AV Receiver Reviews

The Arcam was not happy with a 480i HDMI input; it produced an image, but it was discolored and unwatchable. Therefore, the Digital SD tests are recorded as N/A in our chart. This is not a major disadvantage; most HDMI sources (Blu-ray players, etc.) will not output 480i over HDMI. This issue did not affect the ratings.

The Arcam passed a 1080p HDMI input through to the output with excellent resolution. But when I checked the resolution with 1080i in and 1080p out, HDMI for both (a test not covered in the chart), the uppermost luma burst frequency (37.1 megahertz) and single-pixel vertical lines on a sharpness test pattern were a bright pink. However, this was not visible on the black-and-white program material I checked.

The Arcam’s analog input’s processing added edge enhancement to 1080i component inputs cross-converted to 1080p HDMI outputs. It also clipped all information above white with an analog input, but it did respond to below black.

We don’t typically evaluate component in/component out performance. However, I found that if I didn’t set the Arcam’s Analog Output control (in the Video Output menu) to 1080i with a 1080i component source (component out), I got a severely clipped and discolored image. Every time I turned the receiver off and then on again, this setting reverted to the SD Interpolated setting (apparently its default), and it had to be manually reset. Component in to component out also put a thin green line at the top of my (non-overscanned) display (a JVC DLA-RS1 projector).—TJN