AVS › AVS Forum › Home Entertainment & Theater Builder › General Home Theater & Media/Game Rooms › Can I expect a good A/V receiver to transparently fold all video inputs into a single output?
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Can I expect a good A/V receiver to transparently fold all video inputs into a single output?

post #1 of 7
1/20/13 at 3:22pm
Thread Starter 
Imagine I'm using a receiver like this Pioneer Elite SC-61.

(I'm not, although I am considering it.)

Suppose I've got my 360 hooked up to the "DVD" HDMI input.
Suppose I've got my PS3 hooked up to the "DVR/BDR" component and optical inputs.
Finally, I've hooked my fancy TV connected via HDMI to the receiver's HDMI out.

Can I trust that the receiver will pass the PS3's video data to the TV along the HDMI input, despite the fact that the PS3 was connected via the component interface? Or would I need to also connect the TV to the receiver's component output, and then fuss with the TV to change which source it's paying attention to when switching between the 360 and PS3?

And hey -- is there a term for this kind of behavior? Perhaps a feature name? All that comes to mind is "transcoding," but I only know about that from the world of digital media files and codecs, etc.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks.
Reply
Reply

AVS Top Picks

post #2 of 7
1/20/13 at 3:43pm
It's called "HDMI upconversion", generally, even when coming from 720p/1080i component sources. But you'd want to connect any HDMI-capable device via HDMI anyway, especially if the unit is capable of generating non-film 1080p content (aka game consoles), or Blu-ray media, which will include advanced audio codecs not supported by the traditional digital audio (toslink / SPDIF) connections.

So yes, just about any modern AVR will do this - whether or not it does a better job than the TV, is a question for trial-and-error, but with modern equipment, likely a coin toss. Most differences folks "see" between the two connection / upconversion methods these days is more likely a result of differences in the A/V input settings than in the upconversion process itself.

Why would you connect a PS3 via component instead of HDMI?

Jeff
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 7
1/20/13 at 8:53pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the tip, Jeff.

So, the example was a little contrived. The more likely scenario is one in which I have 3 consoles all connected to the receiver via HDMI, and then a couple of assorted peripherals attached via their best interface; so, cable box or streaming device over component. I wanted to know whether other users of the whole AV system would need to have deep knowledge of the system's topography, and possibly know whether a given source switch necessitated fiddling with the TV vs. simply switching via the receiver.

My old receiver (~10 years) just died in a brownout, and I'm having to learn all this stuff over again as I look at upgrading. A lot of these things weren't available (or at least weren't relevant to me) back when all I had to do was plug my Xbox, PS2, and N64 into my CRT. 8)

Trying to figure out how many HDMIs inputs is the acceptable minimum, given my current and planned source list.
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 7
1/20/13 at 11:06pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by tomprogers View Post

So, the example was a little contrived.

rolleyes.gif
Quote:
I wanted to know whether other users of the whole AV system would need to have deep knowledge of the system's topography, and possibly know whether a given source switch necessitated fiddling with the TV vs. simply switching via the receiver.

That weird but-cute-in-that-special-way girl you met at the coffee shop, your sister who sometimes drops by in the afternoon to watch Wheel of Fortune, and your roommate who always drinks the last beer in the fridge (unless it's a Modelo Especial, because of the bad memories of that one time in Juarez) - they'll all be able to handle it.

That's somewhat of a contrived example, but yeah, a modern AVR will take care of all the internal switching and signal routing (with perhaps a bit of initial setup), and then it's just a matter of selecting sources with the remote (same input on the TV).

Jeff
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 7
1/21/13 at 6:43am
Well, a less contrived example.

I have my theater connected to a laserdisc player through s-video. Until I disconnected cable, I also had a low end cable box down there that only had component. I keep the laserdisc around because I have over 600 discs. Some will never be available on BluRay. Others aren't worth the expense of upgrading.

Yes, as Jeff said, all but the cheapest HT receivers will do up-conversion of analog sources. However, as the system evolves you find you need more and more HDMI connections and fewer analog ones. I have a circa 2005 receiver in the family room which only has 2 HDMI inputs. I ended up purchasing an external 4x1 HDMI switch to accomodate a TIVO, BluRay, HD-DVD and Roku.

The newer receivers have fewer analog connections these days. I expect they will be gone in a couple of years.
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 7
1/21/13 at 12:27pm
I'm just surprised that manufacturers didn't use TOS-Link, since there is no bandwidth limitations on fibre.
Reply
Reply
post #7 of 7
1/21/13 at 1:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lepus View Post

I'm just surprised that manufacturers didn't use TOS-Link, since there is no bandwidth limitations on fibre.

The issue is cost... Optical transmission is (currently) considerably more expensive than direct electrical paths (for short distances). If the path can be done with copper, it'll be a lot cheaper, and we know what that means for consumer gear.

The S/PDIF exception I assume was available over optical solely because Toshiba had developed it. In that particular case, it has proven to be a worse solution than it's electrical / copper brother. That's a unique problem for Toslink - and not for optical / fiber links in general...

Jeff
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home

AVS Top Picks

AVS › AVS Forum › Home Entertainment & Theater Builder › General Home Theater & Media/Game Rooms › Can I expect a good A/V receiver to transparently fold all video inputs into a single output?