DVI to HDMI or HDMI to HDMI

[jd0739]

OK I wants your thoughts on this.

Should I purchase a Video card that has HDMI capability and hook it straight into my HDMI capable Sharp 81cm LCD oorrrrrrrrr.....should I buy a DVI to HDMI conversion cable and go from any Video card that supports DVI......

Im not sure of any pros and or cons and im not 100% on the copyright protection abilities of HDMI.....

for example...if I encode a copy of my fav DVD that I bought last week and store it on my hard drive....when I play it back through HDMI will there be issues??????

all advice, opinions etc gratefully recieved.

Jazz

[Eaglehawk]

The DVI to HDMI solution is obviously cheaper. I bought a cable from Dick Smith and had it up and running in no time.

However, HDCP or something could be supported in those newer HDMI video cards, which will allow full HD playback on a Full HD set...if that's an issue you want to have to deal with

[Raptor]

DVI and HDMI are pretty much exactly the same for the video feed, just different connections. Just remember DVI doesn't carry an audio signal. So if you go DVI to HDMI it will be video only, and your TV will require a seperate audio feed cable. HDMI to HDMI is both audio and video in one cable.

[FrAsErTaG]

I agree HDMI and DVI at the moment are pretty much the same thing..
In Terms of Picture I guess you could ask your self How Clear Is Clear?

[jd0739]

Originally Posted by Eaglehawk

The DVI to HDMI solution is obviously cheaper. I bought a cable from Dick Smith and had it up and running in no time.

However, HDCP or something could be supported in those newer HDMI video cards, which will allow full HD playback on a Full HD set...if that's an issue you want to have to deal with

So The converion cable is cheaper than a straight HDMI to HDMI......I have seem HDMI to HDMI for $90 for 5 mt....expensive gear. Yeah my LCD doesnt support native 1080 so I dont think it would be an issue unless I updated the TV then I guess I could just update the card as well. Does anybocy know how HDCP implemets its Copyrighting features???? is it encoded into ...say the DVD that you are watching and do the DVD's that you are watching need to have the HDCP support built in. Its a confusing subject.....

[jd0739]

Originally Posted by Raptor

DVI and HDMI are pretty much exactly the same for the video feed, just different connections. Just remember DVI doesn't carry an audio signal. So if you go DVI to HDMI it will be video only, and your TV will require a seperate audio feed cable. HDMI to HDMI is both audio and video in one cable.

Raptor yeah the Sharp has a separate feed for audio(RCA) with the HDMI input. Also im not sure if video cards shipping with HDMI these days push audio?????

Cant wait to get my HTPC up and running.

[Eaglehawk]

Originally Posted by jd0739

So The converion cable is cheaper than a straight HDMI to HDMI......I have seem HDMI to HDMI for $90 for 5 mt....expensive gear. Yeah my LCD doesnt support native 1080 so I dont think it would be an issue unless I updated the TV then I guess I could just update the card as well. Does anybocy know how HDCP implemets its Copyrighting features???? is it encoded into ...say the DVD that you are watching and do the DVD's that you are watching need to have the HDCP support built in. Its a confusing subject.....

Well, I wouldn't say the conversion cable is cheaper than a straight through cable. Just that the cost of buying a HDMI card may outweigh tthe benefits, especially given you haven't got a 1080p display anyway.

HDCP is implemented in the media itself, the player software/hardware...that means the software to play it itself, and the graphics card connected to the display. And also the display.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-Ba...ent_Protection

[Banjo]

I spent a while wondering about the same problem. In the end I bought a GeCube ATI Radeon X1600 Pro HDMI, but the 1300 probably would have done the job and is a little cheaper.

I connect it to my Acer 37" (AT3705) LCD TV via HDMI. I get pretty close to the 1920 x 1080 resolution.

It works OK for me.

Cheers, Banjo

ps a 1.8M HDMI to HDMI cable came with the card.

[Scott_A]

Not sure if this is a "feature" of my LCD TV, but when I used a DVI to HDMI cable, I wasn't able to configure the video card to the TV's native resolution. When I used a DVI-DVI cable The card (and Media centre) detected the TV's native resolution.

Now, I understand that DVI and HDMI are the same, but it seams that my TV is treating the DVI and HDMI ports differently.
The TV supports the following connections in the following groupings (each group is assigned a button on the remote) It is possible to use all these connections at once

SCART1
SCART2

AV3 (compoonent)
HDMI (no serperate audio feed)

VGA (seperate audio feed for both)
DVI

I've stuck with DVI-DVI for MCE and use the HDMI for the DVD player.

Given that the signaling on the HDMI and the DVI is exactly the same (with the addition of audio on the HDMI) I'm not crying over not being able to use HDMI for my media centre.

As for HDMI cards, those i've seen require a link between the sounds card and the video card for audio, making no difference to using DVI and seperate audio with the exception of the following.

1. Higher cost of good HDMI cables
2. Higher cost of video cards
3. 2 cables instead of 1 cable between PC and screen

My 2 cents

Cheers,

Scott

[jd0739]

Yeah.......Im still not sure. Ill probably go with something like the GeCube 1300 with HDMI.
my TV doesnt have a DVI input(unfortunately) so im kind of limited...unless I get a video card with s-video(dont know if they are there)

Maybe I should just get a HDMI video card.

The HDMI input has a separate audio so no worries there....

Thanks for all the imput people.

Im looking forward to my first Foray into the HTPC world.