Flat Screen TV Review Website....

HDMI can be better and it can be worse in theory. THe HDMI just lets the cable transport the digital signal. So if the signal was analog (HDMI up scaling) or if the DVD player was better at turning the signal from digital into analog then the TV was, then the HDMI cable is not better.

I am running audioquests mid line HDMI cables from my Denon DVD-2910 to my Denon AVR-3806 then to my sony plasma and I don't think there is any quality reason to do the HDMI over the component cables in my system. The only really nice thing about HDMi is that the better receivers can up scale everything to go over the HDMI cable so you only need one cable to the TV. But then you are stuck with how good your reciever can do that conversion.



On the plasma subject for a second, NEC is my go to brand. Pioneer is ok and Panasonic is good stuff too.
 
CC sold me a Monster HDMI to DVI cable to go from the cable box to the TV. That sucker was $125. I haven't gotten the new HD box yet, but can I run composite if it's available? Also, will the Monster cable do sound?

EDIT: added a picture a couple posts back of the TV
 
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NoRotor said:
I have a rather old school Mitsubishi 40" tube that was the top of the line back in '95. It still works great and if I were to buy I would definately look into them.

Go DLP if you have a little bit of space and don't want to hang it on a wall. The Samsung HLS5086 is a great unit for about $1400
Click to expand...

This is what I have and am very pleased w/ it. It is a 42" and plenty big for my bonus room.

Research the difference between LCD, Plasma and DLP concerning the lighting in your viewing area. Part of your decision should be based on that and the size of your room.

Edit: I read further Rogue and sounds like you made your decision. Hope you enjoy!
 
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You will soon find out that even some of the most mundane stuff looks good in HD ...

poooooor pic ... this was one of the first things brought into/setup in the house when we moved ... My husband didnt even have the couch/loveseat off the truck yet but he set this up ...

Widescreen1.jpg


Widescreen2.jpg
 
LOL I find myself watching the stupidest s*** on the Discovery HD channel for the looks alone...
 
(werd) they are always good...

and since switching to HD I find myself watching a lot of racing (NASCAR, Indu, champ car) Although I have found that TNT has the best race coverage as far as picture quality.
Protege5Gurly said:
The Discovery HD "commercials" are the best since its nothing but an eye-candy advert.
Click to expand...
 
Rogue said:
CC sold me a Monster HDMI to DVI cable to go from the cable box to the TV. That sucker was $125. I haven't gotten the new HD box yet, but can I run composite if it's available? Also, will the Monster cable do sound?

EDIT: added a picture a couple posts back of the TV
Click to expand...

Typicly a cable box just blasts all of its ouputs at once so you can run a DVI, S-Vid, Component, and compsoite at the same time and decide which one you actualy want to use through your TV's inputs.

As for your monster cable...no worky. HDMI can carry audio, DVI can not so you will have to run a seperate coax or optical cable for audio.
 
i just checked the stats for my TV and it has a HD converter built in. Does that mean once Comcast (cable) turns on HD to the house I won't need the cable box, and I can just run the coax cable into the tv?


EDIT: nevermind, just read what built in HDTV tuner means
 
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Kinda ... the tuner in our Sony was able to pull HD over the reg. cable line (including VOD and PPV from our neighbors :) ) ... however it wasnt tuning into all of the HD channels in my area so I had to upgrade to HD service (cable card required). The sony has a card slot so I didnt need a set top box.
 
my sony doesn't have the cable card, so I'll have to get the HD cable box.

I just unhooked my digital cable box, and ran the line straight from the wall to the TV. It picked up all the regular analog channels and some digital ones, but none of the digital ones look any better than the analog ones. Also, the digital channels are "Cxxx.xxx" whereas the analog channels are "Cxx" Why is there a decimal point?
 
haha yea those decimal point channels are channels that your box was picking up. Without the box or a card slot thats how they will display. Your tuner is basically stealing cable :)

Not all digital channels will be HD ...
 
Just a point, the cable card is a cable box and they are flacky region to region depending on the TV and the cable company. So you usualy end up renting them anyways. Plus for any type of home theater, you need the cable box to get the proper outputs to other devices. For me I have the component and optical going to my receiver from the box so that my reciever can send the audio to the surround sound and a HDMI to the TV for display, then I send a component cable to my other display in the bedroom.

I like TVs to be displays only. Plus this lets you save a bit since you only have to buy the commercial version which are typicly cheaper.
 
yeah some did that the last few years. the odd thing is that few makers do it for more then a year. Usualy the fallowing models dont have it.

I have even seen them on DVD players now.
 
yeah, i guess its a cool thing but I doubt Ill ever use it...and my TV was the new model this year for the panasonic & I believe last year it had it on there too...just one of their little selling gimmicks I suppose :D
 
1sty said:
Just a point, the cable card is a cable box and they are flacky region to region depending on the TV and the cable company. So you usualy end up renting them anyways. Plus for any type of home theater, you need the cable box to get the proper outputs to other devices. For me I have the component and optical going to my receiver from the box so that my reciever can send the audio to the surround sound and a HDMI to the TV for display, then I send a component cable to my other display in the bedroom.

I like TVs to be displays only. Plus this lets you save a bit since you only have to buy the commercial version which are typicly cheaper.
Click to expand...

We slapped the cable card into the set so we didnt have to worry about renting a box as well. Then we have a optical cable going to the receiver. This way we dont have to worry about sending the video signal all over the place
 
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