Picture Quality Loss via A/V Receiver?

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Paul1977

5039 posts

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#151733 3-Sep-2014 15:12

Do you get a loss of picture quality by routing all video inputs through an A/V receiver?

My current set up has all components connect via HDMI to A/V receiver and then a single HDMI from receiver to TV. Also an optical cable from TV to receiver for television audio.

But would I be better to have all components instead connected via HDMI directly to the TV, and then use ARC to send audio only to the receiver?

Do either make any difference to picture quality?

P.S. I am a videophile more than an audiophile, so would rather lose a little audio quality to gain a little video quality rather than the other way around.

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geekiegeek

2513 posts

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#1121199 3-Sep-2014 15:23

My thoughts would be that its a digital signal so there "should" be no loss of quality. If there were any issues I suspect it would show up as artefacts or sparkles or something else weird. In saying that, some receivers can do video processing on the way through that could make for a worse picture. On my Yamaha I have this switched off and just have it set to HDMI pass-through.

Paul1977

5039 posts

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#1121206 3-Sep-2014 15:38

geekiegeek: My thoughts would be that its a digital signal so there "should" be no loss of quality. If there were any issues I suspect it would show up as artefacts or sparkles or something else weird. In saying that, some receivers can do video processing on the way through that could make for a worse picture. On my Yamaha I have this switched off and just have it set to HDMI pass-through.

Mine's a Yamaha, and while I don't think it is doing any "processing" as such, it does overlay on-screen graphics (such as when you adjust the volume), which makes me think it must be doing more than just straight pass-through.

wasabi2k

2096 posts

Uber Geek

#1121213 3-Sep-2014 15:55

Unless your receiver is doing upscaling/downscaling or other processing then no, it would make no difference at all.

geekiegeek

2513 posts

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Inactive user

#1121216 3-Sep-2014 16:02

I guess the best way to find out is to test it both straight from the playback device to the screen and via the receiver and see if there is a difference.

ilovemusic

1439 posts

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#1121377 3-Sep-2014 19:27

avrs do vary in the quality of their video circuitry.
as suggested best try direct and via avr.
the sheer convenience of running your sources through an avr is hard to beat.
plus its the only way to listen to hd sound off bluray.

fahrenheit

757 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1121720 4-Sep-2014 11:49

Sending all devices to the TV and then using a single cable back to the AVR will likely result in 2.0 stereo sound for all sources other than the TV's own tuner.
So no, this is not recommended.

You can always use a simple HDMI splitter (4 in 2 out etc) to send video to the TV and audio to the AVR, but it makes your system more complex to control.

Paul1977

5039 posts

Uber Geek

#1121791 4-Sep-2014 13:13

fahrenheit: Sending all devices to the TV and then using a single cable back to the AVR will likely result in 2.0 stereo sound for all sources other than the TV's own tuner.
So no, this is not recommended.

You can always use a simple HDMI splitter (4 in 2 out etc) to send video to the TV and audio to the AVR, but it makes your system more complex to control.

ARC isn't working properly anyway. For some reason it will pass the audio from the TVs own tuner and from the PS4, but I get no sound from my PS3 or WDTV.

I'm not too worried about complexity as my universal remote handles all that, but a 4 in 2 out switcher/splitter seems quite pricey (and possibly a bit bulky for the limited space i have left in my cabinet).

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