HQV Benchmark 2.0 is an updated version of the original tool and it consists of various video clips and test patterns which are designed to evalute motion correction, de-interlacing, decoding, noise reduction, detail enhancement and film cadence detection.
There are two versions of the program, standard definition on DVD and high definition on Bluray. As our audience will be concentrating on HD content so will we.
This has a total of 39 video tests which is increased from 23 in the original and the scoring is also up from a total of 130 to 210. As hardware and software gets more complicated, the software has been tuned to make sure we can thoroughly maximise our analysis.
Read our initial analysis over here
Sapphire Edge VS8 Mini PC | |
Dial
|
4 |
Dial with static pattern | 5 |
Gray Bars | 5 |
Violin | 5 |
Stadium 2:2 | 5 |
Stadium 3:2 | 5 |
Horizontal Text Scroll | 5 |
Vertical Text Scroll | 5 |
Transition to 3:2 Lock | 5 |
Transition to 2:2 Lock | 0 |
2:2:2:4 24 FPS DVCAM Video
|
5 |
2:3:3:2 24 FPS DVCam Video
|
5 |
3:2:3:2:2 24 FOS Vari-Speed
|
5 |
5:5 FPS Animation
|
5 |
6:4 12 FPS Animation
|
5 |
8:7 8 FPS Animation
|
5 |
Interlace Chroma Problem (ICP)
|
5 |
Chroma Upsampling Error (CUE)
|
5 |
Random Noise: Sailboat
|
5 |
Random Noise: Flower
|
5 |
Random Noise: Sunrise
|
5 |
Random Noise: Harbour Night
|
5 |
Scrolling Text
|
5 |
Roller Coaster
|
5 |
Ferris Wheel
|
5 |
Bridge Traffic
|
5 |
Text Pattern/ Scrolling Text
|
5 |
Roller Coaster
|
5 |
Ferris Wheel
|
5 |
Bridge Traffic
|
5 |
Luminance Frequency Bands
|
5 |
Chrominance Frequency Bands
|
5 |
Vanishing Text | 5 |
Resolution Enhancement
|
15 |
Theme Park
|
5 |
Driftwood | 5 |
Ferris Wheel
|
5 |
Skin Tones
|
7 |
Total | 196 |
We were pleasantly surprised to see a score of 196 points, which is a match for the leading discrete AMD solutions on the market today. This figure translates to class leading HD image quality.
fantastic read Zardon, I like this unit, very impressed with the size.
I agree though, 60GB SSD is about same price now as 500GB Mechancial. why not offer one at least?
bare bones for me . ill be ordering this as I want to fit one behind my tv downstairs, but 120gb SSD I think for my unit.
any pricing information on bare bones yet?
This could be a nice device but for a few problems.
1.) I doesn’t look that nice and even though you might be hiding it behind a TV it still should look nicer in case we do want to show it off because of it’s size
2.) Give us the option of a 7200RPM mechanical drive with a small price difference or or pay a bit more and get an SSD even something like a 60GB would be better than the HDD in there at the moment
3.) The option for a windows OS if required so basic users can have it running as soon as they get it open plus us enthusiast’s/Experienced people would get the option without OS so we could put whatever OS we want on it
4.)Have a bundle with external dvd drive again for basic users.
Hi Andrew, thanks for your views. That’s pretty much what we think too.
Its a nice idea, but its a half assed approach from Sapphire.
The version you reviewed would be ideal for joe bloggs, but there is no OS and no means to get it installed without buying an external drive. This is just not something a user going into PC world will ever be able to handle. They want to take it home, hit the power button and bam, all sorted.
Enthusiast users won’t want a system with a 5,400 rpm 2.5 inch drive, thats 2008 technology and was poor even then.
Barebones is the only way forward, but having to get memory, SSD and an OS is expensive.
They should have been more honest in the marketing and released it at 450-500 with everything ready and installed (good quality SSD and 8GB of DDR3 memory – come on its £30 online now!).
Its a good review and honest in the conclusion, although the score is too high. I like the system, but id have scored this a point lower.
5,400 rpm hard drive? The lack of OS and optical drive means this is firmly positioned at the enthusiast audience, NOT mainstream. Why insult us with a 5,400 rpm drive – every enthusiast reading this will be horrified? I wouldn’t even use that for backing up files now.
its very poorly configured.
Although I like the small unit, id be interested in barebones, depending on the price.
Any idea on barebones price? id like this as a home server system, but im not paying for a 5,400rpm drive.
They dont need to charge more for SSD, a 60GB SSD is the same price as that 500GB slow ass unit they installed.
I would have expected more from Sapphire, its a poor decision. I didnt even accept a 5,400 rpm drive in my old laptop, it grinds the whole system to a halt.
I couldn’t restrain myself ang ordered one in this configuration yesterday morning since it was readily available here in Italy (tracking even says it should be delivered today!), even though I also had reservations about the hard drive, which were founded it seems. 😉 But it also seems that otherwise the box should suit my needs very well, as it draws little power and should be very silent during general usage(i don’t game btw). I will install Arch Linux on it, which should boot relatively fast compared to Win7 even on this slow hard drive (I don’t expect to boot it more than once a day anyway) and replace the HDD sooner or later with an SSD anyway. I wonder how much the barebone version will cost, though, and how much more I will have paid for in the end for being unable to wait a little longer. I paid 350€ delivered for this version, btw.
Sorry, for a test you have to look at points that are not specified. So is it HDMI 1.4(a) or the old 1.3 not capable of 3D. Is it 7.1 Sound or just 6. is it possible to change the drive or is it soldered…
@signorRossi. Can you look at your device for my asked points above please?