I've read in a few places on the ecoustics forum that components should be hooked up directly to the TV, instead of routed through the receiver then the TV. The supposed reason behind this is that a direct connection won't degrade the video signal vs running the cables through the receiver then TV. Is this reasoning true or is this another load of crap from the ecoustics board?

The standard response is that it depends on the receiver and the viewer. Personally, for s-video I can't see any difference between them.

Hook 'em up and check!

On a related note - does the "Up conversion" featured in some receivers (that takes a composite signal, S-Video, etc. and allows it to be fed to the TV via a set of component cables) really work?

Is it just a pass-through mechanism, or does it actually "upgrade" the signal?

Anybody?

And I've wondered the same thing - hooking up my components directly to their source always seemed like the best thing to do from a quality standpoint, but it sure makes life easy when your receiver does all the video and audio switching for you. I'd love to hear some input on this.

The video upconversion doesn't make the picture any better. It just allows you to use the receiver as a central switching point. Say you've got 2 devices with S-Video and one with component. But you're TV only has one component and 1 S-Video. The upconversion will allow you to connect the receiver's component out to the TV and convert the S-Video sources to component to go to the TV.

I run everything through my recevier. I feel it's a lot easier to click "DVD" on the receiver, then to have to change the TV and the receiver. I have enough power switches to turn everything on, I want to save a click somewhere.

Adrien and Steve, at least there's a tiny bit of factual basis behind the direct to TV argument; there is a slight additional signal strength loss in going through the receiver. It's too small to be concerned about however, and the convenience factor outweighs it in my view. As David described, the "upconverting" can't possibly increase the quality of the original signal, but is, again, a convenience factor which allows the use of just one type of connection from the receiver to the TV.