Picture Quality

hockeyboy

I run a Marantz DV7600 connected to my Mitsubishi HC5000 via RGB cables. I wanted to run an HDMI cable initially, but my installer told me that HDMI cables over 5 meters are generally unreliable and switchers always fail.

I am generally only so impressed with the picture quality of my DVD's. I am alternatively blown away with the picture direct from Dish Network. I intend on upgrading to HD at some point but want to keep any change on a budget.

Would a simple upgrade to HDMI cable improve my picture quality dramatically? If so, when do I need a switcher and what brands are most reliable?

Systems

hockeyboy wrote: »

I am generally only so impressed with the picture quality of my DVD's. I am alternatively blown away with the picture direct from Dish Network. I intend on upgrading to HD at some point but want to keep any change on a budget.

Would a simple upgrade to HDMI cable improve my picture quality dramatically?

Maybe.Recently I did an in home comparison of 2 tv's to help decide which one to keep.One was a Panasonic Plasma and the other an LG LCD.Using my Motorola sat reciever as the source I compared the PQ of both component and HDMI cables.There was no detectable difference between cables with the Plasma but the HDMI looked much more detailed on the LCD set.I guess it is something that you will have to try yourself to really see if HDMI is an advantage.

btw. my sat dish was HD, my guess is the differences nticed on the LG would have been less apparent with an SD signal.

wallstreet

HDMI improvement for DVD sources is neglible. Even for HD sources the improvements are minor (tested for 720p not 1080p). You should be able to have longer runs for HDMI than 5M. I've read anything up to 50 feet should be fine. The reason your DVD quality sucks is because the resolution is only 480p. If you want to be blown away by DVD upgrade to blu-ray or HD-DVD.

EFW

I agree with wallstreet, I just upgraded to the Toshiba HD-XA2 HD DVD player and the difference between that and my old JVC DVD player blew my mind. Also there was a very noticable difference when I upgraded to HDMI cable.

Serendipity

I think the addition of a scaler would provide more of an improvement than just an HDMI cable.

Check out http://www.dvdo.com and http://www.lumagen.com for scalers.

thejck

HDMI cables run a digital signal through it. I was under the impression that you can run digital signals a lot further than analog because they are not affected by outside interference.
DVD picture quality really shows its weakness when you play it on a HDTV. I play mine through my pc hooked up to my HDTV using a DVI cable and I get my computer to do the extra work of upscaling the video and deinterlacing. Never used a projector but I am guessing it would work the same way.

steveinaz

hockeyboy wrote: »

Would a simple upgrade to HDMI cable improve my picture quality dramatically? If so, when do I need a switcher and what brands are most reliable?

I found extremely subtle differences between Component and HDMI. Component actually looked a little richer (for lack of a better word), but HDMI did get rid of some anomolies like the halos seen in "Finding Nemo."

Have you calibrated with DVE?

Sami

appadv wrote: »

I think the addition of a scaler would provide more of an improvement than just an HDMI cable.

Why buy a scaler now that HD formats are around the corner?

hockeyboy

I have not calibrated with DVE and I never saw my installer do it now that you mention it. That might help quite a bit. I think the consensus is right that I probably need to make the jump to a combo player later this year- that nice SACD player just doesn't get it done.I suspect if I get a good combo player there will be a dramatic improvement since like Sami said, later this year those will upscale to 1080i and play both HD and BRay anyway.

Sherardp

HDMI will give you a better picture, only if you have a player with upconversion. Allot of installers will neglect the HDMI inputs for fear of handshaking errors, etc when they run the setups. So I say run the HDMI into the PJ, thats what its there for, and go for the Toshiba XA2 player. Nice PJ you have by the way, what size screen are you pairing it with?

rskarvan

24 AWG HDMI cable is good for a 25 foot run without issues.

hockeyboy

I have my Mitsu paired with a Carada bright white 106" screen which I have been happy with. I sent an email to Marantz today and they replied in about an hour. The response noted they wanted to talk to one of the specialists, but they think that to benefit from the upconversion on this player you actually HAVE to use the HDMI cable. If that is the case I will just run an HDMI cable and solve it until I upgrade.

RSkarvan my run should be less than 24 feet so where can I get a cable like that for a good price?

Here is my setup which I overall love for those interested:

Mistubishi HC 5000 1080P Projector
Carada 106" bright white screen
Marantz SR8001 Receiver
Sunfire 7200 7-Channel Amp
Panamax 5300 EX Power Conditioner
LSI-15's Fronts
DUAL SVS 20-39 CS Plus Passive Subs
LSiC Center
LSiFx's (Surrounds)
Genesis Universal MX-900
X-Box 360 (Already had it!)

Sherardp

A shame to not have a Blu ray or HD DVD player hooked to that sweet PJ guy. I would love to see some screenshots of it in action. And would love to see a pic of that 106 inch screen. I have the JVC HD1 and Carada 126 out here in Japan, just waiting on the room to be done to get it up. I hate looking at the boxes, what a pity.

hockeyboy

That period of keeping it in the boxes is murder. Trust me I know. Is that Toshiba XA2 pretty well recognized at the best Sherar, and does it upconvert standard signals?

hockeyboy

OKAY! Everyone I am a dip ****. The Marantz technician called today and we took a look at my settings on the DVD player. The default settings were for interlaced, not progressive. I made the change and the picture improved dramatically! I guess it pays to check your settings...

Sherardp

Yes the Toshiba is one of the best out right now. The pq on upconverted SD DVD is amazing. You cant go wrong there. I'm sure youre going to be in for a treat when you dive in. The tosh players have received numerous awards for its quality playback, build, etc. Onecall has them in the 500 price range now, compared to the 999 sticker when they were released.

hockeyboy

Thanks Sher. I am putting it on my Christmas list...