hdmi vrs component

[lomarica]

the same high end retailer as my last post stated that hdmi has many problems and recommended using a component connection until the compatability problem with hardware software issues are resolved with hdmi. he stated monster cable has issued some type of press release basically acknowleding this issue

any comments
thanks

[edtyct]

Most everyone in the industry is aware of HDMI's handshake problems and audio snafus. A movement is well afoot to standardize performance and advance compatibility between various devices. Many of the current video problems can be traced to repeater dysfunction--say, receivers and switchers unable to properly mediate an HDMI signal between sources and sink for various reasons. I'd venture to say that audio and video through an HDMI 1.1 or 1.2 connection will probably work as intended at least 85% of the time. If you have HDMI capability, it is certainly worth trying it. The cost of a backup set of component cables won't be prohibitive in most cases, and usually won't represent much of a drop-off either. But for those who are seriously obsessed with squeezing the last drop of performance out of their video gear, HDMI is the conduit of choice.

[markw]

Most everyone in the industry is aware of HDMI's handshake problems and audio snafus. A movement is well afoot to standardize performance and advance compatibility between various devices. Many of the current video problems can be traced to repeater dysfunction--say, receivers and switchers unable to properly mediate an HDMI signal between sources and sink for various reasons. I'd venture to say that audio and video through an HDMI 1.1 or 1.2 connection will probably work as intended at least 85% of the time. If you have HDMI capability, it is certainly worth trying it. The cost of a backup set of component cables won't be prohibitive in most cases, and usually won't represent much of a drop-off either. But for those who are seriously obsessed with squeezing the last drop of performance out of their video gear, HDMI is the conduit of choice.First, thanks for your input on my situation two weeks ago. It helped greatly and I'm working on a fairly comprehensive post over what I learned and have found out, which are not always the same.

Now, the question. By going directly from the source to the target, bypassing the receiver/switch. can most, if not all, of these compatibility issues be mitigated?

[edtyct]

Thanks, Mark. Some individual, unmediated HDMI components simply don't get along, but that number is dwindling as the trouble spots become less arcane. But even if removing unnecessary layers from the signal path may not correct all of the possible errors, it will certainly eliminate a lot of them. Dedicated switchers generally seem to perform better than receivers or TVs in this respect. Often a glitch will amount to more of nuisance than an outright failure, if the user knows what to do--for example, making sure that a display is on and set to the proper HDMI input before turning on a DVD player or STB connected to it or making sure that both of the HDMI inputs on a TV can remain active at the same time so that a hard reboot won't be necessary when switching between them. Some TVs won't cooperate. The problems are too indeterminate to give you a definite answer, but these are some of the major trouble spots.