Beginner Help Needed (1 Viewer)

[SeanMcC]

Hello! I am looking for some help and hope someone can spare a minute. I am changing my home tv/avr setup and frankly I am a bit lost.
I just replaced my 20 year old mitsubishi tube television with an LG 55LM7600. I have been using a 15 year old technics amp and digital decoder which I am thinking of replacing with an Yamaha rx-v373bl.
The current setup is cable box, blue-ray and Wii u hooked to the TVs HDMI ports. The blue-ray and TV are each connected via fiber to the digital decoder. When I watch TV I select input 1 on the decoder and the TVs sound plays both through the AV and TV which is cool since I don’t have to do much and I was happy to note that the feed from the TV cames through as Dolby Digital.
When I watch a blue-ray I have to get up and change the decoder to input 2 (I lost the remote a decade ago). The irration I am having is that the decoder does not auto switch between audio formats. This means the trailers on a blue ray are some times dolby and then the move DTS and I am jumping up and down chaging the decoder.
All video inputs to the the TV and switched via the input selection screen.
My questions are this. When using the yamaha 373 I have to have all devices plugged into the AV? How do I switch between them, the av remote? I think I would prefer to still use the TV for that if and I inform my wife that there are now multiple new steps just two play a movie she will kill me. Does the avr alwwys have to be on? Most of the time I would prefer just to use the televisions speakers.
I guess my question is can I just keep using my two optical inputs and leave the video switching to the TV?
This all comes down to the fact that I am sick of juming up and down to audio (dts/dolby) and input selection on the decoder and want something that does it for me (at least the decoding) but I am scared that in moving to the new AVR I will just be creating my headaches.

 

[schan1269]

You use the AVR. If you move up the Yamaha line you actually get a remote that will also turn your TV on and off as well as the BD player.
Or, you can buy the 373 and buy an aftermarket. Most new AVR even have "HDMI pass through in standby". And even others have HDMI switching in standby...which I know the 373 does the former...not sure about the latter. Beneficial for those times you wish to watch the evening news without the AVR involved.
With HDMI, this is 10 times simpler than what you have now. Things progressed the last 15 years in simplicity.

 

[Katsndog]

I don't have any advice for you, because I am such a newbie, I don't even know what to expect from the Blue Ray machine my son gave us for Xmas!!! It has improved the resolution on our TV, but not the size of the image. We still don't have a full screen image. What are we doing wrong. What else will a Blue Ray do for us? Will it play our exising DVDs or do we have to buy all new Blue Ray discs? Can we record TV programs?
Does anyone know where a decent user manual can be had? The one that came with the machine assume a level of knowlege that is astronomically greater than ours!
ANy help would be appreciated.

 

[SeanMcC]

Thanks for the reply. So if the 373 does pass through in standby which input does it pass through? I assume what you call hdmi switching picks whichever input is live? Does plain passthrough just default to lets say.. input 1?
I am asking these most likely very dumb questions because.. well, I don't know what I am talking about
I want to use the receiver for 3 things. I want to use it when I watch movies via blue-ray. I want to use it when I watch movies via DLNA. I want to listen to music via airplay.
The things I don't want to use the receiver for is my kids Wii U.. dear god no. I also don't really want to use it while we watch TV. If we do and my wife decides to watch "The Voice" and figures the sound needs to go to "11" I can't be held responsible for my reactions. The news is already full of horrible things.
So of the three things I need, I already have a apple airport express which I can hook to the CD input. The only difference I say between the 473 and the 373 was this network function. Blue-ray, well I will never be using the blue-ray with out the receiver so that can be hooked to it. The confusion for me is the cable box and DLNA. I really, really don't want to have to be changing inputs on both the TV and a receiver. I want to be able to sit down and hit the power button on my cable remote and have the TV come on. If I want to watch streaming through my TV I choose the DLNA input. No fuss involved. If I want to watch a movie I turn on the receiver and the blueray.
My concern is adding a whole new set of steps in to basic TV viewing. While I can deal with it it will cause grief with the family.
Anyways, thanks for your time.

 

[schan1269]

To answer you question about "HDMI passthrough"...
I have no idea how the 373 does it. But I do know once you go high enough in the line(pretty sure all the RX-A does this) you get HDMI switching in standby...
Is there an echo...yeah, I said that in the first reply...
So, read some manuals...
http://usa.yamaha.com/products/audio-visual/

 

[SeanMcC]

Kats, when you say that it hasn't improved the size are you referring to the black bars on top and bottom of the screen? Those will be there for most movies. The TV is 16x9 but the aspect ratio for must movies is different so the picture is letter boxed.
The blue-ray will play both DVD and Blue-ray and most blue-ray players upscale the DVDs picture to look better on the TV.

 

[SeanMcC]

To answer you question about "HDMI passthrough"...
I have no idea how the 373 does it. But I do know once you go high enough in the line(pretty sure all the RX-A does this) you get HDMI switching in standby...
Is there an echo...yeah, I said that in the first reply...
So, read some manuals...
http://usa.yamaha.com/products/audio-visual/

Yup you did. Sorry, I am dense at times. Hence me bothering strangers on the web.

 

[Steve Tannehill]

Sean and Kathleen, welcome to HTF! For Sean, I'll defer to Sam's advice,
Kathleen, I don't know how to create a new thread for you in the forum, so I'll try to address your questions here.
As long as your TV is set to full screen and assuming it is a widescreen HDTV, it will display whatever your DVD or blu-ray player throws at it. If the content is 1.78x1 or 1.85x1, it will basically fill your screen. This is what you should be seeing on broadcast television. If the content is 2.35x1 or 2.40x1, there will be black bands on the top and bottom of the image. This "letterbox" image is kind of like what you see in movie theaters. If the picture is squareish (1.33x1) then there will be black bars on the side of the image. This is typical of movies from the 30's, 40's, and some of the 50's, and TV shows from the 50's-90's. You can find these "aspect ratios" on the back of the DVD or blu-ray case.
If a 1.78x1 or 1.85x1 movie is not filling up your screen, then your TV is not set to format as full screen. There will be black bars top, bottom, and on both sides in this case. This is a "format" setting on your TV that you can usually adjust by remote control.
If your TV is indeed set to display format full screen, then you need to go into the blu-ray player and tell it what kind of TV you have, widescreen 16x9 or full-screen 4x3.
Your blu-ray player should be able to play DVD's. You don't need to rebuy anything unless you want to see the enhanced picture and hear the enhanced sound of blu-ray. Your DVD player will NOT play blu-rays.
Blu-ray players don't record.
I hope this helps...if you still have questions, feel free to ask. Also include the make and model of your TV and blu-ray player so we'll be able to look up your manuals and read them.

 

[SeanMcC]

Sam, I read the 80 page manual with little to show for it. Sometimes I over think things though so I am going to hit Amazon and order the 373 up with sat. delivery and will fiddle through out the weekend. Now I just have to decide if I want to exchange my new TV due to light bleeding in the upper corner.
Thanks again for your time.

 

[schan1269]

Sam, I read the 80 page manual with little to show for it. Sometimes I over think things though so I am going to hit Amazon and order the 373 up with sat. delivery and will fiddle through out the weekend. Now I just have to decide if I want to exchange my new TV due to light bleeding in the upper corner.
Thanks again for your time.

Welcome to the number one reason people return Edge-Lit LCD...
Your LG 55LM7600 is edge lit. If you have to have LCD, buy a back lit.

 

[Katsndog]

Your reply has been hugely helpful. Thanks tons.

 

[Katsndog]

Big, big thanks for this detail, Steve. Much clearer for us now.

 

[Katsndog]

....as to TV make and model, it's an Insignia, 46" LED-LCD tv, 120Hz 1080p
This model is not listed in the user manual for the Blu-ray, so I'm not sure how to program the remote. Any advice on that, Steve?
Kats

 

[Steve Tannehill]

Kathleen, the blu-ray player should have come with a remote. If not, you can probably use the brand of the player when programming a universal remote like the Harmony.

 

[Katsndog]

It's a Sony Blu-ray and it came with a remote. In the instruction manual, it says that "TV-INPUT Switches between TV and other input sources.", and "TV-I/(insert power icon)" Turns on the TV, or sets to standby mode." Also in the manual it provides "Code numbers of controllable TVs", but does not list Insignia. So, our remote does nothing to control the TV, which is really frustrating because of the conflict that results between the Blu-ray and the TV. Is there another source of code numbers somehwere?
Kathleen

 

[Steve Tannehill]

I have the same problem with my remotes. The blu-ray remote does not control the TV input just the power. I have to use both the TV remote and the blu-ray remote for everything to work, as you will...unless you get a universal remote like the Harmony.

 

[Katsndog]

Ah! Gotchya. Thanks again.
Kathleen