Home Theater Connection Types

Written by:  • Edited by: Lamar Stonecypher
Updated Feb 26, 2010

There are many connections used in home theater systems; in your flat TV (LCD or plasma), in your audio/video receiver, amplifier, satellite box or maybe your computer. It is important to know at least a little bit about them to make the “right” connections.

Why do I need to Know the Connection Types?

If you are going to build a home theater or make some additional purchases for your already available equipment, then you have to know what kind of cables and connections you'll need to hook up your components. Some connections carry analog signals and some carry digital signals. (For a bit of science, analog signals follow a sinusoidal curve and digital signals use only 1s and 0s.)

Modern LCD, plasma, and the new OLED screens process digital signals where older TV sets like CRT and rear-projection TVs process analog signals. If you connect a digital output (say a Blu-ray player) to an analog TV, then the digital output signal will be converted to an analog signal to enable the TV to show the content, but the results will be lossy because you have converted a good signal to an inferior one. Therefore you have to know how to connect the right equipment with the right connection.

Throughout the article I will go through the connection types one by one and in the section headings I will use the following notation to indicate what signals can be carried by the connection:

  • (A) Audio signal only
  • (V) Video signal only
  • (AV) Both audio and video signals

Digital Connection Types

HDMI (AV)

HDMI
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The High Definition Multimedia Interface, abbreviated as HDMI, can carry both audio and video signals. The HDMI connection is the standard connection for carrying high definition (HD) content. If you have a device that has an HDMI connection, such as a PlayStation 3, and a TV with an HDMI connection, it is the best practice to connect the two with an HDMI cable.

With the HDMI connection, we have the High Definition Copy Protection (HDCP) issue. HDCP is brought to us by Intel to enforce the "fair use" of high definition content - in other words to avoid piracy. It is a proprietary protocol (and thus should be licensed) which encodes the HD contents before it reaches the video playing equipment and decodes it in the display equipment. So, if you cut the line between your Blu-ray player and LCD TV and try to record the contents, you will be only able to see standard definition (SD) content at best. The encoded audio and video data will be decoded at your display device (TV or monitor) to deliver you the content “right.”

If you will be making a purchase for a device that has an HDMI port, then insist on seeing that it is compliant with HDCP.

TOSLINK (A)

TOSLINK
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TOSLINK, or optical fiber connection, is a connection type that only carries audio signals over a fiber optic cable. TOSLINK is the best way to carry audio signals both for its digital nature and the fairly lossless physical structure. Most probably your AV receiver will have one TOSLINK connection and it is the best practice to use this connection with the devices that are able to deliver multichannel audio, such as 5.1 or 7.1.

TOSLINK was created by Toshiba in 1983 and therefore can be found in many AV receivers, CD players, Mini Disc players and DAT recorders.

S/PDIF (A)

SPDIF
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S/PDIF is an abbreviation of Sony Philips Digital InterFace and, as you have guessed, was jointly developed by Sony and Philips. The connection handles the audio data in digital format and is mainly used to connect DVD players to AV receivers which are capable of processing Dolby Digital or DTS sound. However, the connection is also widely used to carry audio from a CD player to a receiver.

But there is one thing to consider here. Although there are conflicting opinions on whether it is safe or not to connect S/PDIF output to an older amplifier or AV receiver, I suggest that you avoid using this type of connection unless you are certain that your gear was made for it. S/PDIF is a digital output, and you can damage your analog audio equipment with a digital signal.

Image courtesy of Tigerdirect.

Digital Component Video (V)

Please see the “Component Video and Digital Component Video” section under “Analog Connection Types” on the next page. Digital Component Video is, as the name implies, a digital connection, however there is also an analog connection with the same name that seemingly uses the same connection cables.

YCbCr (V)

YCbCr
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This is a connection type that is very rare and for the time being used only in digital photography. It can transmit video signals but there are not many devices in the market that have YCbCr connections. (Almost all the products carry the analog version, the YPbPr connection.)

Next: Analog Connection Types

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Comments

Showing all 11 comments
 
Tolga BALCI Feb 7, 2011 2:33 AM
Re: No TOSLINK
Hello Alan,

Unfortunately RCA cannot carry 5.1 audio signal, it is designed for stereo sound only. Please check your receiver's manual to see what they provide for 5.1 sound.

Thank you very much for your comments.

Regards,
Tolga
Alan Murray Feb 6, 2011 4:01 PM
No TOSLINK
Tolga -

I am try to find the better way to connect a Harmon AVR40 receiver to a Samsung BD-C5900 DVD Player. For video, I am using the the HDMI of the Samsung to connect video signal to a projection unit. What should I use for the audio? The receiver does not have a TOSLINK. If i use the RCA ports will the receiver be able to separate the audio into the 5 channels properly
Thanks,
alan
Tolga BALCI Jan 17, 2011 2:38 AM
Re: i have a hdmi connection but i tried the cables blue red and green and red and white. i have audio but no video
Hello Valorie,

This is what should happen. You're confusing the YCbCr (blue connection) with RCA (yellow, white, red.) You cannot use these connection types interchangebly.

Thank you very much for your comment.

Regards,
Tolga
valorie holliday Jan 16, 2011 4:41 PM
i have a hdmi connection but i tried the cables blue red and green and red and white. i have audio but no video
i have hooked up the red blue and green cables and the red and white cables i have audio but no video
Tolga BALCI Sep 18, 2010 9:08 AM
Re: digital connection types
Hi Ioannis,

Thank you for confusing me as well :P

What you are basically mixing up is that the article discusses *specifically* the connection types used in consumer grade home theater systems.

The digital component video connection that I'm referring to in the article is the connection type that can carry a theoretically infinite color depth in video signals. This connection does not carry audio and it has fallen well behind the HDMI connection because the HDMI connection can carry 1080p video and audio and is found in almost every modern equipment. However, this does not mean that digital component video connection *does not* exist. It exist in some equipment in far east. The most common type of implementation is through YCbCr cables. Many consumer grade home theather equipment does not support digital audio signals over digital component video.

I have checked the links that you have provided in your post. Thank you for sharing them. These links talk about exactly the same thing that we are discussing. But, again, since the article talks specifically about the home theater connection types, I did not include details about NLEs.

I hope I could clear your mind.

Regards.
gecon27 Sep 15, 2010 7:07 AM
Re: digital connection types
Thank you for your answers.

Regarding RGB digital, I have to say that most probably I got confused which what you wrote below:

Digital Component Video (V)
Please see the “Component Video and Digital Component Video” section under “Analog Connection Types” on the next page. Digital Component Video is, as the name implies, a digital connection, however there is also an analog connection with the same name that seemingly uses the same connection cables.

Since what you're writing in the "Component Video and Digital Component Video” section under “Analog Connection Types” is about RGB analogue, I suppose that the paragraph "Digital Component Video (V)" has something to do with RGB digital, or not? Therefore, what type of digital connection cable are you referring exactly in this paragraph?

Now, from what I found on the Internet, if I understood right there are only RGB analogue cables available. The term RGB digital applies only to the nonlinear video editing programs (NLEs) on computers. See links below:
http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia_term/0,2542,t=component+video&i=40115,00.asp
http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia_term/0%2C2542%2Ct%3DRGB&i%3D50517%2C00.asp

Am I missing something?

Thank you,
Ioannis
Tolga BALCI Sep 14, 2010 10:26 AM
Re: digital connection types
Hello Ioannis,

Thank you very much for your comments.

Let me answer your questions:

1. I have never heard of Digital Component Video/RGB digital. RGB is an analog connection. Can you please post me the link where you heard of that connection so that I can update the article?

2. HDMI is a far superior standard on home theater equipment compared to the YCbCr connection: it can carry 1080p video, 3D views and 5.1 where YCbCr can carry only DVD quality video and stereo sound.

3. I think I have just answered this.

4. Although DVI could be included in this list, I think it shouldn't: It is found on *some* of the graphics cards and on *some* of the monitors, but not on *all* home theater equipment. See the point here :)

Thank you very much for your comments and questions.

Regards,
Tolga
gecon27 Sep 13, 2010 11:03 AM
DVI
One more point:
For completeness, I would add also DVI (V) in the list of digital connection types.

Again, thank you very much for this very interesting post.

Ioannis
gecon27 Sep 13, 2010 10:52 AM
digital connection types
Hello,

Indeed very interesting article.
I'd like to ask you a couple of questions with regard to digital connection types:

1) Are there any TV/video devices really using Digital Component Video, that is RGB digital? Is it also using 3 cables as RGB analogue?

2) Do you know why YCbCr digital connection type was never used on TV/video devices? By the way, I read somewhere that it uses just 1 cable instead of the analogue one (YPbPr) which uses 3 cables. Is this correct?

3) If we compare HDMI to YCbCr and Digital Component Video (RGB digital), what are the main advantages of HDMI over the other 2 connection types?

Thank you,
Ioannis
Tolga BALCI Jan 9, 2010 3:17 AM
Re: Toslink versus HDMI
Hi Steve,

The answer depends on the equipment that you already have:

1. If you have a receiver capable of delivering surround sound and if your input is multichannel (5.1, 6.1, 7.1) then a Toslink cable will send the sound signal to your receiver and you will receive the surround sound from your surround speakers. This is typical when you are watching DVD/Blu-ray movies and TV broadcasts that has multichannel sound.

2. If you don't have a surround sound system or if your signal is not multichannel then a Toslink will not serve you well because the signal is stereo and you will only receive sound from two speakers. Assuming that HDMI and Toslink are both digital connections and they pass the sound signals without loss, then you will either receive the sound from your TV set (HDMI) or receiver (Toslink). It is up to your ears to choose which sound output you like.

If you are using the receiver option, then it's better to mute the TV and receive the sound from the speakers. That way you will be overriding the HDMI connection's sound.

I hope this helps.

Thank you for your comments.

Regards,
Tolga
Steve Nimmo Jan 8, 2010 9:34 AM
Toslink versus HDMI
Hi there!
Will a toslink cable override the audio on a connected HDMI cable if I use them at the same time or does it make any difference? Thank you! Steve
 
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