This idea seems to be a little backwards from today's norm with all the fancy A/V receivers out there.
I have a Panasonic TC-P46S1 HDTV. Right now, I have an older audio amp that has no video inputs or outputs. I'm running my video connections from my HD Cable Box and DVD player to the TV, and my audio connections to the amp. When I switch inputs on the TV, I also must do the same on the amp. This is expected and seems to work alright, although it is a bit tedious.
I'm looking into getting a new A/V receiver soon (surround sound). What would be nice is when I switch inputs on the TV, the sound would switch with it. I thought that I could use the Digital Audio Out connection (optical) from the TV to a receiver. That would solve the issue of having to switch both the TV and receiver from input to input. It would also allow me to shop for a receiver model with less video bells and whistles, such as upscaling and switching... the TV does that more reliably anyway, and it may also save me money.
My question lies with the Digital Audio Out from the TV. The manual says that any ATSC channel's sound is output as Dolby Digital. However, if that signal is fed from the TV into a receiver that decodes multiple digital audio formats, will my idea work? Or will I be limited to Dolby Digital?
Does this make any sense? If so, what are your thoughts?
The TV does not make as good a switch as a modern AV receiver. Even the very least expensive ones. Ideally you plug everything into the receiver and run one HDMI to the TV. That way inputs are selected only on the receiver. The problem with using the TV as the switch is that devices like an old VCR or anything connected via analog audio won't feed out of the optical and there are also delay problems with many formats.