HDMI -v- DVI

[driver49]

I hope this one hasn't been answered already...

My Samsung HLN467 DLP display has DVI and Component Video inputs. I'm confused as to wether the DVI is compatible with the HDMI output on the S3 -- .

I heard TiVo say that the S3 has HDMI, so I called TiVo and asked if there was also DVI, and for some reason the TiVo rep said "yes." Looking at the specs though, I don't see DVI, only HDMI and CV. So, did she mean to tell me that that the DVI input on my display is somehow compatible with the HDMI output from the S3 ? HDMI is so new to me... I'm still in like 2004 here...

Of course, it may not matter, since I've been perfectly happy with the picture I get with the Component Video inputs from my Comcast DVR. I've heard some say that DVI (or HDMI) is superior, but opinions vary on that. I'm just thinking "as long as I'm upgrading...."

Thanks,

--PS

[etsolow]

DVI and HDMI are the same video signal. You just need a HDMI->DVI cable and you're all set.

[Shawn95GT]

You just need a HDMI to DVI adaptor or a cable that does the same. The cable is the better way to do it (no addidtional stress on the connectors). I'm in the same boat. I'll be using component video for now.

[greg_burns]

Just to be clear... Doesn't HDMI carry the audio signal also, unlike DVI?

[tekgeek]

Just to be clear... Doesn't HDMI carry the audio signal, unlike DVI?

Yes.. HDMI carries the audio signal as well.

[greg_burns]

Yes.. HDMI carries the audio signal as well.

Can HDMI carry Dolby Digital (5.1 channels) or just "two-channel" digital audio. Looking at the manual for my TV is confusing me.

[talmania]

Can HDMI carry Dolby Digital (5.1 channels) or just "two-channel" digital audio. Looking at the manual for my TV is confusing me.

Yes, HDMI can carry Dolby Digital 5.1. Whether or not your display (assuming you are not using external speakers and receiver) can convert the audio data to a usable format is another. (For example my Sony LCD will only accept and play PCM audio through the HDMI port).

Edit FYI: The S3 can downconvert the DD to PCM.

[HomieG]

Can HDMI carry Dolby Digital (5.1 channels) or just "two-channel" digital audio. Looking at the manual for my TV is confusing me.


Yes, it carries Dolby Digital, if encoded. The HDMI faq is available at:

http://www.hdmi.org/consumer/faq.asp

Here's a summary from that link:
HDMI supports standard, enhanced, or high-definition video, plus multi-channel digital audio on a single cable. It transmits all ATSC HDTV standards and supports 8-channel, 192kHz, uncompressed digital audio and all currently-available compressed formats (such as Dolby Digital and DTS), HDMI 1.3 adds additional support for new lossless digital audio formats Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD with bandwidth to spare to accommodate future enhancements and requirements.

[greg_burns]

Yes, HDMI can carry Dolby Digital 5.1. Whether or not your display (assuming you are not using external speakers and receiver) can convert the audio to a usable format is another. (For example my Sony LCD will only accept and play PCM audio through the HDMI port).

My TV only has two speakers, but it also has Optical Digital Audio ouput. I was thinking I could setup like this:

S3's HDMI output-> TV ->out to Stereo Receiver via Optical w/o loosing any audio channels

That way I could use the tuner on TV (if S3's are both in use) w/o needing to switch inputs on the stereo receiver.

Guess I will need to play with it when I get it all setup.

[HomieG]

My TV only has two speakers, but it also has Optical Digital Audio ouput. I was thinking I could setup like this:

S3's HDMI output-> TV ->out to Stereo Receiver via Optical w/o loosing any audio channels

That way I could use the tuner on TV (if S3's are both in use) w/o needing to switch inputs on the stereo receiver.

Guess I will need to play with it when I get it all setup.

This will work IF the TV passes the HDMI audio stream to the optical output. In my experience, most HDTV's don't seem too, but YMMV. It's worth a try.

[driver49]

Thanks for all these replies. The info is very helpful. Now, just one more question....

Is there really a substantial difference in picture quality from HDVI/DVI -v- Component Video?

--PS

[Blackforge]

Thanks for all these replies. The info is very helpful. Now, just one more question....

Is there really a substantial difference in picture quality from HDVI/DVI -v- Component Video?

--PS


I can tell you this after getting a HDMI-to-DVI cable after using the component input. On my TV the DVI is slightly clearer, however the biggest difference is the speed in which the resolution changes if I use Native or a Hybrid mode. It seems about twice as fast to change resolutions. Its similar to the difference between the Analog input and DVI input on an LCD monitor (from my experience).

[driver49]

I can tell you this after getting a HDMI-to-DVI cable after using the component input. On my TV the DVI is slightly clearer, however the biggest difference is the speed in which the resolution changes if I use Native or a Hybrid mode. It seems about twice as fast to change resolutions. Its similar to the difference between the Analog input and DVI input on an LCD monitor (from my experience).

This whole "native-v-hybrid-v-fixed" resolution business has me completely mystified. When do you "change resolutions" ?

--PS

[LonV]

Native mode means that the broadcasts are sent to the TV in their native resolution...480i is sent as 480i, 720p is sent as 720p, etc. Every time you watch a program that is in a different resolution your TV has to switch resolutions.

Hybrid mode (like 1080i hybrid, although there are others) outputs SD to 480p and HD content in 1080i, only needing a switch between the 2 types of content.

Fixed (like 1080i fixed) will always output in one resolution never needing a change.

[megazone]

S3's HDMI output-> TV ->out to Stereo Receiver via Optical w/o loosing any audio channels

That way I could use the tuner on TV (if S3's are both in use) w/o needing to switch inputs on the stereo receiver. That's exactly how I have my HL-S6187W setup. I can use the S3 or the TV's tuner (for analog cable) and the sound is the same - I turned on the TVs internal mute. I'm also planning to connect a PS3 to the other HDMI port and use it the same way.

[jkeegan]

Yeah, it took me until a few days ago to look down from the beautiful HD TiVo'ed video to the receiver to notice that the blue light hadn't been on for weeks - since I got my Series3..

I tried both settings on the TiVo (convert to PCM, or don't), and neither let me hear 5.1 (even on livetv, while tuned to a recording that DOES light up my receiver blue when I use the cablecard in my TV).

So I looked up the manual online for my Sony Grand Wega 60" TV (KDF60XS955) and in the specs, under Inputs/Outputs, it said:


HDMI IN
2 inputs total
Video: 1080i, 720p, 480p, 480i
Audio: Two channel linear PCM 32, 44.1 and 48kHz, 16, 20, and 24 bit


:( This sucks, since it means I have to run fiber from the TiVo into another input on my receiver, and manually switch from TV/SAT on my receiver to some other input just to hear 5.1 from my HDTiVo. :(

On the plus side, once I set that up, I'll have a reason to go back and watch all of this season's episodes of Lost again, listening for stuff I missed! ;)

..Jeff

[greg_burns]

Yeah, it took me until a few days ago to look down from the beautiful HD TiVo'ed video to the receiver to notice that the blue light hadn't been on for weeks - since I got my Series3..

Same here and I am running straight from the S3 to receiver (my Sony TV doesn't pass audio through the HDMI back to the receiver like I'd hoped.).

I've noticed my CBS OTA doesn't broadcasts in 5.1 at all. Shows like CSI say only "Dolby Digital 2.0/0" on my Sony receiver. Now my ABC OTA is a little better; Lost says "Dolby Digital 3/2.1" and makes the blue light (on my receiver) glow. I've never seen any indicator on the front of the S3. :(

Cable cards come today. Hopefully these channels coming through cable are really 5.1.

Why wouldn't they send 5.1 OTA? :confused:

[Dan203]

If your local station isn't broadcasting in 5.1 OTA, then the cable versions of those channels wont have 5.1 either. Although you will get 5.1 on the cable exclusive HD channels like HBO, HDNET, Discovery HD, etc...

My local ABC affiliate doesn't do 5.1, so I know how this is. :(

Dan

[greg_burns]

If your local station isn't broadcasting in 5.1 OTA, then the cable versions of those channels wont have 5.1 either. Although you will get 5.1 on the cable exclusive HD channels like HBO, HDNET, Discovery HD, etc...

My local ABC affiliate doesn't do 5.1, so I know how this is. :(

Dan

Correct as usual.

Noticed tonight while recording both, that with Lost OTA that they kept forgetting to "throw the switch" to widescreen. The cable version never had that problem. But the cable version had occasional pixelation issues.

[ashu]

:( This sucks, since it means I have to run fiber from the TiVo into another input on my receiver, and manually switch from TV/SAT on my receiver to some other input just to hear 5.1 from my HDTiVo. :(



You do realize that your Sony TV, even if it were capable of 'playing' 5.1 encoded sound, would be downconverting your multichannel audio to 2-channel, right?

If you don't downconvert your HD and view it on an SDTV, why on Jupiter would you care to do that to your audio?

Send that audio over optical to the HT receiver and be happy :)

As for all of you folks passing audio through the TV via ITS optical out on to the Home Tehater Receiver ... why bother (and risk intrioducing a tangible delay between V & A, in most cases)? Just do it directly!

[jkeegan]

You do realize that your Sony TV, even if it were capable of 'playing' 5.1 encoded sound, would be downconverting your multichannel audio to 2-channel, right?

If you don't downconvert your HD and view it on an SDTV, why on Jupiter would you care to do that to your audio?

Send that audio over optical to the HT receiver and be happy :)

As for all of you folks passing audio through the TV via ITS optical out on to the Home Tehater Receiver ... why bother (and risk intrioducing a tangible delay between V & A, in most cases)? Just do it directly!I have the speakers on the TV turned off, and fibre coming out of the TV and into my receiver.

I was hoping that a 5.1 signal would be sent over the HDMI cable, and the TV would send it out the fibre into my receiver. The benefit there being that my receiver could stay on the TV/SAT setting most of the time, and my switching video inputs wouldn't require switching my receiver as well.

Now, since it doesn't do that pass-thru, I have to change video inputs to Video 8 (my HDTiVo), and switch my receiver to DVD/LD (the fibre I just ran today from the HDTiVo into my receiver).

Everything sounded great tonight. Still, it's a pain. :(

[ashu]

Why on earth do you have an input on your home theater receiver dedicated to your TV? You should no longer be watching anything tuned (directly) on or by your TV :)

Get used to Time Shifting. EVERYthing. :)

If I had my way (and could afford one of those fancy 080P scaler/converters) All my current cables going into the TV (SVideo, Component, HDMI) would go into the scaler instead, and ONE HDMI cable carrying ONLY Video signal would go to the TV.

[jkeegan]

Let's see.. Video 1 and Video 2 are my two Series1 TiVos, Video 3 is my old Series 2 TiVo, Video 4 is for the GameCube (when it's hooked up), Video 5 is for the PlayStation 2 (which hasn't been used in a while), Video 6 is my xbox 360, Video 7 is for the PC I have connected to one of the HDMI ports via DVI->HDMI, and Video 8 is our new HDTiVo.

Those are inputs on the TV. On the receiver, I really only have to worry about three inputs: TV/SAT (the output from the TV - it's both red/white RCA and fibre, and it autoswitches which to use), MD/DAT (the xbox 360), and DVD/LD (the HDTiVo).

Everything can be heard via TV/SAT without switching the receiver.. Sometimes for a quick xbox live game, I won't even bother switching to MD/DAT for the 5.1 audio.. but when I'm playing something for a while, or when watching TV on the HDTiVo, I'll switch the receiver to the dedicated fibre to get 5.1 from each receiver.

The extra switching is the pain, but the convenience of having TV/SAT always play something (even if just 2-channel sometimes) is nice (better than silence).

So yeah, I do timeshift everything, already. :) Until we recently got the Series3 HDTiVo though, we'd temporarily regressed into not timeshifting some of the HD content so we could watch HD.

[greg_burns]

I've noticed my CBS OTA doesn't broadcasts in 5.1 at all. Shows like CSI say only "Dolby Digital 2.0/0" on my Sony receiver. Now my ABC OTA is a little better; Lost says "Dolby Digital 3/2.1" and makes the blue light (on my receiver) glow. I've never seen any indicator on the front of the S3. :(

Cable cards come today. Hopefully these channels coming through cable are really 5.1.

Why wouldn't they send 5.1 OTA? :confused:

I just realized tonight that "3/2.1" is Sony's way of saying 5.1. :rolleyes:
http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=22949

[ashu]

Blue Light on Sony Receiver reminds me of a funny incident. My last roommate wasn't tech savvy and had no idea why his DVD player/HT setup sounded so much worse than mine. He had the RCA (red/white) audio cables in use! And a half-decent Sony STRD/ES or some such received that he paid big bucks for)

I bought him an optical audio cable, made 'the blue light go on on his receiver for the first time ever' ... and completely blew him away with the difference in sound quality (Duhh!).

It's another story my much-cheaper-to-put-together Pioneer/JBL HT system was WAY better than his Sony setup ;)

[techumseh]

hi-this thread seems mostly on topic so ill try here instead of cluttering the board with a new n00b thread :P
I have an HD-LCD=no tv tuner and it has 2 old style sVGA PORTS AND 1 DVI-I INPUT.
and thats it...well it also has a green audio mini-port which i assume is audio out just like on an IBM based PC and oddly it also has old clip style red/black audio outs on the left and right of its cabinet...like you would find on the back of audio receiver to insert bare (+/-)speaker wire into...odd to me coz this monitor is not that old...i only got it six months ago new but who knows how long it sat is some warehouse. Anyway to the point! I see there are many cables to go to from my TIVO-HD HDMI out port to the DVI-I port into the LCD. This seems a better option the going into the SVGA port for video quality reasons. But will i get audio if i go this way? I had just about made up my mind the anwser was no when i found some cables on the web that seem to indicate they will carry the audio signal...and since the DVI in port on the LCD is DVI-I (digital/analog both) will this process the audio signal being carried from HDMI output from my TIVO? if not would the S-VGA ports be capable of processing the audio signal outbound from the TIVO HD? i have not even looked at cables in regards to the S-VGA port becoz i didnt want to lose the video quality...but i dont have an audio receiver/amp at the moment and am looking for a quick resolution until i can afford to buy an amp. thanks in advance for any help.

[phox_mulder]

I may be corrected, but I'm pretty sure DVI is video only, no audio.

If the TV has no audio inputs, you could hook amplified speakers directly to the red/white audio outputs on the TiVo.
My new computer system came with a Logitech speaker/subwoofer system that according to the instructions, could also be hooked directly to a gaming system (PS2/PS3/XBox, etc), so in theory they would also work hooked directly to a TiVo.

Although, why would the monitor have audio outputs but no inputs?

What's the make/model of the monitor?


phox

[wmcbrine]

I'd assume the green port is input, not output. The device sounds like it was intended as a computer monitor rather than a TV. Not that it won't work, necessarily. You'd just need to route the regular RCA-style audio output from the TiVo to the green port on the monitor, with something like this (http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103865&cp=&sr=1&origkw=audio+cables&kw=audio+cables&parentPage=search). Or, you may find an HDMI-to-DVI cable that provides such an output. DVI itself carries no audio. (Neither does VGA... neither are you going to get VGA output from a TiVo.)

Also, "old clip style" speaker connectors are still the current standard for unamplified speakers, AFAIK, despite their crudity, so there's nothing strange about those.

[OvrrDrive]

Mt Samsung FP-T5084 also downconverts the audio to 2 channel PCM if you run it through it. I was wanting to consolidate my stuff as well until I figured out that 80% of my channels werebroadcasting in DD 5.1 and I was missing it.

I ended up running optical from the THD to the receiver and then another video out to the THD and all is well. I am amazed at how much sound I was missing before using the optical out from the TV.

[techumseh]

yes definately the LCD is meant to be a computer monitor which it is at the moment. Thanks for pointing me to that RCA/MINI cable and i bet your right
the green mini on the back of the LCD must be audio in...as there is no point in it being there otherwise. so ill go Tivo HDMI to LCD DVI-I for my video and go TIVO RCA to LCD mini. This is a resolution i can afford so very grateful for responses :D

[demon]

I may be corrected, but I'm pretty sure DVI is video only, no audio.

Yeah, the audio part gets ignored, since DVI didn't support multiplexing audio into the data stream. You have to cable the audio separately (via coax/optical digital or red/white stereo analog).