Home HDMI vs. Component – What's The Difference?

HDMI vs. Component – What's The Difference?

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So the PS3 came out boasting about its integrated HDMI port and waving it in the face of the Xbox 360. The PS3 could display the better picture because of this HDMI port, well that is what we were lead to believe.

Now Microsoft has come around and decided that it also wants to wave its HDMI port in everyone’s face and has now started incorporating the port in all of its models… So great they are now even and now that the dust has settled we can ask ourselves, what is HDMI and is it really better than component?

Well I guess it depends on who you ask but if I need answers about hardware then the only place that I go to is Tomshardware.

According to Tom.. (Okay fine Mark Raby but MarkRabys hardware doesn’t have the same ring to it).. where was I? Oh yeah there is a great article on Tomshardware comparing HDMI and Component and letting us know which is better.

In the end it does seem to be the case that component is actually better.. suprised? I was.. Anyway follow the link for the full article.

Introduction : HDMI vs. Component – What’s The Difference?

[Thanks to Ruslan for the tip]

Last Updated: September 18, 2007

12 Comments

  1. SlippyMadFrog

    September 18, 2007 at 10:45

    No doubt Sony knew this when they added HDMI. I wonder when will people start to realize that Sony LIED to them. HDMI = Component. 4D Graphics. 1080p @ 120fps.

    Reply

  2. abe

    September 18, 2007 at 11:02

    I dont know about this one.
    No where in that article does it say that Component is better, infact it could even be taken the other wat round.
    All it says is that price cutting can lead to crappy quality in digital products, but then again we all know not to buy the cheap stuff.
    I just think there has to be something more to HDMI, why would Microsoft spend extra cash on something that isnt worth it?

    Reply

  3. hilt_ctn

    September 18, 2007 at 11:10

    I think articles like that just serve to muddy the waters.

    Whilst I agree there’s no good reason to switch out your kit for the latest/greatest tech every 5 minutes ( your eyes and ears can only process so much and the rest is marketing gumf ) there will always be a couple of ” cool ” benefits. In HDMIs case, it’s audio and video in one. I dont know about you, but I could do with less cables to my amp. HDMI is going to be to the A/V world what USB is to PCs
    Less spaghetti

    Component or HDMI – who cares ? Do they do HD ? Yes. Cool

    Having said that, if it’s as plain jane as the article implies, why can the X360 only produce 1080i signals out of the component cable ? It requires the VGA cable or HDMI to do 1080P. Weird

    Reply

  4. LazySAGamer

    September 18, 2007 at 11:27

    @abe I took the component as being better as it didn’t degenerate over time or distance like the HDMI cable did…

    @hilt I fully agree that a single cable is much better, however it doesn’t improve the visual quality does it?

    Reply

  5. ocelot

    September 18, 2007 at 11:30

    I have a Xbox Elite, and trust me, HDMI looks better then component.

    Reply

  6. Ruslan

    September 18, 2007 at 12:11

    @all – MS simply did the SAME marketing trick that Sony has been brainwashing people by stating HDMI is da bomb and 1080p is “true HD”. Come on, any literate person can see the lies in those two statements blatantly being pursued by Sony as the holy grail.

    Anybody recall how VHS won the video war? Clever marketing, on paper Betamax is better but the public perception was turned thanks to clever marketing and the p0rn industry.

    Reply

  7. hilt_ctn

    September 18, 2007 at 12:15

    @Lazy

    Sadly there’s no right answer.

    Video doesn’t translate directly from source to display. So there’s always a conversion one way or another like the article says, and there’s always some scaling on the display side. So it’s going to depend on both your source and your display

    My rule of thumb – Trust your eyes ( and ears )

    Reply

  8. SlippyMadFrog

    September 18, 2007 at 12:51

    I think to what it comes down to is that there is no significant difference between HDMI and component. I think that microsoft is building it in because the general public THINKS that there is a difference.

    Reply

  9. baba

    September 18, 2007 at 13:54

    There is no direct comparison in picture quality in the article. It just explains the technical differences between HDMI and Component. I agree fully with hilt_ctn, it is very much dependant on your source and display.

    Reply

  10. Ben

    July 16, 2008 at 04:11

    because this is technological question! 😉

    [Edited] HDMI is a brand name in some countries so I think this guy is confused?

    Reply

  11. Ben

    July 16, 2008 at 04:16

    We are professional company at HDMI , any questions please contact with us! many thanks!

    [Edited] HDMI is a brand name in some countries so I think this guy is confused?

    Reply

  12. Ben

    July 16, 2008 at 09:08

    we sell HDMI cable

    Reply

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