Newbie hookup questions.

[SoloJedi]

YAY I'm so happy I found this thread for newbiews....
I've had questions regarding Bluray and audio formats and haven't been able to find what I need...then again most of this is new to me and didnt want to get flamed on the "Tech threads".

I'm an ol school guy. I connect my system the following way:
HDMI cable from DVD player to TV. Optical/toslink cable from DVD player to receiver...play and enjoy.

I'm not understanding all this new stuff ie: PCM, lossless, DTS-HD, TrueHD etc. OR how to connect it.

I'm planning on buying a new sony 60" sxrd and maybe a new onkyo 605 receiver.

For now, I have an older model onkyo pre-HDMI. I'm planning on gettin a panasonic BD player either the 10ak or the new 30.

If i use my "old" receiver, how would i hook it up to get the BEST picture and AUDIO?

OR if I do get a new onkyo 605 with HDMI, again, how would i hook it up to get BEST possible picture and sound?

ie: what cables to use, where/how to connect them, inputs/outputs, what needs to be turned on or off on either the receiver or player etc....

I'm more of a "visual" learner so reading through all these threads, though insightful, doesn't really help me.

Thanks in adavnce...