I have an HD feed for my HD TV. I also have a sound system that is capable of 5.1 surround. It works very well for my DVDs (which is integrated through the receiver). I've heard that HD TV has 5.1 surround in the feed. I never get it. To get sound out of all my speakers I have to multi the sound feed - that is, put the stereo channels that I receive in my rear and front speakers. This is something I could do before HD. My HD/Cable box is connected to my speaker receiver through standard red/white audio cables. Is this the problem? Is this method incapable of providing 5.1? And if so, what's the answer? HDMI? Or is that only for video. (For the record my DVD and Cable boxes are connected to my TV through composite (3 prong) video connectors).
HDMI carries both audio and video signals together. It supports up to 8 channels of audio, so up to 7.1, without any "magic" or compression in place. If you are using something other than HDMI, it doesn't matter what your video connection is, the sound is totally seperate. If you ARE using HDMI, you will have to have something going from your TV to your speakers to take the audio signal there. And of course, this connection must also support 5.1 audio. This is the area where HDMI doesn't seem so awesome after all (most high end systems use seperate speakers). There's the issue. Does your cable box have an optical or coax out? They look like this: If your cable box doesn't have those, or an array of 3 red, 3 white audio connections, odds are it doesn't support 5.1. You might also find these connectors on your TV (make sure they are output and not input). If you do have a 5.1 capable output on your TV, odds are you can use HDMI to go to your TV, then go from the TV to your speaker system. Of course, there is no telling whether or not your cable signal actually is utilizing 5.1 audio, or if your cable box even supports 5.1 audio to begin with, or whether or not your TV is able to forward it to another device correctly. Truly, it is a boondoggle
Well the DVD player is built into the receiver - so all my DVDs are in 5.1. Anything I want to input in, however, has to come in at 2.1 it looks like.
