OT: Audio/Video guru's ... need help ...

[JohnnyB]

I need some help connecting stuff to my new TV. The TV I have is at the link below, LG model # 32LC7D, flat panel LCD. Not exactly the TV I wanted but that is a very long story in itself.



I am trying to connect the following:



Tivo (cable box connected to Tivo) I am using the S-video connector for the video and regular audio/video cable red/white for the audio plugged into the AV1 on the TV. Works fine, is that the best way to connect it for my setup?



I also want to connect the DVD player and the PS2 to the Component 1 & 2 on the TV. They both have regular yellow/red/white Audio/Video cables coming out of them. Can I connect them to the Component connectors on the TV? The audio works fine but the picture is crappy since I only have the yellow video connector plugged into the first of the component connectors on the TV. Do they make a audio/video to component cable converters or something like that?



The TV only has one other AV2 connector and its on the side of the TV which sticks out and the cables are too short anyway.



Any ideas or help is much appreciated. Let me know if you need me to take some pics. I'll be back in a few hours.

 

[Thomas Rogers]

JohnnyB,



Your predicament is that your PS2 and your DVD player have Composite outputs (Y/R/W) and you have only one Composite input on the back of your LG TV. That input is AV1, and it is located below the Component inputs 1 and 2 on the back of the TV. See page 24 of the linked user's manual for your PC.



The only other Composite input is on the side of your TV, and that's typically intended for short-term use, like for a camcorder. It is AV2, and its described on page 25.



Note that both AV1 and AV2 support EITHER S-Video OR Composite, but you can't use both types connected for a single input (ie. you can't plug both an S-Video input and a Composite input to AV1).



To make matters worse, you actually have three pieces of equipment you need to connect that need to compete for AV1 and AV2. Though the Tivo is S-Video, it still needs to be connected to AV1, or AV2, effectively making the Composite connectors for the input you choose for that S-Video connection unusable.



The cost involved with converting the old-style Composite signal to a new-fangled Component signal is, IMHO, cost prohibitive. It requires upconverting of an analog to a higher quality digital source, then back to analog for the Component input. There are adapters that do it, that look like mini-settop boxes, but they cost hundreds.



So, on the cheap, I think your only real alternative is to buy a cheap video signal selector. These boxes have buttons on the front, some even come with remotes for changing the source. You use the buttons and the remotes to select the equipment you want to pass through, when you want to view them. You could then, if you wish, connect everything up through the selector and into AV1. Get a selector that supports both Composite as well as S-Video.



The more expensive solution would be to upgrade to the HD Tivo player, and then you have Component out. That frees up one old-style Composite input. Then upgrade to an upconverting DVD player (around $80) and that frees up the other. That's a good roadmap because then you can enjoy better quality on that nice TV.



Oh, and there are always AV receivers.



TJR

 

[TomT]

Having just gone HD recently myself, I would highly suggest you get a new 1080 up-conversion dvd player with HDMI inputs. It will give you a greatly improved picture. You can find a good one for around $60 if you look. I bought the Phillips player from Circuit City about a month ago for $63. It even has a usb port that allows me to play any movie or music I download right off a usb stick. (Isn't technology great?)

 

[Thomas Rogers]

TomT is right, as I said too, an upconverting DVD player (if you get a good one, not a cheap one) is a good investment. Your TV has HDMI ports to spare, as well as Component inputs, and most of the upconverting DVD players support both.



TJR

 

[Gavin Allan]

HDMI is the way to go. My Dish Network picture is so much better than my buddy's who uses RF connections.

 

[JohnnyB]

Thanks for the info guys. The Tivo is only about 6 months old before I decided to get the TV. I dont really want to spend more on a DVD player. So I guess the video signal selector is my only choice. Can any of you recomend a decent one?



THANKS!

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Amazon.com has an RCA version that supposedly learns Remote Control codes for auto-switching, but I have never used that one (see link below...kinda pricey).



You can get a cheap one for around $10 if you have a Big Lots near you. I think they have an RCA one. It's all mechanical (no remote or remote sensing).



There are several on Ebay. Just search for: RCA VIDEO SELECTOR



TJR

 

[Thomas Rogers]

BTW, JohnnyB, you can get that same unit from Amazon, off of EBay, new, for $29.99 + shipping.



It seems like a good unit from the reviews. I have used RCA selectors in the past...definitely quality construction. Not cheap crap.

 

[JohnnyB]

thanks again guys. I just have ot make up my mind now.

 

[Bill V]

What TiVo unit do you have? If you have one with a built-in tuner (doesn't need cable TV), you may want to consider the upgrade to the HD TiVo unit anyway. Otherwise, the tuner in the TiVo will cease to work in just over a year (when they turn off the analog signals). For about $300, you can get the TiVo HD unit with dual digital tuners. Between the longer-term usability and the improved picture, it may be worth the cost to you.

 

[Thomas Rogers]

BillV said:

Otherwise, the tuner in the TiVo will cease to work in just over a year (when they turn off the analog signals).

Actually, that's potentially misinformation.



Over-The-Air (OTA) analog is being phased out. That means if you have an old TV with rabbit ears or a roof mounted antennae then you will soon be SOL. However, most cable systems will continue to have analog cable for some time...well past the phase out of OTA analog broadcast. Many cable systems have moved to supporting digital and do so in dual carriage (carry both the analog and digital versions of channels). Again, they will be dual for some time. All digital for the cable companies is a long time away, IMHO.



So, unless JB is getting his source OTA, then he can use his current Tivo for some time. The best reason for getting an HD TV box now is the better quality for the limited HD channels available...which may not be too limiting depending on the source/system.



TJR

 

[Wes Davis]

This does get confusing about the digital stuff but this is the way I hear it. When the deadline happens the cable companies must by law offer all their channels in digital format. They may choose to simultaneously offer their channels in analog but are not required to do so. The general consensus is all analog channels will be dropped because it will be too expensive to support both formats. The analog signal quality pales in comparison to the digital. The cable companies have much more control over a digital signal than an analog signal such as tracking what your viewing and controlling pay/premium features. Umpteen million times more content can be fed through a digital signal compared to an analog signal. A little off topic but not known by most is that now almost 100% of the broadcast over the air tv signals are now digital and hi def. If you live in a metro area with good over the air options/stations you definitely need to hook up an antenna and see what you can pull in. With digital you get full 100% picture quality over the air meaning you either receive 100% of the signal or none at all. There are no fuzzy pictures when it comes to digital over the air. Your hi definition tuner can't process half a signal.

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Me said:

When the deadline happens the cable companies must by law offer all their channels in digital format. They may choose to simultaneously offer their channels in analog but are not required to do so. The general consensus is all analog channels will be dropped because it will be too expensive to support both formats.

Again, that's wrong. The deadline only deals with OTA broadcasters.



Cable companies have their own network infrastructure capable of both analog and digital signals. Cable companies are unaffected by the new law. Cable companies are already carrying analog and digital channels (digital in SD and HD) simultaneously. Most cable companies that offer standard def digital settop boxes (and that's most of them) have settop boxes that have both digital as well as analog tuners in them and not all the channels are digital. For example, a cable-ready TV will get about 70 analog channels (the same ones the settop box gets through it's analog tuner), while it would require a digital settop box to get the additional digital only stations (often 100s of those for basic digital cable).



So, today, your typical cable company has an analog version of NBC, and a digital HD version of that same NBC station, but no digital SD version of NBC. In '09, expect nothing to change in that scenario, unless NBC demands it. NBC could contractually forbid any analog transmission of its signal, but that would be between NBC and the cable companies.



Analog is here for some time in the cable space.



See the "Analog Shutdown" section of the Wiki article below that describes the shutdown as an OTA issue, and that old TVs will still work with cable after the shutdown.

 

[Bill V]

TJR and Me, regardless of which of you is correct, thanks for the info--my comments had been basically parroting info I had heard from others, and was assuming (perhaps incorrectly) was correct.

 

[TomT]

If you have a cable/satellite box you don't even need a tuner. The only reason you need a tuner is for over-the-air (antenna) reception.

JohnnyB, you got a good tv. I suggest you take the next step and go HD. Once you go HD, you never go back. The only way to get a true HD digital signal from your cable/satellite box or dvd player is through HDMI cables. Monoprice.com has great prices on HDMI cables. They're good cables. I'm using them now.

 

[Thomas Rogers]

TomT said:

The only way to get a true HD digital signal from your cable/satellite box or dvd player is through HDMI cables.

Again, not exactly true.



HDMI is arguably BETTER than component, but you can get "true HD" with component. I should know, I have an old 55" Mitsu rear projection TV that supports 1080i, but DOESN'T have HDMI input (in pre-dates that standard). So, I have the Component outputs of the HD settop box as input to the TV. It's "true HD" in that it supports up to 1080i.



Still, if your TV supports it, which JBs does, you get an arguably better picture with HDMI than Component.



Note that I said "arguably" a few times above...to read more about HDMI vs Component, click below:



TJR

 

[TomT]

I should have said "straight" instead of "true".

From the article:

Component cables typically take a digital signal, convert it to analog for internal conversion processes, and then convert it back to digital for output to the TV.

Regardless, I agree you can't tell much of a difference but it sure is handy to have just a single plug cable versus the 5 plug cable needed for component hook-up. If you have HDMI available, then use it.



Here's a good article on HDMI:

 

[Thomas Rogers]

TomT, give the article at the link I gave above a read. Even HDMI doesn't provide "straight-through". It still does conversions. Many people think that if they have a digital source that has an MPEG2 Transport stream than that is what crosses their cable and into their digital tv. It doesn't work that way.



TJR