2 questions about setting up HT

[Eric Z]

Hi, all- long time no see. I hope all is well.

Thinking about setting up my HT this way:
*HDMI from cable box to HDTV (video)
*HDMI from DVD to HDTV (video)
*Optical/coax from cable to receiver (audio)
*Optical/coax from DVD to receiver (audio)
*red/white analog from cable and DVD straight to TV so I can have sound without receiver on

1. Do I need the analog cables from cable box and DVD player to get sound only from TV, or does the HDMI take care of that for me?

2. Would I get my receiver on screen display this way or would I need to have video (component) run through my receiver and then component from receiver to TV (since my receiver doesn't have HDMI)? Or can I just run a different video from receiver to TV for on screen display to work?

If there's a better way I should be hooking everything up, please enlighten me- any input is greatly appreciated.

Thanks, guys!
Eric

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

Hi, all- long time no see. I hope all is well.

Thinking about setting up my HT this way:
*HDMI from cable box to HDTV (video)
*HDMI from DVD to HDTV (video)
*Optical/coax from cable to receiver (audio)
*Optical/coax from DVD to receiver (audio)
*red/white analog from cable and DVD straight to TV so I can have sound without receiver on

1. Do I need the analog cables from cable box and DVD player to get sound only from TV, or does the HDMI take care of that for me?

2. Would I get my receiver on screen display this way or would I need to have video (component) run through my receiver and then component from receiver to TV (since my receiver doesn't have HDMI)? Or can I just run a different video from receiver to TV for on screen display to work?

If there's a better way I should be hooking everything up, please enlighten me- any input is greatly appreciated.

Thanks, guys!
Eric

Its seems to me that with a non HDMI receiver, this is the only way to hookup your setup.

[elapsed]

I'd recommend cabling as follows:

1. CABLE HDMI OUTPUT ====> TV HDMI INPUT
2. CABLE DIGITAL AUDIO OUTPUT ====> AVR DIGITAL AUDIO INPUT
3. DVD HDMI OUTPUT ====> TV HDMI INPUT
4. DVD DIGITAL AUDIO OUTPUT ====> AVR DIGITAL AUDIO INPUT
5. AVR COMPONENT OUTPUT ====> TV COMPONENT INPUT

Under most circumstances the TV will be able to decode audio via HDMI, so there should be no need for analog cables.

For the receiver's on-screen display you'll need to connect video from the receiver to the TV

Cheers

[bobsticks]

Hey Eric Z,

Just a word of caution. Many playback units and receivers have overrides for digital connections over analog ones. It may (or may not) be that you'll have to unplug the coax to get the analog to function. Just a thought to consider if you get everything plugged up and get silence from your DVD straight to the TV.

Peace

[pixelthis]

Hi, all- long time no see. I hope all is well.

Thinking about setting up my HT this way:
*HDMI from cable box to HDTV (video)
*HDMI from DVD to HDTV (video)
*Optical/coax from cable to receiver (audio)
*Optical/coax from DVD to receiver (audio)
*red/white analog from cable and DVD straight to TV so I can have sound without receiver on

1. Do I need the analog cables from cable box and DVD player to get sound only from TV, or does the HDMI take care of that for me?

2. Would I get my receiver on screen display this way or would I need to have video (component) run through my receiver and then component from receiver to TV (since my receiver doesn't have HDMI)? Or can I just run a different video from receiver to TV for on screen display to work?

If there's a better way I should be hooking everything up, please enlighten me- any input is greatly appreciated.

Thanks, guys!
Eric

This is the way mine is hooked up.
And no you dont need the analog cable, the sound will come over your HDMI quite nicely.
Just leave the sound turned down when the HT is on:1:

[Eric Z]

fantastic. thanks, guys!

[GMichael]

This is the way mine is hooked up.
And no you dont need the analog cable, the sound will come over your HDMI quite nicely.
Just leave the sound turned down when the HT is on:1:

Yup. Ditto.

[Eric Z]

what's a fair price on a 6 ft hdmi cable? i see wide ranges of prices. a website or store some people prefer over another?

[L.J.]

I like Bluejeanscable. I purchased all my HDMI, sub and speaker cable here. Nice quality for a really decent price.

http://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/dvi/index.htm

[GMichael]

what's a fair price on a 6 ft hdmi cable? i see wide ranges of prices. a website or store some people prefer over another?

This one for $4.79 is all you should ever need. http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10240&cs_id=1024004&p_id=2412&seq=1&format=2

If you inssist on spending extra, this one is $15.44. http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=102&cp_id=10240&cs_id=1024002&p_id=2219&seq=1&format=2

To me, spending any more would be a waste of money.

[Eric Z]

cool. thanks for the links, guys! can't beat $5!

GM, nice favorite thread link- funny!

[pixelthis]

cool. thanks for the links, guys! can't beat $5!

GM, nice favorite thread link- funny!

I got one from there for 25$, great cable.
Spend the extra if you have it:1:

[Eric Z]

glad i found this old thread. my ht set up hasn't been hooked up for a while. i went ahead and hooked it up today and have a couple questions:

1. i have component cables from my receiver to tv for my on screen display. these go into input 1 so i only see my on screen display when on input 1 on my tv. it's a pain because i would like to have the on screen display when i'm watching regular tv or a dvd. it is set up in my original post in this thread. is there a way i can set up my cables from my receiver to my tv o i can see the on screen display when watching tv or dvd?

2. when my blu ray is on, the sound does not come through my receiver when i'm watching tv (cable). it's like the blu ray connection is overriding my cable connection. odd. is this just something i have to deal with or is there a different way i can set it up?

any input is appreciated. thanks. ez

[Mr Peabody]

I 2nd using at least the Bluejeans HDMI.

My question would be why is the Blu-ray on while watching anything else?

Your DVD and cable box video can be connected to the receiver for video/audio simultaneous switching. Use component from cable box to receiver, especially if you have HD channels. The cable most likely is only broadcasting 1080i at best, component will pass this fine. If you have enough component inputs do the same with the DVD player. You can still use the same digital audio hook ups from each. That way when watching a DVD or cable, video will go through the receiver and out to the TV and your on screen should over lay the picture you are watching. Well that is if your background color setting is transparent. If it's blue or some other color you may just see the on screen info but still hear the sound of the program.

I'm really not sure why the Blu-ray would have priority unless it's something like Bobsticks mentioned or the receiver has some priority programmed in where the input you are using with the blu ray has highest priority.

[Eric Z]

thanks, peabody! the blu-ray usually isn't on when watching anything else but was just wondering it might work that way. it's not a big concern for me- more curious about it.

about the osd: it makes sense that there has to be video passed through the receiver and since my avr doesn't take hdmi, component is my best bet. i'll just have to get my hands on another component cable- i might have one in my basement i can use. what do you mean by video/audio simultaneous switching?

i do have hd channels and you're right about them being broadcast in 1080i or 720p. what about my blu-ray? would component pass a 1080p signal?

thanks!
ez

[Mr Peabody]

Component does not do 1080p.

Let's say you have a input on your receiver named "cable", so you plug the audio and the video from the cable box to that input. Or, sometimes the selector may say "cable" but you will have to assign the digital input and component input you used for the cable box to "cable". Then when you switch to it or from it both the audio and the video is together, hence, simultaneously.

Receivers have so many inputs now, you may have digital 1 thru 6, if you plug the digital out of your cable box into "digital 1" and the component into "video 3", you may have to go into the receiver's set up, select "cable" and then highlight "digital 1" and "video 3" so that those are recognized when you select "cable" with the remote.

I hope I explained that alright. My old processor was like I described, my new one is all HDMI so I didn't have to worry about assigning.

[Eric Z]

yep, makes sense. thanks! looks like it if want osd with my blu-ray and 1080p, i'm out of luck- no big deal as osd isn't used all the time- generally only with setup for me. i might just play around and connect the component cables from my cable/dvr and go from there.

thanks again.

[Mr Peabody]

You might compare the two connections from Blu-ray to see if you notice that much difference between 1080p & 1080i.