I have a pana 42" HD plasma, and am considering purchasing the DVI interface board for it. With the new D* HD receiver/pvr, will there be a noticeable improvement in the image quality compared to the analog inteface? Also, for a dvi dvd player?

Thanks

Speaking in general the DVI connection will give you a slightly better picture since we are not converting the digial to analog and back again. But it will depend on your specific equipment.

I'm getting a much brighter picture on the analog (Comcast) channels, but with a slightly yellow tint. Seemingly a bit deeper colors. Others will tell you there is no difference. I think you will notice more of an improvement with digital sets (DLP, LCD, etc.). This from The Perfect Vision magazine:

"Generally speaking, our experience here indicates that DVI connections offer improvements in image quality over analog connections --- skipping D-A and A-D conversions in the signal chain is almost always a benefit."

Plasma is digital, DVI can be good.

I say it that way because I just had a client with a DVI input on a digital display and the green was -20% only on that input so we ended up using the analog component 720P instead.

DVI brings a Quantum Jump in Picture Quality
It was a surprise to me, and it is a surprise to most people when they first experience a DVD played back through a DVI connection. "Jaw dropping" is the phrase often used, and it describes my reaction. Except in my case I had no prior clue - so it contained shock and confusion as well. My wife kept insisting that the DVD we were playing was high definition. There are hundreds of reactions like mine in this forum, and now there are reviews in many publications attesting to the phenomenal quality difference. See DVI Quotes.

Why is that? DVI is not magically adding quality to your signal, it is Component that has been degrading the signal – we just didn’t how badly.

Component: When you use a component connection, your original digital signal is converted to analog, then it is sent over to the TV and becomes susceptible to noise, then it is converted back to digital by the TV. This dual conversion introduces conversion artifacts, plus the transmission can pick up noise.

DVI: In a DVI connection, the original digital signal is passed to the TV digitally in its original pristine condition.

In the past, when you had poor quality input signal and a poor fidelity TV, you could get by with component connections. Now you have high quality inputs (HD, PC or DVD) and high fidelity digital TVs (even CRT HDTV’s are digital in this context), so the component connection makes no sense. DVI is the only sensible option.

Indeed it is my opinion that HDTV without DVI is an oxymoron. Why go through all the trouble of creating an expensive digital setup, generating a high quality digital signal into a high fidelity digital display, if you are going to throw the analog Component monkey wrench into it.

And until you've switched to DVI, don't look for other culprits for video artifacts - clay faces, dithering, motion artifacts, etc. Find out first how many are actually introduced by your component connection.

Go here for mor info....http://dvi.baumannpaper.com/#_Toc51306020

Respectfully Chukken...

If you have an analog display then there is no advantage to a digital interface since since it must be converted back to analog. The only improvement that can exist is due to using poor quality cables or how the DVI is input into the circuit. After it is decoded back to analog in most cases it is simply fed into the video switching just like any other analog signal.

If you have a digital display there may be a subtle improvement in noise and clarity because you are bypassing an D/A and A/D conversion process.

DVI is yet another input and it should never ever be taken for granted that it will provide an artifact free interface. This can only be determined by a calibrator using the right equipment. Just had to put a digital display client back on his analog inputs because the DVI was -20% green on the color decoder and I was unable to correct for that.

So why would so many go nuts over DVI?

Because they are finally matching the oputput of the source to the native scan rate of the display. That's all. And in most cases this small step is a very huge improvement because by doing so you are bypassing the internal scaler of the display which is why I am a Lumagen scaling dealer. All the calibration in the world will not resolve image degrading artifacts from the internal scaler.

The Lumagen Vision $1000

Bravo D1 $200, Samsung $300

Many chose a DVI enabled player instead of a scaler due to price which is why I am a Bravo dealer. The external scaler fixes all internal scaling problems with NTSC sources but a DVI DVD player only fixes your DVDs.

The main reason DVI exists is for digital display applications.

The reason DVI/HDCP exists is to control content and I do agree that this is an important connection to have no matter what kind of display technology you are looking at. HD-DVD will probably be only DVI/HDCP capable but we are not there quite yet; Those are the rumblings within the industry.

Is is disappointing that a great link is twisted with false info.

Richard...thanks for the added info!...I learn something new every time I visit this forum!...It's a great forum!...thanks again!

<If you have a digital display there may be a subtle improvement in noise and clarity because you are bypassing an D/A and A/D conversion process.>
I waited for the Samsung T351 receiver so I could have DVI. Boy, am I glad I did - the difference between DVI and compnent into my 42" PDP is anything but subtle, even with very high quality cables. Having said that, DVI is no cure for some of the odious trash sent OTA as "HD".


regards, billb....

I find component connections has superior color and saturation when compared to DVI...also on Sony sets the moving verticle line is more evident. I prefer component connections...why has Sony Direct View DVI failed?

Why has Sony Direct View DVI failed, you asked. Direct View is your key. Direct view is a CRT technology and therefore is analog. DVI isn't gonna help that because DVI helps digital technology like DLP, LCD and LCOS. You have no translation with those technologies, it's digital all the way through. CRT technology needs to convert a DVI signal from digital to analog. You are better served using component cabling (analog) for CRTs.