home cinema: optimal cabling and settings

[VJ]

Hello,

My parents have their new configuration: a Philips HD TV (1920x1080, max 1080i, hdmi), a Philips DVD/HDD recorder (hdmi) and a Marantz SR6001 (hdmi).

Currently, the dvd/hdd is set to "hdmi auto", causing this device to upscale. I'd like to try the upscaling in the receiver and the TV. What output format should I set in the dvd/hdd device, so it doesn't do any scaling (pal-bg)? I can set the hdmi output to 720, 576, 480 and some others.

Secondly, the dvd/hdd is connected via hdmi to the receiver and via an rgb scart to the tv. When switching on the tv, it automatically selects the scart input. I can set the tv to hdmi using a macro in the remote control, but I'm wondering if the scart is at all necessary.

Finally, these are the connections:
out -- type of cable -- in
set top box -- scart -- tv
set top box -- scart -- dvd/hdd
set top box -- optical -- receiver
dvd/hdd -- scart -- tv
dvd/hdd -- hdmi -- receiver
dvd/hdd -- optical -- receiver (for cd playback)
tv digital audio out -- coax -- receiver
receiver -- hdmi -- tv

Are there interesting connections I've missed? Or connections that could be done better?

Thanks!


Jorg

[VJ]

From what I found (googling), I think I should set the dvd recorder to "hdmi 576p" rather than "hdmi auto". That way, it will send a 576p signal (which is the DVD standard for PAL) to the amplifier. I can the choose to have this simply relay the signal (upscaling in the TV), or upscale it to 1080i.

Jörg

[Mehen]

connections look good.
The audiophiles prefer coax/BNC over optical for digital. Although I have not compared the two, I have actually noticed a difference between different types of coax cables used between cd transport/DAC (I honestly didn't think I would notice a difference, but I did!), which leads me to believe that the type of cabling between cd and dac actually does make a noticeable difference. Might be system dependant though, feel free to experiment.

[VJ]

The set-top box only has an optical connection. The DVD/HDD recorder has both coax and optical; given the large number of cables present behind the devices I opted for optical to minimize EMI interference.

I have been wondering about connecting the set-top box to the amplifier rather than to the TV directly, but it would require an adapter and cables which I don't have at the moment (set top box only has scart outputs, but uses RGB over SCART; so I'd need a SCART to RGB). The only thing I might gain is due to the fact that the upscaling to 1080i is then done in the amplifier rather than in the TV, but I think it won't matter that much.


One more thing I noticed: playing back CDs with JPG foto's yields quite a bad quality, whereas playing back photos directly on the TV (it has a cardreader and an ethernet connection) yields a superb quality. This is despite the fact that the DVD/HDD recorder is using a 1080i signal over HDMI. I suspect that the DVD/HDD recorder is reading photos like any regular DVD player (low quality, probabely 576p) and then upscales the output to 1080i; whereas the TV displays them in full quality.


Jörg