To HDMI or not to HDMI, is that the question?

T

trickylad

Guest
I've got the following Sony gear:

26" LCD HD TV - KDL-S26A12U
AV Amp - STR-DG700
DVD Recorder - RDR-HX510

I've ordered some new interconnects, all Belkin Silver series:

Tos Link Optical - DVD player to amp
Subwoofer - Amp to Woofer
Component video - DVD player to TV
RCA Audio plugs - TV to Amp for normal TV sound

(I also have a snazzy scart lead but I'm assuming the above set up will give me better performance between the TV and DVD??)

My Question:

My DVD recorder isn't HDMI but my TV has a HDMI input and the new amp has HDMI inputs and outputs. Should i be using the HDMI connection, and if so - what for? What will it replace?

Cheers all in advance.

Tricky
 
Hello trickylad

3RCA vs. SCART - the 3RCA 'Component' Output is likely to give you the option to set the DVD player to Progressive Scan whereas the RGB SCART Output is Interlaced only.

If the Deinterlacing in the DVD player is better than the Deinterlacing onboard the TV then Progressive 'Component' over 3RCA will be the best Analogue option.

Digital (HDMI) vs. Analogue (3RCA) - usually not much to choose between these two as they are simply variations on the same processing within the DVD player; though lots of folk prefer the 'sharper' image they get via HDMI.

I believe your AV Receiver will convert Analogue 'Component' 3RCA Input signals to Digital 'Component' Output on HDMI - this is simply a convenience feature; its very unlikely to make any positive difference to the image you see on screen.

Joe
 
Thanks v much Joe.

So, i should keep the component video connection for my DVD (in progressive scan mode) but i have the option to wire it through the amp, rather than having the cables running direct from the TV to the DVD player. Then use HDMI as the single pipe wire from the amp to the TV (therefore a much neater aesthetic). will this then carry sound as well as picture? I'd like to listen to the sound from watching broadcast TV through the amp and currently the only way of doing this is through a red/white analogue connection from the back of the TV to the amp - quality isn't great.

At the moment I've got the DVD player connected to the TV both by the Component cables and the scart (as the scart works on smartlink - making tuning etc much easier). Is this safe to do so? when playing a DVD will the player automatically switch to using the Compnent connection so i get a better picture? I did check the setting to switch component out to 'on' on the DVD menu.

tricky
 
Hello trickylad

01. Video Cross Conversion - from a quick squint at the Specs of your AV Receiver you ought to be able to Input Analogue Component Video on 3RCA + Stereo or Digital Audio from the DVD player and Output Digital Component on HDMI with audio embedded in the HDMI Output.

If you have a link to a User Manual me or someone else can confirm this - it would be late evening today before I had the time to look through the User manual.

02. TV audio to AV Amp - this is never going to work via HDMI; the TV is not configured to deliver audio from its inbuilt tuner to an external device via HDMI.

03. DVD video - you will need to manually select the 'Component' Input on the TV when you want to view the higher quality 'Progressive' signal from the DVD player.

It ought not to be a problem to have the SCART and Component signals permanently attached between the DVD player and the TV.

Joe
 
Hi Joe

Link to the user manual as promised:

http://www.sony.co.uk/support/ShowE...anuals/2680065113.pdf&externalLinkType=manual

I now understand what you're suggesting - 3RCA video and optical audio from DVD player to the amp - then output HDMI to the TV.

On the TV audio question, i made a bit of a discovery. Now that the DVD recorder is connected to the amp via optical link, and the external aerial for the TV is piped through the DVD recorder before the connection to the TV, you can get sound from the TV when the amp is switched to the DVD recorder input and no DVD is playing. Oddly though it only comes through the left speaker channel and not the right :confused:

tricky
 

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