I am setting up a 28'x14' home theater in my basement and purchasing the panasonic ae700 projector. Wondering if someone can help clarify this for me - The projector has a HDMI input. Since HDMI can also transmit a digital audio signal, isnt part of the cables ability negated when connecting to a projector? Secondly (and more importantly), is it worth purchasing a dvd player with the capability of "upgrading resolution" (sorry for the lack of technical term) and has hdmi output or should I wait until true HD-DVD is made available and just purchase a standard progressive scan DVD with component video.
Anonymous
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HDMI is an emerging technology, and aside from including sound (unlike DVI) it is setup with enough innate flexiblity to eventually allow users to be able to in effect record and purchase their own true Hi Def DVD's from home. Currently via the advanced Motorola boxes from Comcast etc you can make pristine hi def HARD DRIVE copies for playback in PERFECT hi def, such hard drives copying being allowed because it by definition meets the "fair use" exception the studios agree to - ie it can only be used only with ONE home
Your cable connection will likely (at best currently) be DVI to HDMI anyways, and there will always be several ways to add the sound on a seperate cable run, there is no "negation" effect at all, as the HDMI itself works fine for what is critical - the picture
You are really better off with a standard progrssive scan DVD as opposed to an upscaling model, particularly when testing the AE700u the first week - as these "upscaling" units tend to be trouble prone and add very little benefit and would in effect muddle your testing procedure and you wouldn't know if any problem was the dvd or the AE700u
The AE700u is a breakthrough product able to produce incredibly sharp pictures of intense color magnitude, you absolutely need to have a good hi def 720p/1080i signal available to make sure when you first get the unit that the unit you bought is perfect - so you need either cable hi def, satellite hi def, of an over the air -e.g samsung hi def box which sell around $200 to 300 new
On for example a 92 inch 16:9 screen with a 10 foot mid-centered throw from a viewing distance of lets say 8 feet - if the unit is not defective (it shouldn't be) and the signal is true HI DEF QUALITY it will simply blow away anything you would normally see in the stores - THEN you know its working fine
you really don't want to test just with dvd, especially these "upscale" units as they have so many problems. Component-only players work fine with the AE700u, best to save HdMi for the real HD signal. The only real big improvements in dvd's of course arrive in the fall 2005 via Toshiba with HD-DVD and then Blue Ray later
here is some user reviews from all over the world in the AE700u with various setup information