HDTV Display Connections

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tr3v

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#25068 11-Aug-2008 12:25

I have been looking for a ~24" display to connect to a Linksys Media Extender, and have managed to confuse myself regarding connection types. I would like to be able to have HDTV resolution, but I could tolerate a 1366 x 768 if the price difference is significant.

The Media Extender has several outputs: Composite, S-Video, Component and HDMI. My understanding is that I need to have either HDMI or Component to get HDTV to my display, because S-Video and composite will only handle lower resolutions.

I do not need a tuner, and I don't need audio.

So... am I restricted to monitors that only have HDMI or Component video inputs? Or can I use monitors with DVI inputs - this is where I get confused.

sbiddle

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#155861 11-Aug-2008 12:31

First Question - What HD content do you plan to play on the Media Extender?

1366x768 is a HD resolution - as to how you connect it depends on what you buy. Most larger monitors all have HDMI these days but it's rare to get component on a monitor, it's something that's normally only on TV's. You do need HDMI or component for HD but we wary of component as material that impliments the ICT flag will limit HD output to HDMI only as component doesn't support HDCP.

Some devices with a DVI input can accept a HDMI signal with an adapter (DVI and HDMI are similair) but most HDMI ouputs have HDCP and if your DVI doesn't have HDCP support then it can't negotiate a connection.

tr3v

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#155869 11-Aug-2008 12:46

sbiddle:
First Question - What HD content do you plan to play on the Media Extender?

At this moment, none. I was wanting to future-proof myself as I was thinking along the lines of replacing my standard Sky receiver with MySky, so I could capture HDTV.

sbiddle:
Some devices with a DVI input can accept a HDMI signal with an adapter (DVI and HDMI are similair) but most HDMI ouputs have HDCP and if your DVI doesn't have HDCP support then it can't negotiate a connection.

OK, this is starting to make sense. This explains why I managed to get my PS3 working with one DVI input, but not on another. So, if there is a DVI input on a monitor available, I need to check that it has HDCP support. Many thanks.

sbiddle

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#155877 11-Aug-2008 13:14

tr3v:
sbiddle:
First Question - What HD content do you plan to play on the Media Extender?

At this moment, none. I was wanting to future-proof myself as I was thinking along the lines of replacing my standard Sky receiver with MySky, so I could capture HDTV.

There is no way of getting HD content off a MySky to play it on a Media Extender.

You could go down the path of using one of the new Hauppauge HDPVR units to capture the component output of the MySky box as H.264 but since MCE has no H.264 support there is no way of using the Linksys box as a MCE extender. You would also be limited as to what you could capture since most Sky HD content has ICT enabled meaning HD output is only available via HDMI, not component.

tr3v

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#155893 11-Aug-2008 13:49

sbiddle:
You could go down the path of using one of the new Hauppauge HDPVR units to capture the component output of the MySky box as H.264 but since MCE has no H.264 support there is no way of using the Linksys box as a MCE extender. You would also be limited as to what you could capture since most Sky HD content has ICT enabled meaning HD output is only available via HDMI, not component.

Thanks again - I thought I had read that H.264 support for MCE was being shipped soon, but after a quick re-read I see that it is not. That makes some of my decisions a little easier to make. So now, I just have to find a monitor with either an HDMI input, or a "suitable" DVI input. Any suggestions/recommendations on 24" monitors for this purpose?