Television Connections
What are all those connections for?
Amidst the fun and excitement of owning a brand new television set is a short moment of confusion when we stop to take a look at all the hookups in the back. If you’re like me, you may not be as “connection-savvy” as you would like to be when it comes to all those options, and you could be missing out on some really nice enhancements to your viewing entertainment. Take a moment to scan the list below to find out what you may not already know about the connections on your TV.
COMPONENT VIDEO CONNECTION
Better than S-video and composite video, a component video connection improves color purity and color detail and reduces color noise and NTSC artifacts. The 3-plug video output of a DVD player sends and receives the luminance (Y) and 2 color signals, each on a separate colored RCA cable.
S-VIDEO CONNECTION
An S-video connection is better than composite video, but not as good as a component video connection. A higher quality video input/output separates the signals for chrominance (color) and luminance (light) for exceptional reproduction from high-quality video sources (S-VHS, Hi8, and DVD).
COMPOSITE VIDEO CONNECTION
This is a direct video connection that uses an RCA-type plug and jack. It’s better than an RF type of connection, but not as good as S-video and component video connections.
COAXIAL DIGITAL CONNECTION
An optical or coaxial digital connection between the receiver and a DVD or CD player is a digital stream that sends unprocessed sound information to the receiver (which will usually have better digital to analog signal processors than the DVD or CD player) to be decoded and amplified. A coaxial digital connection sends sound information in signals electronically and not optically and is not to be confused with an RF cable, which is sometimes also referred to as “coaxial.”
OPTICAL DIGITAL AUDIO CONNECTION
An optical or coaxial digital connection between the receiver and a DVD or CD player is a digital stream that sends unprocessed sound information to the receiver (which will usually have better digital to analog signal processors than the DVD or CD player) to be decoded and amplified. An optical digital connection sends sound information in the form of light signals, and not electronically. The advantage to an optical digital audio connection is that it is not susceptible to EM or RF interference.
5.1-CHANNEL AUDIO CONNECTION
This connection uses a built-in Dolby Digital or DTS decoder to send audio signals from an SACD or DVD player to a home theatre receiver for amplification. A 5.1-channel audio connection is needed to fully experience multichannel audio. Always use superior quality cables to provide premium performance. You will need 6 cables (3 sets of 2 stereo audio cables) with RCA plugs.
STEREO AUDIO CONNECTION
Stereo provides the basic 2-channel audio connectivity between a VCR, CD, or DVD player and a home theatre receiver or the inputs on a stereo TV. It isn’t as good as a digital connection, but is better than a coaxial RF A/V connection.
COAXIAL RF CONNECTION
A coaxial RF connection connects a cable box or digital satellite box to a TV. Although it is not recommended, this type of connection can also be used to connect a VCR to a TV (A/V cables are preferred in this case). Use a video switcher and RF modulator to connect sources like DVD players or game systems if the TV has only coaxial RF inputs (picture and sound quality is not as good as A/V, S-Video, or component video connections).
Two new high-bandwidth connections (DVI and HDMI) with an HDTV system use the HDCP (High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection) standard to protect copyrighted information against unauthorized duplication. High-bandwidth digital content such as HD programming or DVD movies is encrypted between the digital source device and the display and is then decrypted at the destination. Both devices must have compatible connections.
DIGITAL VIDEO INTERFACE (DVI)
The original concept for use was as a connection between PC video cards and digital TV monitors, but this connection has recently been used primarily as a connection between HDTV set-top boxes and HDTV monitors. This is a high-bandwidth digital-to-digital video connection that makes the digital-to-analog and analog-to-digital conversions, necessary between components with only component video connectors, a thing of the past. A DVI connection produces a more faithful reproduction of the original signal. HDCP compatibility is not a mandatory standard for DVI connectivity, so you need to make sure both components are HDCP-enabled (usually indicated with “DVI-HDCP” or “DVI with HDCP”).
HIGH-DEFINITION MULTIMEDIA INTERFACE (HDMI)
An HDMI connection adds digital audio transmission for a one-cable solution to digital A/V connectivity. It provides a much larger bandwidth than DVI allowing it to transmit higher-definition uncompressed digital video signals. HDMI connections use one cable with a smaller connector than the DVI, and unlike DVI, all HDMI-equipped devices incorporate HDCP as a standard eliminating the need to check for compatibility. This type of connection is backward-compatible with DVI, meaning if one device uses a DVI connection and the other uses HDMI, the video signal can be converted using an adapter. Note that because DVI does not make any provisions for audio signals, a separate audio connection is needed.
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