Unusual LCD/Sky/Amp setup, maybe.

shayser

My LCD can store different picture settings for different AVs. It is a good thing that it can because settings that are good for an SD source are not so good for a HD source and vice versa.

I have the LCD and the Sky is coming on Tuesday. My plan was this...

AV1 - Sky box via HDMI - for HD channels - settings optimised for HD
AV2 - Sky box via Scart - for SD channels- settings optimised for SD

...if this will work.

I've never owned an AV amp. My question is can I still have things this way with an amp, when I get it? I want both AVs to have the surround sound and video upscaling from the amp.

byte

Have you an AV amp in mind?

Presuming the AV Amp is HD, then the only connection between the TV and equipment will be via a HDMI or Component lead (depending on the amp's connectivity). The amp will be doing the rest, including upscaling.

shayser

Probably either a Pioneer VSXLX50 or a Onkyo TXSR605, though this may change.

Both do TruHD and DTS Master Audio which I think can only be passed via HDMI, as far as I have read (I'm new to all this). Both upscale to 1080i.

Or a Sony STR-DA3200ES. This has 2xHDMI, 1080p in/out, but doesn't do HD audio.

I was thinking about a component connection, but then how would the sound work...

mossym

forget the component, use hdmi where possible. if you have to use component go digitally(optical or coax) from source to receiver.

shayser

Yeah, but I want two outs from the Sky HD box, one for SD and one for HD. Would this require an amp with two HDMI outs?

mossym

hang on, back up, what do you mean you want both avs to have surround sound. Do you mean input to your tvs? yuo won't be feeding sound to your tv with an amp. if you do it will only be stereo

onto your last question, i haven't seen many receivers with two hdmi out. so you may have to go component in that case. make sure though that the recevier does component out from component in, not just hdmi out from comnponentt in. then you'll need to use a digital sound connection, as i mentioned before

couple of points,
there will be no advantage to using hdmi over component for sd material...


also, are you sure you can't assign more than 1 picture setting to each input? Mine alows five different settings, these are shared among inputs, but it means you can have a hd and sd setting any apply it to any input.

shayser

Hi mossy, thanks for the replies, patience and all round good info. This is a steep enough learning curve for me...

I've been thinking some more about this...

My LCD is Sony KDL-40W2000. As far as I can see, it does not have more than one set of saved settings per input. This is what I want to solve.

For HD: (no problem here)

Sky box HDMI out > amp HDMI in > amp HDMI out > LCD HDMI in (AV1) + Settings optimised for HD.

For SD: (which is the bit I need to know)

Sky box ???? out > amp ???? in > amp ???? out > LCD ???? in (AV2) + Settings optimised for SD.

From what I have read, the ???? above would be component + sound cable (optical?), right?

This way I can get optimal picture for HD and SD and surround sound with both. Is that it, or am I still wrong.

The amp I am looking at is an Onkyo 605 (or 705, just maybe) but I don't see any optical out listed.

Here is the spec of the amp.

Here is a picture of the back. (Might be quicker to go to this first.)

shayser

mossym wrote:

also, are you sure you can't assign more than 1 picture setting to each input? Mine alows five different settings, these are shared among inputs, but it means you can have a hd and sd setting any apply it to any input.

Ok, I've determined that my LCD will not store more than one picture settting per input. This is what leads to my problem. So, still looking for a workaround. I've have to solve this before I buy an amp...

This is frustrating as I've a shiny new full HD LCD in my living room with nothing but a crap analog picture

mossym

okay, so, for hd, go hdmi out from sky box to amp hdmi in. Hdmi out from there to tv. amp will handle all sound, i presume you have 5 speakers hooked up to it. you'll be passing picture and sound to tv, but not using the sound on the tv.

for sd, component out from sky box, and optical out for sound. These go to component in and optical in on amp. amp handles all sound, and you take component out from amp to tv. in this case you're only passing video to tv.

now the one thing you need to check is if both hdmi and component outputs on the sky box are active at the same time.

shayser

Thanks Mossy I'll give it a go.

mossym wrote:

now the one thing you need to check is if both hdmi and component outputs on the sky box are active at the same time.

Don't suppose anyone knows the answer to this one.

mathias

I dont know if the component is active at the same time as the HDMI , but I do know that all the output over the HDMI is at the same level , and that that level is set in the user settings menu. So for instance , if set to 1080i thats what comes out , SD channels being upscaled ,

This being the case , its worth checking to see if you still need separate settings / connections when using just the HDMI.

mossym

sd upscaled to 1080 is still sd. it doesn't help his wish to have different settings for sd and hd

shayser

Just read on AV Forums that the Sky box only does stereo via HDMI. An optical connection is needed for 5.1 .

/goes off to check.

mathias

sd upscaled to 1080 is still sd. it doesn't help his wish to have different settings for sd and hd

Granted , however it behaves quite differently to say , SD delivered over scart , and may not need the same settings or as different a setup ! ( is my point )

My HD box is connected to a panasonic over HDMI , and the SD over HDMI is way better than the SD over scart regardless of the settings. I guess it would largely depend on the TV though.