If you do wish to change the output resolution, even just the frame rate, from say 1080p/60 to 1080p/24, you have to go into the Video Output section of the setup menu. A potential work around would be to set up a duplicate source input in the Source Setup menu with one frame rate or the other, but a wish list item would be native mode or a quick on-the-fly switch for the video output.

Further enhancing the utility of the AVM 50's video processing section is that pressing and holding the On Screen button on the remote (AKA #7 on the keypad) brings up a Video Source Adjustment menu that allows full adjustment for each source. Very convenient if you are using a single video connection between the AVM 50 and the display.

Remote, Setup and Use
The AVM 50's remote is a familiar one, shipped with many components. I don't strongly like or dislike it. Its plusses are being backlit, and while there are a lot of buttons many of the key buttons are different sizes so serious confusion seldom sets in. The downside is that most buttons have at least two labels denoting different functions, depending on whether the button is hit once or held down.

And one of the most often used commands is the oddest. It's desirable for to have discrete commands for Power Up and Power down in custom installs using sophisticated touch-screen controllers such as Crestron or AMX. There are separate buttons on the AVM 50's remote for those functions as well. But the Power button that turns on the AVM 50 is at top right, while the button that powers it down is buried in the middle on a button that says "Last" on the button, with a small "SSP Off" label above the button.

My threshold on remotes isn't whether they have eccentricities, but whether the eccentricities persist with use. In this case, I've more than gotten used to it, and don't make mistakes in daily use with this one. And let's be real. There are a lot of options in after market remotes, and it's not a stretch to say that someone who would buy a $4,700 surround processor could probably scratch out a few hundred more bones for one of these options if this remote won't get it done.

As mentioned some above, anyone who's set up an AVR or pre/pro before will fly through the setup. And even novices should have no problems. There is no end to the level of tweaking power here, but the best part is that you can always save and restore your entire setup very easily (two in fact- one Installer set and one User set), but in a way that's fairly protected. That's a cool ripcord to be able to pull when you need it.

This is not the only feature-laden product of its type on the market. But Anthem has some Apple working for it in the interface. What separates the AVM 50 over time is not that it has all this power but that you can harness it and control your system. It never controls your growth or ease of use by the constriction of cumbersome operation.

Sound and Then Picture
The AVM 50 is very refined, with full, robust bass and plenty of detail. I could write about the great sound I heard from DD and DTS, but this isn't 2005. It's 2007 and courtesy of Blu-ray and HD DVD we now have high-definition surround sound that's leagues beyond the performance of the lossy coding we had with DVD. The vast bulk of the listening I've done with the AVM 50 is with next-gen disc players outputting PCM over HDMI.

There have been so many standouts over this time, but one I haven't had a chance to write much about is Sony's Monster House, a very underrated computer animation take on the haunted house produced by Robert Zemeckis. The direct-digital video transfer is superb, but the uncompressed PCM audio just bowled me over. During its active sequences, the dynamics swing from top to bottom with immense power, and the bass is room shaking, but controlled and tightly defined. This soundtrack likes to rumble, and the AVM 50 grabs that baton and runs with it. And on top of that, the imaging was densely holographic and fully three-dimensional, giving this track an extraordinary sense of grandeur without losing the small inflective details in the outstanding vocal performances. You don't need to A/B the PCM with the DD track to know you haven't heard this level of performance before.

Another standout over the AVM 50, and one that is more a triumph of style than scale, is Buena Vista's Blu-ray transfer of Flightplan with Jodi Foster. This is an outstanding sound design that plays with perspective and also uses silence and subtler effects to create wicked atmosphere in this tale of paranoia. On the AVM 50 the sound fills the room, but the sound effects are so natural and familiar and so timbrally convincing that you don't notice how well it's all working until you look down and you're white-knuckling the arm of your chair.

Walter Murch's sound work on the two-disc set of The English Patient was about as good as garden variety DD gets, although it's seriously hard to get excited about DVD picture and sound after a year and half of Blu-ray and HD DVD. That track has some of the most realistic and dimensional effects I've ever heard, not to mention a superlative score. The only thing I heard here that raised my eyebrows was some heavy bass leaking into the dialog on male voices.

I didn't hear this on other tracks consistently, but as noted the bass is full to the point of being rich, but not over the line in sacrificing detail. In fact, I never felt the need to reach for the EQ here. Many modern soundtracks are re-EQ'd and repurposed for home theater presentation, so this isn't the issue it once was to begin with. And while additional detail is certainly prevalent on the new hi-res codecs from HD DVD and Blu-ray, what really becomes apparent is the smoothness and freedom from stridence. And the AVM 50 is more than accomplished enough to reveal these differences.

I can't say Sony's Chris Botti Live is my cup o' tea as program material. I suspect there are two kinds of people in the world- the kind that want to see Sting serenade his wife in a concert hall and the kind who'd rather be attacked with a rusty cheese grater. But the picture and sound on this BD is phenomenal- courtesy of a 5.1- channel 24-bit/96kHz uncompressed PCM surround track. The sound is full, warm and naturally dynamic with outstanding harmonic texture. The DD track in comparison sounds deflated and thin- like a sharp and tinny, faded facsimile. This is a far more compelling audio experience than DVD has been able to muster, even those with two-channel PCM tracks.

As superlative as the AVM 50's performance is, especially at its price, there are some limitations someone who's spent time with some other high-end and (far) more expensive separates will detect. I listened to Theta's Casablanca III for some time, which was admittedly almost $20K, and heard better overall transparency, but especially air and fine detail. And damned well I should for that kind of scratch. For that reason, consider this an observational detail and not a criticism by any means.

The very best high-end digital front ends, like the Theta, go an extra mile not only in detail but in smoothness and what I'll call "reality" for lack of a better word. This is the point at which music and sound effects are not only presented with the major details revealed, but with the low level shadings and textures woven in seamlessly. This is when it stops sounding like great playback and more like the events depicted in the recording space or on–screen. The AVM 50 gets to the door of the recording studio but doesn't take you all the way inside like some of the extraordinary (and extraordinarily expensive) stuff that's out there. (And note that I am about to get an updated version of the Anthem Statement D2 to see if it crosses into this magical threshold, so look for that in the next month or two).

On the video front, the performance here is no less sterling. Looking at full resolution, single pixel width bursts over HDMI at 1080i from an AccuPel generator and 1080p bursts from a Spears and Munsil HD DVD test disc revealed zero discernible loss. Comparing a direct feed from an HD DVD or Blu-ray player I'd swear, that in spite of the measurements, I could see the slightest possible amount of softening going through the AVM 50. Whether or not this is true wasn't worth tracking down- I switched all of my HDMI sources- standard and hi-def- through the AVM 50 for months and didn't fret. Even if this miniscule difference wasn't a phantom it certainly wasn't a good trade for the convenience and audio performance gained from using HDMI with Blu-ray and HD DVD especially.

The Gennum processing is as outstanding as one you would hope for running all your sources through it. In a disc player, it's easier to be forgiving of deinterlacing errors with video material, and in next-gen players 1080i-1080p conversion isn't that paramount since it's primarily music videos that are in 1080i.

But in a controller like this, or a display, it's more important as we're going to be watching 1080i broadcast HD for a long time, the most prevalent form of HD there is currently. The Gennum solution is terrific at deinterlacing and upconverting, even offering 3/2 pulldown with 1080i film sources. In short, the performance is excellent, passing most torture tests and more importantly offering bombproof performance with the sharpest picture across the broadest range of program material.

Conclusions
Not so many years ago getting the feature set and performance offered by the AVM 50 would have required purchasing several highly specialized, and finicky components to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars. Today, well, you're just not going to believe what the AVM 50 can do, and how easily and intuitively it does it all.

In many important respects I think this controller is a better value than some separates priced below it. What's it worth to know that if a hot new player comes out that's got interoperability issues, Anthem will likely have a firmware update to deal with in a couple of weeks?

And none of this is to suggest that the AVM 50 doesn't earn its keep in pure performance. It does that and then some. In terms of all around, integrated audio and video performance, and breadth of feature set, this one is tops in my experience. It offers so few compromises on either audio or video, that one could wonder why anyone would pay more to step up even to Anthem's D2 (a question I'll answer soon for those who want to know).

So, suffice it to say that once again Anthem has produced a threshold component. One that stands on its own in terms of performance, but is all the more lovable for its price, which while not cheap offers a ton for the money. Let's face it- you can buy this controller and one of Anthem's five or seven-channel amps for less than what this year's new crop of flagship AVRs will cost. The AVM 50 is a borderline reference product at what is essentially a midline price in it category. And it earns as high a recommendation as I can offer, and a tip of this reviewer's cap.

Highs
Blu-ray and HD DVD ready with HDMI processing of 1080p video in all flavors and hi-res multichannel PCM
Superlative, full-featured video processing
Excellent sound quality
Outstanding support through frequent firmware updates
Deep, complex functionality for power users and tweaks
Outstanding, straightforward user interface
Ton of features, functions and performance for the money

Lows
May curb desire to upgrade
Too many buttons on front panel
So-so remote has multiple labels that confuse clumsy reviewers