question about the Difference in HDMI signal transfer

[vsavka]

ok this is the story.

I do not have an hdmi receiver/cable box, just a regular one with the composite and svideo outputs.

Now, would there be a big difference in quality if I run it through an hdmi upconverting a/v receiver to the tv and getting an actual HD cable box or receiver and run it straight to the tv, considering the channels not being in HD? just regular digital signal.


thanks, val

 

[agarwalro]

Yes these is a big difference in quality. DVI/ HDMI signal from a HD cable box will be much better than the s-video or composite signal from a regular cable box upconverted via a receiver. The picture quality improvement will be most apparent on HD channels, but there will be some improvement for the SD channels also.

 

[markw]

Not as much as you would think.

First off, all modern Hi Def TV's have built in upscalers. They will take whatever is input and convert it (through their own internal upscalers) into their native fomat, be it 720 or 1080.

Since Composite and S-Video are only 480, it's doing what it can with it already.

If, by some slight chance, your new external upscaler is better than the one in the TV, then you might realize some slight improvement but remember, you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

Now, assuming you have a hi-def TV (and that's about the only ones I can think of that have HDMI inputs), if you want a better picture, you're gonna have to spring for a Hi-Def cable box (and possibly a service upgrade) and these come with either component or HDMI, or possibly both. They are the only two formats that pass Hi-Def signals, and they both work equally well. But remember. you still need a hi-def signal to start with.

And, conversly, if you don't have a hi-def TV set, why bother?

 

[jcPanny]

ok this is the story.

I do not have an hdmi receiver/cable box, just a regular one with the composite and svideo outputs.

Now, would there be a big difference in quality if I run it through an hdmi upconverting a/v receiver to the tv and getting an actual HD cable box or receiver and run it straight to the tv, considering the channels not being in HD? just regular digital signal.


thanks, val

To answer the question, NO, there will be no perfromance difference running the cable box video signal through the receiver. However, you would be able to take advantage of the receiver video switching and less cables from the reciever to the TV for whatever it is worth.

Make sure you are using the s-video connection from the cable box because it is a little better than composite video.

 

[vsavka]

now if the tv has a hd tuner, does that mean that if i connect a regular svideo straight to the tv, it will upcovert it to HD? or thats b/s

also what is the difference between NTSC and ANSC tuners?