resolution headaches and other party poopers

[Mandarin]

First of all, hello! I did post this in completely the wrong thread, so I'll pop it here as well...hoping I'm in the right place this time. Complete newbie.

Here's my setup, all EU PAL stuff:
Philips 37" PF9830 - 1920 x 1080 pixels
Sony RDR HX1010 400GB HD recorder via rgb scart at the moment
PS3 via QED HDMI cable (1080p capable)
ARCAM A90 Amp (no optical in, only cinch)

First problem is, despite the TV being true HD and being connected via HDMI, the TV only supports 1080i max input. Philips' answer was "the TV is full HD but doesn't accept 1080p from external devices". Their new range also suffers from this affliction. The product manager tells me this is normal, and that although the screen is telling me it's 1080i, I'm looking at 1080p. He says the TV internally upscales everything to 1080p.

However, I've noticed a few strange things... on BD, DVD and via the HD recorder... sometimes certain objects within a picture will appear to move slightly differently and separately from the main image, as though they are superimposed. Also the slow panning can be juddery. I noticed it in one of my (so far) two BD's: The Departed and Extraordinary league of Gents. Sorry, I forget which one now. Do you think it's to do with the 1080i thing?

Another thing is more PS3 related really, but I find it infinitely annoying that you can't playback SACD via HDMI because taking that route, I have the best audio cables. The only way I can get sound to my amp without having the TV on is via the combination AV cable thing, which is really cheaper-than-cheap quality. Via this cable, a lot of frequency range is cut off both ends, and I have SACD-ready speakers, and a Teufel M12000 subwoofer that gets down to 25Hz. The thing is you can select sound via the optical, the hdmi or the multi AV cable thing...the key word is "OR".

Anyone know if the PS3 gives equal quality via HDMI - DVI? because I don't have 2 HDMI sockets on my TV, and since the sound is going through only one output at once (and I don't want to be forced to have the TV on to listen to music), then the HDMI cable is picture only.... it may as well be given back to the poor DVD recorder who's making do with RGB Scart for the moment.

Also, since this TV is looking more and more temporary, I'm thinking the HDMI - DVI cable will be a cheapo for now.... something like a profigold? or not ?

Thank you so much for even so much as reading this far. I'm really tearing my hair out.

[HDJK]

Originally Posted by Mandarin

Anyone know if the PS3 gives equal quality via HDMI - DVI? because I don't have 2 HDMI sockets on my TV, and since the sound is going through only one output at once (and I don't want to be forced to have the TV on to listen to music), then the HDMI cable is picture only.... it may as well be given back to the poor DVD recorder who's making do with RGB Scart for the moment.

Also, since this TV is looking more and more temporary, I'm thinking the HDMI - DVI cable will be a cheapo for now.... something like a profigold? or not ?

Thank you so much for even so much as reading this far. I'm really tearing my hair out.

You are going to have to be a little more specific. Will the PS3 have equal quality over HDMI compared to what? Since there is no analog outputs for surround the only options are 2.0 over optical or 5.1 over HDMI. This means, the PS3 will convert the DSD stream to PCM and send this to your receiver. I haven't had a chance to compare this to a direct conversion (DSD to analog) so I can't tell you if there is an audible difference. Maybe in a future update the PS3 is able to stream the DSD over HDMI and lets the receiver do the conversion. Until then it's either HDMI PCM for surround or optical PCM for stereo.
And I wouldn't call the Profigold cables a cheap temporary solution. If your cable length isn't too long they are perfectly fine.
By the way, what do you mean by SACD-ready speakers?

[Mandarin]

Sorry I wasn't very clear, and to think my brain is as cluttered with all these questions as my thread appears =)

What I meant was...there's no degradation of the picture quality if I use a HDMI to DVI converter is there? (since the current HDMI is not making use of any sound output from the PS3 whatsoever, the audio is sent out via the multi AV cable just so I can get audio to the amp without having to switch on the TV)

I'm not enjoying surround sound at the moment =) I'm not really that much of a fan, but I know the quality is getting better.

The SACD speakers...I mean, the main speakers are B&W DM604S3's and they have nautilus tweeters, capable of the extended frequency range of SACD's (or indeed DVD-Audio) I also have these (and interconnects between components) connected by QED silver spiral bi-wire cable. Therefore I can hear everything very precisely and cleanly. Even the difference between using rubber pads and vicious floor spikes under my speakers. I've spent a lot of time and money getting a very realistic and pure sound quality that represents every media accurately, and then along comes Sony with a cheapy proprietary cable that makes music sound metallic =) but then that's why bass and treble settings were invented: for compensation. And I must say it's the only component that I have to compensate for. Then again, the PS3 was quite cheap compared to what else is on the market, and it has far more functionality than a simple blu ray player. At least, I justified, I can do other stuff with the thing if blu ray doesn't hit it off.

It sounds "good enough"..... but it's the weaker link in the system.

I have another question.....
bitstream and pcm.... I can't figure out which of these soundtracks are more lossless.

I've been ripping CD's now at 256kbps AAC and they sound as best as I can seem to make them when listening on the PS3, but then the idea is that it's handy to listen to the music low level while dining etc. without having to keep getting up and popping CD's into the player. Anything less than that, and there's a noticable rounding off of the outer extreme frequencies...especially noticeable in the low level bass.

[HDJK]

- O.k., there is no degredation in the HDMI to DVI. It's basically a different connector, but the video stream is not affected by it.

- Bitstream means the PS3 sends the encoded audio (DTS, Dolby) to your receiver and lets it do the decoding. As of now, that is the only way to get DTS-HD MA (if your reciever supports HDMI 1.3). PCM means that the PS3 does the decoding. There are people who spend a lot of money just on surround processors, because just like any digital to analog conversion there are differences. And just as with SACD the PS3 converts it to uncompressed PCM first, which is losless but digital nonetheless. If the receiver takes care of it, it should go bitstream>analog and not bitstream>PCM>analog.

- Nice speakers

My advice would be this: wait for a nice receiver with HDMI 1.3 (I think Onkyo comes out with a nice unit) and get all of your video and audio over HDMI to it. Then you can listen to music without having to turn on the TV and all of the decoding happens in the Onkyo (which are known for very good audio performance).

Hope that helps.

[Mandarin]

Thank you very much =)
That makes sense. Boy, I know how to give myself a headache. Now I know how my grandmother felt about telephones. Ahem.

You know what, I think that's actually a great idea about a surround receiver...and that also = less chunky cables going to the TV set. But I do love my Arcam amp to bits...it'll be a sad day.

The speakers are quite good, but what really finished off the setup was that Teufel subwoofer =) my goodness, those b&w's have had the limelight stolen by that huge subwoofer, visually and audibly. Still one without the other would be useless....it all works well together luckily =) and the Teufel is well worth the money compared to the B&W's.

The same friend who introduced me to Teufel, has an Onkyo receiver... and I did like the sound quality as far as surround went. In fact, until I heard that setup, I was under the impression that surround sound basically happened in the beginning of a movie, you know that THX mooing cow thing, and then for the rest of the movie you may hear the odd "mid-range" rear sound. It was as though there was no full-range audio, but just midrange for every speaker except the front main 2.

Thanks again =)
And I'll be in Graubunden in 3 weeks enjoying your country =)

[HDJK]

Originally Posted by Mandarin

Thank you very much =)

You're very welcome.

...I was under the impression that surround sound basically happened in the beginning of a movie, you know that THX mooing cow thing...

And I'll be in Graubunden in 3 weeks enjoying your country =)

Enjoy your trip!