I heard HDMI is better, but how much better? There are alot of good deals on 5.1 systems with progressive scan but to get hdmi you have to buy it seperate. I have an HD tv, and wodering whats the best way to go. thanks
Progressive scan will only give you 480p. If you use HDMI you can get an upconverting player that will give you 1081, not true HDTV since it's upconverted, but some of the upconverting players supposedly do a pretty good job. I've never used one so I can't say how much better than progressive it is.
HDMI is only the "vehicle" a signal travels through. You can have 480p, 780p, 1080i or p through HDMI. If your talking about upconverting DVD players vs. 480p progressive players, if your TV is 42in or higher, you are probably better off with an upconverting model, and yes, for that function to work without a "hack", you do need HDMI.
Can't the HDTV itself upconvert over component video?
I just bought a Sony 40" LCD Bravia which has just a single HDMI connector and I'm trying to figure out if I should use it for the cable box or the DVD player.
Use HDMI for your upconverter, the reason upconversion cannot work over component without a hack on dvd players is HD copy protection encoding (HDCP), HD channels can be broadcast via component.