Audio/video question.

shadowkhas · Post by **shadowkhas** » Fri May 23, 2008 6:54 pm

First of all, does a Component video cable give the same level of quality as an HDMI cable, and the only difference is that the HDMI is just easier to use, as it's one cable instead of 5?

I'm asking this as I may be getting a 360 later this summer, and the receivers that are in my parents' price range don't do HDMI Audio processing, which defeats the purpose...
But if anyone knows of an audio receiver that can get the audio from an HDMI cable, instead of just being a video pass-through, and for about $250, I'd be happy to hear about it.

MrBalll · Post by **MrBalll** » Fri May 23, 2008 10:35 pm

One of my buddies said that HDMI does have a better look to it verses component. I have also read it looks better on a few sites here and there. As for the receiver I can't think of anything off the top of my head, sorry.
Also, here is an informative answer for your question in the last half of the 2nd post if you want to read further into it.

shadowkhas · Post by **shadowkhas** » Sat May 24, 2008 4:08 am

MrBalll wrote:One of my buddies said that HDMI does have a better look to it verses component. I have also read it looks better on a few sites here and there. As for the receiver I can't think of anything off the top of my head, sorry.
Also, here is an informative answer for your question in the last half of the 2nd post if you want to read further into it.

Thanks for that. I'd assumed there would be a small quality issue.
If I find a used HDMI-motherboarded 360, I'll be sure to spring for that, then! Even if the receiver we end up getting doesn't process the audio, I can just get a Component cable and hook up the optical audio from that.

uralllame · Post by **uralllame** » Sat May 24, 2008 12:11 pm

The component cable and HDMI cable can not be plugged in at the same time, thanks to that huge lump of plastic surrounding the optical audio autput. However, you can get an audio breakout lead, which fits in the component port, and is thin enough for the HDMI canle to fit as well. It comes bundled with the Elite, but I think you can ask nicely for one from microsoft. If not, buy one off ebay, or smash open your old component cable, and rip off anything that looks unneccessary. It might work.

shadowkhas · Post by **shadowkhas** » Sat May 24, 2008 1:57 pm

uralllame wrote:The component cable and HDMI cable can not be plugged in at the same time, thanks to that huge lump of plastic surrounding the optical audio autput. However, you can get an audio breakout lead, which fits in the component port, and is thin enough for the HDMI canle to fit as well. It comes bundled with the Elite, but I think you can ask nicely for one from microsoft. If not, buy one off ebay, or smash open your old component cable, and rip off anything that looks unneccessary. It might work.

Er...I'll go the eBay way.

Thanks for the info.

Argetlam · Post by **Argetlam** » Tue May 27, 2008 3:52 am

The only difference in video between component cables and HDMI cables is that the HDMI can show up to 1080p. For component cables, they can only get to 720p. Other then that, I believe that the only difference is the amount of cables.