I purchased a Toshiba SD4980 DVD player and hooked it up to my Hitachi with component cables. The DVD won't upconvert when I'm using component cables so the signal remains 480i to the TV correct? The TV has 480i/480p, 720p/1080i settings. Which setting on the TV would produce the best picture?

Also I would like to mention that the Hitachi has a DVI input but it will be connected to the Star Choice box that I'm picking up this weekend. I assumed that the I would use the DVI connection to the *C box which would be used the most versus the DVD player. In your opinion would using the DVI connection benefit me more with the *c box or the DVD player?

The TV probably doesn't have any options for HD inputs - converting them to 1080i. This is the case with all consumer HDTVs - converting incoming HD to one native format . For 480i/p signals, you MAY have a 540P or 1080i option on this TV, but I've typically found 1080i to be better.

Yes, you need HDMI (or DVI) to upconvert with most DVD players, however, I don't believe the 4980 is an upconverting player - only progressive scan. A proper setup of the player should send signals as 480P to the TV over component video cables.


On this TV, as is the case with many, the DVI connection may not have any benefit at all.

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=17873 (See point 2)


Please check out the following thread:

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=57741

The 4980 is an upconverting DVD player and the settings can be changed from the unit or the remote. Because I'm currently using component cables the upconverting feature does not work but the signal received from the player as displayed on the TV is 480i not 480p.

So if I switched over the connections to DVI I benefit from the upconverting feature. So if the TV sees a 1080i signal do I set the TV to 1080i as well?

Sorry about that. When I searched the web the search page "highlights" mentioned progressive scan, but I should have clicked one of the links to see it was upconverting.

In that case you should use the HDMI/DVI connection for the DVD player in order to take advantage of the upconversion capability and use the component video connection for the *C STB.

As mentioned previously, for incoming 720P/1080i signals, you won't be able to "select" anything on the TV.