bitshift

Questions about choosing HT reciever and other items.

Im getting a new LCD TV. I will have a standard DVD player and a MAC mini which has DVI out. The LCD, which I haven't decided on yet, will likely be Sharp aquos with 2 DVI inputs.

Im also considering getting a home theater receiver to run all of my audio video outputs into it, then output to a single set of speakers and the video output to my LCD. I suppose thats the whole point of a home theater receiver, correct - to make the signal to your speakers and display consistent?

Another concern I have is letting others in the family use the dvd player and watch tv, while not having to interact with the mac mini.

If Im viewing video from the mac mini, how does one switch to a different video & audio inputs ? Ive seen some HT receivers with a manual switch. Do the remotes work with this also ?

I guess now, I come to the issue of remote controls. For access to the mac mini, I will have a wireless/bluetooth keyboard.


So, my questions so far are:
- Can I plug in multiple video and audio sources to a receiver the the goal of connecting multiple items to use the same speakers & display ?
- Need some recommendations for basic HT package deals that include the receiver and a good set of speakers
- How do I switch video/audio sources and can it be done with a remote ?

Robert_J

Re: Questions about choosing HT reciever and other items.

Answers:
- Yes you can. Most receivers have video switching with HDMI, component, s-video and composite video connections. I don't know of a single receiver with DVI. Audio connections are handled with optical digital, coaxial digital, analog audio stereo (the red/white connectors) and 5.1 or 7.1 analog in (decoded 5.1 or 7.1 through 6 or 8 connections).
- Read, read and read some more. We spend most of our time here answering questions like that. You need to determine what video and audio connections you need and your budget. Then you can start to eliminate receivers or packages that don't fit.
- If everything is run through a receiver, then it is as simple as choosing the source using the remote. If you are like me and have some video bypassing the receiver and use an external HDMI switch box then you will need up to 3 remote controls to switch everything to the correct input. But I simplified my setup by using a Harmony 880 remote control.

You did mention that the Mac used bluetooth keyboard. There are no bluetooth capable remotes. You may need another solution for that.

-Robert