I am getting the 990 but have a couple of questions regarding the video switching.

First, my tv only supports component in not dvi. Second, my hd cable box has dvi out. Do I gain anything (or will it even work) to have the cable box go to the 990 via dvi and the 990 to the tv via component?

I do not believe that the 990 supports transcoding from DVI to component however you may want to double check the manual or wait for Gonk the Guru or one of the other well versed residents to chime in with the answer.

I would just run component out from your set top box to the 990 and then component out from the 990 to your display.

The advantage of DVI is that it keeps the video transmission in the digital domain as opposed to component where it must be converted from digital to analogue. Although theoretically an all digital transmssion sould produce a better picture by avoiding any conversions along the way, most people seem to claim minimal differences and that is all relative to the particular hardware you are using.

In the case of your inquiry, since your display only has a component input, the signal would have to be converted from digital to analogue at some point in the chain if you wished to use the DVI output from your set top box.

For arguments sake, If whatever processor or receiver you would be using can do what you ask, then what you would stand to gain or loose would really be dependant on which device is doing a better job of converting the source signal from digital to analogue, the set top box or the processor/receiver.

Hope this helps,
Machine.

If your TV doesn't have DVI, then the 990's DVI switching isn't going to be of any use to you. Stay with component since that's what your TV uses.

When I wired my HT room, I wired my in ceiling projector for Component only, since I could never really see a difference between HDMI/DVI and Component. Now, with all the discussion surrounding HD-DVD, and limiting the resolution if the input is not HDMI, I might have made a poor decision (it would be difficult/near impossible to run HDMI to my projector inconspicuously).

For Gonk, or anyone else who may know, will the 990 accept a DVI signal (or HDMI to DVI) and pass it through the component outputs at, at least, component levels?

Will HD-DVD not pass on a component signal, only DVI/HDMI?

The 990 does not convert between digital video and analog video.

HD-DVD will pass on component, but the studios have the option of limiting analog video output on individual discs to 540 lines (one quarter of the full 1080p resolution). They're not using it yet, but that doesn't mean they won't start using it down the road.

Those dirty bastards. :p

I haven't tried using the DVI on the 990 to my TV. I don't have a DVD player with DVI output.

I've got DVI, component and S-VHS connections to my front projector (Sharp XV-Z10000). I have the DVI connection straight from my LG LST-3410A tuner/HDDVR, as that is currently the only DVI source I have. As the projector is fixed pixel (720p DLP), it upconverts all other inputs to that format. The projector's upconvesion is so good, that running the LG's output through component or S-VHS shows only a very slight image degradation, noticable mainly in closeups of people's faces. This is pretty impressive, when you realize that there is a D/A & an A/D conversion interposed in the signal path. So, my feeling is, yes, it would have been nice if you had thought to put in a DVI cable, but you haven't lost a hell of a lot if your projector does as good a job of upconversion as the Sharp.