DVI vs. Component

[henderson_tony]

Simple as that. Which is the "better" input???

I was under the impression DVI was newer, better, and could transfer data at higher rates, but I keep hearing a few people say they get a better picture with components. I have a Sony 16:9 30" Sony Trinitron XBR if that makes any difference.

thanks,
TONY

 

[meordaisy]

Simple as that. Which is the "better" input???

I was under the impression DVI was newer, better, and could transfer data at higher rates, but I keep hearing a few people say they get a better picture with components. I have a Sony 16:9 30" Sony Trinitron XBR if that makes any difference.

thanks,
TONY

This depends a lot on your TV. Some give you better quality and some don't, best choice is try both if you have them and compare.

 

[tdillon]

This has as much to do with the way that your TV handles the signal as it does with the quality of the signal coming from the STB. I have a Sony Grand Wega and I have both sets of cables hooked up. I prefer the quality from the DVI input, but that is probably because when I had the TV calibrated it was calibrated using the DVI input. Theoretically DVI should be better, because the signal remains digital until the last rescaling performed by your tv. Component is analog, so there is an additional conversion from digital to analog back to digital when using the component cables.

 

[calikarim]

DVI is better Picture by far

I have a Mitsubishi diamond 656813, and i had voom connected via component for 2 months till i switched to DVI, and the difference is at least a 35% better pic quality. You will notice the visuals are sharper and cleaner. It is like putting glasses on. With DVI on the same setting the colors are a little faded but you can easily compensate by turning up the color on your input. DVI is much better that is why even new trend is DVD hook up via DVI, check avs forum boards

 

[Sean Mota]

Have two TVs on DVI a Sony GW 60" LCD and Samsung 42" DLP. Both connected through DVI and never looked back.

 

[gutter]

Have two TVs on DVI a Sony GW 60" LCD and Samsung 42" DLP. Both connected through DVI and never looked back.

Sean, since you are also VOOMING with a Sammy DLP, how do your SD channels look on DVI. I moved to component because the picture was shifted to the right and bordered all around with black. I hated that. Only on VOOM satellite SD channels but not local SD digital. Just wondered what you did to compensate. The tech out to my house couldn't figure it out and I have noticed others here have had the same problem. Do you know if it is corrected in 6.00? I don't want to strip my system again to reroute cables. Hope you can share. Thanks.

 

[Sean Mota]

Sean, since you are also VOOMING with a Sammy DLP, how do your SD channels look on DVI. I moved to component because the picture was shifted to the right and bordered all around with black. I hated that. Only on VOOM satellite SD channels but not local SD digital. Just wondered what you did to compensate. The tech out to my house couldn't figure it out and I have noticed others here have had the same problem. Do you know if it is corrected in 6.00? I don't want to strip my system again to reroute cables. Hope you can share. Thanks.

Yes, I get the same on both TVs through DVI. I hardly watch any SD channels so it does not impact me as much. ESPN-HD does look fine and every other HD channel that shows SD content. It happens on those all the time SD channel.

 

[jimmykce1]

I don't have any problems with shifting on my Sammy HLN507W. I use to use DVI for Voom until I got a DVI DVD player. So I switched back to component for my Voom stb.

 

[Rogster]

I have a Sony XBR 960. I originally connected it to the Voom box through component. It worked fine. No lockups and the picture was acceptable. I recently switched to DVI (actually HDMI/DVI; the TV is HDMI). When I first hooked up the DVI, I noticed the colors were very dull. That lasted for about a minute and then I blinked or the TV blinked and suddenly the colors were nice and bright just like with the component cables. I hadn't done anything.

So, I then went to change channels. Immediately the STB locked up. Ok, maybe I was flying through the channels too fast for this STB, but I had not seen that happen with component. Also, I have the STB set to Native. When I change from HD to SD or SD to an HD channel, the TV blinks and then there is "snow' like I used to see on my old analog set when I couldn't get a signal. I hear the audio, but no picture; Just snow. That lasts about ten seconds and then usually the picture will come on. Sometimes the picture doesn't come up and I just continue to see snow. If I change the channel and come back, that usually fixes the problem. I did not see this through component.

 

[Ilya]

Rogster,
not sure about your lockup, but "show" while changing the resolution (over DVI) is a known issue in the current software. You can get rid of this by switching from Native to 1080i-fixed mode.

 

[KeithQ]

well, that depends...

As most have noted, components seem to sometimes provide a 'warmer' set of tones or colors. DVI should be able to provide more detail, especially edge sharpness.

One test we did at the store, when I worked for Ultimate Electronics, was to hook up a Samsung DVD (931) player with component and DVI cables to the same Samsung DLP television.

When playing a really good source DVD (we used Fifth Element, Superbit), you were able to see distinct differences in flesh tones and shading when switching between the two sources. The component looked good but the DVI almost (and I stress almost) looked as if it added a three dimensional q uality to faces.

YMMV, as a huge amount of your quality depends on source material, the player or box, cables, power supply and not least, the TV itself.

The only drawbacks I can see to DVI is, a reasonably good cable is more expensive, no A/V receivers switch DVI (yet) and most TVs only have one port (so an HD box and a DVI equipped DVD player are one too many).

But hey, other than that, try it out and see.

 

[andrzej]

...
One test we did at the store, when I worked for Ultimate Electronics, was to hook up a Samsung DVD (931) player with component and DVI cables to the same Samsung DLP television.

When playing a really good source DVD (we used Fifth Element, Superbit), you were able to see distinct differences in flesh tones and shading when switching between the two sources. The component looked good but the DVI almost (and I stress almost) looked as if it added a three dimensional q uality to faces.
...

Keith,
If I am not mistaken Sammy 931 guts were specifically optimized for DVI connection (same for Bravo D1). The component output on 931 underperforms.