Upscaling AV receiver question

Vonhelmet · 1 Feb 2012 at 00:31

Hello...

I'm eyeing up some AV gear - Blu Ray player, AV receiver, 5.1 speakers.

I'm comparing various receivers, and wondering what happens if I try to pass a low res source (component from the Wii or composite from a VCR!) through an AV receiver and out via HDMI if that receiver doesn't support upscaling. Does that work? Is the expectation that if you're sending component in then you have to use component to get a signal out again?

The reason I ask is that one thing I would like is to just put all my AV signals into the receiver and then send one HDMI cable to bind them all out to the TV, so that I can then manage input selection purely from the amp. The alternative is to have, say, all the HDMI going into the amp and the component going straight into the TV, which is do-able, but is a first world problem grade inconvenience. It also means that I'm potentially spending extra money on nothing, if I wind up with component in and component out, although in fairness any amp that supports component (I'm eyeing the Onkyo HTS3405, for example) is almost certainly going to be better in other ways than one without (i.e. the Yamaha YHT196).

So... If I put a low res source into a receiver can I get it out via HDMI if it doesn't support upscaling or does that not work?

realBabelfish · 1 Feb 2012 at 09:32

i thought most amps do upscaling now. mine can even do 4k upscaling if i ever want to drop £20k on a 4k TV!

if you get a proper AVR and not one of those all in one solutions you would be better off. even if you buy 2nd hand rather than new if you are on a low budget.

most AVRs do 1080p upscaling as standard these days.

i would imagine you would still get video out even without upscaling, it would just pass through the video signal.

Vonhelmet · 1 Feb 2012 at 12:49

Reading up on it a bit more, it seems there is a difference between upscaling and upconversion. Going from component to HDMI means going analog to digital, and not all AVRs do that.

I suppose it will come down to my budget, and how important I decide it is!

realBabelfish · 1 Feb 2012 at 13:14

Vonhelmet said:
Reading up on it a bit more, it seems there is a difference between upscaling and upconversion. Going from component to HDMI means going analog to digital, and not all AVRs do that.

I suppose it will come down to my budget, and how important I decide it is!

how many devices do you use that arent HDMI? i dont have anything without HDMI these days. even my bridge camera has minihdmi.

if you have a wii, it will look terrible whatever you do

lucid · 1 Feb 2012 at 13:16

realBabelfish said:
most AVRs do 1080p upscaling as standard these days.

i would imagine you would still get video out even without upscaling, it would just pass through the video signal.

No. Mid range AVRs do (£400+) but below that you can't take it for granted.

Basic AVRs just pass the signal as is. So Component in means you neef a component out to the TV otherwise you won't see a signal. Higher priced models will cross convert analogue e.g. composite in to component out. They won't convert analogue to digital out on HDMI though. Above them come the scaling amps wher everything comes out via HDMI.

Vonhelmet · 1 Feb 2012 at 13:51

lucid said:
No. Mid range AVRs do (£400+) but below that you can't take it for granted.

Basic AVRs just pass the signal as is. So Component in means you neef a component out to the TV otherwise you won't see a signal. Higher priced models will cross convert analogue e.g. composite in to component out. They won't convert analogue to digital out on HDMI though. Above them come the scaling amps wher everything comes out via HDMI.

Thanks, that confirms what I was reading on the 'net.

It sounds like I'll still have to put up with a bit of spaghetti for my non-HDMI sources, and then just decide whether I can be bothered with sending the video bit of my component signal in and out of the AVR or whether I just pass it straight up to the TV and take just the audio over to the AVR.

realBabelfish · 1 Feb 2012 at 14:42

lucid said:
No. Mid range AVRs do (£400+) but below that you can't take it for granted.

Basic AVRs just pass the signal as is. So Component in means you neef a component out to the TV otherwise you won't see a signal. Higher priced models will cross convert analogue e.g. composite in to component out. They won't convert analogue to digital out on HDMI though. Above them come the scaling amps wher everything comes out via HDMI.

fair enough. i guess its been a while since i used a cheaper AVR

lucid · 1 Feb 2012 at 14:48

Prior to HDMI coming along I hardly bothered with video via the AV system. I had dual wiring: video & audio direct to the TV so it could be used as normal, then a second set of cables for audio only to the AV system.

Now signals are trapped in HDMI that's not as easy to do, so HDMI pass-through becomes s useful feature.

realBabelfish · 1 Feb 2012 at 16:05

lucid said:
Prior to HDMI coming along I hardly bothered with video via the AV system. I had dual wiring: video & audio direct to the TV so it could be used as normal, then a second set of cables for audio only to the AV system.

Now signals are trapped in HDMI that's not as easy to do, so HDMI pass-through becomes s useful feature.

agreed. my yammy didnt have hdmi (it was when hdmi was just coming out) and i just used opticals to the amp and no video.

i dont like how i cant seem to split audio and video now. i used to like watching footy with music on sometimes or playing a dvd and listening to music etc.