DS Forums

 
 

Should I Buy An HDMI Lead For My DVD Player ?


Reply
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 11-09-2007, 12:30
TheMovieGuy
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Wirral
Posts: 59

My new HD ready TV has an HDMI socket. Is it worth picking up an HDMI cable to connect my DVD player to it ? Will there actually be any noticable difference from a scart connection ?
TheMovieGuy is offline   Reply With Quote
Please sign in or register to remove this advertisement.
Old 11-09-2007, 13:08
Nigel Goodwin
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: North Derbyshire
Posts: 41,794
My new HD ready TV has an HDMI socket. Is it worth picking up an HDMI cable to connect my DVD player to it ? Will there actually be any noticable difference from a scart connection ?
Does your DVD have an HDMI output?, if so it's worth trying - it may, or may not, produce a better picture.

There are really a couple of reasons:

1) The quality of the connection, SCART is analogue, and HDMI is digital - but RGB SCART is already far higher quality than any SD signal, so it 'may' be better.

2) Upscaling - your TV already upscales the incoming SD signal to match the screen, an HDMI enabled DVD player probably has it's own upscaler. So using it via HDMI should allow you to use either the TV upscaler, or the DVD one, if you TV has a cheap upscaler then the DVD players may be better, and improve the picture.

Buy a cheap HDMI lead and try it - don't get conned into buying an expensive lead, which are almost universally agreed not to make any difference.
Nigel Goodwin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-09-2007, 13:11
TheMovieGuy
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Wirral
Posts: 59
Thanks - great info

Would the brand make any difference. Both the TV and DVD player are Sony ???
TheMovieGuy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-09-2007, 13:14
Nigel Goodwin
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: North Derbyshire
Posts: 41,794
Thanks - great info

Would the brand make any difference. Both the TV and DVD player are Sony ???
No, any brand will do - does the DVD have Component sockets as well?, if so you could try connecting via those to see if it makes any difference? - you may (probably do!) have some spare phono leads knocking around you could use to test it?.
Nigel Goodwin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-09-2007, 13:15
TheMovieGuy
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Wirral
Posts: 59
So - connect the component leads first. How would they compare to the potential of an HDMI ?
TheMovieGuy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 17-09-2007, 11:32
TheBoingoBandit
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2000
Location: London
Posts: 1,827
So - connect the component leads first. How would they compare to the potential of an HDMI ?




The HDMI cable sends a digital signal so there is no conversion required between player and TV which should lead to less degeration to the image.
The disc is digital, the player sends the pictures to the TV in a digital form and then is processed digitally.

With component, the digital code is converted into analogue before being sent to the TV and having to be converted back into digital. With all this converting taking place, there's more of a chance of losing picture quality.

So in theory, HDMI should be better. But if the DVD is poorly mastered (such as those free with newspapers) then the picture can look very blockly while the analogue processing of component can soften this blockiness and make it look better.

But personally, I would say go for HDMI!
TheBoingoBandit is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 17-09-2007, 11:45
Nigel Goodwin
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: North Derbyshire
Posts: 41,794
So - connect the component leads first. How would they compare to the potential of an HDMI ?
'Potentially' HDMI is better, but Component isn't far behind, and in practice (because of the compression used) you're hard put to spot any difference. Obviously it depends on your TV and the source - but if you've already got some leads you can use for Component, I wouldn't bother spending any money on an HDMI lead.

If you don't have any leads you can use though?, you may as well buy an HDMI lead rather than a Component one.
Nigel Goodwin is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 17-09-2007, 18:30
Apollo 1875
Forum Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Moon Base Alpha
Posts: 386
My new HD ready TV has an HDMI socket. Is it worth picking up an HDMI cable to connect my DVD player to it ? Will there actually be any noticable difference from a scart connection ?
If your DVD player has both an HDMI out and a Component out, buy both cables; but make sure that they are both packaged in such a way you don't have to destroy the box to get in at them. That way you can take them home, try out both, and decide which gives the best performance with your set-up, then take the inferior cable back to the shop and get a refund. It won't be a problem as long as you can ensure you bring the cable and its packaging back in the same condition it left the shop.

I've done this several times at my local Maplin.
Apollo 1875 is offline   Reply With Quote
 
Reply




 
Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 16:43.