Originally posted by: skyman8081HDMI is simply DVI with audio and a differently shaped plug(No Thumbscrews! Yay!).
They're actually different standards. In addition to the integrated audio support, HDMI allows for much longer cable runs than DVI and can handle digital component video natively. HDMI is backwards compatible with DVI.
Originally posted by: skyman8081
The only problem with HDMI is that anything that involves it is HORRENDOUSLY expensive. $80 for an HDMI cable is way too common.
For a 30' run maybe. You can quite easily get a 6' HDMI cable for $20, which is longer than most people would need. I recommend staying away from the Monster Cable section at Best Buy and Circuit City.
Originally posted by: MeBeJedi
I thought this also allowed for copy-protection as well? And now that Jay mentioned the digital RGB, I now recall reading that DVI is a bitch to copy from because of the sheer throughput of video, and I know that RGB is a buttload of information.
Both HDMI and DVI allow HDCP encryption. You're correct about the difficulty in capturing DVI signals, which is one of the reasons why the industry adopted it. What goes over the cable is the uncompressed signal, and the data rates are extremely high.
Originally posted by: MeBeJediOkay, guys. Here's one: What's the difference between analog and digital component video, then? Apparently they can both use the Blue-Red-Green wires, and I've read home theater magazines where the reports have stated the analog-component video connections are labelled as digital-component video connections (which I believe is the YCrCb, and analog was YPrPB).