Last week's review of the HDFury HDCP Stripper left
me having to place another order because my original didn't come with the
power supply I needed. I saw some cheap ones on eBay, but I wanted the version
sold by CurtPalme because it powered the HDFury from a USB port on a nearby
device.
I had the option to buy the power supply by itself for $50,
or buy a product called Gamma-X for $100 that included a free power supply with
the purchase.
Gamma Power
According to the manufacturer, Gamma-X gives your video a "Gamma Boost" to
brighten the shadows and dark parts of the picture. They claim that it only
corrects the black information without altering the lighter parts of the
picture to prevent them from becoming too bright.
I decided to splurge and order the Gamma-X despite not
having any specific issues with my TV being too dark. I figured since I was
basically able to get it for half price, I would give the product a try.
When I told my wife about what this new device did, her
first reaction was, "The TV is already too bright as it is, why would you want
it to be brighter?" As it turns out, she was right… (there's a first time for
everything).
Once the Gamma-X is attached to the cable carrying the video
signal to your TV, there is an adjustable dial that alters the gamma level of
the video signal, increasing the brightness of the picture. Although they claim
this is done without "washing-out" the picture by only increasing the
brightness of the black level tones, as opposed to the TV's own brightness
control which will brighten the entire image, my tests seems to show the entire
image loses some of the crispness of the HD picture. I do admit that it does a
better job than the television's brightness control, so if you already have
your brightness pumped up to the maximum then it is possible this device would
improve your picture.
Thoughts on the
Gamma-X
Adjusting the dial on the front of the Gamma-X will produce a very
noticeable difference on the picture, going from a slight change to a
drastically brighter picture. It reminded me of the Brightness/Contrast
adjustment found in Photoshop. Although the Photoshop feature can be useful for
very dark images, you do lose some sharpness of the original image; but at
least with Photoshop there are other adjustments that can bring the sharpness
back up.
In the end, I preferred the original image without the
Gamma-X device connected. That being said, if you are specifically having
issues with the picture on your television being hard to see, especially in
dark scenes, this device might save you from having to replace your TV.
However, if you don't have problems with your black levels then I'd suggest
passing on the Gamma-X and sticking with the HDFury product (which I do
recommend) for all of your HDCP woes.
More Info:
GammaX: Gamma Boost and Cable Driver
Gamma Correction (Wikipedia)
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Re: Gamma-X Review - Don't Live Inside The Gloom
