VGA vs. DVI out to HDTV?

[Allin4greeN]

I've been surfing the information wave in various forums and in preparation of hooking up my new notebook (on Dec. 25) to an HDTV for some BD/HD DVD goodness. In the process of researching potential issues, I've come across quite a few posts/people who believe VGA is an inferior connection option... one poster went to the extent of saying (direct quote), "...it will look absolutely horrible on your TV...even if your watching blu-ray movies..."

What say you folks?

My notebook spec's:

Dell Inspiron 1720
Intel C2D T7500 (2.2GHz/800Mhz FSB/4MB cache)
3Gb SDRAM (DDR2 at 667MHz/Asymmetric Dual Channel)
nVidia GeForce 8600M GT (256Mb)
Sound Blaster X-Fi Extreme Audio (Express Card)
250Gb HDD (5400 RPM)
2x Blu-Ray Disc Drive
Windows Vista Ultimate (x32)
VGA or S-Video (7-Pin version capable of YPrPb/HD with RCA/RGB style adapter dongle), no DVI/HDMI output port

There are some compromises that I made with this configuration, based on price. As many of you know, I was also considering a MacBook Pro but, I just couldn't justify the costs of getting BD up and running with an Apple...

Anyway, I think this rig should be sufficient for smooth playback of HD titles over VGA/1366x768@60Hz, with 1:1 pixel mapping on my 50" PDP.

My Vizio P50 auto-syncs and supports 1:1 over VGA. What's more, I currently have my XB360 connected via VGA at 1360x768@60Hz and PQ is excellent.

So what's the deal here? Why would there be a problem with VGA? Is EDID info that useful or necessary?

 

[diogen]

In the process of researching potential issues, I've come across quite a few posts/people who believe VGA is an inferior connection option... one poster went to the extent of saying (direct quote), "...it will look absolutely horrible on your TV...even if your watching blu-ray movies..."

VGA is component with different color space.
Don't believe anybody who says it can't look as good as DVI/HDMI when watching movies.
But don't do S-Video, 480i is the best it is capable of.

Anyway, I think this rig should be sufficient for smooth playback of HD titles over VGA/1366x768@60Hz, with 1:1 pixel mapping on my 50" PDP.

You are right, it is. Or better - it should be.
Does your laptop have a Blu-ray drive? Do you plan to use the Xbox add-on? Have you ripped the movies to hard drive? What player are you using?

Is EDID info that useful or necessary?

EDID can be very useful.
Sometimes the PC video driver won't accept resolutions outside the standard 720p and/or 1080p. EDID can be helpful in telling the PC what it can do.
But there is also PowerStrip to remedy most of the resolution problems.

Diogen.

 

[johnmac59]

I am not an expert on the DVI/VGA thing, but I worked with a guy who was responsible for specs and testing engineering workstations and he always swore that when adjusted correctly, you could not tell the difference between DVI/VGA.

 

[Allin4greeN]

Many thanks for the responses!

VGA is component with different color space.
Don't believe anybody who says it can't look as good as DVI/HDMI when watching movies...

That was my gut feeling and it's good to have confirmation. I have some concerns about the color space issue with regard to calibrating the input properly. I used DVE HD with the XB360 add-on and got things dialed in but, I'm not sure (until I get to play with the new machine, after x-mas) how DVE will interact with the differing PC color space (0-255 vs. 16-235)?

...Does your laptop have a Blu-ray drive? Do you plan to use the Xbox add-on? Have you ripped the movies to hard drive? What player are you using?..

Got a BDD on board and I plan on using the XB360 add-on for HD DVD playback but, I'll probably have to upgrade to PowerDVD Ultra to get both working. I think the Dell comes with an OEM version of PowerDVD and I'm not expecting the capability to play both formats out of the gate. PowerDVD appears to be the *best* player at the moment, even though I've seen plenty of posts from people pulling their hair out over it. I may wait until Arcsoft gets their player to market and give that a shot.

I'm planning on adding an external 750Gb HDD for ripping my DVD's, BD's, and HD DVD's, as this seems to be the most effective way of playing HD media on a PC but, I have to admit to feeling a little intimated about getting it working... From what I can tell, I'll need to use 3 different freeware apps to get it running (don't have the names handy, they're bookmarked on my other PC at the moment). I'd appreciate any suggestions on archiving solutions.

...EDID can be very useful.
Sometimes the PC video driver won't accept resolutions outside the standard 720p and/or 1080p. EDID can be helpful in telling the PC what it can do.
But there is also PowerStrip to remedy most of the resolution problems.

Diogen.

This is another concern that I have. From what I can tell, nVidia has not released support for Powerstrip on their 8xxx series cards. So, if I can't get the resolution set out of the box... my plans for native res and 1:1 pixel mapping are going to be problematic.

I'm also trying to track down a SW solution for decoding Dolby TruHD and DTS HD MA without downsampling. So far, I haven't had any luck... my sound card has a 7.1 analog out dongle and is capable of playback at 24-bit/96kHz. I'll be using the multichannel analog inputs on my A/V receiver.

 

[diogen]

I used DVE HD with the XB360 add-on and got things dialed in...

That should be good enough. IIRC, Xbox outputs RGB, just like your VGA port will (i.e. 0-255)...

I may wait until Arcsoft gets their player to market and give that a shot.

There is a trial version floating around. It doesn't downsample audio, as PowerDVD does. Recommended.

I'm planning on adding an external 750Gb HDD for ripping my DVD's, BD's, and HD DVD's, as this seems to be the most effective way of playing HD media on a PC...

I believe in this. But keep in mind that PowerDVD version after 3319a won't play BD from hard drive.
Wait until BD+ is hacked and any player can be used to play it (just like HD is today).

From what I can tell, I'll need to use 3 different freeware apps to get it running...

Just AnyDVD will do...

From what I can tell, nVidia has not released support for Powerstrip on their 8xxx series cards. So, if I can't get the resolution set out of the box... my plans for native res and 1:1 pixel mapping are going to be problematic.

The 8th series NVidia can do quite a bit by itself.
Have no practical experience with this series, though...

I'm also trying to track down a SW solution for decoding Dolby TruHD and DTS HD MA without downsampling. So far, I haven't had any luck...

Not sure about analog, but I heard Arcsoft solves the downsampling issue...

Diogen.

 

[Allin4greeN]

Diogen,

I really appreciate you taking the time to share your expertise. I've been wanting to add an HTPC to my humble HT for a couple of years now, and am anxious to start playing with it.

AnyDVD is definitely one of the apps I was looking at, just couldn't remember the name. I think ImageBurn and DaemonTools were the other two? It's good news to hear that AnyDVD can be used as a single solution.

I think I had read that Arcsoft's player will be able to read both formats from the HDD, at least in its current Beta version. I hope that this capability stays intact after it gets released into the wild.

I'll probably be back in a week or two with some more questions. I hope that you'll be around to provide additional feedback. It's great to have a place to go where noobs can receive experienced advice.

Thanks again!

Allin4greeN

 

[diogen]

Here is more about my latest HTPC activities...
http://www.satelliteguys.us/1157678-post8.html

Diogen.