Need TV/DVD advice

[Susan]

Ok, i have a new LCD Vizio VW26L television. I'm still tinkering to get the best visual settings. However I noticed the multiple hookup options.

Coaxial (Currently in use)
S-Video (I hooked up and so absolutely no difference from the above)
HDMI

Now, my question is - does anybody here have any personal preference or hands on experience with these hookups as to which one produces the best quality picture for watching DVD's? I hate that i've read boards where people suggest this and that because "they say this gives the best picture quality", i guess i want someone who has actually seen it for themself.

Is HDMI better, noticably? I ask because my DVD player is several years old and does not have HDMI hookup, so i pondered getting a progressive dvd player that does. But not sure if i wanna waste my time if it's not going to make much difference. I could use an extra dvd player anyhow since the one in my bedroom decided to crap out so it wouldn't really be a loss.

[DodgingGrunge]

DVD players typically convert the digital signal to analog before kicking it out to a TV, since most TVs are analog.  If your TV is digital, then the signal must be converted back to digital.  HDMI saves this needless step by outputting the digital signal from the getgo.  So yes, technically it is better.

But personally, I don't think it is worth buying a new player just to support this feature.  DVDs really don't have the image clarity to make this a noticeable difference, especially if you are sitting on a comfortable couch several feet away.  Get yourself a nice, fat S-Video cable and you should be fine.

If your player finally croaks, or if you decide to upgrade to BluRay or the like, then consider looking for HDMI as an output feature.  But yeah, otherwise I wouldn't worry about it.

[Susan]

Why s-video over coaxial? I'm using all the cables now but when i switched over and stared at the same scene in a movie i didn't see any visible difference. My book actually recommends component over s-video which has my head just reeling, and rates HDMI as the best.

Another disappointment of the larger LCD tv is the widescreen feature appears stretched hwen set to 16:9 which doesn't make sense, if i put it in standard 4:3 it's only a little box in the middle of my tv and there's all this wasted space around the picture. I was suprised to read that 16:9 only gives the best picture quality on widescreen if it was filmed in 1.78:1. I glanced at my movie collection and found that the standard widescreen is higher

well i'm off to watch Cujo, this crap is way too complicated for me 

[DodgingGrunge]

As I said before, DVD's don't really contain all that much information in a frame, so you aren't going to notice a whole lotta difference between these standards.  If you still want to tinker, use a black and white noir film as your test video.  Something with a lot of dark scenes in it, like Out of the Past.  Lower-bandwidth cables (composite, RCA (coax)) may make such scenes look splotchy, spattered with weird, digitalish block clumps (this is the technical term...).  This is because they can't distinguish between black and almost-black, say.  Something like S-Video or component can carry more information, and thus can properly tell the difference.

But really, all of this is moot.  If your current configuration works, leave it be. 

[dean]

I'm with DodgingGrunge.  I work in the industry, and unless you have a fancy schmancy TV, like a good quality plasma or lcd, I wouldn't bother with HDMI.  Component cables [the red green and blue ones] generally are the best you need for DVD if your tv supports it, and progressive scan makes the image sharper, but on a 'regular' tv, S-Video will be the best you'd need.  Like he said, it just takes a bit more information along the cable [it's a five pin plug instead of a one pin type].

That being said, whilst HDMI is really good, I don't think it makes a difference worth mentioning unless you have a blu-ray or HD-DVD.  I've compared component and HDMI on HD digital TV and couldn't pick a noticeable difference, so normal DVDs aren't going to be a hassle anyways.

[Andrew]

I've always been able to tell the difference between video carried over an RCA cable and an S-Video one, so long as the source is DVD or LD.  As I understand it, the S-Video cable does not mash all the components of the video signal together and best preserves the information in the signal (out of the analog options).

[Kester Pelagius]

Why s-video over coaxial? I'm using all the cables now but when i switched over and stared at the same scene in a movie i didn't see any visible difference. My book actually recommends component over s-video which has my head just reeling, and rates HDMI as the best.

Did you view your video played through the coax ONLY?  Or did you view it with both coax and S-video hooked cabled hooked up?  What were you watching?

It matters.

Another disappointment of the larger LCD tv is the widescreen feature appears stretched hwen set

to 16:9 which doesn't make sense, if i put it in standard 4:3 it's only a little box in the middle of my tv and there's all this wasted space around the picture. I was suprised to read that 16:9 only gives the best picture quality on widescreen if it was filmed in 1.78:1. I glanced at my movie collection and found that the standard widescreen is higher

That seems to be a common mis-perception, that you'll suddenly magically have that giant rectangular screen filled with video.  Sadly it doesn't work that way.

Why?

For started most things, like TV series, were not filmed in that aspect ratio to begin with.  So, when you're watching HD, the only really "FULL SCREEN" video you're likely to see are from newer shows/movies and commercials.  However, depenind on your set's features, you may (should actually) be able to go into your set-up and force the video to stretch to fill the screen.  This is what many people do, apparently.

[JaseSF]

Just come back with me to my place and I'll hook you up right Susan.   

O.K., O.K., I know I know it's in bad taste but hey, I just couldn't resist. Sorry about that.

[Susan]

I have a Vizio HDTV LCD
Quality? Dunno, looks good to me and it was free

I watched my video through coaxial only. Then I hooked up S-Video and viewed it that way and noticed no real difference. My TV Manual suggests HDMI is the 'best' option, coaxial second best and s-video third.


btw on aspect ratio i hate stretching the movie out to fit the screen...it's the only way to use up the screen but it distorts the picture noticably. Also when viewing a widescreen with the standard aspect ratio it shows the best quality, nothing is stretched. But damn if that isn't the tiniest little picture in the center of my tv and such a waste of viewing space. Somebody needs to invent a better tv to really accomodate the eNTIRE picture

jase 

[CheezeFlixz]

I have a Vizio HDTV LCD
Quality? Dunno, looks good to me and it was free

I watched my video through coaxial only. Then I hooked up S-Video and viewed it that way and noticed no real difference. My TV Manual suggests HDMI is the 'best' option, coaxial second best and s-video third.


btw on aspect ratio i hate stretching the movie out to fit the screen...it's the only way to use up the screen but it distorts the picture noticably. Also when viewing a widescreen with the standard aspect ratio it shows the best quality, nothing is stretched. But damn if that isn't the tiniest little picture in the center of my tv and such a waste of viewing space. Somebody needs to invent a better tv to really accomodate the eNTIRE picture

jase 

They did it's Samsung HLR5667W 56" DLP HD TV with DNIe™

[Susan]

They did it's Samsung HLR5667W 56" DLP HD TV with DNIe™

Say, wanna lend me a few thousand dollars?

[CheezeFlixz]

They did it's Samsung HLR5667W 56" DLP HD TV with DNIe™

Say, wanna lend me a few thousand dollars?

No can do, but if you play your cards right I'll let you watch mine.

[asimpson2006]

A thing I have noticed with the cables.  When you use any type of cable if it is RCA or S-video make sure you use quality cables.  It can make a difference in some ways.  We had cables that came with our DVD player how ever we bought monster cables for the use and the quality is very good.  Something it is had to tell the difference.  I watch stuff from 1994 that was transfered from VHS to DVD and the quality was decent for it's time. 

[Torgo]

I didn't have an S video cable/connection when I got my first DVD player back in 2000 (I was a little late to the game), but once I got a great TV that had a S video connection, I got one.

Where I noticed the biggest improvement at least IMO was when watching animation.