You paid how much?!?
Every new generation of HDTVs offer evolutionary image quality improvements at increasingly attractive prices, and too many retailers continue to pad profits by offering overpriced A/V (audio/video) cables to unsuspecting consumers. I wrote this article to remind my readers to always use the A/V connections that provide the highest quality experience, and never pay more than is absolutely necessary.
“never use a video converter”? What if one is looking at a 1080p 24″ computer monitor and one needs to get (480p and 1080i) component video into the display but it doesn’t offer component in, just vga, dvi and hvmi, hmm?
Robert,
Look forward to more on the site, already enjoy dl.tv and the links. Let me relate my HD system purchase and see if you approve and get any pointers:
1. Bought the Dynex (Best Buy’s in-house brand) DX-LCD42HD-09. It is discontinued model and I got the display model. Price: $600.
2. Yamaha RX-V365BL, Price:$175.
3. Polk Audio RM6750 5.1 speaker system. Price: $175
4. Philips DVP5990 Dvd player w/ upconversion. Price $60
5. Belkin PureAV HDMI kit; 6ft HDMI, 6ft Component video, 6ft AV cable and cleaning kit that works very well. Price: $18 for the whole kit! I bought 2.
6. Upgraded to HD service from Dish Network for $0! They were going to charge extra for install and equipment. I called Direct and called Dish’s bluff. They upgraded everything for free, plus no contract! I even got a $78 credit on my first bill. I love haggling.
By the way, the price of the LCD included a $99 four year service plan. I don’t normally buy these, but considering the brand thought it might be a wise purchase.
So far the system works awesome. I know the Dynex isn’t first tier, but for our purposes it has proven more than adequate.
Eric
I totally agree, if it’s digital it’s either working or not, so there’s no need to buy stupidly priced cables.
One thing I’d like to ask though, how would you connect the video audio from a Mac Mini (new, with Mini DisplayPort) to HDMI? Would you bother with a ‘converter’ box that allows you to input DVI/HDMI and audio (preferably optical) and outputs an HDMI with audio? I’d like to add the audio directly to my TV rather than having a separate feed to my stereo, just to make it user-friendly.
I’m curious about how to get multiple HDMI devices (AppleTV, Blu-ray, and xBox) working with my older DVI Westinghouse DVI TV. Can I have the HDMI devices plug into a HDMI switcher (such as Rocketfish or OPPO) and then a HDMI to DVI connector to the TV. Will it work, will the quality degrade too much?
I had a Sony RM-Y165 Trinitron 26IN TV (TUBE) for 10yrs. now lately all my channels have been switching from color to black and white every 3 seconds…i think it’s the tube the Comcast Technician said..so i decided to order my first Sony Bravia KDL-32EX500 Series HDTV so it will arrived next month…my question is what kind of HDMI cables would i need to connect to my brand new HDTV? i’m on a budget what do you recommend? i also have a basic cable box? should i upgrade to a HD cable box? i’m also planning to get a PS3 Slim soon…