Question about connecting my MBP to an HDTV

[andrew.bussman]

Sorry if this has been asked before but I've been all over the internet and haven't found the exact answer. I want to hook-up my MBP to my HDTV which I know has both an HDMI and VGA adapters on the back. So, if I got this right, I can either get a DVI-HDMI cable or use a DVI-VGA adapter with a VGA cable. My question is, however, is HDMI really that much better than VGA? In my TV's manual, it says that it displays a total resolution of 1366x768, so would getting an HDMI cable to connect to my computer really benefit? How would these two connections compare on my HDTV, which would look better? Thanks to anyone who can help clarify this!

P.S. My HDTV is a Samsung 32" LCD.

 

[chrisbeebops]

HDMI carries a digital signal, but VGA converts the digital signal to analogue before passing it to your television. HDMI would look better because it is a digital signal, but there usually isn't a *huge* difference. I mean... if you don't have a cable you might as well buy the more expensive cable (dvi->hdmi), but if you already have a dvi->vga cable (especially if it is a short cable...with analogue the distortion increases as cable length increases), then that will work fine you probably won't notice that big of a difference.

 

[andrew.bussman]

Thanks! I was wondering if the digital-analog conversion would make a difference. I guess I'll just spend the money and get a DVI-HDMI cable.

 

[TheStu]

Well, another consideration, and I am not sure how this would apply to your TV, but some displays let the computer handle color profiles and what not when it is being sent over the Digital. IF you, for example, hook up a LCD monitor over VGA, you can adjust the color on the monitor, but if you hook it up over the DVI, you really only get brightness and contrast controls, no color controls.

 

[Freyqq]

honestly, I don't notice a difference VGA vs DVI until you hit 1900x1200. Anything below is roughly the same.