This Is Why You Want Your HDTV To Handle 1080P Over Component Before Its Too Late

[ed klein]

As we move further into the digital age, although component video is still supported even in the high definition realm, there's been a PUSH to move us all to purely-digital connection types.

Dvd started this with the availability of DVI and then HDMI video cables, the latter of which is now standard on all Blu-ray and HD DVD players. There's even been talk of eventually phasing out support for component video (WHICH CAN'T CARRY THE HDCP SECURITY ENCRYPTION THAT THE STUDIOS WANT TO ENFORCE) in favor of strictly HDMI (WHICH CAN), although fortunately that's still a ways off.

[admin]

I think most people will find it very difficult to tell the difference in quality between component and HDMI (especially with high quality component cables), and most reviews seem to back it up. The only advantage of HDMI in my mind is the included digital audio output (less cables is always a good thing), but that's only useful if you plug it into an receiver/amp with HDMI input (not a bad investment though, considering almost every new device will need an HDMI input, and a HDMI switch can cost almost as much as a cheap receiver sometimes). All that copy protection stuff is really annoying, but it's the age we live in I guess.

[toomanycats]

You cannot run HDMI signals very long without an amplifier which is ridiculously expensive. I run my component signals 50 feet with no problem.

[RFBurns]

TMC is correct. As with any wire/wires carrying a data stream at long lengths, it requires a distribution amplifier/equalizer otherwise the data stream becomes weak by the time it reaches the other end of the long run of cable. Analog signals are the same way. This is due to the natural resistance of wire as the length increases, thus the signal carried on the wire decreases in amplitude strength as it passes along the wire. RF signals are also affected by the increase in resistance as the wire carrying it increases in length.

Amplifiers and line equalizers compensate for the long lengths. Some of them can self-adjust while others have gain/eq adjustments.

One can understand this by examining how the telco and cable companies use amplifiers and line equalizers along their cable runs to keep the signals at a usable level.