Example Setups

Here’s where the fun begins! Having covered the various stages of signal conversion, now we need to tie all of your sources together along with the black boxes and processors into one cohesive system. While it’s not possible to illustrate every possible signal combination, hopefully the below will give you a good idea on how all of these signals are tied together.

Some setups will require an RGBHV switching system. There are many high-grade RGBHV switchers out there, Inline and Extron are two very popular companies that make reliable units that are available cheaply on eBay. Sony and NEC make some modular switchers that will accept some of the component and DVI/HDMI cards that fit right into these switchers. Finding a switcher or other RGB modules with the correct input configuration is usually the trick, as production of the NEC and Sony switchers has been discontinued.

HDMI switchers are being used more and more. There are many brands and options that exist. Monoprice.com has been known to make good inexpensive ($50) switchers with multiple inputs and IR remote switching.

When in doubt, keep your setup simple.  Do you really need to watch those old VHS tapes on the big screen?  By limiting yourself to HD capable sources you can greatly simplify your setup as a scaler isn't needed (see figure 4 on the previous page). Whenever possible, use the built-in scaler and HDMI output found on cable/satellite HD boxes, upscaling DVD players, or HD-DVD / Blu-ray players! 

Example 1

With this example, we’re running all of the Video and S-Video sources through an older line doubler or scaler that cannot process an HD signal. A single HD component source is being run to a transcoder, then the output of the transcoder is being through the RGB pass-through port of the scaler (not all doublers and scalers have a passthrough port). The signal switching is all done by the scaler, and a single RGBHV line is run to the projector:

Pros:

• Keeps your old scaler so that you can use the older Game Console and VHS.

Cons:

• Old non-HD DVD player must be kept as the HD Disc player (Blu-ray or HD-DVD) will not upscale standard DVDs over component.

• HD Disc player will cease to function past 540p over component if ever the movie studios start to use the ICT flag on Blu-ray/HD-DVD discs, rendering the player useless on anything other than the HDMI output.

• The best quality source (HD Disc player) has extra analog cabling/switching/transcoder which may reduce image quality.

Example 2

Here we’re doing the same thing as example 1, but the doubler/scaler does not have an RGB passthrough port, so we’re using an external switcher to switch between the RGB source from the scaler and the RGB output of the transcoder.

Pros:

• Keeps your old scaler so that you can use the older Game Console and VHS.

Cons:

• Old non-HD DVD player must be kept as the HD Disc player (Blu-ray or HD-DVD) will not upscale standard DVDs over component.

• HD Disc player will cease to function past 540p over component if ever the movie studios start to use the ICT flag on Blu-ray/HD-DVD discs, rendering the player useless on anything other than the HDMI output.

• The best quality source (HD Disc player) has extra analog cabling/switching/transcoder which may reduce image quality.

• Added complexity over Example 1 by adding an external switch.

Example 3

Instead of the transcoder to convert the component signal to RGBHV, we’ve used an external HDMI to RGBHV box instead:

Pros:

• Keeps your old scaler so that you can use the older Game Console and VHS.

• The HD disc source (Blu-ray player) will upscale standard DVDs (the non-HD DVD player is not needed).

• The HD disc source (Blu-ray player) will continue to work past 540p if ever the movie studios start to use the ICT flag on Blu-ray/HD-DVD discs.

• The best quality source (Blu-ray player) has less analog cabling and image processing/conversion providing better image quality than using analog outputs.

Cons:

• Somewhat complex.

Example 4

Here we’ve added a third RGBHV source, a standard computer, that also needs to be connected to the projector. The RGBHV switcher now needs to accept 3 inputs instead of two in the examples above. Surfing the net and playing PC games is so much more fun when being viewed on a large screen!

Pros:

• Keeps your old scaler/line doubler so that you can use the older Game Console and VHS.

• The HD disc source (Blu-ray player) will upscale standard DVDs so the Non-HD DVD player is actually not needed.

• The HD disc source (Blu-ray player) will continue to work past 540p if ever the movie studios start to use the ICT flag on Blu-ray/HD-DVD discs.

• The best quality source (Blu-ray player) has less analog cabling and image processing/conversion providing better image quality than using analog outputs.

• An HTPC/Computer is added and the best image quality possible is kept.

Cons:

• Somewhat complex.

Example 5

Here we have multiple component sources that are being switched through an A/V receiver. The output of the receiver goes to an external transcoder, the output of the transcoder goes to the projector. Note that this example eliminates all video and Svideo sources, as the transcoder can only accept component signals.

Pros:

• Likely keeps your existing receiver.

• Less complex than some other setups.

Cons:

• You can't watch standard DVDs any higher than 480p as the Blu-ray and HD-DVD players will not upscale standard DVDs over component.

• HD-DVD and Blu-ray disc players will cease to function past 540p over component if ever the movie studios start to use the ICT flag on Blu-ray/HD-DVD discs, rendering the player useless on anything other than the HDMI output.

• All sources have extra analog cabling/switching/transcoding which may reduce image quality.

Example 6

We’ve now added the line doubler/scaler back in for the video and Svideo sources, the A/V switcher is being used to switch the component signals, and an external RGB A/B switch is being used to select between the output of the transcoder and the doubler/scaler

Pros:

• Keeps your existing receiver.

• Keeps your old scaler/line doubler so that you can use the older Game Console and VHS.

Cons:

• You can't watch standard DVDs any higher than 480p as the Blu-ray and HD-DVD players will not upscale standard DVDs over component.

• HD-DVD and Blu-ray disc players will cease to function past 540p over component if ever the movie studios start to use the ICT flag on Blu-ray/HD-DVD discs, rendering the player useless on anything other than the HDMI output.

• The best quality sources (HD-DVD, Xbox360, Cable Box) have extra cabling/switching/transcoder which may reduce image quality.

Example 7

When a projector has more than one input slot for RGB use, you can use the internal switching of the projector to select between two RGB sources. Here we’re feeding one RGB input with the output of a scaler, and the other input is being used by the output of the transcoder:

Pros:

• Keeps your existing receiver.

• Keeps your old scaler/line doubler so that you can use the older Game Console and VHS.

• One less switch than Example 6.

Cons:

• You can't watch standard DVDs any higher than 480p as the Blu-ray and HD-DVD players will not upscale standard DVDs over component.

• HD-DVD and Blu-ray disc players will cease to function past 540p over component if ever the movie studios start to use the ICT flag on Blu-ray/HD-DVD discs, rendering the player useless on anything other than the HDMI output.

• The best quality sources (HD-DVD, Xbox360, Cable Box) have extra cabling/switching/transcoder which may reduce image quality.

• Two sets of cables required to the projector.

Example 8

Similar to example 7, but here we’re using the HDMI input card that plugs right into a projector slot. You’ll use the projector remote to select between the HDMI and RGBHV signals:

Pros:

• Old analog 480i sources do not impede the quality of the newer digital sources.

• The HD disc source (Playstation 3) will upscale standard DVDs (a non-HD DVD player is not needed).

• The HD disc source (Playstation 3) will continue to work past 540p if ever the movie studios start to use the ICT flag on Blu-ray discs.

• The digital sources (HD cable box, Playstation 3, Xbox360) have the least amount of analog cabling possible and no image processing/conversion, providing the absolute best possible image quality.

Cons:

• Two sets of cables required to the projector.

Example 9

OK, this is about as complex as it gets. Here we are switching several component inputs via an A/V receiver, we’re feeding the output of that to a transcoder. A computer is running to an RGB switcher along with the output of a scaler and the output of a transcoder. The RGB switcher is a modular one which has a couple of HDMI cards installed in it. The output of the switcher is running to the projector.

Pros:

• Older analog sources are kept.

• The HD disc source (HD-DVD player, Playstation 3) will upscale standard DVDs (a non-HD DVD player is not actually needed).

• The HD disc source (HD-DVD player, Playstation 3) will continue to work past 540p if ever the movie studios start to use the ICT flag on Blu-ray discs.

Cons:

• Complex.

Example 10

Wait, this could be more complicated! Actually, it only appears more complex than the last configuration. Here, we are using a matrix switcher, which affords several benefits in certain system configurations. First, with an external transcoder, we can mix both component and RGB sources on the same switcher without multiple input cards as in a modular switcher. Second, depending on the sources, we can route the same or different sources to different displays. It seems complicated, but actually simplifies some systems somewhat and can be very powerful.

For instance, the projector could be switched to view the Playstation 3 to watch a Blu-Ray movie, while the CRT monitor could be switched to one of the HD Tivo’s for scheduling recordings - at the same time. Or, you could cue up a demo sequence on one of the HD Tivos using the small monitor while the viewers were watching something on HD-DVD or Blue-ray on the Playstation 3.

Pros:

• The HD disc source (Playstation 3, HD-DVD) will upscale standard DVDs (a non-HD DVD player is not needed).

• The HD disc source (Playstation 3, HD-DVD) will continue to work past 540p if ever the movie studios start to use the ICT flag on Blu-ray discs.

• Very flexible, more sources can be added and configured as needed.

Cons:

• You need an Engineering degree to use this setup or even figure out the cabling. :)

Still confused?  Post a question on our forum and the hundreds of Home Theater experts or Curt himself will most certainly chime in to help you out!

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