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Nick Peacock
Guest
If you didn't read this forum you might be forgiven for thinking that digital interfaces were the best thing since sliced bread for home cinema, but then you can't take the opinions of all dealers and journalists at face value. So we need the well-informed and well-meaning opinions of all the contributors to avoid making expensive mistakes. Even when, through blissful ignorance, we don't realise we've made them. Therefore I won't see you in a queue for a Pioneer 868i. There are many better ways to watch DVDs with analogue interfaces, as if the interface was more important than the source in the first place.
So does that mean that we should all turn our back on HDMI? No we shouldn't. It's hard to believe that companies beginning with a "P" that have enough talent and resource to produce sources and displays could overlook some of the simple things that are important to us. But successful companies have people at the top who ensure that any mistakes do get corrected. It's like evolution. The unstopable commitment is there, and we know what the way forwards will be.
So if someone advises you with the best of intentions that you will get a poorer picture if you buy a domestic plasma with a digital interface instead of a commercial plasma running off VGA, does that tell you all you need to know to make an purchase decision? Remembering that home cinema is only going to become better integrated, you may end up with an expensive white elephant that few people will want in a few years' time, and which may have little home cinema hardware support as soon as the big boys sort themselves out. Maybe then we can avoid wasting our money on scalers in every stop of the chain.
I was always an audiophile, and when CD was launched, I'm embarassed to admit that I thought nothing could replace LPs. I won't make that mistake again. Are you with us or against us?
So does that mean that we should all turn our back on HDMI? No we shouldn't. It's hard to believe that companies beginning with a "P" that have enough talent and resource to produce sources and displays could overlook some of the simple things that are important to us. But successful companies have people at the top who ensure that any mistakes do get corrected. It's like evolution. The unstopable commitment is there, and we know what the way forwards will be.
So if someone advises you with the best of intentions that you will get a poorer picture if you buy a domestic plasma with a digital interface instead of a commercial plasma running off VGA, does that tell you all you need to know to make an purchase decision? Remembering that home cinema is only going to become better integrated, you may end up with an expensive white elephant that few people will want in a few years' time, and which may have little home cinema hardware support as soon as the big boys sort themselves out. Maybe then we can avoid wasting our money on scalers in every stop of the chain.
I was always an audiophile, and when CD was launched, I'm embarassed to admit that I thought nothing could replace LPs. I won't make that mistake again. Are you with us or against us?