Recently one of our community members, Vindos, asked us about what best connectivity options to go for his DVD player and LCD television for a complete HD experience. This is what he asked us.
"I have bought a Sony-KLV-40W300A television. I want to know how I can connect this television with Samsung-DVD-1080P7 or any other Samsung DVD player with a DVI-D cable for that matter. I am interested only in transfering images; as far as audio is concerned, I want to connect the DVD player with my old AV receiver Yamaha RX-V440 primarily because my speakers are connected to it. I do not want to discard my AV receiver and my AV receiver does not have HDMI output. I want to know - which is a better solution among the two - 1. I connect the video cable directly to the television from my DVD player and thereby route the audio cables from the DVD player to the AV Receiver or 2. I connect the audio and video cables to the AV receiver first from the DVD player and then route the cables to the television from the AV Receiver. Also tell me what brands offer good cables and what specification these wires should have?"
Vindos, clearly, has done a lot of research before he went ahead with buying the Sony KLV-40W300A television, which is Sony’s entry-level Full HD LCD TV. This feature-rich LCD TV has 10-bit processing with a 10-bit panel, which means it has the capability to deliver 64 times the level of colour expression than what is offered by 8-bit panels. The result is a smoother transition between colours and more natural, accurate reproduction of subtle colour changes. Its other picture features include tried and tested BRAVIA Engine EX, Live Colour Creation (WCG-CCFL), x.v. colour and 24P True Cinema promising superb cinema experience. In the audio department, it features 22W RMS audio output aided by S-Force Front Surround offer surround experience from the front on board two speakers. It is endowed with variety of connectivity options like traditional S-video, VGA, Composite video, Component video and to top it, all of three HDMI Inputs. This HD connections gives him freedom to connect compatible DVD player, gaming consoles, HD cameras and so on at the same time giving HD experience.
"I have bought a Sony-KLV-40W300A television. I want to know how I can connect this television with Samsung-DVD-1080P7 or any other Samsung DVD player with a DVI-D cable for that matter. I am interested only in transfering images; as far as audio is concerned, I want to connect the DVD player with my old AV receiver Yamaha RX-V440 primarily because my speakers are connected to it. I do not want to discard my AV receiver and my AV receiver does not have HDMI output. I want to know - which is a better solution among the two - 1. I connect the video cable directly to the television from my DVD player and thereby route the audio cables from the DVD player to the AV Receiver or 2. I connect the audio and video cables to the AV receiver first from the DVD player and then route the cables to the television from the AV Receiver. Also tell me what brands offer good cables and what specification these wires should have?"
Vindos, clearly, has done a lot of research before he went ahead with buying the Sony KLV-40W300A television, which is Sony’s entry-level Full HD LCD TV. This feature-rich LCD TV has 10-bit processing with a 10-bit panel, which means it has the capability to deliver 64 times the level of colour expression than what is offered by 8-bit panels. The result is a smoother transition between colours and more natural, accurate reproduction of subtle colour changes. Its other picture features include tried and tested BRAVIA Engine EX, Live Colour Creation (WCG-CCFL), x.v. colour and 24P True Cinema promising superb cinema experience. In the audio department, it features 22W RMS audio output aided by S-Force Front Surround offer surround experience from the front on board two speakers. It is endowed with variety of connectivity options like traditional S-video, VGA, Composite video, Component video and to top it, all of three HDMI Inputs. This HD connections gives him freedom to connect compatible DVD player, gaming consoles, HD cameras and so on at the same time giving HD experience.
Vindos is hoping to turn his house into a HD theatre and wishes to buy the Samsung DVD-1080P7 player, an apt companion to his Full HD TV; this DVD player with HDMI Out upscales the resolution of conventional DVDs to 720p/1080p offering picture-perfect digital viewing experience. Since Vindos also owns a home theatre constituting the Yamaha RX-V440 as receiver, he is in a dilemma whether to route the DVD player through the AV Receiver for audio and video or connect his potential Samsung DVD-1080P7 directly to his Sony KLV-40W300A television as both are HDMI compatible. The solution should offer him better picture performance and absolute bang for his bucks.
Our suggestion to him is to connect his Samsung DVD-1080P7 player directly to the Sony KLV-40W300A; this will offer better results for picture by upconverting the signal to Full HD - 1080p. We suggested this option because the home theater receiver Yamaha RX-V440 has two component inputs, and no HDMI, which means it is capable of delivering 720p/1080i but not the desired 1080p. This option will not exploit the full potential of his new LCD TV. But connecting his DVD player to Sony-KLV-40W300A will give him digital-to-digital connectivity and pixel-to-pixel performance, as both have required HDMI connections. This connection will allow his Sony LCD TV to display video having 1080p resolution.
The following table will give you fair idea about TV connections and their supported resolutions.
The following table will give you fair idea about TV connections and their supported resolutions.
| TV Connectors | Supported Resolution |
| Composite | 480i |
| S-Video | 480i |
| Component | 480i/480p/720p/1080i |
| HDMI | 480i/480p/720p/1080i/1080p |
As the above table signifies - HDMI is best of all connections for its ability to carry and display 1080p resolution with digital audio. HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface) connector is a relatively new digital connector that carries both high definition digital video and a maximum of eight channels of uncompressed digital audio signals, which are transferred over a single cable. HDMI is the standard connector on high definition devices, such as HD DVD and Blu-Ray disc players and the Sony PlayStation 3 game console. LCD TVs equipped with the HDMI connector are compatible with these high definition devices.
Also for required cables we suggested he looked at cable brands such as Monsterand Acoustic Research, price range for which start at Rs 2,500 onwards (HDMI), depending of course upon the length of the cable.
Finally, a word of caution. It is widely observed that Full HD displays below the 46-inch size segment and similar sized HD-ready TVs offer similar video performance irrespective of the source. To get noticeable 1080p performance, one has to go for display size of 46 inches and above. So if you are buying a Full HD LCD TV of 52 inches or a Plasma TV of 50 or 63 inches, then you are in for a complete HD experience.
Also for required cables we suggested he looked at cable brands such as Monsterand Acoustic Research, price range for which start at Rs 2,500 onwards (HDMI), depending of course upon the length of the cable.
Finally, a word of caution. It is widely observed that Full HD displays below the 46-inch size segment and similar sized HD-ready TVs offer similar video performance irrespective of the source. To get noticeable 1080p performance, one has to go for display size of 46 inches and above. So if you are buying a Full HD LCD TV of 52 inches or a Plasma TV of 50 or 63 inches, then you are in for a complete HD experience.
