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If the signal for a satellite or cable box is coming from a coaxial cable, doesn't that mean that the signal quality was already compromised? Will using an HDMI cable to go from the box to the television make a difference if the original signal is coming from a coaxial cable?
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That might be a wrong assumption on your part.
the analog cable signals are degraded when they travel to you.. slightly only.. dig boxes get a diffrent signal and can do CRC correction for the minor errors thus giving you a better picture...
but for the cable that goes from your box to tv if your using coax cable there is no loss of signal
(signal degrades after miles not inches)
If your using a HDTV you have no issues.. use hdmi
Through work i'm starting to learn a little about video. There is loss in coax at every connection from the satellite reciever(yes cable Tv companies use satellites)and signal distribution offices. So they use amplifiers to boost the signal to make up for this loss. Newer Tv's and satellite/cable boxes come with amps inside them to help with this loss too. There is also different qualities in coax related to shielding and core size.
Short runs as in your house are very low on signal degredation as Mementh siad, but doesn't mean you can't have a bad connection which will interfere with performance be it video or internet service. The HDMI cable simular to the component cable seperate the different colors and signals being sent from the converter(cable/satellite box), DVD player, and AVR if capable. So, hopefully there isn't much loss between your house and your initial signal, and if there isn't then there is no problem once it hits your source of conversion.
it seems everyone has went a little off base on this question.
it you use a coax cable from the wall to the cable box, the cable box is getting a digital 0s and 1s not the old analog stations you get without the cable box.
So once the cable has unpacked the digital signal and tranfered it to HD signal, the cable from the box to the TV makes all the diffrents, so you should use component video or HDMI and not Svideo, composite, or coax. any of these cable will turn HD back to standard analog.
good luck
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