DVD Player to Receiver? Or DVD Player to TV? (1 Viewer)

[Chad Viro]

Hello All:
I am just curious how the majority of people connect up their dvd player. Do most of you connect the dvd player to your receiver, and then the receiver to your tv? Or do most of you connect the dvd player straight to the tv?

I am pretty new at this, so I have no idea what the advantages/disadvantages are to either one of these setups (I know Bob's write-up does say that if you do dvd-to-receiver you can use one remote).

My current system is comprised of:
-Denon 2200 DVD Player
-Denon 3803 Receiver
-Toshiba 57H82 TV


Note: I would like to buy some high quality component cables from bettercables; Do i need to buy two component cables if I were to do Dvd-to-Receiver-to-TV?

 

[Bob McElfresh]

With a HD setup, most people run component cables directly to the TV. This is because:

- many recievers that have Component video switching do not have the 100 Mhz bandwidth needed for HD video.

- Running through the reciever only makes sense if you have 2 or more sources with the same type of video feed. (you only have 1).


My system: I use SVideo for everything through the reciever, then to the TV.

Yes, you need 2 component cables to run through the reciever. Going straight to the TV you only need 1.

 

[Shane Martin]

I wouldn't say most but alot of folks run their video direct from their dvd player to their TV. This eliminates one set of cables.
Yes you would. As I said above I would not do it.

 

[HienD]

I route all my video sources through the receiver except for the VCR. I have more devices then my tv will accept. I don't have a HDTV so I don't notice a loss in picture quality.

 

[Chu Gai]

Well you shouldn't notice any degradation so long as the bandwidth of your receiver is 3x the bandwidth of the signal you're pushing through. Regular DVD is 6.75 MHz. Whether your TV is HDTV is irrelevent.

 

[Chad Viro]

Thanks for the input, guys. I still seem to be up in the air as to what I should do. I was hoping one way would be more popular than the other; however, it looks like we have a split decision!

Bob, any particular reason why you use s-video instead of component? Is it because you have HD video?

Thanks again for all the info, guys.

Note: I am not going to be getting HD video in the near future; it'll probably be a year or so.

 

[Chu Gai]

Well look at it this way. If you're going to be switching video sources...cable, VCR, TIVO, XBOX, DVD, etc. then running it through the receiver makes sense. Saves you a step if you will. To determine whether you can do this without any visible degradation, you need to write down what bandwidth your various sources are delivering and then compare that to the bandwidth of your receiver (ought to be in the manual). If it conforms to the rule of 3, knock yourself out. With a little legwork on your end you can determine if this is feasible or not.

 

[Bob McElfresh]

Well I only have 1 component source (the DVD player), and my TV does not accept this. So SVideo is my best connection type.

Also, not many recievers offer 4-5 component inputs and if they do offer 2, you must check that they have the bandwidth to handle progressive/HD video. None of my recievers offer this.

So SVideo is the way to go for my system.

 

[Vincent_S]

I also have my DVD player hooked directly up to the TV.

 

[JohnDavid]

Many people have had this question. I personally think direct works best and is cheaper. Other issues may also affect your decision. Does your receiver/cable-sat box/vhs offer onscreen programing? This feature often cannot be accessed via component so an s-video feed is still required. Shane Martin's suggestion of a universal remote is highly recommended. I use a Marantz 5000i and have cleared 8 remotes off the coffee table.

 

[Tim K]

another disadvantage is you cannot calibrate video inputs separately for each source. On my TV, I have different picture settings for TV, HDTV and DVD inputs. If you use your receiver as a switcher, all of your sources come in on the same input and use the same picture settings.