Newbie Set-up Questions

[amfoeckler]

I am anxiously awaiting delivery of my Toshiba 57HDX82 this Wednesday (1/22).  I will be swapping my TWC digital box for an hd compatible digital box before the new tv is delivered.  I will be hooking up my dvd player, tivo, and DD 5.1 receiver and speakers to the new tv.  A few questions:

1.  Will I be able to get 5.1 surround through the new hd cable box?  Do I hook-up the box directly to the receiver or box to tv then receiver to receive 5.1 surround.  (I have my dvd sound directly to the receiver through an optical cord -- works great -- is this available with the new hd cable box?)

2.  What type of cables do you recommend to connect the hd cable box to the tv?  How about the tivo to the tv (I understand it will not record in hd)?

3.  Any other recommendations?

Depending on the answers to these questions I may consider switching to DirectTV but I find the ability to receive hd local channels and hbo through the TWC box without extra cost as an added bonus for the short term.

Thanks.

Al

[mr_yeti]

Digital out on the cable box is coaxial rather than optical. I was disappointed by this, because I have optical inputs to burn. 5.1 is available through this box.

[Joseph S]

Digital out on the cable box is coaxial rather than optical. I was disappointed by this, because I have optical inputs to burn. 5.1 is available through this box.

You can get fairly cheap optical to coax and coax to optical converters if you need one or the other.

[John Brundage]

You definately want to use the component output on the cable box to the component input on your TV (I think on the Toshiba they are called Colorstream Pro).

Component cables are the only way to get the High Definition signal to the television in 1080i format.  You can use other inputs, but the signal will be downgraded.

I have a Toshiba also, and it has two component cable inputs.  I use one for my DVD player, which has component outputs.  I use the second set for my set top box HDTV output.

I would connect the TIVO box thru an S-Video port.

[mr_yeti]

Really? A converter? I hadn't checked into this because it just seemed impractical to me, that is to say, I figured the conversion would be cumbersome. Thanks, I'll check this out.

[Joseph S]

sweetwater.com has the M-Audio CO2 model which does both conversions for the pricy end, I think it was $60.

Partsexpress.com has a few cheaper units that go one way. Search for "optical converter" and it should get both.

[lefty]

I just hooked up the same TV two weeks ago and used the digital co-ax to my receiver and the component video directly to the tv.  The converter does send out 5:1.  I had to get an optical cable for my DVD since my receiver had only one co-ax input.  I was interested to hear about the converter.  Thanks.