HD-DVD through Component Video
 

Is anyone viewing HD-DVD through the component video? How does it look and how does it compare to HDMI?

I'm using component. Looks great. At first the Toshiba had clipping issues on HDMI, but I have stuck with the component even after the firmware update. Did a bit of testing and really couldn't tell a difference between the two. Left the HDMI for my Denon so it can upconvert DVDs and will stick with component on the Toshiba since the ICT is not going to be an issue anymore.

I use component on my OTA receiver as well. Compared DVI to component on it and actually felt the component output was a touch better.

On my equipment, Component is slightly softer than HDMI but it's not dramatically different.

I've only used HDMI and can't complain about picture quality. Looks great. I'll test out component sometime.

There are a lot of factors at play with that... The answer is likely to change depending on the display, too. I'm using component (don't have HDMI so I can't compare on the same display), but from what I'm seeing, you won't be disappointed with component.

Here's a good article: DVI vs. HDMI vs. Component Video -- Which is Better?

From these responses it sounds as though the initial claim that HDMI was a superior medium to component may have been a lie. If the picture is equal either way, why deal with the hassle HDMI offers? It randomly cuts out, takes longer to establish a connection and apparently has some bugs in it.

So was it invented soley to combat piracy? Have we been lied to about HDMI giving us "a superior picture to component"? Maybe HDMI will prove over a period of time that it can do great things, but it appears that at least at the moment, there is no advantage to using it.

Of course it is a slightly different situation with Blu-ray because they will enforce the image-constraint token at some point to reduce resolution, although teh talk is that currently that won't happen for another 6 years. But the PS3 will do it immediately by reducing resolution to 720p via component cables in order to force people to get the $599 unit for the HDMI jack.

Corporations piss me off.

Yeah, pretty much. If they ever get it working, squash all the bugs and have enough connectors it would be nice to have one cable and eliminate "rat's nest" I have now. That is the only benefit I can see. Not much is it?

I hear the same thing about both HD formats but as far as I know, there has been no official announcement from any studio concerning when or how they will employ ICT. So IMO this talk that ICT "won't be used for years" is nothing more than wishful thinking.

Guess I'm just going to stick with component for now if indeed it is just as good, or perhaps even better considering the strange banding effect I am experiencing.

The only issue that I have with component on the A1 is that it does not pillarbox 4:3 material....so, you would have to do it manually with your tv.

What does it do with 4:3 material?

On CoR there is an intro from the director that appears pillarboxed.... Are you talking about SD DVDs that have 4:3 material? What does the HD-A1 do with those?

Ive only tried sd material at 4:3...im not sure what it would do with 4:3 material via hd-dvd. Sorry for the confusion.

That's interesting. I guess I don't mind that too much except that my TV has gray pillars which are somewhat annoying.

Speaking of annoying, why doesn't the HD-A1 allow us to zoom? Since the original Star Wars trilogy will be non-anamorphic, it will be window-boxed on the HD-A1, along with every other non-anamorphic DVD we may have.

For this reason I have left my Toshiba SD-4800 hooked up. I'm not watching Justice League Season 2 windowboxed. It's just not going to happen.

I was wondering because I have no way to test that on SD... I've got a 4:3 screen, so SD DVD fills it up through the HD-A1. I can't "upconvert" since I'm using component.

On my 16x9 DLP, sd-dvd 4:3 material is stretched on component. On HDMI, it is pillarboxed correctly.

Maybe they will fix it via a future firmware update.

I wanted to use component since the HDMI output has the BTB/WTW limitation. But, with this pillarbox issue AND not upconverting retail sd-dvds, I am sticking with HDMI.

Many pros won't install HDMI unless specifically asked. They stick with component video because of all the problems with HDMI.

It's not a lie. It's just an evolving technology that still has some issues to be worked out.

The advantage to HDMI is that it offers a pure-digital connection from player to display. The bits that come out of the player's decoder go straight into the display. Using component video, those bits must be converted to analog first and then converted back to digital inside the display. This opens the possibility of conversion errors and noise. With high-quality equipment, the risk of that can be minimized and you may not visibly see much difference, but in other equipment the difference will be readily apparent.

The other advantage to HDMI is that it carries both audio and video on a single cable, which is a blessing for those of us who have a jungle of cords behind their equipment racks.

I just was curious about ICT (not hip on the acronyms yet for HD-DVD), but will people with Component be screwed within the next couple of years with HD-DVD? Still trying to decide to get one (probably the 360 one when available)

No one knows exactly when it will happen (some rumors claim it will be 2010 at the earliest), but there is no question that component will become obsolete at some point.

And, "evil corporations" notwithstanding, that will ultimately be a good thing. As Josh said, as HDMI matures, the features it offers will increase and improve, and it will eventually allow us to have single-cable connections between all of our A/V gear, while still offering the potential for image and sound quality that is transparent to the master.

By the way, I tried both ways and HDMI-to-DVI blew component away. Apparently there is a restriction of colors this way, but it's not noticable. My DVI connection gave me a razor-sharp image and components gave me a somewhat soft image.

ICT is already in HDDVD. But it is left up to the disc to turn it on. So far, it has not been turned on. A particular studio could decide to start turning it on tomorrow, if they want. Or never.

So, I guess the claim of HDMI's superiority over component wasn't all just a lie, after all? ;)

Component looked no different on my setup. But since I want to upconvert SD, I went with HDMI->DVI.