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Old 03-04-2008, 20:15
RAMMY987
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Hi,

just got my first HD television.

It came as part of a sony package that included a sony pvr.

i've just managed to connect them all up, but i was wondering if i connected the DVD recorder up to the TV with a HDMI cable, it would give a better picture when playing DVD's.

I realise that for TV pictures i need to subscribe to SKY HD, but i was wondering about improving the DVD quality.

If this is the case what are the best HDMI cables.

I've just had a quick look at Curry's and they seem to range from about a tenner to a hundred quid. That seems a big difference.
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Old 03-04-2008, 20:22
sancheeez
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DVD recorder via HDMI .... maybe a slight improvement. Depends how it's connected just now.

HDMI cables ..... oh god ..... can of worms!

Have a search on here and you'll find plenty threads about them. Personally (and I'm not alone) .... my take is that it's digital. If the signal gets there in one piece the cable can't make it better or worse .... it's not possible.

I use these:

http://www.cclonline.com/product-inf...ategory_id=182

to connect my Sky HD box and Xbox 360 and the picture is perfect. I could spend 20x that amount on some stupidly expensive Monster cable but, as long as the signal arrived in one piece, it would make no difference whatsoever.
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Old 03-04-2008, 20:38
RAMMY987
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Thanks for your quick reply.

They are currently connected through a scart cable.
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Old 03-04-2008, 21:13
sancheeez
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Well, assuming it's outputting RGB and connected to an RGB enabled SCART at the TV end, the HDMI isn't likely to make much difference.

If you only spend £5 odd on a cable though it's worth a pop. If it looks exactly the same just keep the HDMI cable until you get a decive that needs it.

Does the DVD player have HDMI out?
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Old 03-04-2008, 21:15
RAMMY987
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yes, it does have a hdmi out socket.

it's a sony dvd recorder with built in freeview and hdd.
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Old 03-04-2008, 22:19
sancheeez
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Like I say, buy a cheap HDMI cable and give it a try if you want. (See link in my earlier post for cheap cables)

But, when I got my HDTV (Sony 40" LCD) I tried a DVD in my Xbox 360 via HDMI and through my several years old DVD player via SCART and I couldn't really see any difference.
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Old 03-04-2008, 22:27
stvn758
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I use the HDMI on my Panasonic to connect to my LCD panel, it should give a better picture being digital, especially if the DVD has a good upscaler.

I got interference connecting Sky via scart, so..
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Old 03-04-2008, 22:27
Chris Frost
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my take is that it's digital. If the signal gets there in one piece the cable can't make it better or worse .... it's not possible.
I agree with Sancheeez that cables is a can of worms. But contrary to his opinion my experience and testing shows me that digital cables can make a difference.

It's true that a digital signal is 0's and 1's, however the transition between 0 and 1 and back again can be clean or dirty.

There are too many reasons to list as to why a signal can get dirty, but the end result is that the display has to deal with the data corruption. Some of this corruption could be misinterpreted as picture information. In other words, the signal that arrives at the display isn't the same as the one that left the source.

Have a look here and here to get some idea of the complexity of handling the 0's and 1's of a digital signal.

The good news is that most problems occur on longer cable runs. Choose a cable rated at HDMI v1.3 and make sure it has double shielding if possible. I would ignore fancy gold plating or trick looking sheathing on the outer cable, that's mostly window dressing for the gullible.

Good luck
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Old 03-04-2008, 22:30
sancheeez
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On long runs, yes, you want good quality cables. I'd go along with that.

On a standard home install using 1m/2m cables though, the cheapie ones are fine.

If there are problems, it won't be that the colour gets 'deeper', or the image gets 'sharper' .... the picture will just be broken/glitchy/buggy .... whatever you want to call it.
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Old 03-04-2008, 22:54
alanwarwic
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Its easy to find worms anywhere if you look.

The same theory can be used for IDE cables, Sata cables, Firewire cables and USB cables.

As they head towards their theoretical maximum length the signal level decreases and the possibility of interference increases.

However this is about as rare as the Dodo in standard lengths so 99% of your 2 foot Poundland cables will work identically to your 2 foot Monster cable.
To be honest I dont think they are in Poundland just yet but expect them next year if not this.

I would assume the £10 currys cables cost Currys about £1.50.
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Old 03-04-2008, 23:11
Chris Frost
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That cable is only V1.1

Have a look at http://ukhdmi.com/hdmi-premium.php

They do a 2m V1.3 certified cable for £6.99 with a money back guarantee. IMO that is a safer bet.
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Old 04-04-2008, 09:28
sancheeez
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That cable is only V1.1

Have a look at http://ukhdmi.com/hdmi-premium.php

They do a 2m V1.3 certified cable for £6.99 with a money back guarantee. IMO that is a safer bet.
For £6.99, I'd agree 100% with that.

(Although a V1.1 spec cable will work fine with pretty much any device currently on the market I believe?)
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Old 04-04-2008, 10:35
Chris Frost
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There's a pretty good comparison table on the HDMI Wikipedia page.
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Old 04-04-2008, 11:31
Nigel Goodwin
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If it's any help?, I've installed loads of Sony 870's on Sony LCD's, and there's no difference between RGB SCART and HDMI at all - except you've only got limited screen size options via HDMI. For that reason alone I would suggest RGB SCART rather than HDMI.
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