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The equipment may vary by location. However, in NYC, the HD DVR has an HDMI output whereas the non-DVR HD box does not.

That Sony model won't process HDMI audio, so if you hook any devices up to it over HDMI, you will need to run a seperate audio cable, and you won't be able to take advantage of HD Audio, if you're into that sort of thing. Neither of these units will change the resolution of your video. There...

When dealing with receivers, all "upconversion" means is that the receiver can output a lower-quality signal type (s-video or composite, in this case) over a higher-quality output (component). It doesn't alter the resolution of the source images; it only reduces the number of cables you need to...

I also have a Panasonic PT-AE900U, and I can't find enough good things to say about it. In my old apartment, it looked great just projecting onto a white wall, no screen. The AX100U is the same model with a higher contrast ratio and the ability to downscale 1080p, so you really couldn't go wrong...

Regarding your choice of DVD players: I've been quite happy with the PS3 as a DVD/Blu-Ray player. The upscaler does a great job on standard DVDs. Don't buy one unless you're a gamer, though; it won't work with the Harmony remote because it doesn't have an IR input, and it isn't really...

Try setting your PS3 to 720p maximum resolution. I've seen a few 720p-native TVs that do a better job of displaying 720p than 1080i. Also, make sure you're running the latest firmware on your PS3. I know they made a lot of changes to the upscaler in firmware 1.8.

The DirecTV HD-DVR does have both optical and coaxial audio connections. I was kinda wondering why my receiver said PLII when the DVR was connected over coax... *goes out to buy longer optical cable*

Have you considered getting a projector instead of a TV? If your living room is appropriate for such things, you can get a 720p-native projector and a decent screen for $1500 or less, and you should have no problem filling a 100" screen, given the amount of space in your living room. I...

It has only been able to do so for about a month (since firmware version 1.80 was released). You can only upconvert over HDMI, but you said you're connecting over HDMI so that shouldn't be an issue. Also, everyone else on this forum is going to push this a lot harder than I am, but you should...

Don't bother buying an upconverting DVD player. The PS3 can upconvert DVDs to 1080p, and it does a good job of it.

I am slowly coming to accept the fact that a regular TV is going to work better than a projector in my new apartment, and am looking to sell my projector in favor of an HDTV. The question is, what is the smallest screen size at which 1080p is going to look noticeably better than 1080i or...

At 10', I think 100" is too big. I agree with the others who said wait to see what the room looks like before you get the screen, because it's personal preference to a certain extent; my former roommate loved it the way I had it set up in the old apartment. Also, do you know where in the...

You can go to big. Trust me :) I projected onto a 108" wall in my old apartment with a seating distance of about 10', and it was freakin' cool, but in my new apartment, 102" from 14' is much more comfortable for actually watching something. Also, if you're willing to go up to $2000, you can...

I have a projector-based home theater system in my apartment. I am pondering ways to display video from my computer's (many) hard drives on the projector. The first idea I had was to run an HDMI cable and an optical cable to my receiver and use the HTS as a second monitor. But that's a somewhat...

Take a look at the Onkyo HT-SR790. $379 from ShopOnkyo. http://shoponkyo.com/detail.cfm?prod...il=1&ext_war=1 It comes quite highly-recommended, as far as HTiBs go. I have the 894, and I am very happy with it; the speakers leave a bit to be desired, but so do all HTiB speakers. The...

Yeah, it may have been that...this was a couple of years ago, so I don't remember exactly what it looked like. It was a professional video card (NVIDIA Quadro or something to that effect), not a gaming card. Something like this? http://www.newegg.com/Product/ShowIm... ard+-+Retail

Can you link to a pic of the plug? I think I may have seen a plug of that sort on a PC video card...I didn't count the pins, but it had a lot, and there was a cable to connect two DVI monitors.

And even the cable companies that do go all-digital aren't a problem, because even the fancy HD boxes have composite and S-Video outputs. In fact, I've got a brand-new DirecTV HD-DVR connected to a 15" CRT TV that is at least 10 years old. (It's my backup TV for when I just want background noise...

The thing about receivers is that you can get as little or as much as you want, depending on what you want to spend. The Onkyo TX-SR605 seems to be very well-regarded. It has three component inputs, two HDMI inputs (with audio processing), 5 or so digital audio inputs, and I think it can...

Keep in mind that the tuner is still going to be 3 seconds behind...this is an issue with most TV cards. If you're recording the entire sequence, this won't be an issue, since you are using another display source, but if you're trying to take screenshots, it might still be problematic.

I would run an HDMI cable to the TV and an optical or coax cable to the receiver, assuming port availability and cable length aren't big issues. The HD-A2 will only upscale standard DVDs over an HDMI connection.

If you need another HDMI input on the receiver, why not plug the DirecTV box into the receiver using component video and optical or digital coax audio? The Onkyo TX-SR604 has plenty of digital audio inputs, and the DirecTV box isn't capable of doing anything that *needs* an HDMI connection...

Answers to your terminology questions: The one-wire RCA video connection is called composite. It s...well, the quality leaves a lot to be desired. S-Video is a much better one-wire alternative. The three-wire RCA video connections is called component. You can get adapters to convert a...

Speaking as someone who just bought an HTiB, I think option #2 would be hard to justify with a $1000 budget, even if you want everything at once. The subwoofer is the biggest issue; my experience has been that HTiB subs are not of great quality, and it's an expensive part to replace. As you...

Make sure you're using a DVD program that supports surround sound. Last time I checked, none of the free ones do, and most of the ones you get when you buy an internal DVD drive don't either. I know the deluxe versions of PowerDVD and WinDVD have had 5.1 support for several versions now.

For a projector, you might also look into the Panasonic AX100U. It has optical zoom up to 2.0:1, so you can get a much larger picture for any given throw distance. In my old apartment, I was getting a 98" picture at 11.5' with the previous model (PT-AE900U). It is more expensive than the...

It sounds like you're going to want a Home Theater PC of some sort. Windows Media center will let you record TV shows from your cable box, save recordings to DVD (I think), and stream to other devices. There may be ways to control it remotely, I've never tried that. Since it's a PC, obviously...

Have you considered the Panasonic PT-AX100U? It has 2:1 zoom, which will allow you to get a much bigger screen at 11.5 feet (my AE900U projects 98" at 12 feet) with impressive image quality. The resolution for a PC won't go higher than 720p, but above that you're going to be scaling on any of...

I'm leaning towards an HTiB, just because it's easy and I have a lot of other things to deal with right now. And I'm leaning towards one with a good receiver, such as the Onkyo 894, because that is the part I least want to replace later. I What do we hear about the Onkyo 894? Through various...

Not necessarily. The PS2 started out being an inexpensive underfeatured DVD player, and ended up being an expensive underfeatured DVD player; even the slimline model won't play DVDs in 480p. I suspect the PS3 will be the same way; once there is a significant library of games, the Blu-Ray...