Pioneer500M / 2 HDMI inputs

[sawzalot]

Good Morning Forum, I have a few questions and hope you guys can help out, it is in reference to my inputs on the panel Pioneer 500M and the avr-Pioneer VSX-1015 TX, the panel only has 2 hdmi inputs of course the receiver has no hdmi inputs and or outputs so here starts my questions since my blu-ray and toshiba XA-2 both deliver a 1080p signal to the panel should I use the hdmi inputs on the panel for those two and then run the audio to the receiver through optical.
, now that leaves the Motorola HD Box which also has an hdmi out but I will not have anywhere to plug it in so should I use component from the HD Digital Box to the Receiver then go from the Receiver to the panel via component as well in regards to the HD Box, I believe that the comcast HD is only 1080i anyway so the signal would still be as good as it could if I used hdmi from the HD box, right ? If I hook up the HD box this way ,what would be the best hook-up for AQ another optical or red and white rca which would be analog right ? or an rca to the digital TV input, believe it or not I always just used the two HDMI inputs on the panel and just move the HD DVD and Blu Ray connection back and forth as needed but if the HD Box Component connections will look the same I can have all three hooked up at the same time, something I would prefer, Thanks , sawz..

 

[sawzalot]

Sorry if my questions seem trivial but sometimes I feel better hearing some other Audio/Video related suggestions from you guys , it just turns up the dimmer switch some,

 

[The Dukester]

I would hook up one of the HD players up to your receiver by the multichannel inputs and let the player decode the lossless soundtracks personally. The XA2 will decode them and maybe your BD player, depending on which you have. By using the optical you will only get the standard core 5.1 Dolby or DTS track. If both of your players decode then you could either get a switcher or manually (would be a hastle to me) switch them each time you use the other player as I believe that receiver only has one multichannel input.
As for the video, yes, I would use component on the box and use HDMI on the two HD players to get the best pic.
Nice tv!
Forgot: don't use the red and white audio inputs at all. If you don't want to go the multichannel input at least use an optical or coaxial cable for the audio.

 

[jostenmeat]

I like Dukester's post. Regarding cable stb, often the component looks just as good as hdmi, sometimes hdmi looks better, and sometimes if perhaps more rarely, the component looks better. Try both. If they look equal, or the component looks better, you've made no compromise whatsoever, anywhere. If the HDMI does look better, you may think about things, whether that may be an additional switcher etc. What I will say is that I don't have very good impressions/expectations when I think of comcast, so I'm not sure it's going to matter much in then end.

Don't forget to calibrate for both BD and HDDVD. If you use cal discs, do it for each player. Your TV can calibrate to source input. If you have the ISFccc patch installed, then you can run cal for both players twice, once for the day, once for night.

 

[BruZZi]

Sawz, the 500M also comes with a DVI input. So if your Concrap ... I mean Motorola HD Box have that connection ?!?
If not, you can still buy a HDMI/DVI adapter cable and use it as a third digital connection. The only problem is that HDMI ->DVI usually have HDCP Handshake issues especially with STB's. But it might work fine with either your Blu-ray player or Toshiba XA-2.

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