Audio and Video Inputs and Outputs - so many options!Where do THESE inputs go? - answered. A complete guide of how to hook your home entertainment system all togetherIn many cases, you'll have separate input or output wires that carry video OR audio to your receiver, then to your display screen. (Not always several wires per source - it could take just one, as you'll read below under HDMI)Remember, your receiver - the control center for your audio and video - can have more than 100 connections. But many are the same thing over and over (Example: speaker outputs - there are 5 powered speakers in a 5.1 typical system, so each speaker gets a pair of connection wires... there's TEN, right off the bat. Most everything is routed to your receiver, then your receiver to your display and speakers. Examples: CD player, DVD player, VCR, tuner, etc. (See PVR, DVR, TiVo section for exceptions as they also must be connected to your antenna, cable, or satellite box). The Consumer Electronics Association offers an animated hookup guide which may be helpful for the novice, though it's almost naive in the description of the receiver, only showing very limited input and output options: See it at http://www.ce.org/connections_application/
Dolby Pro Logic:Dolby Pro Logic is the surround-sound format most commonly found on video cassettes. It refers to a sound format in which four channels (left, right, center, and surround) are combined into two channels and decoded back into the original four surround channels of your home-theater speaker system.
Dolby Digital:Dolby Digital 5.1 is a discrete-channel surround-sound format consisting of five separate channels (left front, left rear, right front, right rear, and center), plus a subwoofer channel (the .1 in 5.1) to provide deeper, fuller bass.
DTS:DTS (Digital Theater Systems) is another digital surround-sound system, competing with Dolby Digital. DTS demands more data space on a DVD. Many believe the audio quality to be superior to that of Dolby Digital 5.1-channel surround sound.1080i, 720p, and 480p all specify Dolby Digital (AC-3) as the official standard for broadcast audio. The Dolby Digital soundtrack included in each broadcast may contain anywhere from 1 to 6 channels of digital audio which can be heard by connecting an optical cable to a home theater system. Stereo downconversion is available on all HDTV-receiving equipment as well, through the standard RCA connections Audio Inputs:Most audio inputs are for either:1) Coaxial ("Coax") cable with rca pin connectors
Both sides of the cable are male, with a pin encircled by a metal ring. Note that these cables in 75 ohm configuration called S/PDIF, are also used as digital audio feeds to connect DVD players, Compact Disc (CD) and some DAT recorders to multichannel surround sound (Dolby Digital, DTS, etc) equipment. Audio rca input receptacles are Red for Right or White for Left. 2) Balanced, 3 pin, XLR cable and connectors
Each cable has a male connection (for output to something) and female connection (to receive an input from something). You'll only see these on the high priced gear. You can't plug in a properly constructed male to female balanced cable improperly. 3) Digital Toslink connections
Plastic, male to male cables: Black receptacle. Toslink is a fiber optic version of the coaxial digital audio connection and is used in the same applications as coax. Most newer equipment has a Toslink connection to carry Digital audio data in the form of light pulses, rather than using electricity, eliminating the distortions caused by inductance, capacitance and resistance of wire cables. Digital Audio inputs and/or outputs are available on many newer Dolby Digital (Dolby 5.1, 6.1, AC3, Prologic, etc.) and DTS surround sound receivers, DVD players, CD players, minidisc players and recorders, MP3 and DAT recorders, professional Audio Cards for Computer Digital Audio workstations, Outboard AD/DA Converters and satellite dish receivers
Amplified Audio Outputs:
Speaker outputs are Red for Right, Black for Left. Can be 5 way binding posts which accept spades, pins, banana plugs, DUAL banana plugs, or bare wire. Polarity must be observed, i.e.: all SAME speaker wires should be hooked to respective RED or + terminals, the other side of each speaker wire pair to the BLACK or - side. Speaker wire, if not colored, might have a ridge or marking along one side of the two-element wire. It doesn't matter which side is your + side as long as you are consistent for ALL speakers.
Video Inputs:The number and type of video inputs determine what sources you can use.
Composite video:
Lowest quality but broadest compatibility. Any device that has video outputs will include composite video among them. Connection is made with a single 75-ohm coaxial cable between RCA jacks. Receptacle is yellow. Don't use it if you can avoid it. Other connections will deliver better quality.
S-Video:
Better quality, and most video sources except standard VCRs now have S-Video outputs. Connection is made with a special cable and multipin sockets. Black socket.
Component video:
High quality. This is the minimum standard for connecting HDTV tuners and progressive-scan DVD players. It requires three 75-ohm coaxial cables of the same type used for composite video. Sockets are green, blue and red.
RGB+H/V:
High quality. An analog red-green-blue horizontal/vertical connection is sometimes used instead of component video. Requires five 75-ohm coaxial cables of the same type used for composite video. Not common.
VGA:
High quality. Video Graphics Array is an analog RGB connection used for computer connections and sometimes in place of RGB+H/V.
DVI:
Highest quality. Digital Visual Interface is a digital RGB connection, commonly used for HDTV tuners and occasionally for DVD players; it may also be used for computer connections. This connection requires a special cable and multipin sockets.
Warning of obsolescence:For guaranteed HDTV compatibility, a DVI input should support the HDCP (High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection) system. Anti-Acronym Activists Unite!
HDMI:
Highest quality. High-Definition Multimedia Interface is basically DVI plus a digital audio link and HDCP; it can be mated to DVI using adapter cables. HDMI is used on some HDTV tuners. The single cable solution. Most recent of all the ones above. 'Encouraged' by content providers who don't want folks ripping off their DVDs.
High Definition PoliceHDCP stands for High Definition Content Protocol (Police?) and is a copy protection scheme to eliminate the possibility of capturing content sent digitally from the source to the display. Why should you care? Because apparently, it doesn’t always work, and then you get no picture, or a degraded one. Can you avoid it? Maybe now, but probably not – eventually. This is an authentication process whereby the two devices hooked together determine that it’s an authorized hookup (remember the content owners, fearful of copyright infringement, are behind this.) It’s the hearty handshake of electronica. HDCP scrambles the audio and video flowing from one place to the other via HDMI, preventing unauthorized eavesdropping (copying, etc.). The format enables a secure connection between devices such as DVD players and HDTV set-top-boxes using an authentication and key exchange procedure before video and audio is presented. But, you say, someone will figure out a work-around and sell it on the black market. Now get this: there’s a permission-revocation system by which incoming content updates a list of blacklisted devices! Your cable box might transmit the kill order to whatever is deemed ‘unauthorized.’ Scientific Atlanta’s 8300HD box is reportedly balking at many legitimate connections. Your option would be to watch a down-res picture instead of high definition. It will not affect your ability to display HDTV if the source connection is Component or RGB (VGA). HDCP is designed to protect digital signals used in DVI and HDMI. Birthing pain or serious problem ahead? Time will tell!
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