Meridian America 800 Version 4 - Manual (Page 3)

Crystal-clear Image Quality
The pictures on DVD Video are stored using
a high-quality compression system called
MPEG2. MPEG2 has a fl exible data rate,
allowing more data to be used for some
scenes than others. Complex motions and
textures can be conveyed accurately without
using an unnecessarily high data rate on
simpler material. Consequently, the encoders
(that make MPEG2 streams from the original
fi lm) have improved in quality continually
over the years – a situation somewhat
analogous to CD, where recording
equipment has steadily improved.
Because the picture is stored as digital
video, it has some remarkable qualities
– including high bandwidth, low noise, very
low frame and line jitter and the potential
for deeply saturated colours. To recover this
quality requires a superb MPEG decoder
and immaculate care in de-jittering and
processing the resulting video.
The 800 offers a number of video output
options. The standard VE12 output card
delivers HDMI digital signals and progressive
component analogue video. Meridian
successfully pioneered audio systems in
which the signal remains in the digital
domain from the source, through a Digital
Surround Processor, to DSP Loudspeakers.
The Meridian 800 Reference Optical Disc
Player follows this example by maintaining
the video information in the digital domain
until the last minute – and now that displays
are available with digital inputs, the VE12
video output card supports them, extending
that digital chain to the creation of the image
itself. Other cards deliver broadcast-standard
video encoding, providing NTSC and PAL,
while video conversion and amplifi cation
of the highest studio quality provide RGB,
Component, S and Composite formats.
DVD-Audio
DVD-Audio is the latest feature of the
DVD specifi cation, and it is one with which
Meridian was deeply involved. It is a fact
that DVD-Audio offers the highest audio
quality available on disc today. At its heart is
Advanced Resolution 24-bit PCM technology
– a super-quality version of the same digital
techniques employed in the immensely
successful Compact Disc, but offering a
dynamic range of 144dB all the way across
the frequency range. And with sample rates
of 96kHz in 6-channel surround and 192kHz
in stereo, that range is immense – extending
up to 100kHz and without the fi ltering
required by other, incompatible disc formats.
These characteristics give DVD-Audio the
most extensive coding space of any current
disc format. In addition, DVD-Audio discs
can include images, videos, text and even
downloadable AAC-encoded music fi les for
your personal stereo.
Needless to say, the 800 handles DVD-Audio
superbly, bringing out every subtle nuance
in DVD-A recordings. As the originators of
MLP, the core technology of the DVD-Audio
format, it’s true to say that nobody does it
better.
800 Version 4
Reference Optical Disc Player
The press on Meridian’s 800
“…The Meridian 800 is a true reference-
quality product, offering not only fi rst-rate
CD sound, but also state-of-the-art DVD-
Audio playback. …lesser players simply
don’t have the resolution, timbral accuracy,
or dynamics. Further adding to the 800’s
attraction is the ability to confi gure the
machine for your system. It’s an outstand-
ing DVD player, too. What we call a good
conclusion.”
The Absolute Sound, January 2004
“…DVD has never sounded this good
before. The soundfi eld is enormous, the
power and control awesome…the 800’s
combination of world-leading technology,
fl exibility and killer performance makes it
the best DVD-A player we’ve heard by a
long way.”
Digital Home, September 2003
“…the Meridian 800 is as good as it gets
for DVD-Video playback…the internal
parts, quality and video DAC design… sep-
arate the 800 from the rest of the high-end
AV market. For movies, CD and DVD-Audio
you cannot do better than the Meridian
800. When you are designing your dream
system… be sure to add the Meridian 800
as your main source component. …the 800
is good enough for its own category.”
AudioRevolution.com
“Overall, the 800 is perhaps the fi nest CD
player I’ve ever laid ears on.… In the past
I’ve been lucky enough to be in close prox-
imity to top class orchestras banging out
the best music, and at times this [800/861]
combination with DVD-Audio discs honestly
brought me closest to the experience than
any other hi-fi system I’ve encountered. And
that is no mean feat. Takes audio to another
level…. Without doubt the fi nest optical
disc playing system we’ve encountered.
Smooth and cohesive, it plays anything you
chuck at it with ultimate fi nesse.
HiFi World, December 2002
“Staggeringly sophisticated, totally fl exible,
and astonishingly accomplished, both in
terms of sound and vision. The very best
there is…”
What Hi-Fi, February 2001
“…I found that the Meridian… was
clearly superior… not just to my reference
components, but to any other CD front ends
that I’ve auditioned or reviewed.… The
performance of Meridian’s 800/861 with
CDs is superior to the performance you get
with the great majority of SACDs and DVD-
As through any player.”
Absolute Sound, December 2003
Meridian’s MConfi g graphic utility allows the 800 Version 4 to be set up from a computer screen.
Rear panel of the 800v4DAX version