[malex930]

I have Panasonic EDTV with only 1 HDMI input, and an Onkyo receiver that doesn't have any HDMI inputs. I am currently in the market to purchase an upconverting DVD player which uses HDMI, and I plan on getting the playstation 3 in the future. I see there are a few HDMI switchers available, and the two I see most are the Select-4 from Radiient and the Monoprice 5-in-1. Do HDMI switchers degrade any video signals, and if not, which of these switchers is better? Thanks.


malex930

 

[malex930]

And also, is it even worth it to get an upconverting DVD player on an EDTV? My TV displays 480p/720p/1080i with a resolution of 850x480. When I watch HD programming, it looks fantastic. Thanks.

 

[MichaelJHuman]

HDMI is digital. An HDMI switcher won't degrade the signal unless bits are being dropped, or it's changing the timing of the signal. I had not heard that HDMI suffers from the same potential timing issues that S/PDIF does. I know it does have a separate timing signal unlike S/PDIF. As for dropping bits, that is more likely a potential issue with your cables and not the switch.


If your TV is a fixel pixel display, it has it's own deinterlacer and scaler; the popular theory is that displays tend to have good to very good deinterlacing and scaling because people can more easily see the difference on the showroom floor.

 

[PooperScooper]

The Monoprice switch should work fine and look no different than a point to point cable.


larry

 

[jbauer]



Quote:
Originally Posted by PooperScooper /forum/post/0


The Monoprice switch should work fine and look no different than a point to point cable.


larry

Wow, that Monoprice one is cheap! I was thinking about this one:

http://www.gefen.com/kvm/product.jsp?prod_id=3278


Any real difference other than price???


- Thanx

- Jon

 

[malex930]

Thanks PooperScooper and MichaeJHuman.


Will I see a significant difference using an upconverting DVD player on an EDTV?

 

[marcusm750]



Quote:
Originally Posted by malex930 /forum/post/0


And also, is it even worth it to get an upconverting DVD player on an EDTV? My TV displays 480p/720p/1080i with a resolution of 850x480.

With a native resolution of only 480, your TV cannot go higher than DVD's resolution. Upscaling will do you no good (I would argue if it does any good at all, regardless of the display's native resolution). In fact, upscaling to 720p or 1080i from the player will require a downscaling in the TV back to its 480(p). So the best connection would be to output 480p from the player via HDMI to your display.

 

[malex930]

Thanks marcusm 750. I currently have a Yamaha 5-disc changer attached to my receiver via component cables at (I believe) a 480p output. Would an HDMI connection from a better DVD player affect the picture at all?

 

[marcusm750]

DVI allows for an all digital connection between the player and display. HDMI adds digital sound through the same cable. With either, the video D/A and A/D conversions are skipped which can be the source of some noise.

 

[PooperScooper]



Quote:
Originally Posted by malex930 /forum/post/0


Thanks PooperScooper and MichaeJHuman.


Will I see a significant difference using an upconverting DVD player on an EDTV?

Some EDTV owners claim upscaling works better for them. There's about 134 lines of extra horizontal resolution that may look better down scaled from a better scaler than upscaled by an inferior scaler. Use what looks best to you.


larry

 

[malex930]

Thanks, Larry!