Somebody has to have an opinion on this...
Combine DVI and SPDIF into HDMI
Hi everyone, I would like to connect our computer to our receiver that does HDMI switching. I would like to not run a separate Video and Audio cable, so I'm wondering if it is possible to combine a DVI video connection and a SPDIF audio cable into a single HDMI cable.
I know that DVI and HDMI use the same video signals but I'm not sure about the audio signal in the HDMI cable. Is the audio the same signal as a SPDIF digital coax cable?
I know that there are already video cards available for PC's that will do this internally and have an HDMI connection, but I would like to use my existing hardware which consists of an ATI video card with DVI and a Sound Blaster Live audio card with S/PDIF out.
The ideal solution would be a single cable that has HDMI at one end and a Y at the other end that accepts both DVI and S/PDIF digital coax.
Any thoughts/help would be appreciated. Thanks!
-Scott
I know that DVI and HDMI use the same video signals but I'm not sure about the audio signal in the HDMI cable. Is the audio the same signal as a SPDIF digital coax cable?
I know that there are already video cards available for PC's that will do this internally and have an HDMI connection, but I would like to use my existing hardware which consists of an ATI video card with DVI and a Sound Blaster Live audio card with S/PDIF out.
The ideal solution would be a single cable that has HDMI at one end and a Y at the other end that accepts both DVI and S/PDIF digital coax.
Any thoughts/help would be appreciated. Thanks!
-Scott
1 - 9 of 9 Posts
The signal formats aren't the same, so you need an active box. It may be that some up-converting AVRs could do this, but when you check the specs on them, most of them are pass-through only when you're dealing with HDMI (which means DVI in, too).
Thanks jwatte, I'm actually looking to do this before my AVR. I'm planning on getting the new Onkyo 605 which will do what you say, but the AVR is at the end of the line... this is where I split out the Audio and Video. I'm looking to run a single cable from my PC to my AVR. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to upgrade my PC to one with HDMI audio/video out.
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If you have a desktop PC, there are a number of HDMI graphics cards (mostly PCI Express form factor) that are available, some for less than $200.
Here's a press release on our website that lists some of these graphics cards:
http://www.hdmi.org/press/pr/pr_20070212.asp
Here's a press release on our website that lists some of these graphics cards:
http://www.hdmi.org/press/pr/pr_20070212.asp
I read the release, and that's some great news. I haven't looked into the individual products yet, but do you know if they include an internal (or external) connection for digital audio that would allow both video AND audio to be passed from the PC to my AVR over a single HDMI cable? Thanks!
-Scott
Quote:
Originally Posted by HDMI_Org /forum/post/0
If you have a desktop PC, there are a number of HDMI graphics cards (mostly PCI Express form factor) that are available, some for less than $200.
Here's a press release on our website that lists some of these graphics cards:
http://www.hdmi.org/press/pr/pr_20070212.asp
I read the release, and that's some great news. I haven't looked into the individual products yet, but do you know if they include an internal (or external) connection for digital audio that would allow both video AND audio to be passed from the PC to my AVR over a single HDMI cable? Thanks!
-Scott
Okay, you can ignore my last post... I read the details of some of the products and they do exactly what I want, so I guess it's time to build a new PC. One plus to doing this is that I can add an OTA HDTV tuner and pick up a few channels that my cable provider does not broadcast. I think this might even allow me to watch a few college football games this season that would otherwise not be available on cable.
Thanks again for the info!
-Scott
Thanks again for the info!
-Scott
Yes, these graphics cards have a SPDIF input connector on them, so you would loop from the SPDIF output connector (on the motherboard or sound card) into the SPDIF input connector on the graphics card (they generally use coax). The output should be full HDMI including DD 5.1 and stereo over the cable.
There is a motherboard on the market that uses an integrated graphics chipset with HDMI integrated, along with an integrated HD-Audio controller. As a result, you don't have to jack audio into it as it grabs audio directly off the PCI Express bus. I would imagine this to be the trend for graphics cards as well, meaning that this SPDIF input connector will not be needed as the graphics chip will be able to pull audio directly out of the PCI Express bus. Doesn't get much cleaner than that!
There is a motherboard on the market that uses an integrated graphics chipset with HDMI integrated, along with an integrated HD-Audio controller. As a result, you don't have to jack audio into it as it grabs audio directly off the PCI Express bus. I would imagine this to be the trend for graphics cards as well, meaning that this SPDIF input connector will not be needed as the graphics chip will be able to pull audio directly out of the PCI Express bus. Doesn't get much cleaner than that!
THanks for the info, I really appreciate it!
1 - 9 of 9 Posts
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