Help--Toshiba 52LX177-->Denon 3808CI-- BluRay & HD DVD--Need advice on connecting

[jegesq]

I have the following components for my system:

1. Toshiba 52LX177 Regza-- Has 3 HDMI 1.3 inputs, Deep Color, xvYCC, all the other latest upscaling, frame stabilization, 120Hz, etc.

2. Toshiba A-35 HD DVD player--

3. Samsung HDP1400 BluRay HD player

4. Time-Warner Cable-- Motorola DVR with HDMI output (1080i max).

So here are my questions:

A. The way we presently have this set up is that only the TW Motorol box is cabled directly to the Denon's #1 HDMI input using 1.3. The AV cable signal is then process through the Denon receiver and the Denon HDMI output is cabled to the TV's #1 HDMI input. Picture quality is superb on all HD broadcasts, SD is excellent and standard television (I guess if it's going through the cable box, it's all digital) is also good. Audio quality is also excellent with the Dolby 5.1 being carried by the broadcast HD, which I'm assuming is the highest quality I'll see from Time-Warner.

So, cable seems to be set up optimally for viewing and listening.

B. The way we cabled the HD DVD and BluRay is what has me concerned:

We cabled the HDMI output of both directly to the Regza television's #2 and #3 HDMI inputs. The theory was that this would give us the best possible video signal quality with the least amount of extraneous processing. The Toshiba 52LX177's ability to process the video signal (including Deep Color, vxYCC, film stablization, 120Hz, etc.) is amazing. The Denon 3808CI's video processing is also supposed to be excellent (with Faroudja, Deep Color, vxYCC, etc) but there is always the concern that processing the signal through two sources may not help things.....On the other hand, it might, and that's one of my questions.

The audio from the two DVD players is routed into the Denon using the Toslink digital audio, which was the next best alternative to HDMI sound input (since both DVD players only have one HDMI output).

My question regarding audio is this: It seems that Toslink isn't capable of transmitting the entire bitstream signal for full PCM, DTS HD Master Audio, or Dolby TrueHD. The Toslink will convey bitstremed audio, but will essentially downconvert either by reducing bandwidth or by leaving out the extra data for the sound enhancements offered by these various new codecs.


So, after reading all of the above (if you're still with me) is this:

Would you suggest just running all signals through the Denon's HDMI inputs, or would you keep the set up as it is?

I don't want to sacrifice any of the video capabilities of the television, but I also want the best possible sound.


Any help would be appreciated.





The HD DVD and BluRay are both being input directly into the TV's second and third

 

[Duffinator]

So, after reading all of the above (if you're still with me) is this:

Would you suggest just running all signals through the Denon's HDMI inputs, or would you keep the set up as it is?

I don't want to sacrifice any of the video capabilities of the television, but I also want the best possible sound.

Using the HDMI connections I'd run everything through the Denon. There should be no loss in the picture quality, at least that you'll be able to tell. Your TV will still be doing the same processing regardless if the signal is passed through the AVR or not. Your HD players output 1080P and they are doing the video processing not the AVR or TV. That's the whole point of TV's having the ability to accept a 1080P input.

Welcome to AH.

 

[jegesq]

Thanks, that's what I had thought. It also seems pretty clear from reading about DTS HD Master Audio and Dolby DD, that using the optical cable won't allow me to have the best sound available, but using HDMI 1.3 will allow everything that is possible of being transmitted to be passed along to the Denon 3808CI for decoding directly to analog for amplification by the Denon.

I also agree with you from reading the Denon's manual and specs a bit more carefully that the video signal input from an HDMI 1.3 device to the Denon is then passed along to the display (so long as it's also connected via HDMI 1.3) virtually unaffected and unprocessed. The same is not true though for signals which are either input or output in analog (e.g., component, S-Vid, etc) or other digital (e.g., using a DVI connector)-- those signals can be affected and either enhanced or degraded using the Denon's controls for contrast, chroma, color balance, etc.

Anyway, it seems that I should just get rid of the Toslink connectors, and run everything through the Denon and then to the display using HDMI 1.3 for everything. This will also certainly make it easier to control the device selections without having to also access the TV's remote.

Thanks again for the input.