Quote:
On your second point, I agree not everyone's TV has enough jacks, but its not as if there aren't other solutions. Take my TV for instance (new 40" Sony Bravia flat panel). It just has one HDMI port, and some of the newer HD DVD players (or blue-ray) only have HDMI, so let them use the HDMI, and then let your STB use the component digital. I compared the component to the HDMI on my STB, and i couldnt tell the difference.
Given a choice, I'd rather use component (supporting 720p and 1080i) but have a direct link, than to have 2 cables making a continuous link for the HDMI connection. One cable is always better than 2. Shorter cables are always better than unnecessarily long ones, etc.
I find it odd that you're all spun up about not switching a signal, but you don't have a problem using component and choose to miss out on the benefits of an all-digital signal path. It seems to me that the using component instead of HDMI would have a greater visual impact than that of a properly switched signal. I dunno.