Ideally, my initial thought is to run HDMI cable from PJ back to my audio/Visual equipment, and then use switchers to get signals to my old components?

DVD = component

VHS = composite

Old Camera = S video...


Maybe nows the time to upgrade these components or are there switches for this type of thing? What carries the audio signal?

Do you already have a projector? If so, which projector is it? You talked about your "old components" - are you buying new components? An upconverting DVD player? HD-DVD? HDTV set top box?

Maybe nows the time to upgrade these components or are there switches for this type of thing?
It isn't clear why you think you need a switch. Are you talking about converting from component cables to HDMI? There are audio receivers that will accept various audio and video inputs and convert the to HDMI for you. You won't see any improvement in picture quality (composite video doesn't turn into HD video bby being sent over HDMI cable), but you do get the convenience of using just one cable to your projector.

What carries the audio signal?
Most projectors do not take audio as input, just video.

Thanks for your patience.

I'll be using a Marantz VP4001 PJ.

HD sources will be:

1) Comcast HD box and then DISH or Direct TV later (whosever got the best bang for the buck HD package).

2) HDA2 DVD player for watching HD DVDS and Upconverting SDVDs.

That leaves an old VHS player and a VHS camera that I want to be able to output to the PJ for legacy use...

BUT...

I want a clean, easy installation, so just running 1, 25' HDMI cable back to my rack area into a switch sounded like a good way to go. So... it looks like the switch would have to look like the following:

Inputs:

2 HDMI, 1 for HDA2 player, and one for the Cable or sat box.
1 composite for VHS player (not sure if I have component on that player)
1 Svideo or another composite to do legacy camera stuff

Outputs:
1 HDMI that goes to the Marantz VP4001 PJ

Does all this seem right? Is there a switch that has the inputs/outputs described?

Does a switch make the PQ worse? I'm paranoid about this. I hate the thought of routing separate cables to the PJ, but I want a great PQ... If it's like 1% degredation or something then that's fine, but if it's "noticible" then that's no good. As is probably obvious, I don't have any experience with switches.

Thanks for your help.

There are high end video processors that will do what you're want and the picture will be excellent. If you are looking for a more economical solution, get an audio receiver that does analog-to-digital video conversion and video switching, like the Onkyo TX-SR605.

Ideally, my initial thought is to run HDMI cable from PJ back to my audio/Visual equipment, and then use switchers to get signals to my old components?

DVD = component

VHS = composite

Old Camera = S video...


Maybe nows the time to upgrade these components or are there switches for this type of thing? What carries the audio signal?

Since your PJ of choice supports all of the above natively, short cables and porting out the audio makes the most sense to me.

A simple switch won't convert your composite and svideo signals to HDMI, you'll need a video processor which will cost over $1000 (others with more current pricing info should correct me, if necessary).

I ended up running two cables to my FP: HDMI and VGA (routed from my Focus Enhancements processor which processes and switches all my non-HDMI source devices.) If I purchased a newer processor, I could do away with the VGA, but I just didn't want to invest another $1500-$2000 to avoid one cable.