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Anonymous | I have questions about hooking up my newly purchased Sony Plasma and the rest of my system. Here is what I have: 42" Plasma HD Cable Box Surround Sound Receiver 5 Disc CD/DVD Player DVD Recorder Center Speaker, Left & Right Front Speakers, Left & Right Rear Spreaker and Subwoofer. Here is what I was going to do, any problems with this? (haven't done it yet as I'm waiting for my TV Stand to come in the mail). 1. Connect HD Cable Box to TV using Component or S-Video(?) cable 2. Connect Both DVD Players' Video cables to TV (or should these go to the receiver?) 3. Connect Both DVD Players' Audio cables to Receiver (one has optical audio cable) 4. Connect Audio cables from TV to Surround Sound Receiver 5. Connect speakers & Sub to receiver Is any of this wrong? Am I forgetting some basic stuff? Thanks to anybody who can shed some light. |
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Anonymous | ok, so i understand that messages like mine get ignored. I've spent a lot of time perusing the boards here, and have some better ideas about what to do. I seem to be reading some conflicting things though relating to the cable box and where it should be hooked up to. my question is this: the cable from the wall goes to the HD cable box. From there, do I connect the HD cable box to the TV or to my DVD recorder (or both?)? I have: 1. HD Cable Box 2. HDTV 3. DVD Recorder 4. DVD Player 5. Surround Receiver any help? |
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Anonymous | First look for any DVI or HDMI on the TV and the cable box. If both have either DVI or HDMI - a DVI/HDMI would be 1st choice. For example top boxes from Comcast (eg. MOTOROLA hi def TUNER/dvrs) currently would have a DVI output, which then might connect to an an HDMI set or maybe a DVI, on an HDTV For sound, generally if doable, optical from cable box to receiver w/b first choice, then use rca's if necessary for additional connections As a 2nd choice and common choice (which usually works fine)is a component cable run from the cable box to the HDTV. Apparently you have a 720p Plasma i.e true hi def - meaning you want to make absolutely sure that with this main cable run the set tests out with full absolutely sharp hi def. Now with an EDTV plasma same idea however you would make sure you at least hit the 480p standard Most important thing is to get one clean HI DEF (or highest possible) run as the center point for the hookup The rest w/b mostly dependent upon precise hookups each box has and that may involve some trial and error that take some time, and perhaps a switching box The recorder setup (sub Hi DEF anyways) w/b dependent upon what additional outputs from the cable box are remaining, what level of sound quality you are looking for, whether you want to get addl switches etc and normally would be via the s and rca hookups Speakers and sub w/b standard hookup, seperate from the home theater side of the equation |
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ISH Unregistered guest | thanks for your response anonymous (this is the author of the first two posts). It sounds like the main goal is to get a good video signal from HD cable box to the TV - HDMI/DVI preferrable but component video cables fine. And on the audio side, an optical cable from the cable box to the optical in on the back of the receiver. What about this - I was planning on running an optical cable from DVD Player to receiver, and from the TV to the receiver. But you're saying it's better do the second one from the cable box to the receiver, instead of TV to receiver? |
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ISH Unregistered guest | thanks for your response anonymous (this is the author of the first two posts). It sounds like the main goal is to get a good video signal from HD cable box to the TV - HDMI/DVI preferrable but component video cables fine. And on the audio side, an optical cable from the cable box to the optical in on the back of the receiver. What about this - I was planning on running an optical cable from DVD Player to receiver, and from the TV to the receiver. But you're saying it's better do the second one from the cable box to the receiver, instead of TV to receiver? |
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Unregistered guest | Your TV most likely does not have an optical connection. Your HD cable box and DVD player are outputting digital feeds, not your TV, so you want to the digital connections to be between these sources and your receiver, so your receiver can process them. In general, you don't need any audio connections to your TV, unless you plan on using your TV speakers. |
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ISH Unregistered guest | Nathan, thank you very much, very helpful. this stuff isn't that hard but everytime i set up some new stuff every couple years, i'm baffled yet again. on the HD cable box (which i'm getting this weekend), is it correct to say that a coaxial cable will come from the wall into the cable box, and that I connect component video cables from the cable box to the back of the TV, and then connect an optical audio cable from the cable box to the receiver's optical in? instead of a video connection from the cable box to the TV, can you instead do cable box to receiver, and then have a video connection from the receivers monitor out to the back of the TV? |
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Unregistered guest | ISH, You are exactly correct. Most people avoid routing the component video through the receiver, because that means you need two cables rather than one. However, it's not such a bad idea if you have two sources with component out (e.g. DVD and HD cable) in which case you may need to use your receiver's video switching, since most TVs only have one component input. |
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ISH Unregistered guest | Nathan, Luckily my new TV does have two component inputs, so do you recommend running component video from the DVD and HD Cable to the back of the TV, and then run the audio from each to the receiver? I guess my confusion lies in the fact that both my TV and my receiver have 2 component video inputs. If i'm understanding correctly, i can ignore the component inputs on the receiver and go straight to the TV from the HD Cable and DVD. |
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Unregistered guest | It depends on whether you want to switch video with your TV or with your receiver. I prefer letting the receiver do it, when possible. That way, you only have to change the input on your receiver when you change sources, rather than having to switch both your receiver and TV. Of course, if you do that, that means you need another component cable (monitor out from the receiver to your TV). In your case, unless your receiver upconverts everything to component, I would just run both cables separately to the TV. If your receiver upconverts everything to component, then that means you could run a single component cable to your TV (no s-video, no composite) and let your receiver do all the switching. |
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ISH Unregistered guest | thanks again for your guidance, you've been most helpful. I hooked it all up last night, and everything is working. I went directly to the TV from the cable box and DVD player, and am just running audio to the receiver. As you said, though, this means I have to hit TV/Video on the TV's remote AND change the input on the receiver's remote, but I don't mind too much. I'm looking forward to getting my HD box tomorrow, for now I'm just using my regular digital cable box and an S-video cable, and needless to say, the picture on the TV isn't all that great. I'm hoping (expecting) that once i hook up the HD box with component cables the picture on the TV will get much better (and of course the HD channels should come in in HD). |
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Silver Member Username: DirtfarmerAlberta Canada Post Number: 285 Registered: May-04 | Message Board: Home Theater: Home Theater Setup & Planning: The ultimate theatre setup guide Use this link to go directly to the discussion: https://www.ecoustics.com/electronics/forum/home-theater/113395.html https://www.ecoustics.com/electronics/forum/home-theater/113395.html |
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Unregistered guest | So I just got my new HDTV and the TV has an HDMI conncetion and also has a DVI input. Unfortunately, my HDTV cable box only supports component video. Do I have any options, or do I just use the component video and wait for cheapo adelphia to buy better boxes? |
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Unregistered guest | So I just got my new HDTV and the TV has an HDMI connection and also has a DVI input. Unfortunately, my HDTV cable box only supports component video. Do I have any options, or do I just use the component video and wait for cheapo Adelphia to buy better boxes? |