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The term ‘high definition’ has multiple meanings. Just calling an HDTV a high definition television isn’t nearly descriptive enough because there are various grades of HD quality signals. It starts at 480p, then goes to 720p, then 1080i, and finally the best is 1080p. If you want to get that full 1080p signal with your HDTV, then you need to use HDMI cabling. There’s no other way around it.
If you are watching movies on a Blu-ray player or an upscaling DVD player, then you should be using HDMI in order to get the best quality sound and picture. Blu-ray is made to work in 1080p, and upscaling DVD players do the same. Likewise, if you’re playing games or watching movies on a PS3, things will look better if you connect it to your HDTV using an HDMI cable. I did some testing with my own 1080p HDTV and PS3 with different cables and the results were amazing.
Suppose you buy a new HDTV and your old DVD player doesn’t have an HDMI connection. In this case, you should seriously considering buying an upscaling DVD player. My old DVD player only put out 480p and it didn’t look that great on my 47” HDTV. I bought a Sony upscaling DVD player and connected it via HDMI, and now my DVD’s look almost as good as a Blu-ray.
To summarize, HDMI is best, followed by component (red, green, blue) cables, S-video, RCA, and coaxial. You will have to spend a little extra to get the right cables for your new equipment, but the difference it makes is worth every penny.
