Hook ups and consloe set up

[pureevil]

I have a sony kdl40ex403u

1.What are the best connects for my consoles to this tv?

2.Is there a way of connecting all my consoles at once?(like a scart box or someting)

3.also is there a tv stand or unit anyone would reomend?I will either stack all my consoles beside tv or put in unit underneath.

also I am from uk

[lordofduct]

well your tv seems to have:

4 HDMI
1 VGA
1 Component
1 Composite
1 RF (coax/cable)
2 SCART


Depending the console you have different 'best' options.

old consoles (before Dreamcast) - most old consoles support RGB SCART. Except Nintendo who was gimpy on the video outputs usually... you can find SCART cables, but they're usually pinned to composite video... video quality would then be comparable to Composite.

Dreamcast - VGA... best picture you can get. And it's NICE. Not all games are supported, in which case you have the grace of being in the UK where you get RGB SCART.

Xbox, Gamecube, PS2 - Component and VGA... though the VGA support is weird sometimes.

Wii - component

PS3 Xbox360 - HDMI... unless you have the older 360, then it's VGA.



As for hooking all up at once.

SCART switch boxes will work for all the older consoles just fine with minimal video loss.

Component switch boxes I've felt suck most of the time.

HDMI switch boxes pretty much don't exist, and those that do are complete FAIL.

A/V Receiver - a quality A/V receiver is my personal suggestion. A quality A/V receiver offers up tons of inputs, upscaling, and remote switching. They also power speakers.

Video Receiver - they actually make devices like A/V receivers for only video... but they're expensive as all hell... and considering A/V receivers can easily hit 1000 dollars and even more... that says a lot.



Personally I use the Marantz SR7001:


It's an older model (have had it a few years). It's beautiful and powers all my consoles and my computer hooked to awesome surround sound and a 50 inch HDTV. It offers all the inputs, upscales, and outputs to 1080p HDMI. It even handles HDCP.

[pureevil]

Thanks for that alot of good info there.

[D.D.D.]

Personally I use the Marantz SR7001:


It's an older model (have had it a few years). It's beautiful and powers all my consoles and my computer hooked to awesome surround sound and a 50 inch HDTV. It offers all the inputs, upscales, and outputs to 1080p HDMI. It even handles HDCP.

Curious, how do you find your older consoles perform (lag-wise) when being run through a receiver with up-scaling? I've always thought that would be a good idea to get especially when those XBR3(??) up-scalers run a lot as well, you might as well get a good receiver with upscaling.

[lordofduct]

I did forget to mention that with the A/V receivers and upscaling. I forgot about it because I have no problem with it on my receiver as I went for a high end receiver that upscales very quickly with minimal lag.

But yes the lower end receivers with upscalers can come with some majour delay issues which can hurt you in your twitch action games.

If you go for a lower end receiver of course you can output your digital and highend devices on the upscaled signal, but output the older stuff on an output that isn't scaled. Most A/V receivers will have a couple of different outputs and support more then one monitor (usually not simultaneously though).

[D.D.D.]

I did forget to mention that with the A/V receivers and upscaling. I forgot about it because I have no problem with it on my receiver as I went for a high end receiver that upscales very quickly with minimal lag.

But yes the lower end receivers with upscalers can come with some majour delay issues which can hurt you in your twitch action games.

If you go for a lower end receiver of course you can output your digital and highend devices on the upscaled signal, but output the older stuff on an output that isn't scaled. Most A/V receivers will have a couple of different outputs and support more then one monitor (usually not simultaneously though).

The Amazon link for your Marantz is sold out. How much did you spend on it? $1k?

[lordofduct]

Oh god, I don't remember actually... yeah it was up there around that.

Just looked at the latest SR700# (the 7005, the last digit is the revision of that series model)... man it's getting really nice! But 1600 USD... and the lower model ones just don't meet the analogue video demands (actually none of them have anything below component, where as the SR7005 has all types of inputs).

Funny thing, in the latest podcast we kind of joke about this very subject and how a huge article on the topic has been in the works for like 3 years about it.

I will say I have an older 'Pioneer Elite VSX-52TX' receiver I'd be willing to offload... it's very nice and I used it up until I got my Marantz about 3 years ago. Since it has just sat in my closet. I'd be willing to offload it on the cheap, but the shipping would probably be quite a bit... and it doesn't have HDMI.

[D.D.D.]

Okay. I was kinda expecting it to be around that much. At least it's reassuring to know that a proper receiver can do what an XBR thingy can do just as well.
Thanks for the offer but shipping would just kill the price advantage.

[ChuChu Flamingo]

I sure hope those SCART inputs are true RGB and not composite. Sometimes only one is RGB.

In any case, to get the best quality out of vintage video game systems, you need a XRGB 3/DVDO Edge. To be blunt, the scaling in HDTVs is mediocre at best.

The best thing about these upscalers is that they reduce input lag to the lowest it can be for any given TV. Another advantage with the DVDO Edge is that it can be used to deinterlace/upscale your DVDs. This in effect produces a better picture for DVDs than letting your TV/DVD player deinterlace.

[lordofduct]

our discussion included the XRGB, but I wouldn't say you 'need' the XRGB. As I outlined a receiver can do it with minimal lag.