Why would you run video through a processor?

So that you can control everything with your processor remote especially if you have more sources than inputs.

On screen menu's, internal HQ video scaler, convenience, ease of wires in walls, no noted signal degration....do I need to go on?
I am a purist and run direct wires but I can see why some circumstances other options would be better.

trick is to bypass the processor if you have better chips in your players or your display

biggest problem i have found with the in-processor chips is that they are global - one size fits all meaning that all of your sources are processed identically - obviously BluRay and DirectTV don't have the same needs.

Beyond that I totally agree with the other posters. Its just a lot more elegant way to cable your system. Run everything to the processor then one cable to the display. Can be a biggie if you have a long run from the sources to something like a ceiling mount projector.

Depends what kind of processor you are talking about... if you mean a HT processor, then maybe not... or maybe... depending on how good the chip is in the processor versus the source.

If you mean a video processor, then the answer is that it will most likely improve pretty much every signal you through at it (much better technology than what you will have in most sources or TV/projectors). I'm using my DVDO VP30 for all my processing (digital TV, DVD, HD recorder etc.) plus HDMI switching and extracting the digital signal as coaxial to my PRE/PRO. The improvement is obvious to anyone!