Connections: audio and video

Audio / Video Components

Audio Connections:


Stereo Analog Audio connections use red and white color coded "RCA" connections. These support mono or stereo analog audio.	Digital Audio connections, Coax on the left, Toslink Optical on the right. Digital Coax uses orange color coded "RCA" connections. These support AC3, Dolby Digital (5.1, etc.), DTS, S/PDIF. Toslink uses fiber optic cables. Connection is typically black.	Analog Surround sound. The color coded "RCA" connectors are still red and white, designating "analog" but instead of "L" and "R", you have "C" (center), "FR" (front right), "FL" (front left), "SL" (surround left), "SR" (surround right), and "SW" (subwoofer).

Connection Type	Advantages	Disadvantages
Toslink Toslink cables	Digital connection, not susceptible to electrical interference. Good for almost all types of Digital audio signals as long as your receiver and other device (DVD/Satellite Receiver/Digital Cable) has a Toslink optical connection. Supports Dolby Digital 5.1, 7.1, DTS.	Limited length of cables. Repeaters are necessary for long cable runs. Fibers may be physically less robust than copper coax.
Coax Digital Audio	Digital connection, using Copper cables, usually Coax. Some experts prefer it to Toslink. More widely used than Toslink in professional applications. Supports Dolby Digital 5.1, 7.1, DTS etc.	Uses copper cables, so is more susceptible to electrical interference than Toslink.
Firewire Firewire Boards	Digital connection. Tremendous bandwidth for multi-channel audio. Transport control.	Rare to see this used as an audio only interface. Generally used for Audio/Video from/to camcorders, Digital VCR's, Set Top Boxes and HDTV's.
Stereo	Analog audio. Two channels, right and left. If your system does not support digital audio, then your best bet is analog stereo. Generally uses dual (red & white) RCA plug cables.	No surround sound unless it is simulated. Analog rather than digital.
Mono	Some TV's only have mono audio inputs and/or outputs. Use only white RCA plug.	No richness in sound quality.

Video connections:


DVI - This can be either a Digital only connection as seen above, or a Combination Digital and analog connection. Many new DVD's and STB's (Set top Boxes) for Satellite (DSS) or Digital Cable TV will have these connectors. Many new HDTV's and Projectors are using this connection already.	Component Video This is used on most HDTV's and better DVD players. Notice the Red, Green and Blue color coded connectors.	RGB - This could be RGBHV, or a "VGA" (HD15) connection. This is used on computer video cards, Projectors and some HDTV's.	S-Video - Better than composite video because it separates the luminance (white level) and chrominance (color information). Used on DVD's, TV's, Satellite receivers and Cable TV boxes.	Composite Video - The old "AV" standard connector. This is color coded Yellow for Composite video.

Connection Type*	Advantages	Disadvantages
DVI	Digital connection*, Excellent Bandwidth, great separation of signals. Good connection for HDTV's and Set Top Boxes/Receivers that support it.	Used on only some HDTV's and Tuners/Receivers. Limited length.
Firewire	Digital connection, nice device control features, very high bandwidth.	Found on relatively few Home Theater Devices.
RGBHV	Analog, used on some high-end monitors and video equipment. Can use BNC, RCA or VGA type connectors. Used on some HDTV's and Set Top Boxes, but not DVD players.	Almost only used on high-end video equipment and a few assorted HDTV's. You often need expensive adapters to convert to Component video. Not used on DVD players. Not Digital.
Component Video	Analog, used on most quality TV's/HDTV's and DVD's. Good for Home Theater connections, especially for connecting HDTV's and DVD.	Not digital.
S-Video	Analog, uses a connector with four pins. Better than Composite video due to separation of Luminance and Chrominance signals.	Small connectors and small cables tend to not be of great quality. Does not support HDTV, nor progressive scan DVD players.
Composite Video	Very common.	All brightness and color information is transmitted using a single cable.

*Almost all DVI connections include DVI-D, which is the digital version of DVI. Some, especially Computer Video cards, support DVI-A, the analog version of DVI as well.

Video and Audio Connections:

"F" Connection		(Cable TV / Satellite / Antenna) These connections use a single cable to transport both audio and video in their various formats. They are not interchangeable, and generally require some kind of Tuner or receiver to tune a specific frequency (channel) and decode the audio and video signals. Analog only connection.
HDMI		High-Definition Multimedia Interface. Best bet for HDTV. Digital video and multi-channel audio. Fast becoming the standard for interconnecting digital components.

DVD connections:

DVD Audio Connections

Use The "Bitstream/PCM" Digital connections on the right if you have a A/V surround sound receiver. Use either the Coax or Toslink connection. Use the "2 Channel" analog stereo connection on the left to connect to a TV or stereo system.

DVD Video Connections:

Use the "Y Pb Pr" (green, blue and red) Component Video connection if your Television supports this connection. Use the S-Video connector as the next best if you can or the Yellow "Composite" connection if that is all you can use.
The "Select" Switch selects between "Progressive" and "Interlaced". You want it set to "P" if possible!

Receiver Connections:

Component Video

Use the Component Video connection if you have more than one Component video capable source, and you want to use the Receiver as a Component video switcher. If you have only one Component Video source, skip the receiver and connect the source directly to your Television or projector.

S-Video

Use your Receiver to switch between S-Video Signals if your Television has only a single S-Video connection. If your Television has a number of Video inputs, it is better to go direct and not add extra cabling.

Composite Video Connections

Use your Receiver to switch between Composite Video Signals if your Television has only a single Composite video connection. If your Television has a number of Video inputs, it is better to go direct and not add extra cabling.

Surround Sound Receiver Audio Connections

You will almost certainly need to use a combination of the analog (red and white color coded connections on the left) and the Digital connections on the right to connect all of your Home Theater/Stereo system devices to your Surround sound Receiver. This Receiver, like most has two Digital Audio inputs. One Coaxial and one Toslink. The second Toslink connector is for output. Use your DVD for one Digital input and either Digital Satellite Receiver, Digital Cable box, or CD player for the other. Which one uses Coax and which one uses Toslink depends on the capabilities of the devices you have to connect. Use the analog connections for devices with no Digital output.

Surround Sound Receiver Subwoofer Connection

Use the Receivers Sub woofer "RCA" connector "Pre Out" (pre-amplifier) output to connect an amplified subwoofer. If your Subwoofer has no built-in amplification, use the Receivers Subwoofer Speaker connection if it has one. Amplified subwoofer outputs are rare, so hopefully you have a "powered" subwoofer.

Sub Woofer Connections

If possible use the single "RCA" Connector Connection to the above Receivers "Pre Out" Sub Woofer connection. This will use the Sub Woofers built in amplifier for best results. Using the "Speaker level" inputs requires some care, since this usually involves connecting it in "parallel" with other speakers, and therefore generally reduces the impedance of these connections putting more of a strain on your receivers amplifier.

Television (TV/HDTV) Connections
"RF" or "F" Connections:

The "F" connector inputs on your TV are for connecting an antenna, Cable TV or Satellite Receiver. These connections carry modulated audio and video on the same cable. You need to look at your manuals for Cable TV or Satellite TV receivers and Television if you have questions about how to use these. Most modern Televisions have tuners compatible with any of these connections. You will need to look at your Television manual for instructions on how to "auto scan" for channels. RG-6 cable is the current standard cable for these connections, using the oddly named "F" connector.

Television (TV/HDTV) Component Video/ Audio Connections

Most HDTV's and many new NTSC (non-HD) TV's have Component Video inputs as seen to the left. The top three "RCA" connectors (green, blue and red color coded) are for Component video. These should be connected directly to your DVD player, Satellite receiver or Cable TV box if they have component video outputs, or to your Surround sound receiver if you are using it as a component video switcher. The bottom two "RCA" (white and red) color coded connectors are for analog stereo audio connections. Generally no Televisions have Digital audio inputs, although there are exceptions. Normally, if you have a surround sound receiver you will not want to connect audio to the television since your surround sound system will handle all of the audio rather than the television. If you have no surround sound system, and are not using a stereo Hi-Fi system for your audio, then you would use these audio connections.

Television (TV/HDTV) S-Video and Audio inputs

Use the S-Video connections seen on the left if possible, rather than the yellow color coded Video connections if the device you are connecting has these connectors. Use the white and red audio connections (L and R) for connecting devices with these outputs only if you are using the televisions speakers and are not connecting the device to a Surround Sound system.

Television (TV/HDTV) Audio and Video Outputs

Surprisingly you will usually need to use your Televisions Audio and possibly Video outputs even if you have a Surround Sound System. The Video output connector (Yellow color coded "RCA" Composite video) often connects to the VCR. The Stereo audio (red and white color coded "RCA" connectors) are often needed to connect to your surround Sound Receivers "TV" audio input if your cable TV box does not have its stereo output connected to the receivers audio input. You can fix this by connecting your Cable TV boxes analog stereo audio output connection to your surround sound receiver. If you are using an antenna for OTA (over the air) Television reception, you may need to use this connection for the audio to get to your receiver.