Hello All,
I am somewhat confused regarding hooking up a DVD Recorder to my 990 based system.Is it possible to use the HDMI output of a DVD recorder with a DVI adapter for the video portion of a signal,and use the coax or optical output for audio? It seems after reading some DVD Recorder owner's manuals that using the HDMI output will either disable the coax/optical outputs,or limit them to PCM.I have a 40" Sony CRT monitor with 1080i DVI input,and I would like to add an upconverting DVD recorder.In addition to the 1080i output,I would use an s-video cable and analog stereo audio cables so the picture can be used in zone 2. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank You,
Mike

You should be able to do what you describe, as making it impossible to use the HDMI output for video only would basically screw over a lot of users (folks with DVI TV's and folks with receivers that offer HDMI video switching only). You may have to disable HDMI audio output. What DVD recorders are you looking at?

Thanks gonk,

That's pretty much what I thought,but after reading a couple of owner's manuals online,I began to doubt the logic.They may be talking about pcm over the HDMI output if the components aren't compatible.So far I have been scanning over Panasonic,Sony and Toshiba websites.If you have any suggestions or experience,I would most certainly be interested in your input.

Mike

I looked through the manual for the Panasonic DMR-EZ48 (first one I came to). There is no indication that optical output is ever disabled, although as with any DVD player it can be set to either PCM output or bitstream output (done to accommodate those rare devices that have digital inputs but no Dolby Digital or DTS decoders). The HDMI port can be configured to either output audio or not output audio, but there's no mention of what form that audio is in - I suspect that it mimics the optical output, but I could be wrong. The specific manual can be found here , but it's a big file (something like 27MB). If you look at it, take note of pages 61-62 (digital audio output settings for Dolby Digital and DTS), 66 (HDMI audio output), and 72 (optical and HDMI connections).

Thanks gonk,
I'm at work now but I'll check it out tonight.