I'm buying a new HDTV/DVD player. The HDTV has 2 HDMI inputs, one for my comcast box and I'm going to use the other one for a new upscaling DVD player (I know the current ones aren't that great).
My HT receiver is 4-5 years old and the best video connections are S-video connections. No component, much less DVI/HDMI.
So needless to say, I'm going to run the HD/cable and DVD direct to the TV via the HDMI inputs.
I'll run the digital (optical?) audio from the DVD player to the receiver and audio from cable either from the STB or the TV.
Is this a reasonable setup? Will it work? I'll have to verify that the DVD player can turn on the optical audio output even while using the HDMI output to the TV? (I realize HDMI includes audio).
I haven't bought the TV or DVD player yet. I was favoring one with two HDMI inputs, but I suppose in the future, a receiver could have multiple HDMI inputs and a single HDMI monitor output.
But I don't see myself buying a new receiver any time soon.
I'm in Boston. I haven't gotten the box yet, but according to the Local HDTV forum on AVS Forum (Boston, MA thread), the Phase III box has HDMI outputs and is available in my area.
I wouldn't count on the AVS forum. I searched all over the country and was held on the line when a comcast tech support persistantly went up the chain to engineering to verify that they only use Motorola boxes and the best they offer is a DVI output on their HD boxes. This is only a few weeks ago.
I would call your local office (which really connects you to their national tech support) and verify before spending a lot of money on receivers with HDMI. It's not that it's a bad idea, because you can still get HDMI with your DVD, but I'm pretty sure the Comcast boxes don't have them.