Is hdmi cables better then compenent cables?

Question

Is hdmi cables better then compenent cables?

Answer 1

Depends on the application but the short answer is yes.

Answer 2

Component cable outputs on devices are not limited to 480p, they will do 1080i, though I'm not sure about 1080p.

In theory, HDMI is better all around. It's a fully digital signal, from the player to the TV, meaning no need for quality reducing digital-to-analog conversion. It also carries the audio with it, again all digital. However, that's in theory. Having installed many systems with each type, I can say it has more to do with quality of the device than wether you used HDMI or component. A decent quality component cable is capable of displaying a picture so virtually flawless you could only find error with specialized test equipment.

One thing worth mentioning, before you go out and spend rediculous amounts of money of high priced cables; with component, they are an analog signal, susecepitble to interference. However, even a middle-of-the-road brand can adequately filter out the noise, no need to go overboard with the shielding. And worse yet, with HDMI, the signal is completely digital, meaning that the information either gets to the TV or it doesn't. Interference doesn't cause static, it causes partial or total loss of picture. If you're not seeing a loss of picture, interference isn't a problem.

Answer 3

yes a whole lot better ( uncompressed digital video)

Answer 4

Usually hard to tell the difference but hdmi cables are more efficient since they carry audio as well as video

Answer 5

HDMI will allow for 1080i and 1080p.

Component can support up to 1080p but the movie studios do not want this. So all manufacturers of players have to limit the resolution to 480p over component connections. You'll notice that on all Upconverting DVD, HDDVD and BluRay players they indicate 1080i and p only from the HDMI connection and 480p over component.

So IN a nut shell yes HDMI is better. It is better because you can not have 1080i or p via component video FROM A DVD PLAYER. You can have 1080i from cable boxes and satellite receivers though.

There is no 1080p satellite or cable yet.

Answer 6

DVI/HDMI and Component Video are all video standards which support a variety of resolutions, but which deliver the signal from the source to the display in very different ways. The principal important difference is that DVI/HDMI deliver the signal in a digital format, much the same way that a file is delivered from one computer to another along a network, while Component Video is an analog format, delivering the signal not as a bitstream, but as a set of continuously varying voltages representing (albeit indirectly, as we'll get to in a moment) the red, green and blue components of the signal.

Both DVI/HDMI and Component Video deliver signals as discrete red, green, and blue color components, together with sync information which allows the display to determine when a new line, or a new frame, begins. The DVI/HDMI standard delivers these along three data channels in a format called T.M.D.S., which stands for "Transmission Minimized Differential Signaling." Big words aside, the T.M.D.S. format basically involves a blue channel to which horizontal and vertical sync are added, and separate green and red channels.

Component Video is delivered, similarly, with the color information split up three ways. However, component video uses a "color-difference" type signal, which consists of Luminance (the "Y", or "green," channel, representing the total brightness of the image), Red Minus Luminance (the "Pr," or "Red," channel), and Blue Minus Luminance (the "Pb," or "Blue," channel). The sync pulses for both horizontal and vertical are delivered on the Y channel. The display calculates the values of red, green and blue from the Y, Pb, and Pr signals.

Both signal types, then, are fundamentally quite similar; they break up the image in similar ways, and deliver the same type of information to the display, albeit in different forms. How they differ, as we'll see, will depend to a great extent upon the particular characteristics of the source and display devices, and can depend upon cabling as well.

Answer 7

Yes and No.

Yes for a digital TV like most HDTV's sold today (LCD,Plasma,DLP,and LCoS) Then the answer is yes.

Yes and no for Analog TV's using Picture tubes (CRT). These older TV don't have the ability to process 1080P. If you have one of these then you might try both and look to see which device has the best analog converter. The TV or the output device (DVD, Blu-ray, HD-DVD, Sat Box, Cable box, etc...). You might find you like the way the TV converts the image better with one than the other.

A nice DVD player with a HDMI output might have a better Image if you use the component.

But for the best image possible... Use your eye and decide for you self.

Will I hope I helped you evaluate your satiation. With the right information… anyone can make the right decision.

Answer 8

Cables - I don't know, but HDMI (digital) connection is generally better that Component (analog).

Answer 9

That will vary greatly based on what source, equipment, set up cables, etc...

Provide more detail and you will get a m ore specific answer, or are you just fomenting a issue