Is my system set up right?

[ENFORCER99]

Im not great with all this stuff but im working on it and i've read a bunch of threads with a little confusion still. Asuming HDMI is the best way to connect hardware together? I recently purchased a 1080p samsung LCD, this has 3 HDMI in, A Panasonic home theater PT760 this has 1 HDMI out, A Ps3 which also has 1 out and my Comcast HD cable box with 1 HDMI out. would this mean the best way is buy 3 HDMI cables and hook one from each component back to the TV??? I read about people also needed the optical cable, why would i need to buy that also if HDMI carries sound/video. the tv,ps3,and cable box have 1 optical out, the home theater has 1 optical in.. maybe im supposed to buy 3 opticals and 3 HDMI?? All help is appreciated

 

[phlakvest]

Does your TV have an optical output? Most newer ones do.

Assuming it does. If I were you I would run everything HDMI to the TV like you described. Then run the optical from the TV to the input on the PT760.
That way you can listen to all your devices throught he better speakers.

If the TV outputs 5.1 and the PT760 will accept 5.1 over optical. I wouldn't worry about the HDMI from the PT760, use the ps3 as your dvd player.

 

[Adam]

Welcome to the forum!

phlakvest has good advice. I would just want for you (or us) to check if your TV will output multi-channel audio over the optical output when you are playing a source connected to an HDMI input. Some TVs will only output two-channel stereo over the optical output when playing an HDMI source.

Which model of Samsung TV do you have?

 

[ENFORCER99]

the tv has a digital optical out and the model is Samsung LN37A550p3f

so if does this mean i running HDMI from the home theater to the TV is useless, because running the digital optical to the tv from it is better?

 

[Pyrrho]

Im not great with all this stuff but im working on it and i've read a bunch of threads with a little confusion still. Asuming HDMI is the best way to connect hardware together? I recently purchased a 1080p samsung LCD, this has 3 HDMI in, A Panasonic home theater PT760 this has 1 HDMI out, A Ps3 which also has 1 out and my Comcast HD cable box with 1 HDMI out. would this mean the best way is buy 3 HDMI cables and hook one from each component back to the TV??? I read about people also needed the optical cable, why would i need to buy that also if HDMI carries sound/video. the tv,ps3,and cable box have 1 optical out, the home theater has 1 optical in.. maybe im supposed to buy 3 opticals and 3 HDMI?? All help is appreciated

How many HDMI inputs are there on the Panasonic home theater? If it has two (or more) HDMI inputs, I would plug the sources into the home theater and plug the home theater into the TV via HDMI. If you also watch TV broadcasts with your TV, you would want to hook up the digital output of the TV to the home theater, but otherwise, that would be unnecessary.

It is usually a good idea to hook up all of the audio sources directly to the home theater, because many TVs will not output all of the audio formats that one might want to input via HDMI. Most TVs that I have encountered will convert any such inputs (that they can handle) to 2 channel sound only for its digital output, even if it properly will output DD 5.1 from broadcasts. Check your manual for your TV.

 

[ENFORCER99]

the home theater only has 1 HDMI out

the home theater accepts 5.1 and so does the TV so if im understanding this i wont need a hdmi to run between them just a digital optical?

 

[Pyrrho]

the home theater only has 1 HDMI out

the home theater accepts 5.1 and so does the TV so if im understanding this i wont need a hdmi to run between them just a digital optical?

I just looked at the manual for your home theater. It has very few inputs, which surprised me. So with that, you will probably be best off hooking up the Panasonic, the PS3, and the Comcast box all to the TV with HDMI, and use an optical digital output on the TV to connect to the Panasonic home theater. Whether you will be able to get DD 5.1 from either the Comcast or PS3 is hard to say; I have not looked at the manual for your TV. But it is doubtful, and almost certain that you will not get dts or any other format multichannel sound from the PS3. To do that, you would need to get an optical digital switch box, and then you could hook up the sound from every source to the Panasonic home theater.

For HDMI cables, as well as an optical cable, you might want to buy from a place where you can get something without being overcharged. Here are a couple of possibilities for that:

http://www.monoprice.com/

http://www.partsexpress.com/

You can spend too much at one of them, too, but both offer some cables at reasonable prices. I bought my HDMI cables from the second, but that was before finding out about the first of these. You do not need expensive cables; they are a total waste of money. Just get certified ones (see links above), and you should be fine.