How to Connect TV and DVD (HDMI) with HT non HDMI

I have the following components
• TV :-Panasonic 42PV7 Plasma ( HD ready with HDMI input)
• DVD :-Sony DVP-NS78H (with HDMI and Optical output)
• Home Theatre :-Onkyo HT-S770 - 6.1 channel (with Optical and coaxial input but without HDMI input)
I used to connect my DVD player and Home theatre thru Optical cable before buying the plasma TV.

Please advise on the following
1. What is the best way to hook all these three together for Audio and Video to watch movies
2. Whether I can connect DVD player and TV via HDMI cable (for Video) and still use audio optical cable for HT (for audio) at the same time to watch movies?
3. Can I use HDMI cable with my Onkyo receiver which does not have a HDMI port with some connector or something?

As you don't have hdmi input in your AV receiver, your existing type of connection is the best way of doing it instead of using connectors as it will always result in signel loss.

Hi,

I'd say connect the DVD player Video through HDMI to TV directly and Audio Via Optical or Co-Axial to the AVR!!

This is the best arrangement and should be perfect !! there's no need to involve the AVR for video as its not supposed to !!

So just follow the above connection method !!

Any more doubts please do ask !!

Regards.

Please check your manual. As far as I know in Philips you can change settings where Video data will be sent through HDMI & Audio through your Optical / Co axial out . I beleive default settings are Audio + Video data through HDMI.This settings are specific to your case.

Personally I do not think that HDMI is suprior audio data carrier than digital co - axial out ( anyway I do nao have HDMI compatible things) ANY EXPERT COMMENTS PLEASE?

Gaurav:

As Sreekanth has suggested, the best method is DVD-to-TV via HDMI, and DVD-to-AVR through coaxial or optical distal connection. Just remember to keep the TV on mute, or you will hear a funny double sound. I do this regularly and I know it works very well.

Hemanth, an HDMI will carry both video and audio, They cannot be separated. As I have mentioned above if you are connecting a TV and DVD player through an HDMI, it will carry both sound and video. Regarding HDMI being superior to digital for audio, that is debatable. But only HDMI can carry multi channel LPCM data to be decoded by the AVR. The only other way is for the DVD player to decode LPCM and send them as individual analogue signals. For this both the DVD player and the AVR must have multi channel analog connectors.

In terms of video, HDMI is far ahead of all other connection methods. Modern HD video (from a Blu-Ray) and upscaled 1080p can only be transmitted through an HDMI connection.

Cheers