TV and Projector through AV amp

[admin_exported]

Hi,

I've just bought an Onkyo707 AV receiver and ideally want to put my Bluray/SkyHD/Wii/XBox360 through it but I've a problem: I use both a TV and a projector. My Bluray and Sky both come in via HDMI but my Wii and Xbox via component. There's only one HDMI out on the AVR so that goes to the projector at the back of the room. I naively thought I'd be able to feed the component monitor out to the TV but the manual says the output must match the input. So I can't put my consoles on the big screen or watch Sky or Bluray on the TV. Am I just asking for too much?? Will I have to buy splitters or are there better AVRs out there which can do this for me??

Your help most appreciated.

Duncan

 

[professorhat]

Yes, most of the high end AV receivers have two HDMI outputs these days, such as the newer Onkyo TX-NR808 or the older TC-NR1007. Of course, unless you can get a refund and then replace it, this would be quite expensive and an HDMI splitter would probably be a cheaper option.

 

[Anonymous]

Yeah I noticed I was having to go £1000+ to get two HDMI outs. Would these receivers be able to take an HDMI signal in and component out (and vice versa) or is that just not possible?

Thanks for the speedy reply.

 

[professorhat]

Virtually all AV receivers (except the entry level ones) these days will upconvert i.e. convert analogue sources like composite and component and output via HDMI. However, I don't think any will take in HDMI and convert to component - I don't know of any. The main issue there is the HDCP copy protection used with HDMI - if the receivers changed HDMI to component, it would need to remove this copy protection and most movie studios aren't too keen on that!

 

[Chewy]

DuncanBarton:

Yeah I noticed I was having to go £1000+ to get two HDMI outs. Would these receivers be able to take an HDMI signal in and component out (and vice versa) or is that just not possible?

Thanks for the speedy reply.

As the Prof says, most reciever will upconvert to HDMI, so you should have no problems in that direction, however I think you may run into problems going the other way and down converting from HDMI to component.

Because of copy protection etc I suspect blu-rays will be down scaled to standard definition if you try top output them via component - your SkyHD (and certainly SD channels) might be fine however, you'd have to try them.

Does you TV not have a HDMI port? If it does, again as the Prof says, a splitter can be had for reasonable money and is your simplest solution.

 

[Anonymous]

Yes I think the solution is an HDMI splitter. The only reason I was thinking about component was originally I thought I'd just use one of each. That works perfectly for my Bluray and SkyHD.

So if I understand correctly, I can also put my Xbox and Wii in via component and then view on either my TV or projector via the HDMI output (plus a splitter) as it will upconvert in that direction. If so, I'm a happy chappy.

 

[Chewy]

DuncanBarton:

Yes I think the solution is an HDMI splitter. The only reason I was thinking about component was originally I thought I'd just use one of each. That works perfectly for my Bluray and SkyHD.

So if I understand correctly, I can also put my Xbox and Wii in via component and then view on either my TV or projector via the HDMI output (plus a splitter) as it will upconvert in that direction. If so, I'm a happy chappy.

I believe so; your amp should do the upconversion without a problem. Whether your Xbox can output 1080P (assuming you wanted it to) over component, or indeed whether your amp can accept 1080P over component, though, I'm not sure?

 

[Anonymous]

It's actually an old 360 so it's only 720p. Upconversion is a lesser issue - just getting a picture would be great!

Thanks to both of you. My dream of an exciting AND practical new piece of kit is slowly rebuilding!

 

[d4v3pum4]

I use one of THESE but I'm sure I paid less than that. Alas, I just looked at hdcable.co.uk and their basic model is £40 too but comes with free shipping if that helps. I can recommend their gear too.

 

[Tonya]

I simply used a relatively cheap 1-4 HDMI active splitter (Aten Electronics) that cost around 60 pounds, so I get four outputs at the same time from my trusty Onkyo, now serving the Sony monitor, projector, bedroom TV and one extra for future use.

I was quite surprised that I could run all four at once, I was expecting the copy protection to cause some problems but this was not the case.

 

[kinda]

I'm currently using the Cablesson HMDI 1x2 splitter, (£25).

Actually in process of returning it as one of the outputs seems to have got a problem with picture interference, but presuming the replacement has two outputs working as good as the current working one, then should be very good.

I don't really use it for concurrent pictures, but it negotiates the highest resolution that both devices suport. Not sure about audio.

They do splitters with more outputs as well.

 

[kinda]

Hello. I use a Cablesson 1x2 HDMI splitter to achieve similar. They do splitters with more outputs.

Currently returning as one output has intermittent picture, but assuming the replacement works coirrectly, should be good. I've noticed no loss of picture quality on the working output.

Don't do concurrent output really, but it negotiates highest resolution supported by all outputs. Not sure what it does for audio.