HDMI vs. Optical

[KaKKeBu-ray]

Hi all,

I am pretty new here and I need to ask you guys something regarding technical. I don't know much about this stuff but I already tried to use the search buttom but couldn't find any.

I just bought a new sound receiver and I don't know what would be the best choice for setup.

My question is should I connect PS3 with HDMI to sound receiver and HDMI out to HDTV or should I connected HDMI from PS3 to HDTV only and connect optical from PS3 to sound receiver?

This confuses me and I simply have no idea what is best and I'll be grateful if you guy could answer me what's the technical benifit from the both.

Thank you in advance and please excuse my poor english.

[tlmaclennan]

I would use HDMI to the receiver then HDMI to the TV. It is a much more simple solution. Does you receiver take advantage of the new HD audio codecs (DTS-HD MA and Dolby TrueHD)? If so then HDMI is the only way to take advantage of these new codecs. If not, I would still suggest that you use HDMI due to less cables. But make sure your receiver is not HDMI pass through, where it passes the audio / video through the receiver and does not play the sound through the speakers, nor does it upconvert the video to HD.

What model is your receiver?

[Cisco in HD]

Welcome, everyone will tell you to use HDMI from your PS3 to your AVR to your TV. That way you can fully enjoy your set up.

If you were to use the optical, you'd get the core track (you wouldn't get all the 'bells and whistles'), since optical does not have the amount of bandwidth that HDMI has.

So, HDMI is your best bet. Don't for get to change the settings on your PS3 to HDMI/Linear PCM. And your AVR will say "Multichannel PCM" or something similar. Not to worry, that's what it's supposed to say. Good luck!

[KaKKeBu-ray]

Originally Posted by tlmaclennan

I would use HDMI to the receiver then HDMI to the TV. It is a much more simple solution. Does you receiver take advantage of the new HD audio codecs (DTS-HD MA and Dolby TrueHD)? If so then HDMI is the only way to take advantage of these new codecs. If not, I would still suggest that you use HDMI due to less cables. But make sure your receiver is not HDMI pass through, where it passes the audio / video through the receiver and does not play the sound through the speakers, nor does it upconvert the video to HD.

What model is your receiver?

Thanks a lot. My receiver is Onkyo TX-SR 506, web link: http://www.onkyousa.com/model.cfm?m=...s=Receiver&p=i

Is this one good? Did I do the right choice to pick up this receiver? I hope it does support HD audio codecs (DTS-HD MA and Dolby TrueHD) as you ask. I nearly have no experience in this and I need all the technical help I can. I am not sure what you mean by "make sure your receiver is not HDMI pass through" coz my understanding of english is pretty limited when it comes to the technical speaking but I hope I'll connect it right but if I do it wrong I'll post up my issue later.

Originally Posted by Cisco in HD

Welcome, everyone will tell you to use HDMI from your PS3 to your AVR to your TV. That way you can fully enjoy your set up.

If you were to use the optical, you'd get the core track (you wouldn't get all the 'bells and whistles'), since optical does not have the amount of bandwidth that HDMI has.

So, HDMI is your best bet. Don't for get to change the settings on your PS3 to HDMI/Linear PCM. And your AVR will say "Multichannel PCM" or something similar. Not to worry, that's what it's supposed to say. Good luck!

Thanks for all the help on the technical aspect. Please explain closer how to do the sound settings on my PS3, should i just choose HDMI setup and then "Automatic", will it find for it self the setup you just said "HDMI/Linear PCM??"

[tlmaclennan]

Okay, that helps a lot! The Onkyo 506 does have HDMI pass through so you cannot send audio to the receiver through HDMI. So I would suggest you connect the PS3 to the receiver with HDMI for video and with optical for your audio. Then use HDMI from the receiver to your TV.

Now your receiver is not capable of using the HD audio from blu-ray movies, but at least you will still be able to use it. Make sure the PS3 decodes the audio, like Cisco in HD said. The setting should be HDMI/Linear PCM.

EDIT: I just want to clarify. Your receiver is a very basic one. Many receivers allow you to plug various electronics to it with HDMI, component, s-video, and composite cables. then it outputs those video signals over HDMI (upconverting the non-HD formats). Yours does not do this. If you hook up your PS3 with HDMI the video will go out through the HDMI out. If you attach something with component cables you will have to connect the receiver to the TV with component cables.

[KaKKeBu-ray]

Thank you so much for being so kind to answer my question. I'm pretty new to this but I'll learn by the time.

It seems like I should have ordered the more expensive one Onkyo 605 but I thought Onkyo 506 was pretty decent for its price since my budjet for a new receiver was pretty limited.

Anyway if there's anything you can enlighten me I'll be glad to take any advice.

Once again thank you all..

[repete66211]

...I would suggest you connect the PS3 to the receiver with HDMI for video and with optical for your audio. Then use HDMI from the receiver to your TV.

If the receiver is pass through there is no need to send the video to the receiver. It makes more sense to output the video from the PS3 to the TV via HDMI.

The setting should be HDMI/Linear PCM.

The audio should be sent bitstream (not PCM) via optical cable to the receiver. Make sure the PS3 audio and video output are set accordingly.