HDMI: Switching, Passthrough, and Upconversion...

[Palmz]

Forgive me if this has been explicitly layed out in the recent past in another thread. I looked around a bit for info before deciding to post.

I know that for virtually all of you this is an elementary question, but what is the difference between HDMI "switching," "passthrough," and "upconversion?" I'm hunting for a receiver right now and some of the ones I'm considering advertise to have one of these features. I searched google and just found basic info about HDMI itself.

Additionally...

Can some receivers that have HDMI out but NOT HMDI upconversion still just pass the lower-quality signal through the cable without upconverting it (thus taking advantage of the one-cable convenience of HDMI, but not actually enhancing the image)?

I would like to know this when considering, for example, the Pioneer VSX-1016TX that has HDMI video in/out (I'm not sure if it's switching or passthrough, but it's not upconversion). And also the Onkyo TX-SA604 which appears to have the same HDMI in/out though it may do audio input through the HDMI cable as well (not sure on that). I'm also considering the Denon-787 which has no HDMI in/out at all.

Thanks in advance.

[edtyct]

Switching is the ability of a receiver to route all of its input signals into one output, whether HDMI, component, etc.

Passthrough signifies the tramsmission of video signals as received to a target without further processsing.

Upconversion is the ability to scale video signals, whether SD or HD, to a higher resolution.

The answer to your question is "yes." I don't know anything about the individual receivers that you mention.

[Palmz]

Cheers mate. So If a receiver has HDMI switching, it can route it's component video inputs into the HDMI output...correct??

[edtyct]

If a receiver has HDMI switching, it may only switch its HDMI inputs. I don't know what the various receivers do, but HDMI switching doesn't necessarily include analog inputs (see the Rotel RSX-1057). Analog may work separately. You'd have to check, or maybe individuals here will know about particular models.

[Palmz]

Thanks a bunch. You've been very helful to me.