Just ordered a TH-42PH9UK from Dell. They're running great deal now; about $1,050 including tax and shipping. Next step is deciding on the various connection options. The set comes with a component board from the factory and I intend to use it out of the box, however I'd be interested to hear from others who have this set and compared the component connection to HDMI or DVI. I know HDMI and DVI should be better but is the difference discernable? I will be viewing the set from about ten feet and running about 25 feet of cable to my digital cable box.

Just ordered a TH-42PH9UK from Dell. They're running great deal now; about $1,050 including tax and shipping. Next step is deciding on the various connection options. The set comes with a component board from the factory and I intend to use it out of the box, however I'd be interested to hear from others who have this set and compared the component connection to HDMI or DVI. I know HDMI and DVI should be better but is the difference discernable? I will be viewing the set from about ten feet and running about 25 feet of cable to my digital cable box.

Not specific to your dsplay, but see: http://www.bluejeanscable.com/articles/dvihdmicomponent.htm

-Bill

Thanks Bill. I actually read the Bluejeans Cable piece on this subject and decided to seek out first hand answers because it was inconclusive. I'm looking for people who have tested out component vs hdmi on my set or one similar. It seems the Panasonic commercial sets are common in this forum and I would think there are several forum members in the same boat I am in.

I can't answer for your particular set, but I can relate the experience of my Sharp 32 in lcd. Picture is superb with both component and hdmi, but as confirmed by my calibrator, who spent a lot of time on this, that component was definitely better.

What is a calibrator?

Someone who calibrates. ;)

HDMI/DVI is digital. It is always best to start digital and end digital (since all display technologies are digital). Component is pre-striped composite video so it is better since it is prestriped. If you use any analog connection, the set has to digitize the signal and doing this on the fly with live video shooting into the set is a source of transition/translation issues so you need to calibrate more carefully. Still, you may be forced to use the analog lines if your video source does not put out digital.

I know HDMI and DVI should be better but is the difference discernable?

Sigh.......where and who ever commanded that HDMI/DVI is better than component?

Without getting into an overly long and heated debate about which one is better I'll just say do a few side by side comparisons for yourself and you decide.

I've spent countless hours doing just that on many, many different types of displays and I have yet to see where HDMI provides a better picture. D/A conversion, A/D conversion, blah, blah, blah. Let your own eyes decide.

Just a few weeks ago I had a few friends over and did some blind A/B viewing from my Dish HD box directly to a new 50" plasma I picked up and believe or not, everyone preferred the component image, myself included.

Chris

"So, which is better, DVI or component? HDMI or component? The answer--unsatisfying, perhaps, but true--is that it depends. It depends upon your source and display devices, and there's no good way, in principle, to say in advance whether the digital or the analog connection will render a better picture." http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/34579/122868.html

Thanks All. I wil stick wit the component since that is what comes with my TH-42PH9UK.