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MVP 7500 / 8400 differences?

gravityhammergravityhammer Posts: 65
in AMX Control Products
Hello -

We're a new dealer, so I haven't been around the block yet like most of you. We have client that is considering upgrading a MVP-7500 to a MVP-8400. Other than the obvious size difference, as well as the color depth, are there any functional differences between the two?

Comments

  • ericmedleyericmedley Posts: 4,177
    This is purely my opinion, but the major problem with the 7500 is the passive vs. active video display. We only have 1 client out of about 20 some who, after buying a 7500, living with it for a while, seeing an 8400 or 5200 who didn't want to trade it out. The image is really poor and color depth and contrast ratio are bad enough that you have to limit the your color choice when designing a layout. this is definitely a case of what you see on the computer screen in TPD4 and what is actually on the 7500 is radically different.

    It's not so much a size thing as it is a 'image quality is so bad, it's almost not useable.'

    IMHO...
  • John NagyJohn Nagy Posts: 1,742
    I agree in spirit but not degree, the primary difference is certainly appearance of the image on screen. Later production 7500's appear to have a much improved image over the early ones, from what we've seen. Some are better than others, oddly enough. Some are very acceptable, and look bad only by direct comparison side by side with an 8400. While every customer agrees the 8400 is superior, the price difference is sufficiently different to make some fairly satisfied 7500 owners.
  • jjamesjjames Posts: 2,908
    To answer your original question of functional differences - no. They both function exactly the same; there should be no programming changes.

    The biggest issue however you'll have is going from a 640 x 480 resolution to 800 x 600. You'll essentially need to redesign the interface to fit to that. Just doing a conversion in TPD4 will just make it look like junk, making the client question why he spent the money on the upgrade.
  • DHawthorneDHawthorne Posts: 4,584
    I sold exactly one 7500, and never looked at them again ... the display was unacceptably bad. Poor visibility and contrast, smearing of the button borders (by that, I mean vertical lines extending from the edges of the buttons to the top and bottom of the screen) ... probably some patience would have been in order, and I could have found a way to make it look all right (and by all accounts, they have improved from the first generation), but I mostly deal with systems where the cost of the panel is not the primary consideration, and just used 8400's since instead.

    As for scaling a panel resolution, definitely don't use the built-in image scaling in TPD4. If you must convert in TPD4, export all the images and scale them separately in Photoshop or the GIMP (which has a nice batch add-in for such purposes). Go ahead and let TPD scale the buttons and pages, then replace the images with your new ones.
  • BrallenBrallen Posts: 25
    I programmed 1 project with a 7500 in it(actually two 7500s). I had no idea they were passive and what that would mean(spec'd by someone else). There were distortions on every page; odd lines shooting up from buttons, colors were inconsistent. The passive problem was further compounded by the customer demanding the panels look like a mock up one of their graphics guys did. So I couldn't redesign to work around, and I was just stuck explaining to the customer "uh... amx says that's just the way it is". I ended up slightly shifting their colors to alleviate (but in no way solve) the problem. I think down the road we replaced them. The engineer and I had quite a talk about it, and he didn't spec any amx again for quite a while.

    So to answer the original question... 8400 good... 7500 bad
  • John NagyJohn Nagy Posts: 1,742
    This is quite literally beating a dead horse. The 7500 has been discontinued for about a year.
  • AuserAuser Posts: 506
    John Nagy wrote: »
    This is quite literally beating a dead horse. The 7500 has been discontinued for about a year.

    Not at all. I think the OP has got a fair amount of information to provide the client with regarding whether it is worth upgrading or not.
  • John NagyJohn Nagy Posts: 1,742
    You're right, I was reacting to the drift about why to avoid them, and forgot the original question.
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