AV Receiver Reviews

The VSX-1120’s Marvell solution offers full video processing, including the ability to convert incoming analog component signals to 1080p HDMI, and its outstanding performance makes it an excellent choice for all-around video performance. Digital HDMI signals at 1080p chroma resolution were slightly down at the highest frequencies, but luma detail was pristine. Over analog component, the highest chroma frequencies were absent entirely. The highest chroma frequencies aren’t as critical to our perception of image detail with program material as luma. Deinterlacing was superb over analog and digital, with both standard-def and high-def signals. Concert videos and movies at 1080i are handled properly. In addition, the VSX-1120 offers the ability to convert/upconvert 480i and 1080i movie material to 1080p/24. In our brief testing suite, it locked onto the cadence and held it admirably, although our experience with such features suggests that it can be more variable in practice over a broad variety of movies. Note that you must select the 1080p/24 output manually on the remote and that it forces the 1080p/24 cadence once selected. If the material isn’t encoded with 3:2, there is no auto-detect that will select the appropriate deinterlacing mode. There was no clipping of above-white or below-black information in the incoming signals in either analog component or HDMI. Analog cross/upconversion to 1080p HDMI is often a mixed bag with A/V receivers and surround processors, but what we saw here was strong, with rock-solid deinterlacing and detail. Very, very impressive for an AVR in this price range.—SCB