ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade Voice - Data - Video Discussion HDMI Theory?????

I just bought my first big screen TV. It's a Sony Bravia 52". I have a Samsung DVD/VCR HDMI recorder and a new HD satellite receiver and dish.
The receiver came with a HDMI cable. I went and bought another for the DVD/VCR. Connected the DVD/VCR HDMI and it would not work. I had to put the video cables back on from the receiver to the DVD/VCR. Why? I thought HDMI cables did it all without the cable mess?
So now I have to switch between the two HDMI outputs to watch TV or to use the DVD/VCR. When I use the HDMI output for the DVD/VCR the picture is degraded due to the video cables I think? The manual for each device shows the HDMI cable hook up without the video cables. Any suggestions. Thanks John

My coax-cable TV is connected directly to my Bravia, looped thru coax inputs on a surge protector. My computer-monitor cable & computer sound-card cable are directly connected to the Bravia TV. My patch cords go from TV output to control-receiver input.

When DVD movie is playing in computer the control receiver can be switched to TV sound. The DVD audio/video path goes from computer to TV/Monitor, then patch cords carry audio to receiver's surround-sound speakers.

Can't HDMI cable be used in place of patch cords?

When receiver is turned off then TV sound works OK, unless TV or receiver is manipulated with the master remote, purchased separately.

It is probably a setup option to turn on the HDMI output.

You might be running into a "feature" not a bug.

The HDMI standard was dictated by content producers, and incorporates various forms of "Digital Rights Management", or DRM. This is to prevent DVDs from being copied, copyrighted broadcasts from being recorded, etc.

Because HDMI and many other consumer electronics systems incorporate all this garbage, many folks consider them "Defective by Design".

http://revision3.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7914
http://www.boingboing.net/2006/05/23/hdmi-the-manchurian-.html
http://www.defectivebydesign.org/

Right. You have to remember that the HDMI interfaces and cable is a lot more than a means to send video and audio from one device to another. It's main purpose is to insure that the hi-def signals cannot be recorded and original digital quality DVD copies made. It's all part of Digital Rights Management which incidentally is also the reason behind Vista, another disaster for the same reason.

The video on the HDMI cable is encoded and there is communication also back and forth between the source and monitor (TV). If the source hears back from the monitor that it is HDMI compliant (capable of communication with the source and of accepting an encoded signal) the video is sent together with a key for the monitor to un-encode it. If the monitor is not HDMI compliant either a lesser quality version of the video is sent or in some cases nothing at all.

While all this is supposed to work in theory there are problems and I think that's what you are seeing. I know I have a cable box that worked fine for awhile then began to be intermittent. I changed the box and all was well but I went back to the component inputs and outputs because I didn't want to be bothered by it again. (The five RCA jacks labeled Y, Pb, Pr and L,R are called component inputs and outputs.) For the record, although component is analog I can see no difference between it and HDMI and I really did try. Component supports the full 1080P resolution so I would not be concerned if you had to use it instead of HDMI.

As far as I know the only source of 1080P so far is the Blue Ray player. The best you are going to do otherwise is 1080I.

-Hal

Thanks Hal. Good description. Do you recommend the use of red/white/yellow cable along with the one with the green banana plug cable.
My wife enjoys recording movies to watch later.

Component cables are usually two separate cables . The 3 video cables are attached to each other like zip cord. The RCA plugs are red, green and blue to make it easy to connect them to the same color jacks.

The audio cable is 2 cables together and has red and white plugs but that can vary. The audio is just normal analog audio, left and right stereo.

For longer cables all 5 cables are under one jacket but the color coding and bundling is the same.

-Hal