Questions on digital TV, and connectors

[Skybird]

After my old TV broke down, I had to dive into the matter of LCD and digital TV, and learned that I misunderstood some things. I have now ordered digital TV via settop box, which hopefully will arrive before x-mas (though I believe it when I see it), and I decided for a 26" Samsung TV, which in the store seemed to produce a reasonable picture with digital input, and was available at Amazon for just 420 bucks instead of over 600 (800 in April). That are the two nice things, the bad thing is that the sound will not be great with that model, I read. I will use external boxes, or eventually the HiFi I have, then. At least the TV will arrive before x-mas.

Questions:

Now, if I get it right, the settop box provided by the cable company will not have HDMI connectors anyway, so it is attached via SCART, to a SCART connector on the TV.

1a.) Do I win anything if theoretically I connect the settop box and the TV with HDMI cable?

1b.) could I even replace the delivered free box with a bought box that features HDMI connections? I ordered only the public program package, and should have no additional encrypted pay-TV stuff. even this packages provides me with 60+ programs and 67 radio stations.

1c.) I am not sure if my impression is right that HDMI is aiming at HDTV only, which is not present in germany and has a uncertain launching date, it could last another 10 years before they get their things together (digital TV becomes mandatory in 2010, when the last analogue signals will be switched off in Germany). Could non-HDTV pictures take any benefits from being delivered via HDMI? And makes HDTV any sense at all with a display of relatively small size (26", I sit just 2 m away and do not want a monster in my room anyway).

Now, DVD players. My current one was a cheap Panasonic player (I love Panasonic for VHS and DVD). It has no HDMI, only SCART and YPxyz.

2a.) But considering I would replace it with a new player (DVD, not BlueRay) - would I get any advantage from conecting it via HDMI to that 26" display?

2b.) Am I right when thinking that currently, SCART connection is better than that YPxyz connection via cinch connectors?

And finally, VHS. As an owner of a huge collection of VHS cassettes, over 200, many with two films, Tv recordings of precious little gems that you cannot buy on DVD, my heart of course is bleeding. I understand that I need to expect a loss in picture quality (but I have no idea of how much), since VHS recorded only every second picture line, because old CRT TVs displayed only every second line, and in the next cycle the lines in betwee, displaying only half pictures in famous "interlaced" mode. Since a LCD shows all lines, it interpolates the missing 50% of picture information, and thus there is a loss.

3a.) Is there anything I can do to improve that picture quality, or to compensate for that loss of information? any kind of special link, a magic hightech gadget set up between TV and VHS? Or am I domed to just stick to a regular SCART connection, and live with it?

3b.) Would I gain anything when using a S-Video cable, or something different?

And then two general questions on the LCD Tv itself.

4a.) I downloaded the manual in advance and read that it should be protected from temperatures above 40°C, and that there is an option that it automtically switches off after 3 hours as a precautionary measure. That is a joke, right? You watch the director's cut of LOTR, that gives you close of 4 hours a session. and then you think you damage the TV if not cutting the final hour off and have a break for 20 minutes?

4b.) How much a problem is standstill pictures melting into the screen? they mention there is a risk if pictures are paused in standstill either at high contrast and brightness levels, or when pausing for over 2 hours (hahaha). What is common sense advise here? Is there any special sensitivity of the gear I should be aware of and that affects normal, ordinary every day use?

Thank you in advance. You see, I am novice with these things. Just connecting the TV sound to the HiFi via Cinch I can do without asking. Or is there a better way to do it?

My old CRT TV, 4:3 55cm, it costed 600 DM/300 Euro, had goot, solid stereo tone, good picture that never made me feel that I was missing anything, whatever, and lasted for around 15 years. I wonder when I will buy my next TV now. 8 Years? 5 Years? LCD displays are said to have a much shorter longevity. Seen that way, and considering the growing complexity of setups and sensitivity of standards and formats, and the copy protection debate, and the shrinking options to record Tv programs like you did with VHS, one must wonder if this socalled progress really is worth to be called progress. 15 Years back you unpacked your TV set it up somewhere, let the stations autosort, and adjusted brighteness, contrast, and maybe the sound, and you were done. Today you read a 70 pages manual, and navigate through menues and dozens of menues to adjust thousands of options an dmake sure that inout formats matches output formats - pretty much the same feeling like playing a complex flight simulator on approach. I do not feel satisfied at all, and yesterday evening, after all was done and ordered, even felt angry. "Progress" imo is something different. I feel more like being trapped inside a moving spiral. I get additional superficial "effects", sure, but I understand progress to be a gain in living quality. And that is what I miss in in all the excursion so far. Regarding my VHS collection, I have more loss than gain currently.

P.S. On a side note: I asked about digital TV and HDTV in four stores and department stores, and got four different "theories" as reply. They either do not know for sure themselves, or self-interest makes some of them telling BS. I feel confirmed in never to trust salesmen, but as far as possible inform myself in advance, then go into a store, order a specific type by model, no matter what, and not depending on asking questions or belioeving them anything at all.