New DVD Player & Cabling help

stufran

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I know everyone must get fed up with answering the numerous cabling questions which appear on the Forum but I guess it really reflects both the miriad of AV options around today (a good thing), the price of the cables (a bad thing) & the general ignorance of the author (an IQ thing). I also need some advice relating to a new DVD player. I intend to upgrade from standard Sky to Sky+ which will allow me to get rid of my now antiquated Philips DVD recorder (DVDR880) & get something with higher quality playback. My TV is a Toshiba 32C3030D & I have a Sony HT-SS1000 surround system. Do I go for a HD player such as the Toshiba HD-EP30 or HD-EP35 (now that prices are sensible, whether Blu-ray or HD wins the war is less relevant) or should I save a few bob & go for something like the Samsung HD870 or Toshiba SD-370E ? The driver for the question is really around my understanding that HD / Blu-ray adds little value to picture quality on smaller TVs
 

nads

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[quote user="stufran"]I know everyone must get fed up with answering the numerous cabling questions which appear on the Forum but I guess it really reflects both the miriad of AV options around today (a good thing), the price of the cables (a bad thing) & the general ignorance of the author (an IQ thing). I also need some advice relating to a new DVD player.
I intend to upgrade from standard Sky to Sky+ which will allow me to get rid of my now antiquated Philips DVD recorder (DVDR880) & get something with higher quality playback. My TV is a Toshiba 32C3030D & I have a Sony HT-SS1000 surround system. Do I go for a HD player such as the Toshiba HD-EP30 or HD-EP35 (now that prices are sensible, whether Blu-ray or HD wins the war is less relevant) or should I save a few bob & go for something like the Samsung HD870 or Toshiba SD-370E ? The driver for the question is really around my understanding that HD / Blu-ray adds little value to picture quality on smaller TVs[/quote][quote user="stufran"]I don't know why but not all my orioginal post was displayed. Below is the extremely dull cabling question which was omitted:
Part 2 then & my apologies in advance, but setting up has previously involved extreme profanity, an inordinately long process of elimination & the wife, kids & dog retiring to a safe distance. Simple question really, given the above kit inventory, what goes where & with what ? Secondly (or perhaps thirdly) - HDMI cables !!?? Given the "budget" nature of the aforementioned kit, can anyone recommend decent HDMI leads. I remember reading somewhere that there was a £15 cable which provided decent performance or should I go for something better ?
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated[/quote]all together for clarity.

HDMI cables either work or do not. now the ends can be fitted better on some than others but talk to any electrical engineer and they will tell you that the HDMI cable does not matter as long as it is to spec. the HD-DVD player as a DVD player yes works well and if you do get a bigger TV it should upscale ok.
 

Andrew Everard

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[quote user="nads"]HDMI cables either work or do not. now the ends can be fitted better on some than others but talk to any electrical engineer and they will tell you that the HDMI cable does not matter as long as it is to spec.[/quote]

Uh-oh! Here we go again...
 

professorhat

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[quote user="Andrew Everard"]
Uh-oh! Here we go again...
[/quote]

Lol! Just so you know stufran, there are two schools of thought on HDMI cables (and any other cable carrying a digital signal in fact). Some, like nads above believe a digital signal is either on or off and due to encoding and all sorts of other technical jargon they can use, there is no way a more expensive cable can make a difference to the picture / sound quality.

Others, like myself and most of the WHF team, believe what we see with our own eyes. I replaced the cheap HDMI cable that came free with my PS3 with the Chord HDMI 1.3 Silver + and was delighted with the result - the picture was undoubtedly superior (at least in my humble opinion!).

My advice is, if you can, purchase a decent HDMI cable (such as the Chord) from a friendly Hi-fi shop who will offer you a no-quibble money back guarantee. Watch your DVD / BD / HD-DVD source with both cables using the same reference disc. If you notice an improvement on the more expensive cable, keep it and be happy. If you can't tell any difference, take it back and get a refund. Either way you're a winner!
 

stufran

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Many thanks for your responses. I've seen the numerous posts regarding leads & didn't mean to start the debate off again ! It was just that as my kit is all budget stuff I was wondering whether there was a point at which high quality leads could make littke difference, However, I'll take your advice & do a comparison. Any input regarding my DVD player question & how best to connect the whole thing up would be greatly appreciated.
 

professorhat

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Can't comment on the DVD players, but I'd be surprised if you can't see the difference between upscaled DVD and HD, even on a 32" screen. And with HD-DVD so cheap at the moment, if you're not bothered that you might be buying into a dying format, it's worth a look.

Is it possible to ask if your dealer can hook up both to a 32" screen so you can see the difference?
 

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