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.

Well, yesterday I ordered a Monoprice 5x1 switcher. I'm hoping my limited inputs will be over with until the updated 990 comes onto the market will hopefully at least 3 HDMI inputs. Once Outlaw releases a new pre/pro with HDMI inputs, I should have no problem selling the switcher on the used market.

It's as short as can be in my setup. My projector is toward the front of the seating area and the gear rack is toward the back. The picture is phenominal in my opinion and I don't think it suffers at all from the long run. I bought the cable from cable wholesale at a very good price. It is very thick and appears to be very high quality. It's funny that it was still a fraction of the price of the fancy cables at BB or CC.

Sounds like you're all set, then!

I just ordered one of these:

http://www.monoprice.com/products/produc...format=2&style=

I can't really do the component thing since my display's analog input board seems to have comitted hari kari. So the digital inputs work, but all of the analog inputs have very bizarre color artifacts. I'm hoping it holds out until Xmas when I'll buy myself a nice 1080p display and give the old one to my kids for their PS3.

Cheers,

This is coming to market in April.
http://www.xtrememac.com/audio/av_cables/switcher/

Nice find, Hullguy.

Hey all saloon customers - three cheers that the "full disc" problem has been fixed!

Hip, hip, hooray!

And it looks like the move to a new server (which I'm guessing was done to more permanently fix the "full disc" problem) has us on a faster box now. The forum's running pretty darn quick at the moment...