720p cable or optical?

[jelly]

I have a samsung 46" DLP, I do not own any optical HD player but I do have HD cable. Now will having a HD-DVD or Blu-Ray play show me a better pictuer then my HD cable " like analog cable vs. DVD"? I am try to see if getting a HD-DVD play for my xbox is worth the $200 or not. I am more over of a person that rents movies rather then buying them. So the add on HD-Player for the xboxs make the most sense to me just incase Blu-Ray wins but I dout that it will. So to you guys that own any HD Players do you see any gain over HD cable in pictuer quality?

[uneedav8]

Do you mean component or HDMI? I use the optical for the digital sound but maybe I am just behind the times. From viewing blu-ray movies on my PS3 on to my 1080i capable TV.....the picture is incredible. I do distinguish a difference between regular DVD and HD, Blu-ray content. I have tried using both the HDMI and regular component connections and don't see a noticible difference with Blu-ray movies. If your a movie buff.....I would consider a hybrid blu-ray/ hd-dvd home player unless all the new xbox games require that hd-dvd drive.

[jelly]

Thanks uneedav8 for your reply! I am using component for my cable " I already had a nice set of monster cables so why buy an hdmi cable". I was thinking that the xbox HD-dvd drive was cheap and I will be able to watch hd media. I just dont want to buy a $600+ player when I know that the price will come down to $200 or less in a year. I just wonder how much better a hd-dvd will look over a movie from HBOHD on my tv. Its all about the picture quality when it comes to watching moives now! I was also thinking of just buying a ps3 for the blu-ray player with games 2nd. I did here that the ps3 will not play 720p but downconvert to 480p. :confused: If thats the case I see no point in buying one. But i dont know if thats true, you cant trust all things you read on the i-net. Do you have any probles like that with the ps3?

 

Again thanks for the reply!

[jaz]

I have a samsung 46" DLP, I do not own any optical HD player but I do have HD cable. Now will having a HD-DVD or Blu-Ray play show me a better pictuer then my HD cable " like analog cable vs. DVD"? I am try to see if getting a HD-DVD play for my xbox is worth the $200 or not. I am more over of a person that rents movies rather then buying them. So the add on HD-Player for the xboxs make the most sense to me just incase Blu-Ray wins but I dout that it will. So to you guys that own any HD Players do you see any gain over HD cable in pictuer quality?

 

You will most definatly see a better picture with an hd source like hd-dvd or blu-ray over cable-hd box. I bought a Sony 40xbr2 and had an hdmi cable with hd cable box, and even non hd content looked better than cable hd. I was very dissapointed.

 

I called sony support and went through several testing steps and they helped me to set up everything right, and then i called the cable company to help me configure the box for optimum reception, and it still didn't look anything like the private, clean, looped 1080i feed they give their sets at the store. And regular digital cable looked so awful i brought the tv back.

 

After that i saw a new sign at the store saying your hd tv might not look like it does with their "clean" feed, although they ommit the fact their feed is undiluted, private, looped and thus clean and much beter looking.

 

I hooked my 5 year old sony 32" flat screen wega with component cables and set the cable box to upconvert-1 and it was a LOT better looking than the xbr. Seeing as how i got a better picture with my non hd sony dvd player, I'm sure you will get a much better picture with it than cable.

 

These new hd tv's really need a private hd source to appreciate any real difference as cable , in my opinion, just plain sucks, and is not ready for these hd tv's, which i think are ahead of their time. Or maybe I'm just not wealthy enough to spend enormous amounts of money on hd movies ($25 a pop) at the least.

 

I upgraded my sound from stereo to surround sound, buying a new Denon A/V reciever and matching paradigm speakers, and i have all component and optical cables for true digital. I am very happy with what i have, and am going to wiat until the cable improves the quality of their feed, especially by adding and improving the hd channels before I go back and get the xbr2 when the price has dropped even more.

 

Just make sure you have digital cables from your dvd player to tv. I hear hdmi is better than component, but that is controversial over component. If you're not sure what would be best, you can always call the company that makes your dvd player or your tv.

 

This is the breakdown re: quality that i have seen on a few audiophile sites;

1.=hdmi

2. Component

3 s-video

4. composite

For sound, you have a choice of coax and optical cables, depending on what your equipment provides for connections. Not a lot of difference here as i have heard. Both have their ups and downs. but digital has much different properties than anologue.

 

What i have told you is my opinion and is what i believe to be right. I am open to being corrected if i am wrong about something, but what i have siad is my experience, and sometimes different people can have different results using the same equipment.