CRT TV Dead Advice

[PowerFalcon]

HDMI and Component video are very close quality-wise. I have used both with a DVD player and an LCD TV and could not see much difference at a normal viewing distance. Since my TV has only one component video connection, I used it for an older DVD recorder that has no HDMI out, and used HDMI to connect another newer player.

However I should mention that N. American closed captions are not supported by HDMI or component video. This means you can only use use S-Video or composite video connections if you use N, American closed captions when watching DVDs.

Why go HDMI, if the difference is small ?

[usually_quiet]

HDMI and Component video are very close quality-wise. I have used both with a DVD player and an LCD TV and could not see much difference at a normal viewing distance. Since my TV has only one component video connection, I used it for an older DVD recorder that has no HDMI out, and used HDMI to connect another newer player.

However I should mention that N. American closed captions are not supported by HDMI or component video. This means you can only use use S-Video or composite video connections if you use N, American closed captions when watching DVDs.

Why go HDMI, if the difference is small ?

For DVD-only players, the main reasons for using HDMI are practical ones. As I already stated, TVs today have fewer analog connections than HDMI connections, so it may be necessary to reserve the analog connections for older equipment that doesn't have HDMI out. Also, some people want to hide cables and power cords connected to their TV, or don't like clutter, and since HDMI carries audio and video in one cable, there are fewer cables to deal with.

...but if you buy a new Blu-Ray player and use it to play DVDs as well as Blu-Ray discs, HDMI is the only connection available for most current models.

[sanlyn]

However I should mention that N. American closed captions are not supported by HDMI or component video. This means you can only use use S-Video or composite video connections if you use N, American closed captions when watching DVDs.

Say, that's an interesting tip. It would help a PC customer of mine. Thanks for that info.

HDMI (or component) would be an improvement in image quality over composite if your player has either output.

[orsetto]

PowerFalcon, if you are currently using composite connections (yellow video + red/white audio) from your DVD player to your LCD TV, changing to either component or HDMI will make a dramatic improvement. Any videos sourced from high quality material just cooperates better with these displays if fed over the high def connections. I'm referring here to downloaded HD videos you have in your media player, or converted to DVD, or Hollywood studio DVDs: VHS conversions to DVD will show much less of an improvement, but still noticeable.

Setting the DVD player output to 720 is usually the best compromise for me, when I set the player to 1080 upscaling I encounter various PQ and aspect ratio glitches with my Sony, Panasonic and Samsung LCDs. 1080 upscaling can be a giant pain with some videos because 1080 HDMI output forces all signals to 16:9, even hard-coded vintage 4:3 and 4:3 letterboxed. The distortion drives me nuts, I'm amazed everyone I know with a BD player happily views these distortions without complaint. Between the tediously slow disc loading, missing DVD playback features and balky default 1080 resolution settings, I find BD players pretty useless for DVD playback: I reserve them strictly for Hollywood BluRays. Keep a good DVD player on your shelf for everything else of varying quality/frame size, and set the DVD player output to 720.

[PowerFalcon]

PowerFalcon, if you are currently using composite connections (yellow video + red/white audio) from your DVD player to your LCD TV, changing to either component or HDMI will make a dramatic improvement. Any videos sourced from high quality material just cooperates better with these displays if fed over the high def connections. I'm referring here to downloaded HD videos you have in your media player, or converted to DVD, or Hollywood studio DVDs: VHS conversions to DVD will show much less of an improvement, but still noticeable.

Setting the DVD player output to 720 is usually the best compromise for me, when I set the player to 1080 upscaling I encounter various PQ and aspect ratio glitches with my Sony, Panasonic and Samsung LCDs. 1080 upscaling can be a giant pain with some videos because 1080 HDMI output forces all signals to 16:9, even hard-coded vintage 4:3 and 4:3 letterboxed. The distortion drives me nuts, I'm amazed everyone I know with a BD player happily views these distortions without complaint. Between the tediously slow disc loading, missing DVD playback features and balky default 1080 resolution settings, I find BD players pretty useless for DVD playback: I reserve them strictly for Hollywood BluRays. Keep a good DVD player on your shelf for everything else of varying quality/frame size, and set the DVD player output to 720.

Thanks, that was the info/answer I was looking for.

[usually_quiet]

I set up my DVD players and DVD recorders to use 480i for HDMI or component video output. The TV upscales and deinterlaces as well or better than the DVD player and the DVD player's menus do not display correctly when the DVD player does the upscaling to 720p, 1080i or 1080p. Also, like most 720p TVs, my 720p TV has an actual screen resolution of 1366x768, so output from the DVD player will always be scaled by the TV regardless.

[neomaine]

I thought most DVDs, commercial anyway, were natively 480p? Wouldn't the best scenario be to set your player to output 480p and then let the TV upscale from there?

[usually_quiet]

I thought most DVDs, commercial anyway, were natively 480p? Wouldn't the best scenario be to set your player to output 480p and then let the TV upscale from there?

I play a lot of DVDs recorded by a DVD player from an interlaced source (cable box output), so my recordings are interlaced.

[jagabo]

1080 upscaling can be a giant pain with some videos because 1080 HDMI output forces all signals to 16:9, even hard-coded vintage 4:3 and 4:3 letterboxed.

The players I've used all pillarbox 4:3 material when upscaling to 16:9. So there's no distortion. My current Blu-ray player, an LG BD 670, has the option to maintain the source AR or stretch to 16:9 when upscaling media files. As have all the Blu-ray and upscaling DVD players I've owned over the years. Granted, that's probably less than 10 different players.

[orsetto]

Some people never encounter aspect ratio issues, others get slammed by them constantly. It depends on the source videos and interactions between the particular player and TV display. jagabo has no problems with his LG, says it correctly displays letterbox 4:3 as pillarbox. Glad to hear it.

I, OTOH, have several friends who all bought LG large screen TVs during various promotions that threw in a free LG BluRay player. Every time we visit one of them, the aspect ratio mess makes me want to take their TV and BD player back to the store, break the TV over the salesman's skull, and beat the store manager with the BD player. The LG BD player is a nightmare to use with DVDs or video files, thwarting every attempt to obtain correct framing, combined with brain-dead framing controls in the LG TV that conflict with input settings. LG is certainly not alone in having atrocious user interface designs, but they're among the worst.

DVD players and recorders are typically less balky, but I have had trouble with most when they are set to 1080 upscaling output: this again messes with 4:3 and letterboxed signals, causing distorted framing with most of my TVs most of the time. Dropping back to 480 or 720 usually solves the problem, and as others have said many times the TV is better equipped to upscale anyway. In my personal viewing it isn't an issue, but friends and family all insist that all their devices should be set to 1080 "to maximize their HDTV experience." It gives me a headache just to think of how many times I've had to reset their systems to 480 for group viewing of SD videos.