Receiver Question Regarding HDMI?

Question

I don't know much about receivers, but I'm looking to buy one in the near future. I have: XBOX 360 (not the HDMI connection) w/ HD DVD drive, Philips HDTV, HD DVR and a cheap home theater system. I'm wondering whether or not I could watch HD movies with my XBOX drive with a receiver that does not have HDMI connections? Would it be a waste of money to buy one that doesn't?

Answer 1

Well, if your XBox doesn't have HDMI it won't matter if the receiver does. You can connect and watch HD DVDs with component or composite though ... they just may not be in HD resolution!

That said, one of the main reasons for having HDMI on the receiver is so you can use it as the switching device. You can run the video direct to the TV using component (or HDMI if you had it) and then run the audio on optical or digital coax to the receiver. Voila .. no need for HDMI.

The disadvantage is that you have to switch BOTH the TV and receiver to the right inputs to get both the sound and video.

I'm not certain whether the XBox will send HD video over component (but without HDMI output you are stuck anyway with whatever you can get). Certainly in the future if you want to connect an HD source to an HD display you will want/need HDMI (It's the only connection that always allows HD video).

If you want to be "future proof" it's advisable to get a receiver with HDMI ... BUT you can save a lot of money by not doing since you can get bargain prices on non-HDMI receivers.

You won't be able to take advantage of some of the advanced audio formats using optical/coax (although you can get surround) ... but since you probably don't have a decoder in your non-HDMI receiver and only "cheap HT theatre system" (I assume that means speakers) it won't matter.

Hope that helps.