HDMI/DVI switches for PS3

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Cycloptersaurus

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I currently have a Hitachi HDTV (65S700), and it only has one DVI port, which I currently use for cable TV. I also occasionally attach a DVI cable from my PC, having to swap cables, which is kind of an ordeal. The real problem is when I get a PS3, and I will have to be switching even more frequently, AND I believe it only uses a HDMI cable. I guess I'll get something to turn it into DVI and use it as a DVI cable, but I don't know if that deteriorates video quality.

What would be ideal would be a switch, so that I could have multiple imput cables attach (PC DVI, Cable DVI, PS3 HDMI with a DVI adapter, and in the future an upscaling DVD player and/or Blu-Ray/HD-DVD player) and output one to the back of the television, with some sort of simple switch without having to swap cables. I saw an HDMI switch thing somewhere, but no DVI switches. I also don't know about how a switch could lead to deteriorating video quality, if at all.

Does anybody have any suggestions?
 
There is no quality loss from the actual physical HDMI-DVI connection. There are some limitations to DVI vs HDMI in that DVI is limited to 8-bit RGB and a couple quirks with some DVI devices but this isn't really important with regards to the PS3.

All you need to know is that you can use an HDMI->DVI cable or adaptor and it will work fine with your TV. As well these guys (monoprice) also have some of the cheapest HDMI switches out there.

Also if you have a home theater or are looking to buy one some of the newer AV Recievers coming onto the market are incorporating HDMI switching although its usually limited to 2 HDMI devices on the low-end models.
 
Thanks for the info. I also notice most of the switches are HDCP compliant, and I believe that the PS3 is as well, but I'm not sure if my TV is (I believe it may not be, I got it in 2003). From what I understand, this will not be a problem in the short term, but in the long term, I may have some serious issues. Does anybody haev some info on this, or maybe some sort of solution outside of getting a new TV, or would I be better off waiting until HDCP is implemented.
 
Cycloptersaurus said:
Thanks for the info. I also notice most of the switches are HDCP compliant, and I believe that the PS3 is as well, but I'm not sure if my TV is (I believe it may not be, I got it in 2003). From what I understand, this will not be a problem in the short term, but in the long term, I may have some serious issues. Does anybody haev some info on this, or maybe some sort of solution outside of getting a new TV, or would I be better off waiting until HDCP is implemented.
Click to expand...

It doesn't specifically say it in the spec sheet (it may in the manual) for your TV but its likely the display uses DVI-HDCP. The PS3 shouldn't have any problem with displays that lack HDCP except for any blu-ray movies that specifically require it* (which is supposedly a few years away).

I think you should be fine until you want to upgrade to a HDTV with more/newer features or a higher resolution, say when 1080p displays become common.

*even if the movies require HDCP for full resolution viewing i believe they'll display at quarter-resolution which is still somewhat better than current DVDs.
 
hook up your cable box with Component cables instead of using the DVI/HDMI connection which will help and you will never notice the difference, the cable co's use enough compression that there are no real advantages to running HDMI or DVI from the cable STB, been there done that

i now use the HDMI for my upconverting DVD player where you must use the HDMI connection in order to get the benefits of the upconversion

using a DVI->HDMI or the other way around does not hurt IQ at all, the only thing is you lose the uncompressed audio signal that comes over the HDMI cable, DVI cannot do video+audio, only video

of course, i run a digital coax or Toslink optical audio connection to my surround head unit anyways as i do not use the TV's speakers at all

but as far as having only one HDMI input, you may end up having to nab a HDMI switch to accomodate the PS3 later, which if you shop around are not terribly expensive
 
I believe that TV is HDCP compliant, at least it should be. I have an older Hitachi model (the 57SWX20B) and it is HDCP-DVI, so I don't see why they would have taken it away. Plus if I remember correctly the S700 was fairly high end as far as their CRT sets went, it might even be the evolution of mine.

As far as switches, yes, they exist, as well as ones that do DVI and HDMI, but they aren't cheap. Here is a simple one that isn't too pricey:

http://www.itcelectronics.com/ProdDisplay.asp?CatID=1383&ProdID=6348&ExportID=27

if you want more connections, they can easily get into the hundreds of dollars though.

I am going to need one myself, I have my 360 on one component input, my HD cable box on another, and my upconverting DVD player on the DVI port right now.

EDIT:

Also, Sony has stated that HDCP will not be a requirement for watching blu-ray at full resolution on the PS3.
 
NulloModo said:
I believe that TV is HDCP compliant, at least it should be. I have an older Hitachi model (the 57SWX20B) and it is HDCP-DVI, so I don't see why they would have taken it away. Plus if I remember correctly the S700 was fairly high end as far as their CRT sets went, it might even be the evolution of mine.

As far as switches, yes, they exist, as well as ones that do DVI and HDMI, but they aren't cheap. Here is a simple one that isn't too pricey:

http://www.itcelectronics.com/ProdDisplay.asp?CatID=1383&ProdID=6348&ExportID=27

if you want more connections, they can easily get into the hundreds of dollars though.

I am going to need one myself, I have my 360 on one component input, my HD cable box on another, and my upconverting DVD player on the DVI port right now.

EDIT:

Also, Sony has stated that HDCP will not be a requirement for watching blu-ray at full resolution on the PS3.
Click to expand...

same exact cable setup i have :) except HDMI in place of DVI
 
I'm currently using a DVI->hdmi cable to a 2x1 HDMI switch from monoprice for my pc, and for my cable box on my Hitachi 51F59(There newest production CRT rear projection)
 
Thanks for the great info guys, I am seriously considering one of those monoprice switches. I want one with at least 4 inputs really, with Gears of War coming out, I might end up getting a 360 too. However, I think I may wait a few months until the PS3 comes out and/or I get an upconverting DVD player (I have a crummy one right now that I got for free for signing up for a bank account), and I really need it.
 
By the way, I was under the impression that using component cables for cable TV would be a significant reduction in quality from DVI. This would be great if they were the same quality, as I would be able to use PIP to play PS3 while watching TV the same way I do with my PS2.
 
My set does support PIP 2xHD sources(well, it might not....I have my cable box outputting SD as 480p and not upscaling it because motorolas have shit quality)


I will say this though, HDMI will be a DOWNGRADE in quality, we have analog sets, the component circuitry on CRT tvs is noticeably better then digital to be honest, and Its not just me its agreed upon ISF calibrators(imageing science foundation)

If you want to know why I use HDMI for my cable box, well motorola boxes are craptastic in everything they do in regards to picture quality....the component outputs are pretty bad and HDMI is better on the box
 
Cycloptersaurus said:
By the way, I was under the impression that using component cables for cable TV would be a significant reduction in quality from DVI.
Click to expand...

It depends on the source and the set. For a cable box, or even most DVD players, you won't see a difference between component and DVI/HDMI on a CRT based set (which is what all the Hitachi's mentioned are). The sets that really need the DVI/HDMI are fixed pixel displays like LCD/DLP/LCoS, etc. Those sets do a notoriously worse job of scaling a non-native resolution than CRT based ones do, so you see major improvements going with a DVD player that outputs at the native resolution via a digital signal cable.

I have an upconverting DVD player now, but I can't tell the picture being any better than my older Yamaha DVD-C920 which was only 480p, the CRT sets can take the signal and scale it up to the displayed resolution very well. The trick for DVD players is buying one that uses a high quality chipset like the Faroujda DCDi.

As for cable, it is so compressed coming into the box that it doesn't really matter how you output it out of the box, then again, the same holds true for DirecTV or other HD sattelite solutions. Until we get fiber layed across the nation instead of copper wire we aren't going to see cable companies start to send higher bandwidth signals.
 
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