Newbie Setup Recommendation? (1 Viewer)

[Bbrew]

Panasonic 8000, Onkyo 818, Oppo 103, 120" 1.2 gain 16:9, Paradigm Studio 7.2, Dish Hopper, Apple TV, PS3, WII, Mini Mac, 29'x15' dedicated dark room. This is the first of many "newbie" caliber questions. Looking for hookup recommendations. Which component should process the video? HDMI everything into the Onkyo or Oppo? Pass through or not etc. Audio only to Onkyo etc. I know all the info I need is probably buried in previous topics, but any help would be appreciated.

 

[schan1269]

The Onkyo is the hub of the entire system. Everything runs to it first, then the video goes to the projector.

 

[Type A]

Welcome to the forum Bill. I always pass through video on the AVR (relegating the AVR to HDMI switching and audio processing only) and let either the source or the display do any video processing or scaling. This sometimes has the side benefit of decreasing your handshake times and reliability when changing sources also.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I think what Bill is asking is can he get superior video performance out of his stated equipment by bypassing the Onkyo 818 for video processing on certain pieces of equipment and then using the Oppo player or Panasonic 8000 to process the video signal. Example, feeding the video signal from the Oppo, directly into the Panasonic 8000 and letting either of those two pieces of equipment process the video while you use the Onkyo receiver just to process audio fed directly from the Oppo player.

There have been arguments that many people won't be able to tell the difference if you don't split the video signal and just feed all the video through the receiver just like you do with the audio.

What do you guys think?

 

[Robert Crawford]

I believe the Marvell's Kyoto-G2H video processor in the Oppo 103 player is superior to the Onkyo 818 HQV® Vida™ VHD1900 video processor. Anybody know anything about the Panasonic 8000 video processor?

 

[schan1269]

I tend to leave the "what processor does what" out.He has a Wii, so he's either going to use the AVR or projector. It also depends if he sets the projector as "through"*, so it doesn't scale anything.Is he going to set Dish up as native? Or send it as 1080p with whatever scaler it has?If I read correctly, the 818 is able to have each input set independently for scaling...or not.*I don't even know if that projector can even be set "non-scale".

 

[Robert Crawford]

I tend to leave the "what processor does what" out.He has a Wii, so he's either going to use the AVR or projector. It also depends if he sets the projector as "through"*, so it doesn't scale anything.Is he going to set Dish up as native? Or send it as 1080p with whatever scaler it has?If I read correctly, the 818 is able to have each input set independently for scaling...or not.*I don't even know if that projector can even be set "non-scale".

That's correct, you can set each input to scale or not to scale by selecting "through" for each input.

 

[Bbrew]

No native option for the Hopper...that I can find

 

[schan1269]

No native option for the Hopper...than I can find

If this were DirecTV I could tell you how.

I set my boxes up as native, that way I get what the "network intended" as the 1080I or 720P.

Big "sweeping" images (Planet Earth etc) look best in 1080i, sports look best in 720P.

But, you don't get a choice in the matter.

 

[Acoustic Finishes]

Bill,
You have put quite a bit of thought, time and money into this space. Good for you! But dont underestimate the superior value of room acoustics. They can range from very affordable to the average joe, to extremely expensive to those with unlimited budgets.

If you want your components to sound to their engineered potential, you must consider treating your space, a fabric track system perfectly combines science with aesthetics. I wish you the best. Looking forward to seeing some pics when your finished