Home Theater Setup Question HELP!!

[FittyFieFo]

Hey Guys,

In 9 Hours, I should be purchasing the Samsung LN52A850. A great TV (1080p, 120hz, 50,000:1 Contrast Ratio).

I've been reading up on the Blu-Ray players and seeing which one is the best. I keep running into the Playstation 3. Does anyone own one of these things? How does it work with 5.1 Surround Sound, upscaling standard dvd's, and how is the blu-ray player itself!?

Also, I have a Yamaha HTR-5890. http://www.yamaha.com/yec/products/p...l?CNTID=200016.

Is there any certain requirements I need to meet for the true experience of Blu-Ray + TV? I know this receiver doesn't have any HDMI inputs (which is :(), but does that mean anything to me? So basically my question is Samsung LN52A850 + HTR 5890 + Playstation 3 = a great home theater system? Do I need to buy anything extra or UPGRADE? (I do have the RTI 10's, CSi 5, and in the near future FxiA6).

Please, any quick responses would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

[renowilliams]

I would advise purchasing a A/V reciever with hdmi if you want to use blue ray. You could pick a good one used for $300.00 or so. As it happens I am selling a Yamaha RX-V861 which has hdmi and pre-outs in case you want to add a power amp later. I have the RTIA5's for fronts and RTI6's for rears and am very happy with them. I also have the same sub as you. You will have a nice set up with the new tv.

good luck

Tim

[FittyFieFo]

Hmmm...but can it upscale to 1080p? And how much are you selling your receiver out of curiosity? What does HDMI actually do?

[bevo]

You will need hdmi to get the hd audio signals of dolby true hd, and dts master audio.
I use the ps3 and really like it. The load times are fast, and it can be used to stream all of your music from your computer. You can also save cds straight to the ps3's hard drive and use it as your music center, without having to network it to your computer.

As far as not having HDMI on your receiver, that will cost you the best sound you can get. Dolby digital isn't that bad, but dolby true hd is as good as it gets. Dolby digital can only output 6.1, but dolby true hd can go 7.1.

I think you would be happy with the ps3. It has so many more functions then just a blu ray player that you can use. It really can be your media hub, because of how you can stream everything from your pc through it.

If I was gonna upgrade something in your system it would be your receiver. The only problem with that is that you would have to spend some major $ to get the power your receiver has, with all of the fancy new sound.

If you wait long enough on here, I'm sure someone can give you some better advice then me, but I see your short on time.

[bevo]

Hmmm...but can it upscale to 1080p? And how much are you selling your receiver out of curiosity? What does HDMI actually do?

You have to have HDMI to get 1080p, and the HD audio signals of Dolby true HD, dts master audio, and PCM lossless.

[FittyFieFo]

You will need hdmi to get the hd audio signals of dolby true hd, and dts master audio.
I use the ps3 and really like it. The load times are fast, and it can be used to stream all of your music from your computer. You can also save cds straight to the ps3's hard drive and use it as your music center, without having to network it to your computer.

As far as not having HDMI on your receiver, that will cost you the best sound you can get. Dolby digital isn't that bad, but dolby true hd is as good as it gets. Dolby digital can only output 6.1, but dolby true hd can go 7.1.

I think you would be happy with the ps3. It has so many more functions then just a blu ray player that you can use. It really can be your media hub, because of how you can stream everything from your pc through it.

If I was gonna upgrade something in your system it would be your receiver. The only problem with that is that you would have to spend some major $ to get the power your receiver has, with all of the fancy new sound.

If you wait long enough on here, I'm sure someone can give you some better advice then me, but I see your short on time.

Thank you for your detailed response :). So if I'm getting this straight, HDMI is for sound only? My uses for the TV are: If I want to watch sports using my surround sound, I guess I have to go through the receiver to get sound? As for movies/games, I'll be going through my receiver. So pretty much, everything is going through my receiver and in order to do that, I would need a receiver that upscales it to 1080p for the best picture? Or does the receiver have ANYTHING to do with picture. Receivers are only for sound correct?

These are the things that I will be using my receiver for:

1) TV (sound)
2) Nintendo Wii (Games)
3) Playstation 3/Blu Ray Player (sound)

You have to have HDMI to get 1080p, and the HD audio signals of Dolby true HD, dts master audio, and PCM lossless.

In order to get perfect picture and sound... I have to upgrade my receiver correct?

[renowilliams]

Hmmm...but can it upscale to 1080p? And how much are you selling your receiver out of curiosity? What does HDMI actually do?

I 'm asking $275.00 and buyer pays shipping.

[leroyjr1]

Congrats on a great TV. I have the 850 also paired with a PS3. I'd recommend getting a decent AVR with HDMI inputs. For now just run all your HDMI cables to the TV and run optical to the receiver.

[FittyFieFo]

Congrats on a great TV. I have the 850 also paired with a PS3. I'd recommend getting a decent AVR with HDMI inputs. For now just run all your HDMI cables to the TV and run optical to the receiver.

Thanks! I'm so excited to see this TV in action. It was between the 650 and 850. Since the 750 only difference is the sound, but I have my polkies to provide that :D

So basically, for now...hook playstation 3,Nintendo Wii into the HDMI inputs on the TV and have the sound hooked up into the receiver?

I wish I understood more about HDMI, but I'm still confused about why I should get a receiver with HDMI. Will it both help the PICTURE and SOUND. (I know it'll help out sound, and sound is important to me, but not as much as picture ;-))

[bevo]

The HDMI will carry your sound and video at it's highest quality. HDMI can carry 1080p video, and HD audio. Component cable can carry 1080i video, and only stereo audio. If you use an otical cable for your audio you can get dolby digital for sound, but that is not the highest quality of sound for blu rays. If you really want the highest quality of video and audio you have to have HDMI 1.3.

If you have a receiver that uses HDMI, you can hook everything to the receiver, and only put 1 HDMI out to your tv. Then your receiver will be used to switch back and forth for all of your components hooked into it.

If you use your current receiver you will have to hook all of the video outputs to your tv, and the optical audio outs to your receiver. Everything will sound good, but not as good as possible.

Maybe hold out on the new receiver until you see how everything looks and sound. But if you want everything to be perfect, you will need a receiver that has HDMI to receive the highest sound quality of the blu rays.

As far as HDMI picture goes, for blu ray you have to have HDMI to get 1080p. 1080p is really not a big improvement though, unless you have a large projector. I can't tell a difference between 720p and 1080p on my and my sisters tv. They are the same 50 inch panasonic plasmas, only one has 1080p, and the other only does 720p.

Make sure to hook up the sound to your receiver with optical cables, so that you can get dolby digital. you just use the red and white rca cables, you will really be missing out on your sound.

[renowilliams]

The HDMI will carry your sound and video at it's highest quality. HDMI can carry 1080p video, and HD audio. Component cable can carry 1080i video, and only stereo audio. If you use an otical cable for your audio you can get dolby digital for sound, but that is not the highest quality of sound for blu rays. If you really want the highest quality of video and audio you have to have HDMI 1.3.

If you have a receiver that uses HDMI, you can hook everything to the receiver, and only put 1 HDMI out to your tv. Then your receiver will be used to switch back and forth for all of your components hooked into it.

If you use your current receiver you will have to hook all of the video outputs to your tv, and the optical audio outs to your receiver. Everything will sound good, but not as good as possible.

Maybe hold out on the new receiver until you see how everything looks and sound. But if you want everything to be perfect, you will need a receiver that has HDMI to receive the highest sound quality of the blu rays.

As far as HDMI picture goes, for blu ray you have to have HDMI to get 1080p. 1080p is really not a big improvement though, unless you have a large projector. I can't tell a difference between 720p and 1080p on my and my sisters tv. They are the same 50 inch panasonic plasmas, only one has 1080p, and the other only does 720p.

Make sure to hook up the sound to your receiver with optical cables, so that you can get dolby digital. you just use the red and white rca cables, you will really be missing out on your sound.

An excellent explaination.

[FittyFieFo]

An excellent explaination.

Yes it was, I printed it out for future reference! Thanks everyone for the quick responses. They were very VERY helpful. I ordered the TV I wanted, and I might be going for the Playstation 3 (media,music, and blu-ray player). I'm going to see how the sound is with the receiver I currently have. I'll maybe wait it out a year to see if the receivers will drop in price with the HDMI.

Thanks again for everyone's help!

[cnh]

Receivers with HDMIs are already pretty cheap! You can pick up a Harman Kardon AVR 254 on sale for less than 400 (350). And it will have almost EVERYTHING you need! You can't get much cheaper than that!

cnh

[Sherardp]

Suggest you look into Pioneer SC-05 as it is an excellent performer and can be had for a great price. Bevo has guided you in the right direction, sucks you have to have HDMI to enjoy the best PQ/SQ for HD movies. I was in your position once myself.

[cnh]

Sherardp,

That Pioneer is a better piece than my pic above but it's going to run more change than the OP sounds like he can manage.

BTW I'm going to be 'broadcasting' from your side of the world by late August...one year in Beijing. May make side trips to Japan and Korea. Where are you in Japan?

cnh

[Sherardp]

Sherardp,

That Pioneer is a better piece than my pic above but it's going to run more change than the OP sounds like he can manage.

BTW I'm going to be 'broadcasting' from your side of the world by late August...one year in Beijing. May make side trips to Japan and Korea. Where are you in Japan?

cnh

Im out in Okinawa, Japan however if youre in any part of Japan let me know and I will gladly meet you out. I speak the language pretty good and can show you some real cool spots. Let me know.

[FittyFieFo]

Does anyone know if the Playstation 3 can do 5.1 surround sound?

[bevo]

Does anyone know if the Playstation 3 can do 5.1 surround sound?

It can decode 7.1 true hd, pcm, and dts master audio. Some games are even in 7.1.

[FittyFieFo]

Sweet, great deal! Thanks for all your help again!

I might just buy the cheapest Playstation 3 out there and just switch out the hard drives :)

[cnh]

Sweet, great deal! Thanks for all your help again!

I might just buy the cheapest Playstation 3 out there and just switch out the hard drives :)

Sounds like the 80 gig version, that's what I have. Tough to get a good sale price on it though!

cnh

[cnh]

Im out in Okinawa, Japan however if youre in any part of Japan let me know and I will gladly meet you out. I speak the language pretty good and can show you some real cool spots. Let me know.

Thanks for the offer.

Will definitely get in touch when we decide to take the Japan trip...probably later in the year. I speak Chinese, but no Japanese, maybe I could read a few Kanji but not much more..

cnh

[reeltrouble1]

Component cable can carry 1080i video, and only stereo audio.

oh my I am sure you really did not mean this.

RT1

[bevo]

oh my I am sure you really did not mean this.

RT1

That's all the ps3's will carry. Correct me if I'm wrong.

[Disc Jockey]

Component cables carry video only, no audio at all.

The ps3 can do composite for stereo audio, or optical for the surround sound formats. Either one can be used in conjunction with component video.

[bevo]

I was lumping the red and white in with the component cables since they all are connected. My mistake.

[FittyFieFo]

Instead of starting a new thread, I decided to dig up my old topic!

I've been doing ALOT of research lately about HDMI Receivers and I just don't have the money to purchase a very dominate receiver. I've been googling about answers on my basic future setup.

If you FIRST take a look at my equipment in my signature, I will soon have a PS3 as a Blu-Ray player. (I just bought the FXi A6 :D). I know that from the HD Cable Box (Probably from Comcast) and PS3 will be connected to the TV via HDMI. I've been reading that if you use optical out from TV to receiver, you will only get only 2 channel STEREO. Some people say this isn't true, but some people say it's true.

I know I won't have the most updated formats (TRUE HD), but I think my receiver is capable of giving me sound that will satisfy me. I'm not a huge audiophile, but sound is important to me, but not too important. I went on this one website and read this setup:

There are, as there seems to always be, a couple of different methods to connect all of your equipment. Both of which include connecting the cable box and PS3 to the television using HDMI cables. The audio options for surround sound are the following:

Method 1:
Connect the PS3 to the Receiver(RX) using an optical or Toslink cable from the optical output on the PS3 to an optical input on the RX. You will need to adjust the audio output settings on the PS3 by going to sound settings under the settings menu, then select audio output settings, select Digital Out (optical), select output formats and save the settings.

Connect the cablebox (I assume it has either an optical or digital coax audio output) to the RX using an appropriate cable.

Connecting the devices this way will allow you to switch between using the RX for audio or the Television's internal speakers for audio. While watching cable, this switch is seamless, simply turn on the RX to the corresponding input, and turn down or mute the televisions volume. While playing a game or watching a movie using the PS3 this switch is somewhat more complex. You will need to adjust the audio output settings (see above) between HDMI and Digital Out (optical).

Will this setup give me the BEST surround sound for both watching TV/Sports and movies/games? (I will only be using my surround speakers when watching movies/games)

Or is there another better setup I can use. Sorry for the long post, I've been stressing back and forth on investing on a HDMI receiver. As of now, I do not have the money. (In the future, I will invest in one)

Thanks for all your help!

[nguyendot]

Wii hooked up via hdmi? When did they come out with a digital version!?

[FittyFieFo]

My Wii will be hooked up via HDMI. I suppose, Nintendo Wii -> TV via HDMI. And regular components to the back of my receiver (Nintendo Wii --> Receiver)

[nguyendot]

Can you explain how you're going to hook it up via HDMI? Are you going to use a component > hdmi adapter?

[FittyFieFo]

What I read, or researched on: Nintendo Wii via HDMI to TV and then Optical Output from TV to receiver, but I might just do the: Wii Via HDMI to TV and THEN Nintendo Wii audio/video outputs to Receiver. (Normal yellow,red, white cables)

But if anyone can tell me the best setup for tv/sports watching and PS3 movie/game playing for best surround sound I can get, that'd be great. (look above)