Recently bought a Sammy LCD TV with an HDMI cable. When I hooked up the HDMI, the picture was great, but I could not get any audio, either through the stereo speakers hooked up through my reciever or through the TV itself. Any ideas. DOes the optical audio connection come into play?
Yes Adam HDMI does carry both audio and video. You DO NOT need rca cables. What may be needed is to turn on the digital out puts on both the cable box and DVD player. HDMI is digital.
I am running an HDMI cable from the TV to the cable box. My stereo receiver does not have an HDMI connection. ANy idea what the optical audio connection does? Maybe I need to use this.
Ok, here's what you need to do. If you want sound from your tv, then you need to check the setup/menu options for the tv and cable box. You'll need to enable HDMI audio on both the tv and cable box, most of the time these options are turned off by default. Secondly, if you want audio through your receiver then you need to run either analog or digital audio (the optical connection you've been asking about) cable from your cable box to your receiver.
You'll notice audio out connections for your tv, those will not work with the HDMI in connections from your cable box. I haven't seen a tv yet that will take an HDMI in connection and output the sound to a receiver. The audio out connections on your tv is for running an antenna or cable-card.
So to recap, check the options on the tv and cable box for HDMI audio, then run a digital optical cable from your cable box directly to your receiver. You may have to assign the optical connection to the correct input on your receiver (i.e. assign the "optical 1" to the "tv" input on your receiver)
"You'll need to enable HDMI audio on both the tv and cable box"....I looked on both my TV and cable box menus. What settings do I need to be on the look out for? On my cable box, there is the choice of either 2-channel or dolby digital options. On my TV, there is basically teh same choice. Am I missing something?
I have a Samsung LNS4051D 40" LCD TV and a Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8300 DVR cable box. I have a Sony stero reciever that is about 8 years old, not sure what model.
With your cable box and tv turned on, grab your cable box remote and press "settings" twice to pull up the menu. There should be an option for using HDMI audio I believe. If it doesn't work, just use the optical cable to your receiver for sound.
I couldn't find that option on my cable box. I guess I'll just try the optical audio cable form the cable box to the receiver. In your opinion, does n HDMI connection make the video appreciably better, to the point where it is worth me buying an optical audion cable?
only you can decide if the HDMI cable is worth it. Your cable box probably came with component video cables, try hooking up both and then switching back and forth and see if you can tell a difference. As far as audio goes, you shouldn't see a difference between the sound in optical cables and HDMI cables for your cable box.
Kuku certainly has the right moniker. HDMI carries both audio and video signals. Either a cable malfunction or a tv malfunction (always a distinct possiblility with Samsung), or both, assuming you have correctly connected.
Hmmm...Guess I am S.O.L. Seems like this whole HDMI deal is not even worth it for me at this point. The component cables look just fine w/o the hasssle. If anyone has any other suggestions, please share.
The SA 8300 HD-DVR should have an option for HDMI audio. To access it, press Settings twice to get into General Settings, then arrow down twice to Audio:Digital Out. You should be able to choose from Dolby Digital, HDMI, or Other.
If you don't see the HDMI option, call your cable provider & let them know that this needs to be escalated to the engineering dept. You may need to have the firmware updated on your box, or a setting may need to be changed in your provider's DNCS system.