HDMI vs S-Video

Tonite I was using an S-Video cable to play a game on my t.v. Overall performance was extremely poor. I was only able to use 1024x720 resolution or for some reason I could only see part of the screen. Text was blurry and unreadable. I'm waiting on my new laptop (in my sig) and I was really hoping to be able to use the display/HDMI port to play games on my LCD tv. Will I be able to do so using full resolution on my t.v.? If any of you do this can you tell me what the performance is like?

 

u can only get a true 1080p signal from an HDMI source. u shouldn't have any problems at all if u are connectin yur TV and laptop via HDMI.

 

Thanks I guess S-Video is just too old to work how I want it to. I'm hoping to use my tv essentially as an external for gaming while I'm home.

 

Hold your horses........... the M15x (the new one you ordered/just came out) only has a vga out and display port out. I hope your tv has a display port connect as well as you have a display port cable if you plan on using that. HDMI and display port are two different things... I was considering buying one but Alienware messed this one up by not having HDMI.... you COULD use an adapter that changes the display port to HDMI, not sure if the audio would go through. Just another thing you would have to buy... the M17x has a native HMDI port... you should have considered this as it is only ~3pounds heavier and 1.5inches bigger chassis wise.
The M15x is a great laptop don't get me wrong.... the look and power for its size. I was waiting for it and they decided not to put a native hdmi port. Just thought you should know since you were considering HDMI.

Edit: Also, if you get the displayport to hdmi adapter you are taking a gamble with picture quality as well as sound comming through (since hdmi also outputs audio in same cable). Displayport should be on par with picture quality, just not sure how it would translate though an adapter/dongle (like you would get display port quality fed though an hdmi cable).

 

From what I've read and what I understand display port actually supports a higher resolution then HDMI (1200p vs. 1080p) so I cant see an adapter lessening the video quality past 1080p. The only issue you touched on that could be a concern from some is the sound thing. I have verified that Display port DOES support sound in most desktops, although the adapter may or may not suppport sound depending on which one you buy. Some people say its a software thing and others say its hardware we will have to wait and see. As far as picture quality goes if you use a decent adapter ($25-$75 online) all the reviews of Dsply port adapters I read say there is no noticable loss in visual quality. The sound thing may be a deal breaker for some but for me not really a concern. The shipping weight on my package is 18lbs so I'd love to see that adapter in the box when I open it on monday

 

I guess everything you've read didn't include the first entry on Google when you search HDMI, Wikipedia, which lists resolutions well over 1080p as supported. What you probably read was things on HDTV standards which do not go over 1080p. HDMI 1.0 and 1.2 supported a max of WUXGA (1920X1200), but 1.3a supports up to WQXGA (2560X1600). In addition, that is only over single link connections, and HDMI has dual link capability. Also, as the page for DisplayPort points out, the video signals of HDMI/DVI and DisplayPort are incompatable, so unless your computer has an output mode that allows the DisplayPort to output an HDMI encoded signal using the DisplayPort as a simple passthrough to an in-line adapter (which it probably doesn't, as one main reason mfgers go with DisplayPort is to aviod paying HDMI licensing fees), any conversion requires some form of transcoding, which is probably why your adapter is 18 pounds.

 

My adapter isnt 18lbs thats the whole weight of the box my laptop is coming in.... I have a hard time believing the display port wont work with a HDMI adapter. Show me a display port on a computer released recently that doesn't. If it didn't work why would they even make adapters.

Additionally the reason alienware prob didnt have both display port and HDMI is a space saving issue. If they had only HDMI there is no forward compatability to Display Port but it works the other way around.

 

whethte you like it or not, Having a $2000 dollar modern laptop without HDMI is shocking... good thing my laptop has HDMI... good res out and trouble free (meaning i don't need seperate audio and video cables...

 

The pass through adapter on dells site says audio/video Im going to order one and we'll see in a couple days if this works. Looks like it would be a ripoff to order it from the dell though might try to find the same one somewhere else.

 

First:
"The video signal is not compatible with DVI or HDMI, but a DisplayPort connector can pass these signals through."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DisplayPort

Second:
It will work as a passthrough for an HDMI-formatted signal, but the video signal that is used by the DisplayPort standard is fundementally incompatable with HDMI, as noted above. Support for HDMI format output is an optional portion of the DisplayPort spec, but given that Dell sells the inline adapters themselves, it would have to be supremely shady of them to not support that.

Third:
Dell supports DisplayPort because it is an open standard that has no licensing fees. Every device they put an HDMI port on costs them 4 cents they wouldn't have to pay otherwise. It's not a space issue, it's a money issue.

Fourth:
Saying that it isn't "forwards compatable" implies some technical superiority of DisplayPort. However, even DisplayPort proponents say that DisplayPort is a compliment or competetor, not successor, to HDMI. They support the same resolutions and color depths, but use different signal formatting. They also use different content protection schemes, and given the wide implementation of HDCP, I'd say that HDMI has a significant edge on DisplayPort. The one edge that DisplayPort has is that it is an open standard with no licensing fees/requirements.

Fifth:
Even if the HDMI-formatted signal is not supported by your device, the signal can still be adapted for HDMI, it would just require something akin to transcoding, which would likely require an external device, not just a dongle or in-line pin-out converter of some sort.

 

Its obvious that text will not be very sharp but S-Video works fine. He just does not have it set correctly.

 

S-vid is an analog standard developed around (at least in the US) NTSC SDTV signals. If your computer is trying to cram data down the pipe to get the 640X480 resolution up to 1024X720, my guess is that your TV is just doing what it is supposed to do and reading the part of the screen you aren't seeing as timing data. Try running at 640X480 and see if you still are missing parts of the screen.

Your instinct was right to try to go to HDMI or DisplayPort for a higher res signal though. I'm pretty sure s-vid just can't do what you ask.

 

Yeah i agree with the previous posters.... hdmi has royalties that have to be paid. Dell is trying to push displayport on newer chassis. Again, alienware really missed on this on an otherwise great looking and functioning laptop.
In the end you shouldn't be worried if dells backs the dongle/adapter they sell.......... worst case scenario, you return it.

 

hdmi will destroy s video in quality lol

 

S-video is obsolete... its the HDMI generation now..

 

Ok sirmetman assuming the display port on the model does support HDMI formatted signal do they not have to pay royalties for the signal just the physical HDMI port?

 

Looks like they only have to pay for physical devices. So my guess is that you are paying somewhere between 4 cents and 25 cents extra for the displayport>HDMI adapter for licensing fees. Same goes for the cable and monitor. But yeah, I guess unless it actually has a physical jack, they don't do licensing fees on it.