Sorry you guys have probably seen this a thousand time so maybe someone can point me to a prior post or answer this post for the 1001st time . I just bought the 990. I have a DvD player a DLP tv, HD sat reciever ,cd player and would like to connect them the best way & be able to see the on screen from the 990. HELP

Thanks

We'll start with a few questions, since there is actually no "right" answer to this question.

1. Does your TV have an HDMI input?
2. What DVD player do you have? Does it have an HDMI output?
3. Does your HD satellite receiver have an HDMI output?
4. What CD player do you have?

In addition to responding to one question with a bunch of other questions, I'll toss in a few actually useful bits of information.

First, you will need to have some sort of analog video connection between the 990 and your TV so that you can access the setup menus. This can be a component connection if you are using component video sources, but if all of your video sources are HDMI/DVI you can get by with just a composite video cable to the TV.

Second, the 990's DVI switching can switch HDMI video sources to an HDMI display, but it handles video only and is a "passive" switch (no on-screen display added and no transcoding of analog video inputs to the DVI video output). You will need to connect a digital audio cable from both the DVD player and the satellite receiver. Either optical or coaxial will do.

Lastly, the CD player can connect via analog or digital. Depending on the player, it may be worth trying both if the analog section on the player is really good. If it is an older or budget player, though, it may be simpler to just connect a digital audio cable and let the 990 handle the conversion to analog.

Welcome to the saloon!

My tv has 1 hdmi input but the dvd player does not it has the std rca plugs and a round plug in put it also has optical input

the cd player also has an optical input

Let's assume for the moment that your sources all offer component video outputs only. Just to be sure we're clear on our terms, "component video" refers to the analog video connection that uses three RCA connectors (typically color-coded as red, blue, and green) to carry the video signal. With that assumption, here's what I'd typically suggest:

Connect a set of component video cables from the DVD player to the 990's "DVD component" input. Also connect the DVD player to the 990 using either a coaxial or optical digital cable (doesn't matter which) - for the same of this discussion, we'll use optical and plug it into the "Optical 1" input on the 990.

Connect a set of component video cables from the HD satellite receiver to the 990's "Video1 component" input. Also connect an optical cable from satellite receiver to the 990's "Optical 2" input.

Connect the CD player's optical output to the 990's "Optical 3" input.

Connect a set of component video cables from the 990's "Monitor Out" component output to the HDTV.

Once all that is done, turn the TV on and set it to the component input that you just connected to the 990 (this may involve pressing an "Input" button of some sort on the TV's remote a few times to cycle through the available inputs until you see the correct input label displayed on screen). Now turn on the 990, the DVD player, the satellite receiver, and the CD player.

Go into the 990's setup menu. (To do this, you hit "TNR" on the 990's remote, then the "MENU" button just below the "9".) Select "INPUT CONFIG" and then select "DVD CONFIG". Under "DVD CONFIG," change the "AUDIO" setting to "Optical1" and the "VIDEO" setting to "COMP-DVD", then select "RETURN TO VIDEO INPUTS" and go on to "VIDEO1". Set "VIDEO1" for "Optical2" and "COMP-VID1", and while you're at it you can change the input's label to "SATELLITE" if you want. Then go to "RETURN TO VIDEO INPUTS", select "GO TO AUDIO INPUTS", and pick "CD CONFIG". Under "CD CONFIG" set the audio to "Optical3." You now have all of your inputs configured. You can leave your TV on this input now and the 990 will handle the video switching for you automatically when you select inputs.

All of what I just described is covered very well in the 990's manual, which I recommend reading. The manual also can walk you through the rest of the setup process for the 990.

Thanks for your advice I was wondering if the a hdmi/dvi cable woud carry borh signals from the HD sat reciever to the pre amp then to the tv?

No, DVI does not support audio and the 990 cannot get audio data through its DVI connection. Also, the 990's DVI switching is "passive" only - so it won't convert analog video sources (such as the component video cables we were discussing above) for the DVI output. Since my experience with cable and satellite is that differences in picture quality between component and DVI/HDMI are negligible or non-existent, I'd suggest using component for both video sources in your case and getting the benefit of the 990's video switching.

pmn1,

Just curious,

What amp are you using with your new 990? Did you buy a new amp to go with your new toy?

Tkntz

I have a Sunfire 300x2 amp that i am using But I also have a 200x2 old B&K and a acurus 200x3 that I am not using

Gonk I was wondering how a DVd player with a DVI out would work with the 990 and what advantages If any over a player with componant out tx

I've used a couple DVI sources (Pace Micro HD cable box and OPPO Digital 971H ) and several HDMI sources (Scientific Atlanta 8300HD cable box/DVR, three different OPPO DVD players , Toshiba HD-A2 , Panasonic BD30 , and OPPO BDP-83 ) with the 990's DVI switching. Both DVI and HDMI connections work in the same way: the 990 provides switching for more than one source to connect to a single DVI or HDMI input on a TV. I've even put a separate HDMI switch in front of one of the 990's DVI ports. Since the 990's DVI switching is video only (as is the case with the HDMI switching on some receivers, even today), you add in an audio connection and you're all set.

DVI and HDMI are digital video formats. Component is analog. DVD, Blu-ray, and HD broadcasts are all digital video formats. Most HDTV's (with the obvious exception of the CRT that is now rarely found) use digital display technologies. Keeping a video signal digital from source to screen is better. There are some other benefits. DVI/HDMI can handle 1080p, while most implementations of component stop at 1080i (component is capable of 1080p, but finding a component 1080p source is difficult as is finding a display that will accept 1080p via component). Some DVD players offer really good video processing (scaling and deinterlacing) - potentially better than the TV they end up connected to - but copy protection fears prevent those player manufacturers from allowing component video output at resolutions above 480p (no 720p or 1080i) when watching CSS-encrypted DVD's. Since nearly all commercial DVD releases use CSS, that means a good scaling DVD player can only scale at the HDMI output. Lastly, there is a "feature" in the Blu-ray specs that has not yet been used on any discs: the Image Constraint Token (or ICT). The ICT can be enabled on a disc, at which point the Blu-ray player must downscale the video to 540p for the component output. Using the HDMI output with a Blu-ray player means that you never have to worry about some studio down the road deciding to do unpleasant things to their customer base and start turning ICT on for new releases.