Anthem (non-HDMI)

[canman93]

First, great forum!

Now, having maxed out my budget a couple years ago on a new system I find myself behind in times with HDMI being everywhere especially with me finally starting a Blu-ray collection.

My plasma is only 720p/1080i and my pre/pro, an Anthem AVM30, doesn't even have a HDMI connection. I contacted Anthem and they want $2000 to upgrade the AVM30 with new video circuitry (same great video as the AVM50) and HDMI connections ver 1.1 (they too believe 1.3 is a marketing gimmick at the moment).

This was the reason I hesitated but with the new Panasonic 35 & 55K players TBD later this month I see no reason to be worried....or should I? These players offer full lossless decoding and feature 5.1 (35) and 7.1 (55) analog outputs.

Now here is the question: If I get one of these players (most likely the former since I only have 5.1 analog inputs in the AVM30) does that mean I am not limited to all the new audio codecs using the multichannel outputs/inputs and pass video over HMDI directly to the TV?

I appreciate your help and knowledge.