Is there a noticible difference in visual quality b/w component and HDMI cables?

Question

I've heard very conflicting reports...

If there is a difference I was told that I can get the cheapest HDMI cables and visually they are the same as the more expensive ones b/c the signal is digital. Is that true?

BTW I have a Sony Wega 720p 50" HDTV. Thanks!!!

Answer 1

Generally it is very difficult to see the difference. especially when you don't know what to look for. I did an experiment with a dvd player that would output both hdmi and component. I then used a tv that could split screen the two inputs. the difference was very noticable.
However, i thought the picture difference would be in the clarity and sharpness. What I found was the difference was in the color. HDMI had beutiful deep colors while the component was washed out just a touch. If the were not side by side I would not have probably noticed but same image side by side and you could definitly tell. We tried this experiment with multiple tvs and dvd players. All the results were the same.

Another thing I can tell you is we tried the same experiment with two sets of component cable. One pair came free with some tv or sat box i think. the other was the most expensive audioquest cable we had in the store. They looked the same, but the run was only a few feet. I do belive there could be a difference at longer runs.

As for HDMI just recently I noticed that some brands of HDMI are advertising bandwith and saying that the type of TV requires a certain bandwidth of cable. For your 720P your fine with just about any HDMI. They push the expensive ones for the 1080P when connecting to a 1080p device. I think they will all work the same.
so to answer you question I belive that a good hdmi cable can make a difference but only when you have the best equipment hooked up to the best sources. For the Sony you could use just about any HDMI and be fine. If you had an XBR5 hooking up to a top of the line sony blue-ray player i might spend a little more on the cables.

So basically go HDMI, no doubt. Buy your cables from monoprice you won't be disappointed.

Answer 2

Some TVs won't support 1080p through a component cable, but for the ones that will, these are the resolutions that you would get from your PS3 with component: Gaming: 1080p, that is if the game is designed to go that high. Blu-ray: 1080i. DVD: 480p, because upconversion is not allowed over component connections. Your TV will upconvert the 480p image to the native resolution of the TV, it may be able to do this as well as the PS3 if it has quality scaling hardware. HDMI doesn't have those resolution limits, and you can get a cable for a much lower price online.

Answer 3

HI. The truth is there is no straightforward answer.Digital does not always guarantee a better image quality in the case of a video connection.There are significant differences in the way digital and analog signals are handled that are heavily dependant upon the characteristics of the Source Device and the Display rather than on the type of video connection in use.
Many assume that while analog is always subject to an element of degradation, digital transfer of information is error free.HDMI cables are typically subject to a maximum of 15 meters.HDMI does not use error correction.Once information is lost,it's lost for good.
Many argue in favour of HDMI cables on the sole basis that if you combine these digital interconnects with a digital Source such as a DVD and a Digital Display e.g. a DLP Projector or Plasma TV.,in order to get an all pure digital setup,then you will get the very best in picture quality.However many seem to forget that digital signals along the many different processes are encoded in different ways,and these have to be converted back and forth between these processes until the signal is ready to appear as an image on the Display.Consequently,conversions are always going on.In addition."digital to digital"conversion is no more guarantee of signal quality than "digitat to analog"The main problem here is that you never know what is going on inside consumer equipment,and how the different signals are being processed,scaled,decoded,converted .etc.This applies irrespective of whether we are dealing with pure analog,analogue and digitat,or with pure digital.And to complicate matters,there is also the problem of equipment settings and system calibration.Improper settings would not help in producing the best results .
To summerise,there is no simple way to determine in advance whether HDMI cable will render a better picture than Component cable. It all depends upon the Source and Display combination.What may operate well using an HDMI cable between a Source and Display setup,may well produce a better picture when connecting another Source say through through Component Video over the same Display device.You need to plug - in your cables and give the whole setup a try using the different connectivity options available on you gear.

Answer 4

There should not be any noticeable difference between component and HDMI assuming the equipment is modern and the component cables were designed with HD frequencies in mind.

Since these signals are digital, the inexpensive cables work fine.

HOWEVER:

- Some of the cheap cables dont work well for runs over 15 ft. You should buy the slightly more expensive HDMI cable for longer runs.

- Some people do see a difference between HDMI and Component - but usually their televisions have different brightness/contrast/sharpness settings for the different inputs and this is why they see a difference.

For short runs, MonoPrice has decent HDMI cables. For longer runs, I tend to trust BlueJeans cables. They use Belden wires and they claim these work out to 100 feet.

Answer 5

For the size of your TV, yes, there would be a noticeable

improvement because the resolution is virtually doubled

(i.e. depending upon the source available).
.