Connecting it all, DSS, DVD, Receiver, TV (1 Viewer)

[Ryan_SD]

Please bear with me, my stereo knowledge to this point has been limited to little shelf systems.

I managed to get a whole new stereo setup, and I also managed to get it all hooked up, but I have some questions as to if it's hooked up right or the best way to hook it up.

I will list what I have, the connections, and how I have it hooked up.

TV: Toshiba 27", Video In (2), Video Out (1), S-Video (1)
DVD: Samsung DVD-M201, Digital Audio Out, RCA, and S-Video
DSS: Standard RCA Direct TV Receiver, RCA's, S-Video, Co-ax
Receiver: Onkyo TX-SR600

How I have it hooked up:
TV: Co-ax in from DSS Receiver, RCA in from Onkyo, RCA out to Onkyo
DVD: Digital Optical Audio out to Onkyo, RCA out to Onkyo
DSS: Co-ax out to TV, RCA out to Onkyo

The problem that I am having is that the sound when watching Satellite thru my stereo has some static. Is there a better way to get the sound to the stereo, instead of thru the TV? Should I be using S-video, and how? Any advice/input would be great. Forgot to mention I have all new Polk speakers.

Thanks in advance for you help, this forum has been a great source of advice and knowledge.

 

[Chad Ellinger]

Ryan,

Here's your best setup option:

DVD: Optical out to Receiver, S-Video to Receiver
DSS: RCA audio to Receiver, S-Video to Receiver

Then run an S-Video from the "Monitor out" or "TV Monitor" connection on your receiver to your TV. All of your sound (DVD and satellite) will play through your receiver. Simply leave your TV on the S-Video input and use the receiver to switch between sources.

Enjoy!

 

[Jonathan Smith]

Chad's advice sounds good, but I'd double check your DSS receiver to make sure there is no digital audio output offered (either optical or coaxial). A digital audio connection can get you Dolby Digital 5.1 sound on the movie channels and any others that offer it, which makes a big difference. You should get a noticeable difference on your picture with the S video connections he mentioned too.

Good luck!

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Ryan,
The others have already got you started, but perhaps I can give some more detail.
What I like to stress to “Newbies” is “keep it simple.” The simplest thing is to run all audio and video signals to the receiver, and only one video feed to the TV. This way a single selection from the receiver’s remote gets you both sound and picture. Many people well-versed in home theater recommend sending video signals, especially from the DVD player, directly to the TV, but that’s an extra step you will have to remember – changing the input on both the receiver and the TV.
There are three types of connections in a home theater – audio, video and RF (aka “radio frequency” or “antenna” signals). I’ll take them for you one at a time.
Video comes in three varieties these days:

• Composite, which uses the yellow RCA jack you find on most components.
• S-video, which uses a specific connector different from other video connections.
• Component video, which uses three RCA cables and jacks, typically red, blue and green in color.

The thing to remember about video is that none of these formats are compatible with each other. You cannot “mix and match” them if you are sending all video signals to the receiver. For instance, if you connect the DVD player and satellite tuner to the receiver with S-video, and then connect composite video from the receiver to the TV, you will get no video to the TV. To “keep it simple” you will have to use the format that is common to all your equipment. Typically this means either S-video, or more commonly, regular composite video (i.e., the yellow RCA jacks).
Audio signals come in two subcategories, analog and digital. Analog audio is easy – just connect the red and white jacks from the various components to the red and white jacks on the receiver. This is all you need to do with the CD player and a VCR. Typically the white jacks designate the left signal, and red designates the right audio signal.
However, 5.1 Dolby Digital audio from the DVD player is a little trickier. To make things needlessly complicated, there are two types of digital connections: (fiber) optical and coaxial. The coaxial connection is yet another RCA jack, typically orange in color. Whichever you chose, coaxial or fiber optic, you have to have the same connections on both the DVD player and the receiver.
On the receiver you may have noticed that the inputs for audio and video are logically labeled – “VCR,” “CD,” “Satellite,” etc. You may have noticed the digital inputs are not: “Digital 1,” “Digital 2,” and so forth. So which one do you plug the DVD player into? Any one of them, actually. The trick is that you have to go into the receiver’s menu and tell it which digital input the DVD player is connected to. You will have to consult the receiver’s manual for this.
Further complicating matters, you will have to tell the DVD player to send a 5.1 digital signal to the receiver. You will have to do this from the DVD player’s menu. Again, you will have to find directions for this step the DVD player’s manual.
RF (radio frequency) signals are the third kind you will deal with in a home theater. Again, RF signals come from a variety of sources like TV antenna, feeds from the local cable company and/or satellite antennas. The RF signals from the antennas go to the appropriate tuner: TV, VCR, cable box, and satellite receiver.
There are two types of coaxial cables commonly for used home-theater-related RF signals, RG-59 and RG-6. RG-59 is suitable only for a TV antenna. It should not be used with cable TV or satellite feeds. Cable and satellite feeds require RG-6 exclusively. However, you can use RG-6 with TV antennas, so you can “keep it simple” by using RG-6 for all your home theater RF connections.
I don’t know if you get your local channels from your satellite or from a TV antenna, but if it is the latter, the “keep it simple” method would be to connect the TV antenna to the VCR, not the satellite. This would allow the VCR to become your TV tuner, and use the satellite receiver for (obviously) satellite programming.
Logically interfacing equipment with RF feeds into the system can be complicated. The “keep it simple” method, in my opinion, is not run any RF signals to the TV. The TV, cable, and satellite feeds go to their appropriate tuners only. The tuners connect to the receiver via the audio and video RCA jacks, and the receiver’s “[Video] Monitor Out” delivers the picture to the television via the TV’s video “Line In” jack. Thus the TV always stays in “Line In” mode and becomes merely a monitor for the picture, and the sound system is on anytime the TV is. As I mentioned, with this connection method a single selection from the receiver’s remote gets you both sound and picture - simple.
Many satellite and cable boxes these days have digital audio feeds. With these follow the directions given for DVD players, above.
Many people want to the ability to record their TV programming. Recording of local TV programs is easy; just set the VCR to the correct channel. Recording satellite is a little trickier. Most sat receivers have two sets of audio and video outputs. One set is already going to the receiver, so send the second set to the VCR’s “Line In” jacks. Thus the VCR would be set to “Line In” for satellite recording.
Hope this gets you going, Ryan. If you have any more questions I’m sure we can help you.
Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[Lee Petty]

actually with that particular onkyo receiver, you can just do the rca video/audio jacks in and out to the video1 source on the receiver. that way you can just hook everything straight up like wayne suggested.

 

[Ryan_SD]

Ok, I read in my manual that the RCA and the S-video are interchangable, ie, the feed in RCA, feeds both S-video out and RCA out. I have monitor out to my TV hooked up with S-video. I have my DSS receiver hooked up via RCA's and can get that to work on my tv. However, I have my DVD player hooked up with digital optical out audio and the video out (yellow cable) running to the stereo receiver. I can get the audio when I select DVD on the receiver, but I can't get the video picture. Any idea of how to switch the video signal from the satellite to the DVD players picture?

 

[Chad Ellinger]

You should try and use the S-Video out on your DVD. Not only will that likely solve your problem, you'll get much better picture quality than a composite (yellow RCA) connection.

 

[Aristides]

Okay, first of all rather than start another thread I figured I'd revive this one.

I recently dove into the world of Satellite and have questions about video connections.

I have a Denon AVR-3300 Receiver (A/V) and the Samsung SIR-S70 Sat receiver. I am currently running the sat box directly to the TV via "S-video". The TV is connected to the Denon via composite cables. The problem I am encountering as a result is that when switching input on the Denon, the volume is directly affected by TV volume.

Do I need another set of cables to run from the sat box to the Denon and then back into the TV? What ill effects will this have on the picture and/or audio quality if any? I'm asking before I dump another $200 in cables.

Thanks I hope my question is clear enough.

Aristides

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

I am currently running the sat box directly to the TV via "S-video". The TV is connected to the Denon via composite cables. The problem I am encountering as a result is that when switching input on the Denon, the volume is directly affected by TV volume.

The problem is the audio signal being sent from the TV to the Denon. TV’s audio outputs are usually variable from the TV controls.

To correct this, send only the video of your various components (DVD player, sat box, etc.) to the TV. Send all audio signals to the Denon.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[Aristides]

Thanks! I'll make the switch tonight.
Aristides