Panasonic 42PHD8 + H/K DVD22 + Homechoice TV

S

skeletons

Guest
Hello everyone,

Apologies if some/all of this seems a bit basic - I have searched the forum but it's been 7 years since I bought a new TV (a Panasonic 36" widescreen CRT) and my technology knowledge aint what it used to be.

I'm about to buy a Panasonic HD8 (lifelong Panasonic man, prefer the panels to the Vieras but still love the picture on the 8th gen Viera) and have a couple of questions about what the best connections would be for:

*Harman/Kardon DVD22 (progressive scan, component outputs, no HDMI)
*Homechoice TV (RGB scart only, no separate audio). The landlord won't allow Sky and I can't get Freeview so this is the only short-term TV option.
*No other inputs at the moment; no intentions toward gaming and my PC is only ever going into its current flatscreen monitor. I should add that I use my system mostly for watching DVDs - TV use is only sporadic.
*My AV receiver is a Yamaha RXV640

The four options I had considered were:

(a) DVD into (optional) component board in the HD8. TV Scart into (optional) Scart board

(b) DVD into (optional) component board in the HD8. TV Scart into JS VGA convertor and then into supplied VGA port on the HD8

(c) DVD into Yamaha amp component input, TV scart into JS YUV convertor and then into Yamaha component input. Component output from Yamaha into (optional) component board in the HD8

(d) Decide that this lot is already costing me a fortune, spend the extra money on a Lumagen (or DVDO) scaler, put the DVD into its component input, the TV Scart by way of a Scart-to-composite adaptor into its composite input and then output the scaler via DVI into the (optional) DVI board on the PH8.

Of course, there are almost certainly other options that are better, so feel free to recommend.

My questions to anyone who has stuck with me this far (thank you!) are:

1) Which of the first three set ups would you recommend?
My gut feel is (b), given that: I'm unlikely to run out of inputs on the HD8 with the kit I'm putting in; JS Tech recommend their VGA adaptor as being better than their component one for PQ; another thread raises a worry about switching high def video inputs through the Yamaha; and my guess is that the JST VGA convertor will be better than the straight SCART board into the PHD8.

2) Should I have my DVD22 switched to progressive scan? I know the electronics are a few years old and I wondered whether the PHD8's innards would do a better job if left alone.

3) Given the quality of my source components, would a scaler be a waste, or would not having one be a waste of the power of the Panasonic?

By way of any background, I will probably not upgrade the DVD player until Blu-Ray/whatever comes out but I will get either a good freeview source or SkyHD when I get to buy a house (12-18 months away).

Cash is not a huge issue (in that it just depends how much to raid the housebuying fund by) but I don't want to spend it for the sake of it, either - looking for a PQ that will keep me smiling rather than video perfection whatever the cost. Also, I'd rather minimise the number of boxes/leads/remotes I use and keep a fairly stable set-up once it's probably calibrated (wife appreciates simplicity...)

Future upgrades will tend to be of pretty good kit, so I want what I get now to stand up both now and in the future (which is what put me off the Hitachi 7200 solution).

Any comments gratefully received. As a first time poster, I also wanted to say how appreciative of the efforts of people on this forum those of us who lurk are...

Thanks,

Simon
 
Simon,

I would go with option c, but instead of using the Component board on the screen, use the VGA input that it comes with as that will accept component and will save you the cost of the component board (you did say that you won't be using a PC on the Screen).

Of course option D is the higher cost option, Gizlaroc and many others will swear by the use of a Scaler but that's way out of my league but if you have the money.....
 
I would also go for b or c, probably c on the basis that you just need a component to vga lead from the yammy to the screen and you wont be passing hi def video through for now anyway.
I would then go for an ISF calibration after a 100 hours or so, get used to that an dget a trial of a lumagen HDP and see if you think its worth the extra...personally I think it would be.
 
Thanks for the advice, both of you. For option (c), the DVD signal would go:

DVD - Yamaha by component, then Yamaha to Panasonic by component into VGA. Would that last step preserve the ability to use the H/K DVD's progressive scan? I thought that needed to go through component?

Thanks,

Simon
 
you are sending component via vga so vga is fine but the screen converts everything into prog scan anyway......I had a dvd22 for a while with my pwd7 and felt it was marginally better letting the screen do the prog scan...but it is marginal.
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom