What path should I take?

[Liz]

Help with routing A/V component connections

Hello.

Need advice on what to connect where for best quality. I have a DVI-D single link cable, component cables, digital optical and coax cables, and tons of analogs. Will buy whatever else is recommended.

1 - Sony plasma with component, S-video, and DVI-D
2 - Comcast digital cable box with DVI-D, S-video, and digital optical (I receive HD channels, all FIVE of them!)
3 - Panasonic DVD recorder with component and S-video
4 - JVC Hi-Fi VCR/DVD player with component, S-video, and digital optical
5 - Onkyo 6.1 home theater with component, digital optical/coax, S-video

My question is, at which point do I start, and from there in what order do I link them, and with which cable?

Note: The VCR will be used for playback only of the occasional tape and the DVD recorder will be for playback and recording from TV. I don't plan on doing any copying between tapes and DVDs.

TIA, and if there's more info you need, let me know.

Liz, in sunny California

 

[Liz]

Thanks for all your help

Maybe I should have signed off as Larry.

 

[MrKlister]

Ok, here goes. Cable box to plasma with DVI. Your dvd player component to reciever and digital audio to reciever. To play you vhs tapes you will need to run composite video and analog audio to reciever. Then from reciever to plasma component and composite.

 

[Tom Andry]

Others may disagree, but I would send everything to the receiver and use the monitor out to the plasma. I would use for audio (in rank order):
1) Digital coax
2) Optical
3) RCA

For video, I would use (in rank order):
1) Component
2) S-Video
3) RCA

So, if your component (say the Panasonic DVD recorder) has each of the possible video outs (component, s-video, and rca), I would use the component if at all possible. If it only has the s-video and rca, I'd go with the s-video. And so on.

Now, the advantage of optical over digital coax is that it is not as susceptible to electronic interference. If you have a problem with noise in your system, you might want to go with optical.

Now, I must say that I know very little about DVI-D. I know that it is one of the newer interfaces an that it sends a digital only signal. The problem is that your receiver doesn't have a dvi in (according to your list). I like to have all of my components go through the receiver for ease of use. If you want to take advantage of the dvi-d interface when you are watching cable, you can hook the cable box directly to the tv. This means that you will have to use your tv remote to switch sources when you want to watch cable vs anything else.

Lastly, use the component monitor (or s-video or whatever) out on the receiver to send the video signal to the plasma.

Hope this helps.

BTW, signing off as Liz shocked us all into silence.

A girl??! Here???!!! You talk to her.

No you talk to her.

Dude, talk to her, she's leaving.

No you talk to her.

Wuss.

 

[Liz]

A sense of humor? Here?

Oh, what a relief it is. I also subscribe to "Auto Week," "Road & Track," and "Car and Driver."

No, really this time, thanks MrKlister and mrnomas for the advice. See, that didn't hurt much at all. It's just that I unhooked the whole system and thought, hey, there may be a better way to hook it all back up.

I'll start on it after I've had my coffee.

Liz (Larry)

 

[Audioholics]

Why not have your cake and eat it too...?

Connect everything through the receiver AND hook up the DVI video from the cable box to the plasma as well. You will gain convenience on the day to day viewing, and can switch to DVI when you want to really get the best possible picture out of high definition. In actuality, you may find that the component outputs give better picture quality - it just depends on the cable box internals.

This is a perfect example of why it's nice to have two component outputs on a receiver - you could feed the second to your DVD recorder. As such you'll need to likely feed it s-video output, barring the purchase of an external component switch box.

Your intended use and viewing habits could, of course, change our recommendations.

 

[Tom Andry]

Obviously Clint is the Fonzie to my Ralph. Hit the jukebox again and make it play another come hither song.

And there goes Liz on Clint's arm. Sniff, sniff.

But don't girls always say they want a sense of humor? Oh the humanity!

Was it my forward approach? Was it my long winded reply? Was it the fact that MrKlister beat me to the punch AND has a screen name that starts with mr? Was it my gratuitous use of smilies?

Oh well, back to the basement to watch the Wrath of Kahn for the 37th time…and to work on my ultimate plan for taking over the world…or getting a date. Anyone up for a game of D&D?

 

[Liz]

Would like help with hookup scenario I have not seen yet

Yes, I have looked at ALL the manuals and ALL the hookup diagrams and discussions across the Internet for the past two days and have yet to find one that fits my needs. I'm doing something wrong because I'm not getting picture or sound when recording from cable.

1 - COMCAST HD CABLE BOX
has component video & coax audio; also has video and audio RCAs

2 - PANASONIC DVD RECORDER
has component video & optical audio; plus RCAs

3 - ONKYO HT RECEIVER
has component video in for "Video 1/2/3"; component video for "DVD IN"; and component video for "OUT";
has 2 optical and 1 coax audio;
Video 1 out/in & Video 2 out/in (video & audio RCAs)

4 - SONY HD-READY PLASMA
1 component with Audio R/L RCA for "Video In 4"; "Video In 1" and "Video In 2"; video and R/L audio RCAs; and "Audio Out" R/L RCAs ("Video In 3" is the DVI and the "Video In 4" is the HD with component.)

My problem is, I'm aware of the different type connectors, but I need help with the "chain" of connections; like the hip bone is connected to the thigh bone, etc.

I'm sorry to pose another "connection" question. Maybe some day it will all be standardized. Wishful thinking.

Thank you for your time,

Liz

P.S. I thought my answer was to be found in the Radio Shack link where you check off each unit you want to include in the hookup scheme, but it's a little outdated and wasn't useful.

 

[sherchlojo]

Is it only when recording that you don't get sound or picture? Can you play the cable box through your receiver OK? Can you play the DVD recorder through your receiver? When you set the DVD recorder up to record are you setting the correct input channel on the DVD recorder? This would be the input the cable box is connected to. If you have the RF out from the cable box connected to the Ant in on the DVD recorder, then you would set the DVD input channel to channel 3. If you are connecting the cable box to the DVD recorder using audio and video cables, then look at which input you are connected to on the DVD recorder. On mine, it is input L1. Set the DVD recorder input channel to this location.
How to you have your receiver connected to your TV? If you are using a component video cable to connect your receiver to your TV, you should also use component video cables to connect your cable box's video out to your receiver's video in. Similarily, you should also use a component video cable to connect your DVD recorder's video out to your receiver's video in.

 

[Liz]

link to a/v hookup schemes

http://www.geocities.com/columbiaisa/cable_connections_video.htm

 

[Audioholics]

Obviously Clint is the Fonzie to my Ralph. Hit the jukebox again and make it play another come hither song.

And there goes Liz on Clint's arm. Sniff, sniff.

But don't girls always say they want a sense of humor? Oh the humanity!

Well, my wife is currently taking up both arms so I think Fonzie's self-neutered - and happily so!

 

[Audioholics]

Also, don't everyone overlook our helpful setup tips complete with wiring diagrams, etc here:

http://www.audioholics.com/techtips/setup/index.php

 

[pikers]

Maybe I should have signed off as Larry.

I would've thought in this forum the nerds would have flocked to your side.