Component vs DVI connection? (1 Viewer)

[Tim Kline]

A friend of mine has the Sony 34" widescreen HTDV (the tube kind). I like it so much I'm thinking about getting the same one since I really just don't have the room for a bigger RPTV or a fat enough wallet for a big plasma.

Anyhow, it has component ports in the back but also a DVI port like newer PC monitors have. I noticed my new DVD player also has component and DVI connections. Generally, what would give me a better picture quality, the DVI port or the component port?

His TV didn't come with a DVI cable, and neither did my DVD player. I also haven't seen them for sale at Best Buy (well not where the other video cables are but maybe they have em with PC stuff), but I had to order a replacement one for my PC from a company that makes them once... would I want to just order a new one for the TV or is it a different type of cable/connection that just looks the same?

Or is the TV's DVI port just for if you wanted to use your HDTV as a computer monitor?

Basically what's gonna be my best way to hook up my DVD player? I also plan on getting DirecTV with HDTV and all the works, but for now I'm still on regular "digital" cable. So I figured I'd be better off connecting the DVD player for the best possible video it can do.

 

[Gabriel_Lam]

With a CRT based display, there's really no way to know for sure other than connecting them and trying, unfortunately. For digital displays, DVI will TEND to be better almost all of the time. For an analog based display, sometimes it's one, sometimes it's another.

 

[Don_Berg]

On a CRT tube set, DVI and component are pretty much equal. I'd save the DVI port for an HD STB input since HD has higher resolution than DVD.

 

[Allan Jayne]

>>> Or is the TV's DVI port just for if you wanted to use your HDTV as a computer monitor?

Double check to be sure of the "resolutions" (such as 640 x 480 @ 70 fps or 1280 x 720 @ 60 fps) that the DVI connection accepts. Just as the component video connection might accept 480i and 480p and 1080i but not 720p, there is no guarantee that the DVI connection will accept 720 x 480 x 59.94 fps.

Video hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/video.htm

(640 x 480 @ 60 and 720 x 480 x 60 are the same thing for component video thus the horizontal pixel count is omitted, but they are two different things for DVI. For component video 60/59.94 fps is assumed and assumed interchangeable, for DVI non-interlaced is assumed.)