digital audio connection question

[samiam7759]

This what I have in my bedroom and I am looking for the best connection options.

32" Olivio lcd tv
Sony 470 Blu-Ray
Scientific Atlanta Exploer 8300 HD cable box
Sony Bravia DAVHDX275 HTIB

The TV only has 1 HDMI connection and the HTIB only has 1 optical digital input and 1 RCA type in connections.

What would be the best options for hooking up everything?

I am currentlly waiting for the dust to settle to do something for my livingroom or familyroom before upgrading to LCD/LED/3D tv and audio system there. I hardly watch tv and if I do it is in my bedroom hence the set up in there.

[pwaug]

This what I have in my bedroom and I am looking for the best connection options.

32" Olivio lcd tv
Sony 470 Blu-Ray
Scientific Atlanta Exploer 8300 HD cable box
Sony Bravia DAVHDX275 HTIB

The TV only has 1 HDMI connection and the HTIB only has 1 optical digital input and 1 RCA type in connections.

What would be the best options for hooking up everything?

I am currentlly waiting for the dust to settle to do something for my livingroom or familyroom before upgrading to LCD/LED/3D tv and audio system there. I hardly watch tv and if I do it is in my bedroom hence the set up in there.

You can use one of these switches http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2 The 5X1 is the only one I know from Monoprice that has recieved good reviews.

[MrBoylan]

This what I have in my bedroom and I am looking for the best connection options.

32" Olivio lcd tv
Sony 470 Blu-Ray
Scientific Atlanta Exploer 8300 HD cable box
Sony Bravia DAVHDX275 HTIB

The TV only has 1 HDMI connection and the HTIB only has 1 optical digital input and 1 RCA type in connections.

What would be the best options for hooking up everything?

I am currentlly waiting for the dust to settle to do something for my livingroom or familyroom before upgrading to LCD/LED/3D tv and audio system there. I hardly watch tv and if I do it is in my bedroom hence the set up in there.

Pwaug's reply is helpful as it allows you to hook up both video sources to your TV via HDMI for best quality, but you do still have the dilemma of which of your sources gets the digital input to the HTiB system and which gets the analog. There's one way around that, and that would be a slightly different switch: similar to the one Pwaug recommended but with Toslink digital outputs as well. Here's the link to this switch on monoprice:

http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2

This one will separate out the audio from the video so the TV gets the video and the receiver gets the audio. *BUT* there's a catch - because the TV is a two-channel device, it's likely that the Toslink digital outpu from the switch will also be limited to 2-channel sound. So really even this is not an ideal solution.

Your best bet, short of upgrading the HTiB to a receiver or a new HTiB with HDMI inputs, would be to use an HDMI cable from Blu-ray player to TV, and a fiberoptic digital cable from Blu-ray to HTiB. For the cable box, use component video cable (red/green/blue) from cable box to TV's component video input, and use the analog (white/red) stereo output of the cable box into the HTiB's analog input. Component video is perfectly fine for carrying HDTV signals from cable box to TV (up to 1080i, which is the limit of broadcast HDTV anyway).

With this connection you will get true 5.1-channel surround from Blu-ray Discs, and you can use Dolby ProLogic to do matrixed surround from the cable box source. BTW, in this set-up you will not be using the TV's speakers at all. If you also want to use the TV speakers (though there is no real reason to do so), then you'll have to see if your cable box has a second set of analog (white/red) analog audio outputs to connect directly to your TV.

Anyway... hope that helps. It should get you by unitil you can upgrade to a newer HTiB or receiver with multiple HDMI inputs.

If you need an HDMI cable, component video cable and a Toslink fiberoptic digital cable, it's hard to go wrong with the Amazon Basics stuff. Good quality and really inexpensive. A lot better than going to Radio Shack or a local big box store. Here's a link:

AmazonBasics - HDMI, Toslink Digital, Component Video and more cables

-CB