DVI-D or dedicated HDMI Component?

[torabian]

Hi all, please someone give me some advice because my brain is starting to fry figuring all this out.

Having read the blurb I bought an Asus M2NPV-VM. Initially I hooked it up via Component but wasn't overly happy with the output and could not get the AV Wizard to complete without the screen disappearing and not coming back (I know my TV supports 720P(native) or 1080i, I selected 720 but noted that the component option doesn't give a refresh rate choice). Screen doesn't say out of range, just goes black and never comes back.

So I decided this maybe wasn't the best option so I went and got a DVI to HDMI converter and hooked it up that way.

Wizard ran ok, set it to 480P (for the time being). Pictures looked great, but DVD playback from my DVD camera was grainy and lower quality than the original DVD player with Scart. My TV says that for a HDMI/DVI input the best resolution is 1024*768, but surly I'm better off going for a 720P solution? otherwise there's going to be rescaling all over the place if/when I start watching HD.

I'm not sure whether to stick with the component tv optput to get the benefits of the inbuilt scaling and filtering or continue horsing around with the hmdi/dvi connection.

Someone please help

[DeadPenguin]

I read this because I am also curious about the differences in outputs for the ASUS Motherboard. Component vs DVI.

Did you try what Zarec suggested to fix the AV Wizard going "black"?

I was just going to connect my ASUS board via a DVI.

Regards,
Blair

[torabian]

Blair,

Not yet, I swapped the cables at the shop. I think I will buy 2 sets otherwise they will get upset with me coming back every week 

[jeff_rigby]

I've used all the outputs from the Asus M2NPV-VM. except the composite TV out.  With Component out I got some sparkles in the picture that would show up more noticeably on blank screens (720P).  Those appeared to go away when I wrapped the component out wires inside the computer box with aluminum foil. 

With DVI the picture is supurb at 720P on a DLP set but would not work on my older CRT based projection TV at any resolution.  Using a conversion cable to convert DVI to HDMI also worked on newer TVs.  I can't stress how much better a DLP TV picture is over a CRT based set,  DVI in this case is also noticebly better than component out.

What I wish for is hardware support on a new Nvidia card for HDMI that includes the audio in the same plug. 

At this time DVI or HDMI out is not a critical choice as a cable to convert DVI to HDMI costs the same as a HDMI cable. 

[DeadPenguin]

Very helpful info. Thanks. I have SPDIF out to surround so I am not so worried about HDMI. I am curious how HDMI is  going to work on the new MSI Media Live I bought for my downstairs setup.

Regards,
Blair