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New member Username: Philly_tPost Number: 2 Registered: Jan-07 | Lately there's been a lot of noise made about HDMI. A lot has been said about the video signal, considerably less about the audio signal. I'd like to focus on the specific feature that sets HDMI apart from other connections: its capability to carry both a digital video and a digital audio signal in a single cable. Wouldn't the HDMI option be the definite option of choice only if its defining advantage can be fully exploited? It seems to me, though, that it's still dificult to transmit the digital audio signal through an HDMI connection because most AV receivers still have limited HDMI capabilities, their HDMI ins/outs mainly serve a pass-through function instead of actively processing/converting the digital audio signal. However, let's assume this technology will become the standard for connecting the various home theater components everyone makes it out to be. Can anyone please shed some light on AV receivers' capabilities of and/or requirements for processing/converting/switching the digital audio signal through HDMI? If I wanted to run everything (video and audio) through HDMI, what technical specifications would my AV receiver have to have in particular? Any specific models you would recommend (let's say on a $500-$1500 budget)? How would you connect the HT system's different components, i.e. digital TV satellite/cable box, DVD-player, AV receiver, LCD HDTV? Am I correct in the following hook ups: digital TV satellite/cable box and DVD-player hook up to AV receiver's two (separate) HDMI inputs using two HDMI cables, then the AV receiver's HDMI output is connected to LCD HDTV's HDMI input using another HDMI cable, for a total of three HDMI cables to hook up the entire system (not considering the speaker cables of course). Thanks for your thoughts. |
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New member Username: Viper04Post Number: 1 Registered: Jan-07 | I'm also wondering on the HDMI in receivers as I'm looking for all components with 1080P. I was looking at Harmon Kardon AVR 645 but was told it doesn't support 1080P through its HDMI. I'm still trying to find a receiver comparable to this one that has 1080P throught its HDMI input/output. Matt |
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Gold Member Username: HawkHighlands Ranch, CO USA Post Number: 1095 Registered: Dec-03 | Gentlemen: There is no greater boondoggle right now than HDMI. There are five HDMI standards out: 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 1.2A, and 1.3. The latest, 1.3, was only adopted last August and it is the only one that will support 1080p. It is a larger plug, physically, than the older standards, so it does not fit into the older jacks, even if there is some backward compatibility. However, even though 1.3 will support 1080p, there is no product out with this interface right now--everything currently out is based upon an older standard. Last weekend, I went through a number of product reviews taking some notes about HDMI. Panasonic plasma tvs were one standard, Denon receivers were based on a second standard, and Sony DVD players on a third. In short, right now, THERE IS NO STANDARD! It is hoped that a year or two from now, everyone will be installing HDMI 1.3 into their equipment, but let us hope no one decides that they need to establish yet another HDMI standard, or HDMI will die just like DVI did. |
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Bronze Member Username: UsernamexLondonEngland Post Number: 36 Registered: Oct-05 | "or HDMI will die just like DVI did" maybe that wouldn't be a completely bad thing? http://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/dvi/index.htm "HDMI is a digital signal format, developed primarily as a platform for the implementation of HDCP (High Definition Content Protection) to prevent consumers from having complete access to the contents of high-definition digital recordings. As one might expect from a standard that was developed to serve the content provider industries, rather than the best interests of the consumer, HDMI is something of a mess. The signal is not robust over distance because it was designed to run balanced when it should have been run unbalanced (SDI, the commercial digital video standard, can be run hundreds of feet over a single coax without any performance issues); the HDMI cable is an unnecessarily-complicated rat's-nest arrangement involving nineteen conductors; switches, repeaters and distribution amplifiers, by virtue of this complicated scheme, are made unnecessarily expensive; and the HDMI plug is prone to falling out of the jack with little more than a light tug. As more and more manufacturers move to implement HDMI on more home theater devices, however, it falls to the consumer to try to make the best of this dubious and poorly-thought-out standard." Plenty more interesting articals about HDMI here too. http://www.bluejeanscable.com/articles/index.htm Mike |
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New member Username: Learning_the_techPost Number: 1 Registered: Jan-07 | Have you looked at the Onkyo TX-SR674? I been looking at it and I think it would do everything you talked about in your posting and is in the lower end of your budget range. I believe is is listed as #4 of the "Editor's Top Home Audio Products" in the review section on CNET. Good luck! |