HDTV neophyte question

[mlchorn]

Finally bought an HDTV.
DIRECTV is coming tomorrow for the change out.
I will not be playing games on it, and do not yet have a
Blu-ray - I do have a standard DVD player, but didn't know if I could even use it on this TV.
Anyway, do I need to purchase HDMI cables now, or does that wait until the Blu-ray purchase?
Any info would be appreciated.

 

[Dr Fear]

An HDMI cable from your HD Directv reciever is nice because it is only one cable as opposed to five.

Don't spend too much on them. I would suggest looking at Monoprice.com. Ask if you have any questions on which to buy.

 

[Catpfish]

I want to say that my Directv receivers came with HDMI cables...or at least, the DVR did. I might be wrong on that (it might have been the Tivo from years back), since it has been a couple of years. Either way, the one cable vs. five is a nice benefit...especially when they can be seen or having to run cables through an entertainment system.

 

[mishatx]

Assuming your DVD player isn't shockingly old, it should work just fine. Hook it up with component cables and set it to "Progressive" output.

 

[mlchorn]

Sorry if the questions are dumb, but...

I am getting the dual tuner HDDVR, so I can look forward to 5 cables?
So, if I get the HDMI cable, I will just need 1, or am I misunderstanding?

 

[mishatx]

If you use component cables, there will be five cables from you DVR to your TV - 3 carrying video signals (Y, Pb, Pr) and two carrying sound (L, R)

If you use HDMI cable, there will be just the one carrying all of that information (and doing a better job of it, too).

 

[Ignatius]

After the DirecTV guy leaves, you'll have 4 coaxial cables running from your dish into whatever room in your house all your A/V stuff is. The guy will hook these 4 cables into a multiswitch so that you can distribute it to the other rooms in your house. The multiswitch will have inputs for the 4 from your dish, and (probably) 8 outputs to go to other rooms. Since you have the dual-tuner DVR, 2 of these 8 will run from the multiswitch to your DVR.
DirecTV will include an HDMI cable with your DVR; that one will run from the DVR to the TV and take care of your video and audio from the DVR.

As far as your DVD player, as someone above mentioned, there's no reason you shouldn't be able to connect it to the TV, it's just a matter of what kind of connection options you have from the DVD player. Keep in mind that, while it'll look better than an 'old' TV, the signal from your DVD won't be high-def; for that, you need Blu-Ray...

If the back of your DVD player has an HDMI output, and your TV has a 2nd HDMI input (one not being taken up by the DVR), then your best bet is to go to Fry's and buy a cheap ($15) HDMI cable and connect the two that way. If you can't do that, hook up the DVD to the TV according to which type of DVD output you have below, in descending order (your DVR will have come with the cables you need for this):

* Component (these are Red/Green/Blue for video, plus a Red/White set for audio).
* S-Video (a black plug with a semi-circle of contacts and a square black post, plus a Red/White set for audio).
* Composite (a Yellow plug for video, plus a Red/White for audio).

 

[mlchorn]

Great information.
hornfans never lets me down
Thank each of you very much.

 

[dang-str8]

Ditto to everything that Ignatius said... just add to it... make sure that you adjust the video settings on the Receiver to match your TV... HD is 16:9, 1080i resolution... this will make sure you squeeze the best out of the image... the installer should know how to do that, but sometimes you get a moron...

 

[DCLonghorn]

Also, I'm not sure what brand of DVR you will have but if you have the ability to set the HD signal to "pass-through", be sure to do it. That just means that the signal will passed through the DVR and go directly to the HDTV to upscale or down-scale (down resolution).

 

[Anastasis]

In reply to:

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[AUinAustin]

I might suggest you start looking at a audio video receiver that will simplify your cables. I have all my devices running into my Yamaha which has on HD cable to the HDTV. I don't have to switch inputs on the TV 9a nice feature for wives and children). Also the computer place on I35 around Braker (Austex?) has great prices on HD cables.