great for restoring faded color or juicing color up a bit if you like. The equivalent of a tint control is handled by two rotary knobs and two switches all grouped under the name of color adjustment. The (by)pass/adjust switch just turns other controls on. The second switch selects which of the two rotary controls is active. Both cannot be active at the same time. Start with the control set at their zero (or 10 o'clock) position and add or subtract color to your taste.
As I've noted, be careful! Each of the controls lets you continually change the color phase away from the zero position until the colors are a full 180 degrees out of phase. One control lets you make the adjustment in a minus direction while the other lets you make the adjustment in the positive direction. So between the two controls you have a full 360 degrees of hue control-not just the standard purple.to green range of a typical tint control. Elite guarantees that this is a true linear phase shift and that you won't be changing one color by 50 degrees while another changes only 30 degrees. This is unusual in a box this inexpensive.
However, there is a downside: Unless you have a reliable source of color bars (like a signal generator or a good test disc) and a vectorscope, you'll have to rely on a blue filter to set these controls correctly.
The last color modifier is the flesh tone rotary control with a range labeled WARM/PASS. It behaves like a tint control but it affects only colors in the skin tone region and doesn't change other colors. The process is called a non-lin- ear optimized phase shift, and in our experiments it behaved as promised. Unfortunately, there are no calibrated signals to help you on this one, so you'll have to eyeball it.
Indeed, the hardest part about using the BVP-4 is understanding what each control does and how to manipulate it. My advice: learn this box the way you learned to drive. Experiment, practice, experiment, and more practice. Fortunately, the box gives you immediate feedback on how your corrections are going via the split screen function. If the adjustments make the picture worse than the original, try turning the dial in the other direction.
The box's ergonomics are generally good. Given my druthers I'd put the digital/analog switch on the front panel; I'd move the +180/-180 color adjustment switch between the two knobs it affects and mount it sideways to point at the active knob. And I'd swap the position of the resolution knob with the black depth restore knob so it would be in the same group as the PTP luminance and the IRE adjust. The manual isn't super helpful in providing guidance on how to make adjustments, but an accompanying video tape does show many good examples of what results you can achieve using each control. It also makes some recommendations on adjustments that work well together. The tape may well be the real manual.
In action, the BVP-4's performance was outstanding when unused circuits were bypassed and active controls were left at their zero settings. Horizontal resolution is rated as 1,200 lines, a bandpass of 15 MHz. We verified it to 800 lines (our limit) with a bandpass of greater than 10 MHz within -3 dB but with a tight -6 dB notch about 3.58 MHz with a composite-video source.
This is better performance than most consumer equipment is capable of. The picture was extremely quiet with an unweighted luminance S/N of 59.8 dB and an unweighted video S/N of 61.1 dB. Weighted luminance S/N was 62.1 dB and weighted video S/N was 62.0 dB, while chroma AM s/N was 74.3 dB and chroma PM S/N was 62.8 dB. In short, this unit can improve the picture and it shouldn't create any visible noise from most video sources.
Overall, no unwanted artifacts were introduced unless we really went overboard with the controls. Then the video transformed into an unwatchable mess. To get out of sticky situations like this one, just go back to the zero settings and start making finer adjustments. If you use a ludicious hand, Elite's BVP-4 Plus processor can do wonders for your video signal TV or under-scan monitor you may see a faint blue line at the right edge of the picture. A note near the end of the manual tells you how to make an internal adjustment in the box to correct it.
THE ELITE VIDEO BVP-4 PLUS IS NOT like a child's safety scissors, only capable of doing minor damage. It's a chain saw that can really harm a video signal if used incorrectly. I can't state this more strongly: You can do some positively evil stuff with this box. But remember, a chain saw in the hands of an ice-sculpting master can create a graceful swan or delicate flowers. If you're willing to put in the time and use this unit judiciously, you can do wonderful things for your picture. There is one major snag, however: The BVP-4 Plus is sold only direct from Elite; you can't go down to a local A/V shop to see how one works. You can get a more vivid idea from Elite's Web site, but the results on your computer screen may not be the best way to judge the unit's abilities. Elite also offers a VHS demo tape for about $10 which counts toward the purchase price if you buy one. A small price to pay for Nirvana, I think.
-- merged --
In recent days, it seems somebody on eBay has decided to start selling this manual for $27.50.
Thanks to NJRoadfan for bringing this to my attention.
Although it cannot be proven, I firmly believe somebody has downloaded the manual that I photographed and cleaned up -- which took me several hours, unpaid -- and then posted to this site several weeks ago. To counteract this auctioneer's money-grab, and as a non-verbal way to say "go to hell", we asked another eBay user to now sell the manual (plus some other writings that originated at digitalFAQ.com) with our blessing for $9 -- or as low as $5, via the "best offer" feature. All funds will be donated to The Digital FAQ, to offset site upkeep costs.
Would you rip this CD (or DVD) to an ISO file in ImgBurn?
And then I can allocate some FTP space for you, so that we can add that disc to the first post.
I'll send a PM to you, too. I don't want to miss out on getting the mystery disc!
I was partly wrong, it is a DVD, it has this written on the disc.
Elite Video BVP-4
Broadcast Video Processor
DEMO
Runtime is 31:51 and is approx. 2.12 GB.
I am going to send you a PM shortly.
I watched it for the first time, didn't realize anyone would be interested.
... and then the little thief reported our eBay friend's auction for being in the "wrong category" (something about digital goods only being allowed in the "classified ads" section -- eBay is run by idiots), resulting in the listing being canceled after he'd also ended his.
So that's that. The crybaby took his bat and went home. No more manuals for sale on eBay, as it should be. Anybody can download the BVP4+ Broadcast Video Processor manual for free from this site. No need to buy it.
Problem solved.
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Thanks to Steve(MS), we've added this demo DVD to our archived manuals. A link to download this 2.13GB ISO file is in the first post, which I just edited. More details regarding this disc will be coming soon, as there's several things about it that I'd like to share and discuss with others here on the forum. (Will open a new post for it, when the time comes. Sometime next month.)
Are we allowed to comment on the production quality of this DVD..... and the quality of the transfer to DVD? Someone needs to find a TBC, plus the CG screams Video Toaster.
Are we allowed to comment on the production quality of this DVD..... and the quality of the transfer to DVD? Someone needs to find a TBC, plus the CG screams Video Toaster.
I want to keep the analysis of the demo disc separate from the download thread, as the demo tear-down may get somewhat lengthy. A good disc, to be sure, but not without a number of obvious flaws -- obvious to experienced users, not so obvious to novices. Should anybody mimic what is demonstrated in that demo, they'll just butcher their video quality.
I figure I would throw this up here. I found this really grainy tutorial video for the BVP4+ off Elite Video's old site on archive.org. Its incomplete, but appears to be the beginning of a full tutorial for the BVP4+. It of course over does adjustments and even has a cheesy segment showing the hardware with lasers (something NewTek was known for in their early promo videos for the Toaster). I thought the uploaded demo DVD would contain this content, but it doesn't. If anyone has this complete video on DVD, please share!
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lordsmurf (12-31-2011)