Please help, I'm new to HDTV

[GeorgeN]

My wife and I just purchased a new Samsung LN40B650 which is scheduled for delivery/installation. I contacted the installer and informed her that I had a Scientific Atlanta Eplorer 3250HD with Cox Cable service and a non-blueray DVD to be connected to the set. I asked if I should just get two sets of good quality component video and audio cables for the installation since neither device had HDMI ports. The cable box does have a DVI port.

She told me that in order for SD video to be converted so that the display on my flat panel would be full versus having large black boarders and for the best possible HD quality picture that I should either get a DVI to HTMI cable and good quality audio cables or that I should trade my existing HD cable box for one with a HDMI port so an HDMI cable could be used between the cable box and my new set. She lead me to believe that the appropriate video processing between the cable box and the Samsung would not take place properly otherwise.

I'm not sure how the HD cable box and the HDTV talk to one another to get this all ironed out and why it can't happen correctly over component cabling.
Could someone please clear this issue up for me so I can at least understand how this process works and what is needed?
Thanks, GeorgeN

[MrBoylan]

My wife and I just purchased a new Samsung LN40B650 which is scheduled for delivery/installation. I contacted the installer and informed her that I had a Scientific Atlanta Eplorer 3250HD with Cox Cable service and a non-blueray DVD to be connected to the set. I asked if I should just get two sets of good quality component video and audio cables for the installation since neither device had HDMI ports.

Hello, George,

Yes, that's a good plan. HD cable boxes are capable of putting out a widescreen 1080i or 720p HDTV signal over HDMI, DVI or component video. DVI and HDMI are slightly superior to component video in that they carry the signal digitally so that you do not need to undergo any unnecessary digital-to-analog and analog-to-digital steps. But you can get a very high quality 1080i connection between your HD cable box and your LCD TV using component video. And if you don't have a receiver or surround sound system, then stereo analog cables are fine too.

And if your DVD player does not have DVI or HDMI, then component video is fine for that as well. It will send a 480i or 480p signal to your TV and your TV will upconvert that signal to the native 1080p resolution of the panel. Just make sure you go into your DVD player's set-up menu to set your TV screen to widescreen (16:9). If your previous TV was an old analog 4:3 TV, then it's likely you will need to change this in the DVD player's setup. It's a simple setting but many people miss it.

If you go component video, you will need a cable with 5 RCA connectors on each side (usually labelled red, green, blue for the component video cable and white/red for the left right audio signal).

The cable box does have a DVI port.

You could use that to get a slightly better video signal from the cable box. In this case you could use a DVI-D to HDMI cable (or a DVI-D male to HDMI female adapter, and a standard HDMI cable - links below). This would transmit the video signal digitally which may be slightly better than component video but it is not going to be a night and day difference. Also, because DVI does not have audio, you would also need to carry the stereo left/right audio output to your TV via an analog stereo cable. On your set, you can use the HDMI 1 input for this as it's the only one that has a separate analog audio input. Again, if your previous TV was 4:3 (not widescreen) then make sure the cable box is set up for a 16:9 TV.

She told me that in order for SD video to be converted so that the display on my flat panel would be full versus having large black borders and for the best possible HD quality picture that I should either get a DVI to HTMI cable and good quality audio cables or that I should trade my existing HD cable box for one with a HDMI port so an HDMI cable could be used between the cable box and my new set. She led me to believe that the appropriate video processing between the cable box and the Samsung would not take place properly otherwise.

The woman you spoke with is either misinformed or simply trying to sell you expensive cables that you do not need. First of all, no TV or DVD player will convert 4:3 standard def content to a 16:9 HD without either cropping off the sides or distorting the image by stretching it. If you have old "Full Screen" DVDs or watch a lot of 4:3 SD content, the only way to watch this without losing or distorting some of the image is with black bars on the sides. Also, as I mentioned, component video is fine for your purposes.

Let me guess... was this "Geek Squad" by any chance? Or was it a local installer? A friend of mine used Geek Squad for an HDTV set-up and ended up with really badly set-up system. You can read more about that here:

Buyer Beware: Geek Squad's Half-Baked HDTV & Home Theater Hook-Up: BigPictureBigSound

I'm not sure how the HD cable box and the HDTV talk to one another to get this all ironed out and why it can't happen correctly over component cabling.

Could someone please clear this issue up for me so I can at least understand how this process works and what is needed?
Thanks, GeorgeN

Component video is fine. Don't pay more than about $20 for each cable. Your cable provider probably already gave you a component video cable for your cable box so you just need one more for your DVD player.

Of course, you *WILL* see a big improvement if you upgrade to a Blu-ray Disc player. Good ones can make DVDs look really great, and Blu-ray Discs will look excellent on your TV. And for this, you will want to use an HDMI cable for best results.

Not sure how soon you're getting your TV, but to save some money, if you have some time, you could order the cables from a place like Parts Express. They have great deals on both component video, stereo audio and HDMI cables:

• Parts Express:Component Video Cable 6 ft.
• Parts Express:Belkin PureAV Blue Series Stereo RCA Patch Cable 6 ft.
• Parts Express:Belkin AV Master Series Audio/Video Cable 6 ft.
• Parts-Express.com: Dayton HR13C22 High-Speed HDMI Cable V1.3 C2 CL3 2m (6.6 ft)
• Parts-Express.com: Dayton EHDF-DVM HDMI-F to DVI-M Adapter