composite to component on direct tv box?

Question

i just recently bought a plasma hdtv and want to get hd from my direct tv box but i dont have the hd box and the box i have only has composite outputs. i was told that component video is way better quality..is there a converter the i can use to hook up my box to the component inputs? (i hope i explained it right)

Answer 1

There ARE converters that you can connect, but honestly, it's not worth the money.
There are some converters (Most top of the line audio/video recievers do too) that "Upconvert" the picture from 480i to 720 or 1080.
The generic ones only make your picture blyrry though, dealing with compression and stretching the picture to get the higher resolution.
There are some more expensive ones that actually do a very good job on that (I've seen amazing results from some Denon, Some Sony and Some Onkyo recievers to name a few). They give you a stretched image and give you a more crisp picture by keeping your TV at the resolution it was made for (HD).

The reason you were told that Component is better quality, is because component cables carry High Definition video, but if you don't have a hi-def source, you're wasting your time.

Money wise, you're better off just upgrading to an HD box. Effort wise, you're better off upgrading to an HD box :P unless you don't care about the HD channels, then just keep what you have.

As for converters. Unless you have a home theather system that can use a powerful reciever with a lot of features, you're wasting your money. It's not worth buying something just for the converting feature.
Even if you get the picture changed to the Component format, it's still not HD and never will be.


As for the DirecTV box.. Well, you're never going to get HD signal off a standard box. No matter what you do.

Answer 2

VGA to HDMI isn't available. i understand you in all probability have a DVI port (which seems kinda very like VGA), that it may be switched over to HDMI with an adapter, in spite of the shown fact that since VGA isn't an HD output source, it at the instant are not waiting to be switched over to an HD output, so that's no longer available. Edit: apparently im incorrect...

Answer 3

Upgrading to HD is your best choice.

But that receiver usually has SVideo output at least. It is a small connector that looks like a computer keyboard jack. It is still a single cable, but it can give a 20% jump in image quality over composite.