I know there's component video... but we have optical digital audio why not digital video for home theater?!

[Stealth1024]

I was thinking about this when researching DVD players and many reviewers commented on the quality of the onboard decoding for component output vs. SVIDEO - well they all have optical digital audio outputs so why not just send digital video directly to a switching component (to handle audio and video) and then to the TV.

This would eliminate the need to purchase these $$$ monster cables to achieve the highest quality

 

[Maverick]

I think the reason it hasn't been done is because digital compression can result in a more noticeable loss of quality in video than it does in audio. Plus you'd need a lot more bits to encode video than you would for audio. That translates to something that won't give you too many gains for the price it would require.

 

[zephyrprime]

I've always wondered about this too. If anything, we'd need optical cables for video signals much more that we need it for audio since video is soooo much more bandwidth intense. Audio is so low bandwidth, I don't even know why they ever bothered with optical audio out when plain old copper would have sufficed for digital audio.

 

[Stealth1024]

I look at it this way... My notebook has a 1600by1200 pixel digital LCD progressive screen.... true its the wrong aspect ratio but you think you could pump enough bandwidth through a dedicated digital connection to make it worth while

 

[conjur]

Well, it may happen soon now that HDCP seems to be becoming an agreed upon standard by the Hollywood schmucks.

Mitsubishi already has sets with 1394 inputs but DirecTV and the new DISH HDTV receive will have DVI inputs to allow HDCP. Meaning, if the content provider so desires, no copy can be made at the HD resolution level (480p, at best...which sucks).