I have an HD-A2 HD-DVD player and it is great. Unfortunatly I can't take full advatnage of DD True HD, or DD+, but it still sounds great through DTS. Unfortunately I feel like HD-DVD is blowing it and I'm considering adding a Blu-Ray player or PS3 to watch Blu-Ray discs. I have my satallite hooked up to one DVI input and my HD-A2 to the other. I'm thinking of using one of those DVI audio switchers to get an extra input. Has anyone had any experience with this? I don't want to spend all this cash on a switcher if it's going to negativly effect the PQ.

Thanks for the help in advance Gonk.

A couple of options come to mind. The first (and cheapest) is to try moving the satellite to component video so you can use the DVI switching for HD-DVD and Blu-ray. The second option is to play on the 990's ability to assign video inputs to different sources: get a simple HDMI switcher (like this manual switch or this remote controlled switch ) to connect two sources (we'll use the HD-DVD and Blu-ray as our two examples) to one DVI input on the 990 (we'll use DVI2 as our example), then configure two video sources (maybe Video3 for HD-DVD and Video4 for Blu-ray) to use DVI2 for video and whatever digital audio connection goes with that source. Voila - three DVI/HDMI video sources connected to the 990 at one time. And if you have a universal remote that supports macros (or at the very least learning), you can integrate the remote controlled switch pretty gracefully. The MonoPrice switches are a good bit less expensive than Gefen's offerings. I haven't used them, but I've seen a lot of positive comments about them at AVS and elsewhere.

John,

I had a very similar situation as you...D* HD tivo using one of the 990's dvi inputs and a toshiba hd-a1 using the other. Purchased a PS3, and needed another input. I purchased the exact manual switch Gonk links to, and it has worked out great for me. I don't see any video effects on the picture using the switch...but have not actually put up test patterns to compare with/without.

I did exactly like Gonk said, I moved my satellite box over to component and I have my HD-DVD player and my Blu-Ray hooked up using the DVI 1 & 2 inputs of the 990.

DO you think I will notice a big difference in Component vs HDMI with the satallite? I do watch HD movies from D*.

If not I will go with the switch. Thanks for the help fellas! You guys are the best.

Once again, Gonk comes through.

Others with satellite may be able to offer a better answer. My experience has been with digital cable (Pace Micro DC-550) feeding a CRT HD display, but that experience indicated that DVI offered no picture quality benefit over component. That's not really a perfect match to your situation, though.

I have D* and a sony CRT HD display, I have hooked it up both ways and could not tell the difference between HDMI and component and I watch alot of HD programs. hope that helps.

I notice better picture quality on dvi over component for both a hughes htl-hd D* rcvr connected to a Sony 1080i CRT RPTV, and a D* hr10-250 HD tivo connected to a Panasonic ae900 720p projector. The dvi connection does provide a slightly darker picture on the Sony, but it looks cleaner and more detailed in my opinion. If possible, you should switch to component for a day or two, and see if you seen any difference with your equipment.

I think I'll go with the switcher when I add a PS3. I have a very long run from my Sat box and my projector. It's about 25 feet. The digital signal from the DVI/HDMI will probably be better because it's usually better to go digital with a long run.

Digital is probably better over a distance, but you've also got to keep in mind the cable length limit in both the DVI and HDMI specs. At 25' and assuming you've got a good cable to your projector, you should be OK, but it can be a problem - you may want to keep your HDMI interconnect runs as short as you can manage at the equipment rack.