Component, DVI and HDMI connections

May 7, 2006

HDMI-InputWith HD-DVD and Blu-ray players making their way into our homes and new HDTV buyers experiencing first-time connection woes, I thought a HDTV connection primer might be helpful for some of our new readers. The three most common HDTV connections currently in use are: Component, DVI, and HDMI.

Component cables are easily identifiable by their red, green, and blue bands toward the end of their connection plugs. Component was widely used as the default HD connection in first and second generation HDTV equipment. Many manufacturers continue to support component video connections on newer equipment as well.

One thing to keep in mind with component video connections is that even though they are capable of transmitting HDTV, they aren’t capable of HDCP (High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection) compliance.

If you’re running cabling for that new HDTV entertainment system, I strongly advise you to run a DVI or HDMI connection in addition to that component cable. Certain HD sources and equipment may not deliver full resolution HDTV over component, due to the cables lack of HDCP compliance.


DVI (Digital Video Interface) uses a rectangular multi-pinned connector with screw-down binding posts to ensure a solid connection. DVI was originally used by the computer industry but DVI is more than capable of handling high definition at full resolution with HDCP, in consumer electronics. Keep in mind however that DVI carries video information only.

HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) on the other hand supports high definition video, plus multi-channel digital audio all on a single cable. If your display supports HDMI then by all means use it, if at all possible but don’t fall into marketing hype that would lead you to believe that HDMI is superior to DVI in video transmission.

In addition to being able to carry audio and video on a single cable, HDMI also supports the transmission of the new Dolby Digital + and DTS-HD surround sound formats.



Posted by B.Greenway | | Filed Under HDTV Equipment


Comments

  • ErikR
    Do you know why there is no sort of latch (screws, snap/click, etc.) on HDMI connectors? Unlike DVI (which has screws) the HDMI connector seems insecure in its seat.
  • B.Greenway
    DVI started out as a computer display connection so making sure they were firmly attached behind the monitor was a must.

    HDMI on the other hand is supposed to mimic the ease of USB connections. I agree HDMI feels insecure once plugged in.

    Here’s another little HDMI annoyance, those inserts are prone to wear. The insert itself can wear out, not exactly the kind of thing I want happening to my $500 HD-DVD player…
  • Dan
    I have question/comment. I have a new HD sat box from Expressvu in Canada (same as the 921 from DishNetwork I believe) connected to a Samsung 42" EDTV. I have connected using both component (decent Acoustic Research) cables and a HDMI (origin unknown) and have found that HD channels show basically no difference in quality, but when watching SD I find the componnent cables much better. The blacks are much blacker and less grainy.
    Anyone else see this??

    D
  • Brian Hoyt
    I wanted to offer a couple of small clarifications. It appears to be implied that a DVI or HDMI cable exists that doesn't support HDCP. It isn't the cable, but rather the sending or receiving device. It is mentioned that HDMI will be able to carry the new high resolution DD and DTS formats. While (afaik) any HDMI cable will be able to carry those formats I don't believe any of the shipping players can actually send the new formats via HDMI currently. Also there are no AV receivers which can receive or process those signals digitally currently. HDMI 1.3 is required for that and I don't think there are even any 1.2 devices available yet.

    For wiring purposes though, definitely run HDMI though for future use.

    One other side note, apparently there are some devices that detect if the receiving device is DVI or HDMI and change the functionality accordingly. For example the moviebeam player won’t allow HD out to a DVI device even if it supports HDCP. No idea why it works that way though.
  • B.Greenway
    Hi Brian,

    For my purposes here I didn’t necessarily want to get into the different varieties of DVI and HDMI as I was trying to keep things on an introductory level, but yes you do bring up excellent points.

    There are a few early (and I do mean really early) examples of DVI-A that aren’t HDCP compliant but those would have been found mainly in computer based displays and video cards, a small exception but an exception nonetheless. I was lumping cable, device and protocol together for brevity’s sake.

    It’s my understanding that HD-DVD players are theoretically capable of transmitting both DD+ and DTS-HD right now, of course as you mentioned there are no receivers (that I’m aware of) to decode these signals on the other end.

    As to your last point, in my opinion this is yet another reason to avoid MovieBeam :P
  • Julian Carrillo
    I have a sony receiver with HDMI inputs, a sony dvd player with HDMI outputs and an LG HD LCD,but no HDMI. What would be the best way to connect the receiver and the other components for optimum performance? The LG does have a DVI output(I think), what are my options?
  • B.Greenway
    A HDMI to DVI adaptor would work just fine as long as you don’t need to send audio to the LG.
  • Harry J. Finlayson
    My question is that because I am running HDMI cables from a DVD Recorder/Player [Samsung HDMI compliant]and a new Satellite Receiver [DSS HDMI compliant] to a Sony Front Projector TV [HDMI Compliant] thru an HDMI switcher control box, do I still have a need to connect the video component RGB cables. Will the two connections, HDMI & Component, tend to interfere and not produce as strong a quality picture?
  • B.Greenway
    That 'shouldn’t' cause any interference Harry, unplugging and comparing would tell you for sure though.
  • Yi
    If a LCD HDTV has a HDMI input, can you connect a computer's DVI output to the TV's HDMI input through a DVI to HDMI cable and get good display quality ?

    How would the quality compare to connecting the computer to the TV's PC D-Sub15 input?
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