Cabling confusion

[shepsan]

Good morning . . .

I have cabled my system as follows:

HDMI cable from Cox HDSTB to HDTV.
Audio Digital Optical Cable from STB to Home Theater A/V Receiver.

HDMI cable from DVD Player to HDTV.
Audio Digital Optical Cable from DVD Player to Home Theater A/V Receiver.

Component Video cable from DVD/CD 5-disc Changer to HDTV.
Audio Coaxial cable from DVD/CD Changer to Home Theater Receiver.

S Video cable from Home Theater A/V Receiver to HDTV (in order to display A/V receiver setup menu and functions).

I have not cabled any video from units to A/V receiver input ports.


My confusion is, the cabling instructions listed in my Pioneer VSX-82TXS A/V Receiver manual shows video cables should be strung from the STB and DVD player to the A/V receiver and then from the A/V receiver to the HDTV.

Questions, why put the A/V receiver between those units and the HDTV? Don’t I obtain a greater quality video by going directly from the STB and the DVD player to the HDTV?

Secondly, am I missing something I should have by not inputing video to the A/V Receiver?

 

[TLS Guy]

Good morning . . .

I have cabled my system as follows:

HDMI cable from Cox HDSTB to HDTV.
Audio Digital Optical Cable from STB to Home Theater A/V Receiver.

HDMI cable from DVD Player to HDTV.
Audio Digital Optical Cable from DVD Player to Home Theater A/V Receiver.

Component Video cable from DVD/CD 5-disc Changer to HDTV.
Audio Coaxial cable from DVD/CD Changer to Home Theater Receiver.

S Video cable from Home Theater A/V Receiver to HDTV (in order to display A/V receiver setup menu and functions).

I have not cabled any video from units to A/V receiver input ports.


My confusion is, the cabling instructions listed in my Pioneer VSX-82TXS A/V Receiver manual shows video cables should be strung from the STB and DVD player to the A/V receiver and then from the A/V receiver to the HDTV.

Questions, why put the A/V receiver between those units and the HDTV? Don’t I obtain a greater quality video by going directly from the STB and the DVD player to the HDTV?

Secondly, am I missing something I should have by not inputing video to the A/V Receiver?

It is usual to make the receiver the control center and have one HDMI cable go to the TV. That way audio and video switch together. It ends up being a neater simpler set up with less cables. HDMI is a digital (audio and video) interface and you quality will not degrade. Also you can see whether the TV or the receiver does the best job of upscaling. I think the Pioneer wiring plan is the best one, and is the usual arrangement. It is simpler and neater also, and will make for better reliability.

 

[Davemcc]

Questions, why put the A/V receiver between those units and the HDTV? Don’t I obtain a greater quality video by going directly from the STB and the DVD player to the HDTV?

Secondly, am I missing something I should have by not inputing video to the A/V Receiver?

A/V switching in the receiver is mostly a matter of convenience. If all audio and video runs to the receiver, then you only have to change the source on the receiver and the TV video switches simultaneously. The way you have it set up, you have to change both the TV source and the receiver source to change devices.

The best you can hope for when using a receiver for video switching is that is does not harm to the signal. The Audioholics Review of your receiver indicates that it may have some trouble converting signals, but does fine in straight pass through. If you're fine with the way your system is set up now, you are not missing anything at all. But ig you want to get the convenience of one button switching, you can try rerouting the components through the receiver.

 

[shepsan]

I thank both of you for your responses. I appreciate the i information you have provided.

 

[shepsan]

Gentlemen, based on your comments, I recabled my system. Now, everything works through the A/V receiver flawlessly. Best of all, I now use less cables than before.

Thanks to you both, it is a much easier setup to control.

 

[flexodude]

No HDMI on receiver

My Yamaha has no HDMI input so I'm forced to send video to Plasma, audio to receiver. The only down side is to remember to turn the volume down on the Plasma when using Yamaha receiver, but not a big problem with my Harmony Remote.

I've read that you won't see a huge PQ difference using component, but the Panasonic th-50pz85u only has 2 component inputs, and I have 3 devices using component that need to be plugged in.

This forces me into using at least one HDMI input, which will be for the HD-PVR cable box.

Its to bad HDMI carries the audio source with it as well but it could come in handy if I want to set up the Harmony to watch TV only with built in speaker, and avoid using the 5.1 home theater.

 

[mouettus]

Its to bad HDMI carries the audio source with it as well but it could come in handy if I want to set up the Harmony to watch TV only with built in speaker, and avoid using the 5.1 home theater.

Too bad? That's kind of the whole point of HDMI. Carrying audio and video in the same cable. Supposed to be a better solution because of the cable's bandwidth.