HDMI vs. Componet Video, noticeable difference?

[MustangLife]

I just bought a 40 inch LCD Samsung thats 720p. Now my dvd player is progressive and can adjust up to 1080p. Right now cause I'm using componet I can't set it higher than 480p. So If I buy the HDMI cable so I can get 720p Is it gonna be worth it, will there be a noticeable difference.

Thanks
Josh

 

[san~man]

Between 480 to 720, yes. If you were to compare a 720p component signal versus a 720p HDMI signal, then most likely no, or very little difference.

Go here and buy your cables, you'll thank me later.

www.monoprice.com.

Here's the one I bought:

6' HDMI cable


Don't ever pay $100+ for a Monster Cable, or similar name brand. I got my 6' cables from here, and paid $20.00 shipped. I had a set of Monsters I got from Best Buy, and compared the two when I got the monoprice one, and the monoprice one had far better construction. Besides, the signal is digital, so as long as it gets from one side to the other, the is no signal loss.

Here's a good forum to read up on:

www.avsforum.com

 

[BennyBlown2v]

Between 480 to 720, yes. If you were to compare a 720p component signal versus a 720p HDMI signal, then most likely no, or very little difference.

Go here and buy your cables, you'll thank me later.

www.monoprice.com.

Here's the one I bought:

6' HDMI cable


Don't ever pay $100+ for a Monster Cable, or similar name brand. I got my 6' cables from here, and paid $20.00 shipped. I had a set of Monsters I got from Best Buy, and compared the two when I got the monoprice one, and the monoprice one had far better construction. Besides, the signal is digital, so as long as it gets from one side to the other, the is no signal loss.

Here's a good forum to read up on:

www.avsforum.com

Agreed! Also, for a fun project making your own cables is alot more cost effective, and can yield higher results, than a Monster/other A brand cable (length for length). Enjoy the hidef, 720p is beautiful...just don't let yourself see any samples of 1080p and you'll be fine...after seeing my dads 40" Sony set and my brothers 42" Vizio (best quality budget set I have ever seen, period), it makes my 40" 720p/1080i Olevia set look like an 8mm handheld cam projector

 

[MustangLife]

Thanks for the replies. Gonna buy a set today.

Josh

 

[mrvax]

I have the 32" Samsung LCD. Wonderful set. HDMI cables are excellent and superior to component cables.

 

[RedDaemon]

hdmi isnt just for video. it was designed for HD Video and Audio which you would route into your HD receiver. just something to think about

 

[007]

HDMI lets you have fewer cables if you are using the TV built in speakers (because it does audio as well as video). HDMI is digital (so is your cable box and your TV) while component is analog, so there should be a minor difference. It probably varies between TVs/cable boxes - the quality of the analog to digital converters.

San is dead right about monoprice... its THE ONLY place to buy cables.

Newegg.com is the place to buy TVs. A month ago I bought a Hyundia 42" full 1080p LCD with an up-converting 1080p DVD player for 1300 shipped. It looks incredible.

 

[isjoining]

picture quality wise, there isn't a noticeable difference between component and HDMI. Reason why you need HDMI for your DVD player is because they need HDMI to upconvert DVD's from 480p. Component cables can do 1080p, just not from a upconversion dvd player.

 

[MustangLife]

picture quality wise, there isn't a noticeable difference between component and HDMI. Reason why you need HDMI for your DVD player is because they need HDMI to upconvert DVD's from 480p. Component cables can do 1080p, just not from a upconversion dvd player.

Aww. I didn't know that

 

[san~man]

Between 480 to 720, yes. If you were to compare a 720p component signal versus a 720p HDMI signal, then most likely no, or very little difference.

I just told ya that

 

[1992 2.3LX]

I have the 32" Samsung LCD. Wonderful set. HDMI cables are excellent and superior to component cables.

how do you figure they are superior??
The only thing better about them is that they are an audio cable aswell.

If you want to get technical I would argue that a component cable is far superior.
A component cable sends a true raw signal. What goes in is what comes out (when using a quality cable)
On the other hand when using HDMI what goes in one side is broken down and when it hits the other end and is put back together. Therefore giving you three opportunities to loose or get an altered orignal signal.

I would by no means call it superior.

And call you cable company. That's where I got my HDMI to HDMI and HDMI to DVI cables and they were free.

When buying digital cables you don't have to be as picky as with your analog cables because there is less room for intereference.

 

[san~man]

When buying digital cables you don't have to be as picky as with your analog cables because there is less room for intereference.

Ya, for sure. My old Aura component cables costed a pretty penny.

That's why monoprice is such a good deal, if you're willing to spend a few bucks.

Paying for a $200+ monster HDMI cable is like paying for a Typhoon intake....you're wasting your money

 

[007]

how do you figure they are superior??
The only thing better about them is that they are an audio cable aswell.

If you want to get technical I would argue that a component cable is far superior.
A component cable sends a true raw signal. What goes in is what comes out (when using a quality cable)
On the other hand when using HDMI what goes in one side is broken down and when it hits the other end and is put back together. Therefore giving you three opportunities to loose or get an altered orignal signal.

I would by no means call it superior.

And call you cable company. That's where I got my HDMI to HDMI and HDMI to DVI cables and they were free.

When buying digital cables you don't have to be as picky as with your analog cables because there is less room for intereference.

Thats a little backward... HDMI/DVI are superior because they are digital (not just because they do audio too). As you said, digital signals are carried as 1 and 0s and interference would have to get very very bad to confuse a such a signal. Component cables carry constantly varying ANALOG signals that ARE subject to interference and must be kept clean for a great picture (and therefore you want a really good set of cables).

The original signal is not in component form. These days we all have digital cable boxes, receiving digital signals from the cable company. Why do they do the cable companies do that...? Because the digital signal isnt subject to interference. If you then send that digital signal direct to your digital TV you get the best result. Using component cables your box has to do digital to analog conversion.

The 4 dollar HDMI cables from monoprice are really nice. Plenty good enough. You wont see any improvement with a 100 dollar Monster cable at all.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Component_video#Y.27PbPr_analog_component_video

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hdmi

 

[65fastback2+2]

picture quality wise, there isn't a noticeable difference between component and HDMI. Reason why you need HDMI for your DVD player is because they need HDMI to upconvert DVD's from 480p. Component cables can do 1080p, just not from a upconversion dvd player.

smartest comment in this thread so far


and for the record, cheaper upconverting dvd players are worthless and do not display any better of a picture. you would need a denon with a faroudja video processor for upconverting to work. your tv will upconvert a 480p picture to match its native resolution just like a sub $200 upconvert dvd player will.

 

[1992 2.3LX]

Thats a little backward... HDMI/DVI are superior because they are digital (not just because they do audio too). As you said, digital signals are carried as 1 and 0s and interference would have to get very very bad to confuse a such a signal. Component cables carry constantly varying ANALOG signals that ARE subject to interference and must be kept clean for a great picture (and therefore you want a really good set of cables).

The original signal is not in component form. These days we all have digital cable boxes, receiving digital signals from the cable company. Why do they do the cable companies do that...? Because the digital signal isnt subject to interference. If you then send that digital signal direct to your digital TV you get the best result. Using component cables your box has to do digital to analog conversion.

The 4 dollar HDMI cables from monoprice are really nice. Plenty good enough. You wont see any improvement with a 100 dollar Monster cable at all.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Component_video#Y.27PbPr_analog_component_video

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hdmi

You have a point with the Cable Company Signal. Most of my vdeo comes from my computer, DVD player, or game system so the signal originates here.

Monster Cable is nothing more than one of the greatest marketing schemes (rip offs) of all time.
www.partsexpress.com has good prices on cables as well.

But remember Digital does not always equal better! Digital is a reproduction of the original. For instance the best quality music one can listen to comes from vinyl. A properly setup turntable will sound far better than any CD.
Why because you are hearing the actual sound. Not a reproduction of the sound.

 

[bullitt_2620]

Thought all dvd players would only run 480, unless its a blue ray or a hd dvd player Newer hdmi cables will carry digital audio too for true surround sound, not makeshift processed surround. Definitely worth the purchase over component cables

 

[1992 2.3LX]

Thought all dvd players would only run 480, unless its a blue ray or a hd dvd player Newer hdmi cables will carry digital audio too for true surround sound, not makeshift processed surround. Definitely worth the purchase over component cables

there are upconverting DVD players. mine up converts to 1080i.
Though most people that buy upconverters don't need them because most of the newer TVs do it.

 

[mustanggt3685]

I'd say that it's not worth it. I have a 1080i LCD with a DVD player that has an HDMI port, but I generally use the component video cable to watch dvd's; looks the same to me. Like it was said above, if you have an HD DVD player or blue ray player, then go for it.

 

[007]

there are upconverting DVD players. mine up converts to 1080i.
Though most people that buy upconverters don't need them because most of the newer TVs do it.

Dont get upconverting confused with accepting any input. Most tvs will accept any signal (720p tvs will accept 1080i for example) but it doesn't mean they are doing anything special. When displaying lower res they just display it in their native resolution with blocky pixels. An up-converting player extrapolates and actually tries to fill in information to use the full resolution of the display.

Upconverting DVD players are not that expensive any more. Mine up-converts to 1080p and looks fantastic. You can press a button to jump through from 480p (DVD native) to 720p to 1080i to 1080p. Its amazing how much better the upconverted 1080p dvd looks.

 

[san~man]

You should see a true 1080p signal from a blu-ray. It's wonderful