any use for HDMI (esp. audio?)

psychotic · 07-19-2008, 10:06 AM

I have an extra laptop that I plan on using for the carputer very soon. (I installed TinyXP BARE installation on it, which is XP SP3 with a bunch of reg. mods and *crap* cut out to make it run as fast as can be.
Anyways, the laptop has HDMI output and the HDMI can be used for audio only as well.... Is there any advantage to using the HDMI, or HDMI to DVI/VGA + Optical converters? They seem to cost at least $100, where the USB to optical devices are much less, and then it would be USB to optical + VGA.

any use for the hdmi? usb is digital too... so i'd assume there is not reason to use it, right?

warnockm · 07-19-2008, 12:10 PM

Unless your display accepts DVI-D inputs, no.

Most motherboards have SPDIF outputs on them, even if your case does not have port for it. You can hook a connector up to these pins to get an COAX output. An optical digital audio port uses the SPDIF signal and a +5v to run the LED, but the signal is the same.