Anyone Compare Component vs. HDMI HD Picture Quality?

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Michael2000

SatelliteGuys Family
Original poster
Feb 23, 2010
37
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Southern California
I was wondering if anyone has done an A-B test of Component vs. HDMI picture quality on their Dish receiver. How did the Component output hold up for clarity and color? What Dish receiver were you using?

Thanks!

Michael
 
General consensus around here is there is no real difference. A lot of it depends on the individual TV, whereas colors and blacks MIGHT be better one way or the other. Picture clarity/sharpness generally the same.
 
When I first upgraded to HD a couple of years ago, I did a pretty good A-B test between component and HDMI. Obviously it's not a perfect test, because in both cases you have to optimize the settings on your TV for each individual input. That aside, there was not a significant difference between the two. I noticed a little more blocking and jaggies with HDMI around the edges of SD broadcasts, though, so I stuck with component.

To answer your question, yes, component cables will hold up in terms of clarity and color.

I have a 722, with a 42" Samsung plasma set, about two years old.
 
Michael2000 said:
I was wondering if anyone has done an A-B test of Component vs. HDMI picture quality on their Dish receiver. How did the Component output hold up for clarity and color? What Dish receiver were you using?

Thanks!

Michael
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I think the picture looks a little better with HDMI than when I had Component cable connected from the receiver to the TV. On the menu, I noticed with HDMI that the HD logo in the menu was actually clearer and whiter. With Component, it was not as clear. I know that is probably an odd thing to notice. However, the picture with Component cable was not bad either. Therefore, I think that you will be pleased with Component or HDMI. There is not a huge difference between the two, but like I said, I noticed a slight difference. The installer put Component cable; if you do get an HDMI cable, I would like online for a great deal on one. However, you may know that already. Also, make sure in the HD setup on the Dish Network menu(s) that the television resolution is set to either 720p or 1080i. The default seems to be 480p on most if not all HD receivers. It is good though that 480i is still a choice if connecting a SD TV to an HD receiver. We actually have one SD TV connected to an HD receiver until we upgrade to a new HD TV. However, it looks really nice even connected with component cable. I hope that helps you.
 
I see no difference between the two on my 722 and a Panasonic 42 inch plasma (model 42pz80u). I use component since my 3rd HDMI input is on the front of the TV for some reason - they save me from having an ugly cable sticking out.
 
High quality component cables ($$$) will look exactly the same as any undamaged HDMI cable. That is not my test, that is what the pros at Sound and Vision magazine said. The same source said never pay more than $10 for an HDMI cable, but that was two years ago. Today that figure is probably closer to $5.
 
I also did a pretty extensive A-B comparison between component and HDMI when I first upgraded to HD. I have a 722 receiver and a 42" Panasonic plasma TV. I could not see any difference in PQ between the two. However, there was a bit of overscan when using the HDMI inputs on my TV. Since my TV does not allow any size/centering adjustments when using the HDMI input, I went with the component input. Then I was able to use the setup menu in my TV to adjust the size/centering for minimal overscan.

I know that theoretically, you are not supposed to have to adjust size/centering for the HDMI input, but that is how it worked on my TV. Since I could not see any difference in PQ, component was the obvious choice for me.
 
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I have TVs in our display room hooked up to componet and HDMI. There is no visible difference. The only way it will make an important difference is when showing 1080p.
 
The "Just Scan" mode is useful if you're hooking up a PC to your TV, as it turns off over scan. I ran into this on some LG TV's here at the office that we use as wall mounted computer displays.

You can test this by connecting a PC to your TV via HDMI (or a DVI to HDMI cable).

Setting your TV on Just Scan will allow your desktop to fill the entire screen, using a 1:1 pixel mapping (just like a computer monitor).

Setting your TV to 16:9 will enable overscan (something that's been an industry standard for decades) and result in a portion of your desktop to extend beyond the sides of the screen.

What really got me was, on the LG's that I have... There was NO WAY to turn off the overscan when using the VGA input!! Go figure! The only way to use them as computer monitors at 1920x1080 was to use HDMI so I could turn on Just Scan.

-SF
 
KAB said:
General consensus around here is there is no real difference. A lot of it depends on the individual TV, whereas colors and blacks MIGHT be better one way or the other. Picture clarity/sharpness generally the same.
Click to expand...

I think the reason for that is the generally poor quality of Dish broadcasts; you can't polish a turd, and HDMI is sufficient to carry the medium-quality signal they broadcast. You could do a better evaluation using an OTA signal than anything that Dish provides.

ekilgus said:
There is no difference. The reason for the existence of HDMI is copy protection.
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Legally, you're right. Technically, TiVo S3 and HD owners have long known that their HDMI outputs are inferior to Component video. Since TiVo HD and Dish VIP receivers are based on VERY similar hardware, the OP has a valid question.

I think the final answer is that unless you have a pretty high-end (multi-thousand-dollar) or pretty low-end (off-brand) TV, you're not going to know the difference in most cases.
 
CowboyDren said:
I think the reason for that is the generally poor quality of Dish broadcasts; you can't polish a turd, and HDMI is sufficient to carry the medium-quality signal they broadcast. You could do a better evaluation using an OTA signal than anything that Dish provides.
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OTA...no difference still. Sorry.;)
 
I've had both inputs calibrated on my tv.

And the winner is........ Both are the same.

If you fret over it a bit too much you can talk yourself into thinking they are different as night and day;)
 

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