hdmi best connection?

[noek]

Is hdmi the best type of connection? I currently am connected from my lcd to my digital cable box via Composite and the audio from my lcd to my dvd player is optical...Im kind of new to this so wondering if I should scrap it all for HDMI...thanks!

[superpanavision70mm]

Oddly enough that is such a great question. Some people without even testing HDMI out will automatically think that it MUST be the best. However, there are some DVD players that are coming out that also do 1080 through component or at least 720. I noticed that color seemed MUCH better through my component cables than through HDMI. The HDMI was too bright and while detail looked good, it just didn't have the liquid appearance that I was getting through my component cable. Both cables were similar in price-range as well. The component that I am using is tributaries and the HDMI was from Cobalt. I am doing some testing with a few different cables and players in the meantime to get to the bottom of the results. I want to see what plays the biggest factor before deciding which I will end up using.

[noek]

is HDMI video AND audio? If I run hdmi cable, should I use optical with it? Now that I have my cables all in (composite from tv to dvd player), at 480p it looks pretty tight...no where near the 1080HD, but I thought DVDs could only attain 480 right now, until blue ray and HDdvd are standardized, if that ever happens

[teledynepost]

HDMI is purely the digital signal. Component introduces alterations to that information. Yes, HDMI also has 5.1 audio. I don't know exactly which Dolby/DTS or DVD, SACD etc. are supported, I think for some higher resolution audio you have to use RCA still?

[superpanavision70mm]

What type of DVD player are you using first off? Let's begin there. You will also want to check and see if your player upconverts HD...that should be mentioned somewhere in the manual. You probably won't be using your HDMI for sound just yet unless you have a receiver that has HDMI inputs, which in that case you will get digital sound (DTS and Dolby). SACD is still analog, so it won't carry that. I would connect both component and the HDMI and test both to see which you prefer. You should also have settings with your player for your output resolution and your TV should also have settings for what your inputs are.

[musicman1999]

Not all versions of hdmi output multichannel sound some are 2 channel only.If you are using composite from dvd to tv that is the worse,you should use at least component.


bill