Passthrough (No Scaling) – HDfury Vertex glossary
Passthrough means the picture leaves the Vertex exactly as it came in. On the Vertex this is the No Scaling setting.
Passthrough means a device lets the picture go straight through without changing it.
It is like a letter that goes through a post office without anyone opening it: it arrives exactly as it was sent. On the Vertex, this setting is called No Scaling.
Does the HDfury Vertex have a passthrough mode?
YESYes. With the SCALE switch on No Scaling/Passthru (or SCALER → No Scaling in the GUI) the picture leaves exactly as it came in, up to 4K60 4:4:4 600 MHz. EDID and HDCP stay separate settings.
How to use it with the Vertex:
- Set the SCALE slide switch to No Scaling/Passthru (p.12).
- Or put the switch in the middle and choose SCALER → No Scaling in the USB GUI (p.12, p.30).
- Remote: RS232 #set scale none (p.49) or IR vertex_scalenone (p.86).
- Check on the OLED that the output format matches the input (p.19).
What it is
Many HDMI boxes can change a signal on the way: make it smaller or bigger (scaling), change the colour format, or change the bit depth. Passthrough is the opposite. Resolution, frame rate, colour format and bit depth stay the same as what the source sends.
Passthrough is the safest starting point when you test a setup. If the picture works in passthrough, you know the cables and the source are fine. Then you can switch on extra processing step by step. Note that passthrough is about the picture format only. Things like EDID (what the source is told the display can do) and HDCP (copy protection) are separate settings.
On the Vertex
The SCALE slide switch has a 'No Scaling/Passthru' position: what comes in goes out untouched (p.12). In the USB GUI the same choice is SCALER → No Scaling (p.30). The other choices are Custom Scaling and Auto Scaling. GUI, IR and app settings only apply when the slide switch is in the middle position (p.12).
In passthrough the Vertex can still pass any sound format, including Atmos and DD+, over HDMI (p.108), and it can go up to 4K60 4:4:4 600 MHz 18 Gbps (p.110). The Vertex also handles HDCP itself: each input is decrypted first and each output encrypts again (p.107).
The Highlight Features page lists 'Upscale, Downscale, Passthru and Bypass mode' (p.107) but does not explain Bypass as a separate setting. The documented way to leave the picture untouched is No Scaling. For Dolby Vision, No Scaling is the safe choice: the manual notes that DV travels in an RGB 8-bit container (p.113), and changing colour format or bit depth would alter that container.
Common questions
Is No Scaling the same as passthrough?
Yes. The manual names the slide position 'No Scaling/Passthru': what comes in goes out untouched (p.12).
Does passthrough make the picture worse?
No. The Vertex adds virtually no delay, only a few pixel clocks (p.104), and the picture format is not changed.
Why does my TV still get a lower resolution in passthrough?
The source decides what it sends based on the EDID it reads. Check the EDID mode; passthrough itself does not lower the resolution.
- https://www.hdfury.com/docs/HDfuryVertex.pdf
- manual p.12
- manual p.30
- manual p.107
- https://www.avforums.com/reviews/hdfury-vertex-review.15094/