What cables to use for my X1? (1 Viewer)

[Josh~H]

My X1 will be arriving early next week. To celebrate, I built a 98" diagonal screen this weekend. But that's another post...

The question I have here is on how best to connect my video sources to my X1. I have a HD cable box that can send component or s-video. My DVD player can do the same. Based on previous comments, I think I'd like the X1 to do the de-interlacing, as I think the Faroudja will do a better job than my DVD player. Therefore, I think I'll hook my DVD player up to either the S-video or the interlaced VGA port. I'd like to plug my HD/digital cable into the other VGA port, but I was under the impression it was only for progressive or hi-def signals. My HD channels will send 1080i, but the rest of the channels are probably 480i -- how can I send them both to the X1 on the same cable?

Also, there's the issue of how to get a very long cable from my equipment rack (front of the room) to the X1 (rear of the room). I've previously run speaker wires through the wall and ceiling, so I'll probably use the same path for whatever I have to run to the X1. But I'm wondering whether it's best to use a very long component cable with the component-to-VGA breakout at the end...or a very short component cable, followed by the component-to-VGA breakout, and then a long VGA-to-VGA extension. Which is best? Which type of wire is safer to run in walls and ceilings?

Finally, a similar question for the DVD. Should I just run a very long S-video cable to the X1, or should I have a component-to-VGA breakout instead? Is there any advantage to sending the DVD's 480i to the X1's interlaced VGA port versus its s-video port?

By the way, I've already ordered the component-to-VGA and component-to-svideo breakout cables.

 

[Mathew Shelby]

I have an X1 and I have it setup in the following way: I have digital cable run via S-video. I have HD (from same cable box) into the VESA (VGA to component adaptor) and I also use the VESA adaptor for DVD watching. While the X1 is excellent at deinterlacing, I find that my Toshiba SD-3750 Progressive Scan DVD player to be superior (as have most other X1 owners with a good progressive scan DVD player). Oh, and one more thing, if it were me, I would run one long cable with VGA on one end and component on the other. I have the VESA adaptor from Infocus and find it kind of flaky. As for the S-video to component adaptor, mine came with the X1 when I purchased it and I dont use it because I have a progressive scan DVD player.

 

[Josh~H]

Hey Matthew -

So you run both your HD and DVD into the progressive/HD VGA input on the X1? Do you manually switch cables between the two sources, or do you have them switched somehow? Sounds like a good idea to run the non-HD 480i TV channels through the Faroudja processing -- hopefully it makes standard 4:3 TV bearable to watch.

Do you have any idea where one could get a super long cable with component on one end and VGA on the other? I've seen the RGBHV-to-VGA plugs, but they're always BNC connectors and they have the extra two "HV" plugs. Anyone know where I can find what I'm looking for?

 

[Rob TT]

http://www.pccables.com/cgi-bin/orde...les.com&rcode=

just dont use the other two

 

[Josh~H]

Thanks for the link Rob. Do you have any experience with this cable? The shielding doesn't look particularly beefy, and I'd be slightly paranoid of ghosting on a run of 35ft of this kind of cable. On the other hand it's only $45, so it's worth a shot I guess.

 

[Rob TT]

This cable was recommended a lot when the whole X1 thing first took off. My dad uses this cable and I have watched a lot of HD through comcast cable and it looks great. I havent watched any DVDs with it but i bet i will work good. I havent noticed any ghosting or rainbows