True HDTV - Component or DVI?

I was wondering, if I grab hdtv off of my local cable company's hdtv box or
an antennae from the local hdtv broadcasts. What I am wondering is can I
get true hdtv resoltuion 1080i picture off of component input? I had
believed that Component input would only give analog input and thus woudl be
at a lower resolution such as around 500 or so and could only be upconverted
to hd resolution and thus wouldn't have the detail. Is DVI required to get
a true hdtv digital signal at full resolution or will component do the
trick?

Should I wait until I can get an hdtv with DVI input in the back?

Also side question. If anyone has a radeon and hdtv, there is a DVI port on
the back of my radeon. How does this output look on an hdtv. Would it be
suitable to use for a gaming monitor or word processing?

The only difference between DVI and component is where the analog conversion
is done. You'll almost always get the same picture. If you have a cheap HD
set you may be better off running component.

"Palehorse864" wrote in message
...
I was wondering, if I grab hdtv off of my local cable company's hdtv box or
an antennae from the local hdtv broadcasts. What I am wondering is can I
get true hdtv resoltuion 1080i picture off of component input? I had
believed that Component input would only give analog input and thus woudl
be at a lower resolution such as around 500 or so and could only be
upconverted to hd resolution and thus wouldn't have the detail. Is DVI
required to get a true hdtv digital signal at full resolution or will
component do the trick?

Should I wait until I can get an hdtv with DVI input in the back?

Also side question. If anyone has a radeon and hdtv, there is a DVI port
on the back of my radeon. How does this output look on an hdtv. Would it
be suitable to use for a gaming monitor or word processing?

"Palehorse864" wrote in message ...
I was wondering, if I grab hdtv off of my local cable company's hdtv box or
an antennae from the local hdtv broadcasts. What I am wondering is can I
get true hdtv resoltuion 1080i picture off of component input? I had
believed that Component input would only give analog input and thus woudl be
at a lower resolution such as around 500 or so and could only be upconverted
to hd resolution and thus wouldn't have the detail. Is DVI required to get
a true hdtv digital signal at full resolution or will component do the
trick?

Should I wait until I can get an hdtv with DVI input in the back?

Also side question. If anyone has a radeon and hdtv, there is a DVI port on
the back of my radeon. How does this output look on an hdtv. Would it be
suitable to use for a gaming monitor or word processing?


I think there is general agreement that any difference in image
quality between component and DVI is so small as to be unnoticeable.
The essential difference is where the final conversion to analog takes
place. With component, it's done at the STB, with DVI, it's done in
the display. Either one is capable of the full 1080i resolution. The
other, more important reason for DVI was to support copy-protection,
which prevents one from recording anything protected with it in the
future.

"Palehorse864" wrote:

I was wondering, if I grab hdtv off of my local cable company's hdtv box or
an antennae from the local hdtv broadcasts. What I am wondering is can I
get true hdtv resoltuion 1080i picture off of component input? I had
believed that Component input would only give analog input and thus woudl be
at a lower resolution such as around 500 or so and could only be upconverted
to hd resolution and thus wouldn't have the detail. Is DVI required to get
a true hdtv digital signal at full resolution or will component do the
trick?

Should I wait until I can get an hdtv with DVI input in the back?

Nothing about HDTV is inherently digital; that's just the standard we
chose. Years ago, Japan did it with analog broadcasts. Component can
carry the full HDTV resolution.

All popular display methods except CRT-based ones are digital, and if
fed an analog signal they must convert it to digital for display. A
digital receiver converts the picture to analog for the component
outputs, and the display converts it back. Each conversion introduces
some impairment you don't have with a straight-through digital path.
Whether you can see the difference depends on your equipment and you.

If you're shopping for an HD display, I recommend looking for several
HD inputs, both digital and analog. You'll need them as you add
sources, and HD switchboxes aren't cheap. My Sony has 1 DVI, 1 HDMI,
2 component, 2 composite and 2 S-Video, and already I wish it had 2
DVI. You can never have too many inputs.

Also side question. If anyone has a radeon and hdtv, there is a DVI port on
the back of my radeon. How does this output look on an hdtv. Would it be
suitable to use for a gaming monitor or word processing?

I've tried an original AIW Radeon, and it looks very good with ATI
drivers, but only if I tell my display that the input is a computer,
not an HDTV. In that mode the display is 4:3 only; I can't zoom it.
For use as a Home Theater PC (HTPC) I highly recommend PowerStrip from
http://entechtaiwan.net/util/ps.shtm. It lets you run many more scan
rates, even make up your own, and has other useful features such as
resource management. I particularly like the hotkey that returns to a
known-good display mode if you screw it up in testing so much that
your screen goes blank and you can't see what you're doing. I'm
currently building a dedicated HTPC using a Radeon 9800 Pro and I'll
move PowerStrip over to that when it's ready. $29.95 and well worth
it.
Del Mibbler

Also side question. If anyone has a radeon and hdtv, there is a DVI port on
the back of my radeon.

Uh....why don't you just look at your Radeon?

Jeff B

I think there is general agreement that any difference in image
quality between component and DVI is so small as to be unnoticeable.

Before I got into HDTV, I would have disagreed with this
statement. Now, after using my vid card with both component and DVI
outputs to my Sammy DLP, I would agree.

Jeff B