[matt_p]

Hi,

I got a Denon 1910 a couple of days ago to use with my Hitachi 32LD7200 lcd tv. At the moment I have my PC plugged in DVI-DVI, which meant the Denon being connected up to the HDMI socket on the Hitachi with a DVI-HDMI cable.

Within about 5 seconds of testing, it was clear that the quality was terrible- macroblocking on pretty much any part of the screen with 'flat' colour. There was also much evidence of the green-tinted blacks that I had read about. Basically, everything bad I had read about this player (post-ordering) was manifesting itself right in front of me. Doh!

I was pretty much getting ready to ship it back, when I thought I'd give it a go with the DVI-DVI cable. Lo and behold, I got an absolutely amazing picture! macroblocking 99% down compared to HDMI cable, everything absolutely fantastic. Blacks completely black. I've now got the picture quality I expected to get when I ordered the machine.

So I'm confused. I thought that HDMI was basically DVI repackaged with audio included??? How can the quality vary so much from cable to cable? The HDMI-DVI cable was not cheap:

http://www.tvcables.co.uk/cgi-bin/tvcables/PGV1102.html

I thought "duff HDMI socket on Hitachi?" but I'm guessing that it's not very likely, as the macroblocking and green problems are so well known for the 1910.

There seems to be quite a polarised view of this player- some places singing it's praises (5* verdict in this months What Hi Fi I think), others slating its macroblocking and green blacks. Are the latter just trying it with the 'wrong' cable???

Any ideas?

matt

Very interesting that the cable might do this, when it's digital! If we were talking about analog transfer it would make sense, of course. It could be a TV-related problem as well as an cable-issue though. You are in fact using two different inputs, if I understood you right, and the HDMI-one could be inferior or something. And many people, me included, don't notice any macroblocking (but I have greenish darks, maybe because I use a very cheap PC-cable?). Please experiment more with cables/connetors/TVs please, folks, and let us know the results! Does different DVI-cables "change" the picture?