Question about HDMI vs Component
|
New member Username: FrikkerPost Number: 1 Registered: Jan-07 | I don't mean to be a newbie - but I can't help it  This is my first post, and while I am familiar with A/V, I am not familiar with the world of HDTV very well at all. My parents bought a JVC HDTV (Sorry - don't have the model here in front of me ATM) and a JVC DVD Recorder / VHS player (DR-MV7S) for transferring home videos from VHS to DVD. We do not have digital or HDcable yet - just basic cable. They bought a (monster cable) HDMI cable and I am trying to figure out: 1. Is HDMI worth as much money as HHGregg sold it for (expensive)? Why wouldn't you buy a cheaper Component cable for much cheaper (ie what are the major benefits besides 'digital' signal and the all-in-one audio-video benefit)? 2. What resolution would I expect the DVD player to output through HDMI? I believe it is 1080i (but it may only be 480 or 720?) - but I'm not sure. Can Component support that high of a resolution? (This is the important question) 3. What about copy protection? Can we record DVDs from TV differently with component than with HDMI? I'm not trying to skirt legalities here - just pondering on the theoretical. Thank you, and I appologize for any negligance on my part |
|
Gold Member Username: John_sColumbus, Ohio US Post Number: 1275 Registered: Feb-04 | 1. Unless you're talking about long runs, you do not have to spend $100+ on an HDMI cable. The advantage of staying digital is that there's less possibility of distortion artifacts introduced by the necessary digital to analog and analog to digital conversions required by the component hookup. At least in theory, anyway. But in actual practice results may vary due to recent compatibility and implementation problems with the HDMI interface. This shouldn't be a problem in your case however, since both the source unit and the display are from the same manufacturer. 2. The resolution output on the DR-MV7S is user settable to either 1080i or 720p for both DVD and VHS playback. (This is newsworthy, as this is the first upconverting combo DVD/VHS unit on the market.) Yes, component can support any resolution up to 1080i. After all there are many HD cable/satellite boxes in use today that output HD video at 720p or 1080i on their component outputs. 3. This question is non-applicable, since the HDMI and component jacks are outputs only. |
|
New member Username: FrikkerPost Number: 2 Registered: Jan-07 | John, Thank you so much for your reply. It helped out a lot - and good call on #3 I didn't think about it. I see you live in columbus - I live in Dayton Do you have Digital Cable through Time Warner or do you do satellite? If you do cable: What would you say is the best way (cost efficient) about getting HDTV - renting a box, a card, etc? We have two main TVs, one is HDTV one is not and currently only have basic cable. |
|
Gold Member Username: John_sColumbus, Ohio US Post Number: 1276 Registered: Feb-04 | Blaine, for the last three years I have used WOW! cable service for four TVs (one HD), plus internet access. WOW! is aka Wide Open West, who competes with TWC in this area. At first they had a better deal, but now I wonder since my bill has gone up $40/mo for the same service since installation. Since my 3 year old Hitachi RP has no cable card slot and since I have absolutely no satellite service experience I am ill qualified to offer council on either. You can find plenty of opinions about both on this and other forums. I can tell you that, in most circumstances, you can receive HD from local broadcasters with a ordinary antenna---that is if you aren't too far away from the broadcast towers. This is assuming the Dayton stations are sending HD signals over the air. Go to antennaweb.org for tower locations and antenna recommendations. Click on "Show digital stations only" to see possible HD broadcasters. This is presuming that your JVC TV has an ATSC tuner built-in. That JVC TV also may have a QAM tuner. QAM (Quadrature Amplitude Modulation) tuners will tune in HD channels on basic cable, provided they are "in the clear", or unencrypted. I presume your TV doesn't have QAM, since you most likely would have gotten some HD channels via an ordinary channel scan on your cable signals. I am pretty sure TWC doesn't scramble all the HD channels on their line. If you have more questions feel free. |
|
Gold Member Username: John_sColumbus, Ohio US Post Number: 1277 Registered: Feb-04 | Sorry Blaine, that link should be http://www.antennaweb.org |
|
New member Username: FrikkerPost Number: 3 Registered: Jan-07 | Thanks a lot for the information again - you've been a great help. It turns out our TV doesn't have a cablecard slot anyway, and I got a good deal on HDTV / Digital Cable since we will have a full package now. Thanks for the link, too. Thats a great resource that I'll be playing around with. Thanks again! Blaine |
Main Forums
Today's Posts- Home Audio Forum
- Home Video Forum
- Home Theater Forum
- Car Audio Forum
- Accessories Forum
- All Forum Topics