How Many HDMI Ports Does Your HDTV Have?

harryk asks: "Ok, this is a serious question and one I don't think has been covered, at least not with a quick glance in Google's direction. With all of the media center components that we'll all have in our entertainment racks, the biggest question that I have (actually my wife prompted me on this) is how many HDMI ports does your TV have? With the PS3, my HD-DVD player or up-convert DVD player, and my fancy schmancy new cable box or satellite receiver, how on earth will I connect all of them?"

Comments

zero

[inio]

Yep, zero. None. Nadda. Zip.

Re:zero

[fyngyrz]

Use component. HDMI enables HDCP and *that* isn't something you want to do.

HDMI doesn't give you anything hugely useful. It can incorporate audio into the same cable with the video, however, for most people who have separate surround systems, this is an inconvenience, rather than a feature. Digital audio needs to go to the surround system, while video, component preferably, goes to the display device. If you're using your display's built-in audio, you're almost certainly involved in a sub-par overall experience

Component, thus far, is the best of the best. Good (by which I mean just good... not stupidity like monster overkill) cables will give you excellent results. How do I know? Because I have a 22-foot diagonal display sourced from a 1080/1920 projection system. Component gives single pixel resolution without any trouble; that's awesome at that amount of detail.

Remember: HDMI is bad and supporting it is the last thing you would want to do. HDMI enables HDCP, and HDCP is a pond-scum mechanism for DRM / copy protection.

Two on TV, but devices can daisy chain

[linuxkrn]

Well my TV has two. However, many devices, the higher quality ones anyway, have in and out HDMI. For example, some receivers have HDMI switches built into them. Also my DVD player allows you to have HDMI in, and OUT. When the player is on, it shows DVD content, otherwise it goes into pass-through mode.

Zero.

[Grym]

And I plan to keep it that way... Is it really worth selling control of devices you own just for a slightly better display? Any minor (I would argue barely perceptable) gains you might get from upgrading from DVI or component video are completely outweighed by the DRM-potential of the HDMI port.

-Grym

There is a difference between luddism and boycott.

[plasmacutter]

Not a HDTV luddite like most slashdotters...

considering the D in HDTV might as well stand for DRM with the rediculous number of restrictions most people will have to deal with, most intelligent slashdotters are doing a hard thing for nerds, theyre boycotting them.

Already hundreds of thousands of early adopters have been burned because the so called "image constraint" or "down-rezzing" token will reduce their picture quality on most major HD media even though they were promised full resolution.

Even tv's which were promised as fully drm compatible by hollywood and their manufacturer lapdogs mere months ago are being relegated to this ever growing list of "noncompliant" hdtv's which will never really be allowed to display true HD content.

Considering the distinct possiblity that the standards will be changed again in another few months as they have been umpteen times in the past (as the DRM get's cracked before it's even fully off the shelf), the idea of laying out thousands for a supposed "HDTV" set seems less and less compelling.

Add to that the fact that each standards change will result in an increasingly huge maze of expensive and heterogenous cables and the likelihood that the license terms for any newer standards will require compliance with "broadcast flags", at least on cable and satellite, then youre basically paying them to ship off your convenience, time, and fair use rights wholesale.

The confusion, the continually shifting standards, the DRM.

If this were the real estate market, it would be like trying to sell a suburban new yorker a house on a bed of quicksand sitting next to a CAFO fecal lagoon.

It wouldnt matter how much more palacial the house was, or if it came with 3 dozen full time servants and a 50 acre garage of limos, it'll still reek of pig crap and it'll still be sinking into the earth.

DVI==HDMI

[Nazmun]

HDMI is basically dvi (you can get cheap direct adapters since it's pin compatible as well) with digital audio combined.

So it's not an upgrade in video quality from dvi, it's the same thing. As for drm, thats a bit more complicated.

Re:No line out???

[Bemopolis]

It's okay -- you can buy COPS on DVD now.

Bemopolis