Some simple HD questions
 

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So I've got the new Canon Xh A1s and a new suped up computer on order and being shipped to my house in the next week but I have a few HD questions regarding HD editing and graphics.

1st, is it possible to capture and edit (with CS4 Premiere Pro) without having an HD monitor or HD graphics card? The computer on order comes with the Integrated NVIDIA® GeForce® 7050 graphics, I'm usure if it has an HDMI output slot. (I will eventually aquire those soon)

2nd, if my graphics card does not have HDMI. can anyone recommend an affordable HD graphics card that will do the job but not be too outrageously expensive?

3rd, If I'm using a standard VGA monitor, the HD will still be there even though you don't see it right? Sorry, HD is a new world for me as I'm sure it was for all of you at one time.

Thanks much!

You don't need an HD monitor to edit unless you specifically want that. So your standard LCD monitor will be fine, although I would recommend either a wide screen monitor or two standard monitors side-by-side. Makes moving around in the NLE a lot easier.

As far as your graphics card goes, try it out before you worry about it not being good enough.

You don't need an expensive video card to edit HD. Something that has a resolution to that matches 1920 X 1080 is nice if you buy a widescreen LCD monitor that displays at that resolution. Look at the Radeon 2400 HD, I can't give it a recommendation at this point, I have one, but haven't worked with it yet--has an HDMI output.

Don't worry to much about the graphics cards the main strain is going to be CPU power and RAM for HD so if you are on a budget make sure they are top of your list.
You don't need HDMi either unless you are planning to output direct to your HD TV. If your graphics card has a DVI output you can buy a DVI to HDMI converter.

So is it correct that HDMI and DVI both have the exact same quality visually? I noticed that a lot of monitors have DVI as opposed to HDMI inputs.

The primary difference between DVI and HDMI is that DVI is video only. HDMI can carry sound signals as well. The other difference is the connector form factor.