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How To: Setup an HDMI Home Theater

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We break down the process of setting up a home theater with illustrated, sure-fire instructions.

Although today’s high-definition televisions (HDTVs) are more technically advanced than ever, the good news for everyday users is that connecting home theater components keeps getting simpler. Thank the advent of HDMI, an all-in-one digital cable that carries both audio and video signals between individual pieces of equipment. With just one cable connecting each device to your AV receiver or your TV, it’s easy to mix and match parts in minutes. Here’s a step-by-step guide to connecting standard home theater components using the format, including a Blu-ray disc player, satellite (or cable TV) receiver, an AV receiver for surround sound and an HDTV. 

1. Choose your cables. Start by determining the exact length you need, as these items are generally sold in 3 feet, 6 feet, 10 feet and other, similar increments, with lengthier cables commanding higher prices.  Begin by measuring the distance from your components to your AV receiver (or TV if you don’t have an AV receiver). Then measure the distance from your AV receiver to your TV.  If total measurements are close to a given size – e.g. just an inch shy of 3 or 6 feet, etc. – be sure to choose one size up, as you’ll want to allow for a little slack when making connections. Be sure to select a quality HDMI cable as well: Speed-verified cables will guarantee the ability to handle advanced Blu-ray disc player features like 1080p Full HD resolution and Deep Color for the best picture quality available.

HDMI Cables/Determining Length

HDMI cables/Determining length

2. Locate the HDMI connections on your components. There will be one HDMI output on your Blu-ray disc player. And there will be one HDMI output on your satellite (or cable TV) receiver.

HDMI on Blu-ray player and Satelite Receiver

Blu-ray disc player/Satellite or cable TV receiver

3. Connect one end of an HDMI cable to the output on the Blu-ray disc player.

HDMI to ouput of Blue-ray player

Blu-ray disc player HDMI out

4. Connect the other end of that HDMI cable from the Blu-ray disc player to the HDMI input on your AV receiver. Be aware: There may be multiple HDMI inputs on your AV receiver. Note how each input is labeled and make note of the label. It could be “BD” (for Blu-ray Disc player), “TV/SAT,” “TV/Cable,” “DVR,” etc. Or it could be simply “HDMI 1,” “HDMI 2,” etc. Many AV receivers allow you to label the input in the setup menu when you are done.

AV Receiver HDMI In

AV receiver HDMI in

5. Connect the satellite (or cable box) to the AV receiver.  Connect one end of another HDMI cable to the satellite receiver (or cable box) and connect the unused end of that cable to the “TV/SAT” HDMI input on the AV receiver (or simply choose any free HDMI input on the AV receiver). Note the label on the input to which you connected that HDMI cable.

Connect satellite to AV receiver

Satellite receiver or cable box/AV receiver

6. Connect the AV Receiver to the TV. To do so, find the HDMI port on the AV receiver that is labeled “out to TV” or “monitor out” or simply “Out”.

Connect AV Receiver to the TV

AV receiver TV out

7. Connect the other end of the HDMI cable out from the AV receiver io an HDMI input on the back of the TV. If you are mounting the TV on the wall and it is a tight fit, you can get a right angle HDMI adapter so the cable can fit in the back.

HDMI cable out to HDMI TV in

HDMI cable out to an HDMI input on the back of the TV

8. If you don’t have an AV receiver, connect an HDMI cable from the Blu-ray disc player directly to the TV. Then, connect another HDMI cable directly from the satellite receiver (or cable box) to another HDMI input on the TV. 

HDMI to TV

Blue-ray directly to TV/Satellite receiver to TV

9. Plug your TV and components into an electrical outlet. Be certain to use a surge protector, because blackouts and brownouts can damage the electronics in your components.  A surge protector with power conditioning will further protect delicate circuitry in high-definition components by reducing power fluctuations and removing interference. This results in the best picture and sound performance from your home theater.

Surge Protector

Surge protector

10. Setup your home theater by naming the inputs on your AV receiver or TV to make it easier to choose the right input when it’s time to kick back, relax and enjoy a little high-definition content. If you have connected equipment to an AV receiver, you can change to the component you want (e.g. switching between live programming and a Blu-ray movie) to use by using your receiver’s remote. If you have connected devices directly to the TV, you will use the TV’s remote to change to the input you want to watch. Either way, get ready to have fun, knowing you’re about to enjoy the best, most complete high-definition home theater experience possible.

Rename Inputs

Rename your inputs

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Showing 63 comments

  1. Bob V at 4:24am 6th January 2012 I have a samsung 3D blue rayplayer Ht D 5550 and a samsung 3d tv also sky hd plus box. How do I link them up to enjoy full surround as I am only getting sound from the front two speakers.I have done the auto music calibration and all the speakers work along with the sub woofer.I am using HDMI cables and optical lead. Can anyone help many thanks bob
  2. chessboywonder at 8:16am 8th June 2011 I don't have cable. How do I hook up my attennae to the receiver and T.V. so that I can get surround sound. Any help you can provide would be great.
  3. richardpond1 at 2:50am 1st March 2011 thank you berry i will give that a go. I also have aniother issu with my set up in the lounge. I have the new panasonic 3d tx p42gt20b plasma. It looks brilliant with my sky hd and i have it on the dynamic setting. excellent. However i have the panasonic blu ray player dmp bdt 100 and have tried blu ray and normal dvd. It doesn't look as good. It looks grainy and not as smooth as the sky hd. I have it via quality hdmi leads going through new pioneer hdmi/3d amp. I have also tested it going direct to the tv also in hdmi input 2 and 3. The picture is smoothish with blu ray but looks like it has a dark filter over it. i have tried with different tv settings and different picture settings on the player but still the same. What are the best settings to have on my player and tv to attain the best picture? Is is the player? the tv is fabulous. Many thanks
  4. berry at 10:13pm 19th February 2011 I just signed up here. How do I see replies, or are there no replies to some of these questions yet? I need help setting up a new LG "Network Blu-ray Disc Home Theater System" to a new Mitsubishi 738 Series TV. When I play a DVD I get sound in the LG speakers, but no picture. When I watch TV I only hear the TV speakers, not the LG speakers. I have HDMI cables poked in from the cable box to the TV and from the disc player to the TV. What am I doing incorrectly? thanks, Berry
    1. Caleb Denison at 2:18pm 20th February 2011 Hi Berry, You may be able to glean some information from my response to Sylvia (two posts above) with regards to your not getting TV sound through your LG system's speakers. To be of better help, I need to know if you use a digital cable box, dish receiver or if you plug your cable or antenna directly into your TV without the use of any box at all. I am not sure, however, why it is that you are not getting a picture from your LG player. Be sure that you connected your HDMI cables to HDMI OUT or HDMI Monitor and not one of the HDMI inputs on your LG player. Your inputs would be labelled 1 and 2 and should be marked "IN" If your HDMI cable is in the right place on the back of your LG receiver and your TV is tuned to the correct HDMI input and you still aren't getting a picture, then check your LG's manual to see if you need to select HDMI out somewhere in the LG's setup menu. For future reference, providing the model numbers for your components will generally get you more specific and helpful information, since different manufacturers have different practices, standards and product features. For instance, troubleshooting a problem with an LG theater system that is four years is entirely different than sorting out problems with a brand new LG product.
  5. richardpond1 at 2:59am 14th February 2011 Please help. I think i know what to do but need confirmation. I have an AV/Receiver (cambridge Audio Azur 640) with 3 hdmi inputs and 1 out. A Sony kdl 40w lcd with 2 hdmi inputs - plus ps3, hd dvd player, sony hard drive/dvd player, cambridge audio dvd 89 plus a vcr. COnnection question - Can i connect ps3 direct to tv and use optical for sound, then use the 3 inputs on the receiver for hd dvd, Cambridge dvd player and the sony hard drive (for sound and vision). The out put from the receiver will go into the other hdmi input on the tv. the vcr will just be scart into tv and phono leads into the amp. I want to use the cambridge audio player just for cd's and dvd Audio so wasn't sure how to connect. HDmi route be ok to transmit sound i take it? Please advise and also do I just use switching on the receiver remote to change inputs? thanks!
    1. Caleb Denison at 1:57pm 20th February 2011 Hi Richard, Since you intend to use your Cambridge dvd89 as an audio player and because it supports SACD playback and appears to be an excellent sounding CD player I would recommend that you connect the dvd89 to your receiver via analog audio cables. I don't know if you enjoy SACD discs or not, so it isn't clear whether you should connect a full set of 6 rca (phono) cables for multi-channel audio playback or if a stereo set of two cables would be sufficient for you. Either way, choosing to use HDMI bypasses the high quality digital to analog converters (dacs) that are built into the dvd89 for the dacs that are built into your receiver which, while also high quality, will not allow you to play back SACD and may not sound as good as those built into your dvd89. In my opinion, analog audio cables are the way to go here. This will keep an HDMI input open for something else. Perhaps your PS3?
  6. Sylvia Berger at 7:41pm 15th January 2011 I am 71 and to old to be trying to connect this new LGWifi network Bul-ray Disc Home Theater System to my Toshiba tv, and Dish receiver. The more I read the directions the more confused I get. Tell me, is the sound from the home theater supposed to work when we are watching a regular tv show?
    1. berry at 10:15pm 19th February 2011 I would like to know that answer too! How long does it take to get replies? What a great service.
    2. Caleb Denison at 1:34pm 20th February 2011 Hi Sylvia, My guess is that you currently have your dish receiver connected directly to your TV. If that is the case, then you don't have a TV audio signal being sent to your Blu-Ray Home Theater system. In order for your home theater speaker system to produce TV sound for you, you'll need to connect an audio cable from the dish receiver to the LG Home Theater system. I don't know which dish receiver you have or which model of LG Home Theater system you have but I am pretty confident that they both have digital optical audio connections. On your dish receiver, the connection looks like a little black plastic door with a red light glowing behind it. You will see a similar black plastic door on the back of your LG system-possibly even two of them. They should all be marked "digital audio" or "optical" You will need to purchase a digital optical audio cable. These are available most places electronics are sold. Be sure to buy one that is long enough to stretch from your dish receiver to your LG theater system. Most brands come in 3 foot and 6 foot lengths. When you have the cable, plug one end of it into the dish receiver's optical digital output jack. Then, plug the other end of it into your LG's optical digital audio input. If you have two, pick the one marked "Optical 1" Once that connection is made, you will need to switch inputs on your LG theater system. To do this, find the button on your remote that says "input" or "input select". If you don't see a button like this on your remote, you may need to reference your LG's manual to find out how to switch inputs. Each time you press the input select button, you will cycle to a new input. You may see "HDMI 1" "HDMI 2" "Optical 1" etc. You want to select "optical" or "optical 1" if you have more that one optical input on your LG. If your LG home theater system has HDMI INputs, then there is another option, but it requires that you turn the LG theater system on every time you wish to watch TV. If you are interested in this option, let me know and I will describe it. Otherwise, the solution I just described will work just fine for you.
  7. justd at 9:12pm 30th December 2010 i would check the cost of a good Optical cable and evaluate the value there ... you should be able to plug in everytthing hdmi into the tv and then one Optical fromtv to receiver ... receiver would then operate on one chaannel and should change audio automatically when you change the tv's input. NOTE. you may need to turn on digital out through your tv menu ... sometimes you have to turn off the tv speakers too.
  8. Gordon at 6:10am 30th December 2010 Why when ive hook up my sony tv with HDMI cable do i sometimes lose audio ?It fades out and after a few seconds it comes back on .
  9. ric at 10:48am 12th December 2010 we have a toshiba 1080 lcd flat screen tv we just got a ps3 and a pioneer vsx 820 amp we get a picture for the ps3 but not our starchoice satelite what is happening we have tried everything we know it has to be miner becase we have the ps3 working and can watch movies oh yes on the tv through the receiver we get sound just no pic please help
  10. Tim at 4:32pm 30th November 2010 My reciever (Onkyo) doesn't have HDMI, but my Tv and Cable box do. Right now I am using the component hook up and my Tv (LG 1080p) doesn't seem to have HD picture... If I go HDMI from cable box to TV, will I lose sound from reciever? and how would I hook reciever up for sound.
    1. justd at 9:06pm 30th December 2010 component isn't fully high def ... so you'd probably need to hdmi to the tv and then digital optical out to your receiver.
  11. shani at 2:50am 28th November 2010 i guess no one is replying to the probs as of now!!!
    1. berry at 10:16pm 19th February 2011 oh, I thought I was not going to the correct place for replies. Is there another site like this?
  12. Jason at 11:05am 23rd November 2010 I just bought a new 3D LED TV... I have comcast cable. I have 3 HDMI cables and a receiver 5.1. My only issue is that I have a Onkyo receiver with an optical option, however NO HDMI options. Can I still get all the bang or do I need to buy a new receiver. Not in the budget at this time... Thanks much for all the suggestions..
  13. SOME GUY at 2:48am 20th September 2010 Just bought Panasonic home theater system and I would like to set it up to my Sony Bravia and PS3 but mainly PS3 I have put a HDMI cable in the amp and in the tv and everything works such as movies cd's usb but tv and ps3 dont but ive tried many ways went through the settings in the ps3 I pluged in the yellow white and red cable in the ps3 to the amp still dosent work can someone HELP!!!
  14. colin at 8:36am 14th August 2010 i just want to run my ps3 sound through my lg surround sound i have 1 hdmi cabble 1 aux cabble can i do it or do i have to use the optical aux conection thanx
  15. Neal at 9:13am 18th July 2010 wow, i love you! this is the only page that is good. i fully understand the set up now! thanks!! =D 302/215
  16. Cherry at 8:50pm 29th June 2010 Direct TV & SWM8 system installed. Have HD 1080 Phillips TV and 2 other TV's. Had sound & picture on the HD TV but dvd player wouldn't work. Installer started piddling around with HDMI ports and other cords on TV. Have picture & NO SOUND! DVD player & surround sound work. No audio from direct tv programs. Service man back out 2 days later. Said audio & all HDMI ports are bad! Rread book & it says if the audio does not come it's possible the direct tv changed a setting on the TV. No audio cable going from HD Direct TV/DV-R receiver to the TV. If I unplug the Direct TV system from the power source, turn off the TV. Turn the TV on, plug the Direct TV system up, it resets the source & whenI setup completes, I have a picture & Audio. When I turn the TV and Direct TV off, and back on NO AUDIO AGAIN! Show me a diagram to connect Direct TV with HD DVR Receiver, HD 1080 TV, Phillips DVD player & Blue Ray hook up to the receiver & the back of the TV please. Other 2 TV's work great with the Direct TV setup and SWM8 system. The main TV (HD 1080 PHillips TV) has NO audio after installer screwed around with it but does have picture.
  17. Tony at 7:23pm 27th June 2010 Hi, I have a new mitsubishi led tv hooked to a yamaha receiver. The tv internal speakers are turned on, yet no sound comes out of them. Wanted to maybe use the tv speakers to assist my center speaker of my surround sound. I at least wanted to try the new mitsubishi 16 speaker system to see how it sounds. Does the av receiver automatically turn off the internal tv speakers when hooked to an av receiver?
    1. JustD at 9:16pm 30th December 2010 quite possibly ... av receivers are supposed to only output video through an hdmi cable ... maybe theres an option on your receiver to throughput the audio as well.
  18. ianfenton1976 at 1:55pm 18th May 2010 Really need some help. I am trying to run HD to a projector in my garage for the world cup matches. Although I have sourced a very long HDMI cable which will go straight into my projector, I am a little baffled at how to get sound to my amp which is located in the garage hooked to 5.1 surround sound. I really don't want to have to trail AV leads aswell as the HDMI cable. Is there any box that I can obtain to feed the HDMI cable into and then run an HDMI cable to the projector and AV to the surround sound??????
    Any help will be really appreciated.
    Thanks
    Ian
  19. tazzedout at 11:34am 17th April 2010 I have a samsung model bd3252 blue ray player with 2 HDMI inputs and 1 optical input jack,a direct tv HD sat box with 1 HDMI output 1 optical jack which I think it's for output (no lable on it). I also have a xbox 360 with HDMI/optical output. All this is hooked up to my panasonic tv which only has 1 optical output and 3 HDMI inputs 1 HDMI output. I need all of the equipment to use the optical audio. I get sound drops using the HDMI set up.
    I need help setting up.
  20. Dave Hawkins at 7:26am 6th April 2010 I am curently recieving Sky*HD on my Samsund LCD TV and I am using a 5:1 surround sound system. If I select "Aux" on my surround sound system, I can get full surround sound to TV and Sky which sounds pretty good. However I now have a Blue Ray player and would like to connect it to my existing system - how do I connect it and still obtain the full surround sound that I currently enjoy. Your help here would be very much appreciated
  21. abruno75 at 12:44pm 27th March 2010 Somebody please help me. I have a RX-V465 (Yamaha) audio receiver and I am trying to hook a Ninteno Wi up to it via the cable that came with the Wi. I have one HDMI cable connected to the receiver that goes to the projector and I have the Wi composite cable connected into Audio #5 which is a red,yellow and white connection. I put th receiver on Audio 5 and I can get sound but no picture. The Wi works or another TV so its not that. Please help before I throw this thing out the window. I have a cable box with a hdmi cable that runs into an input on the back of the receiver. That works fine. Wi does not offer a HDMI cable but I read that other people have their Wi connected to the Rx-V465 I just need to know how. Thanks
  22. erika at 8:06pm 23rd March 2010 i have a blu ray home theater system but i cant get my cable box to connect to my home theater system do i needd to upgrade my cable box to an hd cable box because when i turn my cable box around it does not have A optical connection,, or is it possible to get it working without having to connect an optical cord from cable box to blu ray.....
  23. sagir at 7:28pm 20th March 2010 If hdmi cables are video and sound why I can not get sound when i connect any of may devices to my receiver?
  24. debjackson at 4:51am 8th March 2010 Hello -- any help out there for frustrated girl? After setting up Panasonic home theatre, small speakers work, but not the subswoofer or the larger center speaker. Ripping hair......
  25. partially confused at 8:00am 25th February 2010 also I had optical from dvd I just noticed I also ran the component cables right from the dvd to the tv instead of the receiver not sure why i did this but everything is working ok other then having to select the input on the tv. Is there an easier way or is this suitable
  26. partially confused at 7:41am 25th February 2010 I have hooked up satelite, dvd, blue ray all to pioneer a/v receiver to sharp lcd tv I used HDMI from Sat and blueray as I only have 2 inputs I used component on the dvd thend hdmi from receiver to tv the problem was i had to use optical cable from blueray to get sound through the recevier and not using the tv speakers is this correct
  27. oldfield01 at 12:51pm 24th February 2010 Hi,

    I currently have a LG TV - model PS3000, with Sky HD and a PC connected to it via HDMI cables and working fine, visually and sound.

    I have purchased a surround sound system - model HT554 PH 5.1, which I have setup. I can play DVD's and the sound comes out fine.

    The problem I have is SKY HD and my PC continue to play the sound through my TV speakers.

    The DVD is connected to my TV only at the moment, via a HDMI cable.

    I have looked on various forums which seem to suggest an optical cable is needed from a sky box to the dvd player - however is this still required for sky HD? This would also not explain my the pc doesn't work, but I am obviously missing something!

    With regards the settings, on my DVD player I switch it to the 'tv-audio' option, however I have tried them all without success.

    With regards the TV settings I cannot see any obvious setting to change...any help would be greeatly appreciated.
  28. Yagga at 9:16pm 27th January 2010 Do you lose any Visual quality by groing from Blu Ray to Receiver , then Receiver to TV (2 jumps with 2 HDMI cables) as opposed to going straight from Blu Ray to TV (1 jump with one HDMI cable)
  29. lee at 3:06am 26th January 2010 Hi i have i 32 in slyvann HDTV and a regular Sony sorround 5.1 system. It playes everythings but blue ray.. My question is when im watching moving, my sorround system will work but cant make it work while watch tv..? Im using a HDMI cable as of now...
  30. fletchthemiller at 11:17am 20th January 2010 i have a samsung tv with hdtv plus a samsung home theatre system with hdmi when i put my hdmi lead in i cant get the tv to play the sound through the home theatre system any1 have any ideas because its driving me crazy
  31. Ian Bell at 5:03pm 17th January 2010 Is your cable TV just coming straight out of the wall without a cable box? If that is the case, you will need to plug it directly into your TV and you will have to bypass the receiver for watching TV (uses the TV's internal speakers). Otherwise, get a cable box (preferably with HDMI) and plug that into your receiver.
  32. staugo at 2:02pm 17th January 2010 Hello i could use some help!! I have a Sony 5.1 home theater with HDMI and a LG dvd with also HDMI but regular cable.I hooked the house cable to the Sony, HDMI from the Sony to the TV and HDMI from the Sony to LG,,,, problem I have is no TV signal do i need a cable box? I tried to program the HDMI on the Sony home theater but no response....I have no TV signal
  33. Skeets22 at 8:01am 17th January 2010 Thanks for reply. Yes, Blueray has only one HDMI port and there are no markings if it is IN or OUT. I sent an email to Sony support and they suggested to connect blue-ray with AV receiver directly. This solves the problem of audio. But now to watch a blue-ray, I have to go and change TV settings manually to work together, like player is BR, Audio should be external speakers. Pretty annoying, and contradicting to what sony advertise that with HDMI once you insert the disc, smart system know what to turn on and change over.
  34. adrianw at 4:56am 9th January 2010 ha ve you gone into the setup on the ps3 and told it to output sound through hdmi?
  35. mrplow at 11:19pm 4th January 2010 Hello my set up is a little different I will be using a 5x1 hdmi source selector. My question is if i have read everything correctly from hdmi from back of tv to out put to source selector. PS3 to source selctor blu-ray also
    av receciver output to input of source selector. With in the next week their will be a cable box also. Any and all help wiil be greatly appreciated,
  36. brikt at 5:38pm 4th January 2010 PLEASE HELP ME
    I think i've set up everything correctly - ps3 via HDMI into sony ht-ddw1600 receiver and then receiver via HDMI into Samsung LED series 8... The TV locates the ps3 but not the receiver! Hows that possiblw when the ps3 is running through the receiver?!

    Basically my problems that I have no surround sound. Do I need an optical cable as well as an HDMI cable from the receiver to the TV?
  37. hdmi woes at 4:22pm 30th December 2009 Ok...I have an hdmi cable box and an AV receiver....when I connect box and tv via hdmi ,I dont get anything...
    Right now I have the cable box working thru hdmi to receiver..and the cable out connection at the back of the box to the cable in at the back of tv.
    Now...how come I still need to connect the cable wire to the tv..if the hdmi handles both audio and video?
  38. BallyWheimaAuntJemima at 5:03pm 21st December 2009 Are you THE Rusty Shackleford???

    What are the odds.....

    HA!
  39. wtplv at 9:10am 10th December 2009 I have a Sony Blu Ray DVD, a Pioneer VX1019 AV receiver, A Scientific Atlanta cable box and a Mitsubishi WD 57833 HD TV. I connected everything as instructed with HDMI cable. My TV reports that it does not support switching on the output connection from the AV reciever to the TV. Any suggestions?
  40. dang at 8:20pm 29th November 2009 So does your AV receiver have only one HDMI in, or one HDMI out (or both)?

    What source is going into your receiver right now? If your blu-ray player is going straight to the TV instead of to the AV receiver, and you see video but not audio, try changing the setting for Audio on your blu-ray player. It may be set to 5.1 or some other setting that your TV doesn't support.

    Since blu-ray is 1080p, I would highly suggest having that go through your AV receiver to your TV then anything else.
  41. skeets22 at 6:10pm 29th November 2009 Sounds good but what if your AV (sony 585) had only one HDMI instead of 2. In my setup AV HDMI goes to TV HDMI 1. Works good. HDMI from blue ray goes to TV HDMI 2. Good picture but no sound for blue ray movie.
  42. richcudzilo at 9:56am 29th November 2009 Great site. It really helped getting thru the owners manual confusion.
  43. dang at 9:06am 23rd November 2009 Everything but your TV goes "in" to your Audio/Video receiver using HDMI. One hdmi goes out to your TV from the Audio/Vidoe receiver.
  44. jeff at 6:49am 23rd November 2009 hi there, i need to connect an led tv, a sony hd surround system, a blue ray player and a sky hd box using hdmi leads can some one please explain this to me in laymans terms so i cant mess it up, many thanks
  45. Mike at 7:07pm 19th November 2009 Philips Blu-Ray connected to Pioneer Elite VSX-03TXH AVR via HDMI cable and Mitsubishi WS-65908 TV connected to Pioneer AVR via Component Video cables.

    Sound, but no video.

    Philips Blu-Ray connected to Pioneer Elite VSX-03TXH AVR via Component video cable and Analog audio cables.

    Video, but no sound.
    1. shani at 2:41am 28th November 2010 i am some what similar prob Sony Bravia LCD connected to Harman Kardon AVR via HDMI - HK AVR connected to toshiba satelliate laptop via HDMI - video and sound both on the LCD, i need sound on the surrond 5.1 how to get it??
      1. denma at 5:57am 31st January 2011 Same exact situation here!!! Did anyone solve this?
        1. Ali704 at 5:29am 5th September 2011 To Shani and denma I know is late but better than nothing, connect your laptop to tv via hdmi and connect again the laptop sound output for headphones to the receiver using a specific cable that has 3.5mm audio jack like the headphones head and the other end of the cable would be analog audio white and red. I always use this method and works like a magic!
  46. c4063a2 at 8:52am 2nd November 2009 What if I have a cable box that doesn't have the connections for the speakers? How do I get the surround (home theatre) sound while watching regular TV or sports broadcasts? Or am I stuck to only get the sound from the TV speakers when not using the DVD? Thanks.
    1. Ian Bell at 8:59am 2nd November 2009 Unless you have a receiver, you are stuck with the TV speakers. There is no way to add speakers to the TV without an amp.
      1. denma at 5:57am 31st January 2011 My problem is that when I plug my HDMI cables: Cable Box --> AV Receiver --> TV my Harmon Kardon receiver does not output the sound to the speakers plugged into the receiver. The sound and video makes it through to the TV, but the receiver doesn't output the sound. The only input that I can use that the receiver will output is the DVD video cables (non HDMI). Is my receiver broken, or is this a setting?
        1. Shah Neeraj at 7:59am 14th March 2011 You would need an optical cable to redirect output from your TV to Home theatre. Using HDMI cable this can't be achieved.
    2. Anthony at 5:38pm 1st January 2011 You plug your cable box into the receiver with an HDMI cable as well. All of your components, including the cable box, go into the receiver, and then an HDMI out from your receiver to an HDMI port on the TV.
  47. TechFreak at 10:45pm 21st October 2009 Everything should go into the receiver and there should just be one HDMI going to the TV in a typical setup. Make sure that your receiver has enough HDMI inputs for you. What brand components are you thinking about getting?
  48. Rusty Shackleford at 11:19am 21st October 2009 Typically, you would plug video sources (like a DVD or Blu-ray player) into the receiver via HDMI, then connect the receiver to the TV via its HDMI output. Of course, your speakers and sub will connect to the receiver as well. So: DVD/Blu-ray/VHS/Whatever -> HDMI Receiver -> TV
  49. Oli at 10:51am 21st October 2009 Hi, I'm brand new to home threate systems and I'm thinking about buying a 5.1 surround sound with HDMI connection. MY TV has HDMI so could I go; TV -> Receiver/DVD -> Subwoofer & 5 speakers? and then could I switch the sound output, e.g: VHS xbox or freeview? Thanks, Oli.
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