High Definition TV wiring question

[Doc Holliday]

My question is that i'm wondering if i should connect my audio digital cable between my HD receiver to my surround sound system, or from the HD tv to the surround sound system instead? I've been told that my Dolby audio would be better if i plug the cable directly from the receiver to the surround sound system. However, i switched things around last night & plugged my tv to my sound system instead & find that the sound is better.

I also noticed something strange, which hasn't been explained to me yet by my technician, who's as baffled as i was. I was listening to the Country Music Awards on an HD channel this past Sunday evening. When i opened my sound system, i lost the audio. Only when i shut off my sound system (and got the audio from my tv instead) did i have any sound. I switched channels to see if i'd have the same problem with other channels showing the awards show, and got the same results. No audio when i'd be using the sound system, and would only get it from my tv once i'd shut off the sound system. At the time, my digital audio cable was connected from the HD receiver to the sound system, bypassing the tv (as recommended by various technicians a few weeks ago).

Finally, one last question: My technician recommended i use component cables (Red/Green/Blue) when i connected my receiver to my tv. He told me i'd be making a big mistake if i used an HDMI cable instead, adding that they got rid of that type of connection in all of their tv's that they had on display in their store when they realized the component cables gave a much better picture. I tried to look it up & came to the conclusion that there is no definite answer to this. Some tv's work better with component cables over HDMI, others don't. It depends on your equipment. Any thoughts?

 

[Techman]

Digital Home Forum...

This is one of the best places I know of to go for home theater information. You should be able to get all your questions answered there.

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/

The one thing that I will say is that if your technician recommends using component over HDMI, you should get a new technician. For one thing, component is not HDCP compliant. This means that you will not be able to play Blu-ray discs or other HDCP protected content at 1080P definition using component connections. While it may not make a significant difference on cable, satellite or OTA programming which in Canada is broadcast at 720p or 1080i, you will notice the difference if you have a screen larger than 52" and sit closer than 12 feet or so and are watching Blu-ray or other digital content at 1080p. Component is also an analog signal while HDMI is digital.


Oh yeah...never waste money on Monster Cable products. Probably the biggest scam in existence today.

 

[johnmbot]

Only when i shut off my sound system (and got the audio from my tv instead) did i have any sound.

this confuses me... how did you get audio thru your tv if the audio from your hd receiver is connected to your sound system? what is feeding the audio from the hd receiver to the tv?

do you currently have component video cables going from the hd receiver to a tv input AND the coaxial cable going from the hd receiver to the "antenna in" on your tv?

did your audio problem only happen with that show? what about all the other channels?

 

[Doc Holliday]

The one thing that I will say is that if your technician recommends using component over HDMI, you should get a new technician. For one thing, component is not HDCP compliant. This means that you will not be able to play Blu-ray discs or other HDCP protected content at 1080P definition using component connections.

My tech only recommended the component cables for the HD receiver-to-the-tv hookup. I do have an HDMI cable going from my home theatre system (with blu-ray) to my tv. When i asked him why i wasn't better off using an HDMI connection from the receiver to the tv, he told me that in all of their tv's in stock (Panasonic & Sony), the tv's picture looked better with the component cables. He did add that you can't get 1080p with the satellite, so it didn't matter as much.

 

[Doc Holliday]

never waste money on Monster Cable products. Probably the biggest scam in existence today.

Quite true. One of the biggest scams indeed. Here's a good website i found that deals with this scam:

The Rip

 

[Doc Holliday]

this confuses me... how did you get audio thru your tv if the audio from your hd receiver is connected to your sound system? what is feeding the audio from the hd receiver to the tv?

do you currently have component video cables going from the hd receiver to a tv input AND the coaxial cable going from the hd receiver to the "antenna in" on your tv?

did your audio problem only happen with that show? what about all the other channels?

I have a digital audio cable running from my receiver to my home theatre system. I also have composite audio cables running from that same receiver, going to my audio in inputs on my tv.

My audio problem only happened with that particular show. Every other single channel that wasn't broadcasting the CMA's was fine. At first, i thought maybe the problem was with one channel. So i tuned to other channels showing the CMA's and they all had the same problem: no audio could be heard if i tried listening to them with my home theatre system. In other words, no digital audio available. i'd only get audio when i'd turn off my home theatre & i'd get the audio directly from the tv. My tech told me yesterday i probably would have had audio if i would have used the digital audio cable going from my tv to my home theatre system, instead of having it go from my receiver to my system. He's probably correct, but it still doesn't tell me why i couldn't get any audio from that particular broadcast. It totally baffled him also.

 

[Techman]

My tech only recommended the component cables for the HD receiver-to-the-tv hookup. I do have an HDMI cable going from my home theatre system (with blu-ray) to my tv. When i asked him why i wasn't better off using an HDMI connection from the receiver to the tv, he told me that in all of their tv's in stock (Panasonic & Sony), the tv's picture looked better with the component cables. He did add that you can't get 1080p with the satellite, so it didn't matter as much.

In general it should be almost impossible to tell the difference between a component or HDMI connection unless there is a problem with the signal itself. I prefer to stick with digital when my incoming signal is also digital in nature.

By the way, I watched the CMA awards and I had no problems at all with the sound. It was almost as good as the hot country babes on the show. Amazing how much classier the county female singers are when you compare them to the typical rock or rap babe on the American Music Awards, Grammys or other award shows. I don't think I saw even one lady with a tattoo and I found that so refreshing!

 

[Doc Holliday]

In general it should be almost impossible to tell the difference between a component or HDMI connection unless there is a problem with the signal itself. I prefer to stick with digital when my incoming signal is also digital in nature.

Prior to the game tonight, i decided to do a test. I unplugged the HDMI cable on my XBox 360 & plugged it into my receiver. Well, to my surprise, i find the picture clearer than with the component cables. I'm also getting digital audio going into my tv (via the HDMI cable), meaning i'm probably sending digital audio to my home theatre system with the digital audio cable coming out of my tv's digital audio output. So, i've decided to stick with the HDMI cable.

By the way, i totally agree with your comments in regards to the young women of country music.

p.s. Did you see Puerto Rican singer Demi Nova on DWTS last night? Woo-woo-woo!!!!! Did you also see Chelsea's boob pop out of her outfit when she danced the encore at the start of the show? Hillarious!!

 

[Techman]

It makes sense that you would get a better image using HDMI from an X-Box because you're dealing with a digital signal so using a digital cable with a digital receiver at the other end will give you the best result. The problem with cable or satellite signals is that they are all compressed to one degree or another so even if they're digital signals, they aren't the same quality as from an X-Box, PS3 or a Blu-ray player.

PS: I just checked out DWTS, I downloaded it in 720p, on my new monitor and I think that Demi Nova should change her name to SUPER Nova! I find the new season is turning out better than I expected and Nicole is much hotter than I ever realized from her Pussycat Dolls career.