I am now separated from my 990 by 300 miles, but have a question.

When using the HDMI/DVM inputs, is the sound extracted from the signals automatically? What setting are used to control this?
Thanks

The 990 does not support HDMI input. HDMI must be broken into the video and the audio component separately. The video input is DVI and is the same resolution as HDMI. Adapters are available to allow this change. Optical or analog inputs are available for sound processing. The 990 also does support the newer lossless audio codecs but most newer Blu-Ray players do. Most people output their video into the 990 via adapters to change it to DVI and use the optical or analog outputs to feed the 990. That way you can use the 990 for video and audio switching. Bear in mind that optical doesn't support the newer codecs but analog will if it is decoded in the disc player and input to the 990. For reference the 990 manual is available on the products page as a .pdf download.

Thanks, Zenon
That's what I recall. So the DVI circuitry is simply a switch - no internal connections to it. My problem is a Roku movie download device I just purchased. It has HDMI and composite output (red, wt, yellow RCA). So this means that I cannot recover multi-channel sound, right?

So does the 978 exploit HDMI audio?

The Model 990 uses DVI, which does not include any audio component - video only. HDMI includes audio, so the Model 978 would work fine with your Roku box. With the Model 990, you'll need to use the analog audio output (red and white).

I have a Roku XD/S box and it has an optical output also. That would allow you to get multichannel capability for the lossy codecs. I use the HDMI out to my Onkyo so I can't tell you how well it works but I would expect pretty good results since it is digital.

Robert: Since you just purchased your Roku, I assume it is one of the new models without the optical output. I don't know if it is worth it to you, but you may want to investigate some of the HDMI switches that include a toslink or coaxial output. That would enable you to use any new device that only outputs digital audio on HDMI with your 990. Another alternative would be to buy an older XD/S model. They appear to be available new on ebay.

You would have to be careful with those switches. I don't know how many (if any) split the audio out from HDMI and feed it to optical or coaxial. There are a lot of audio formats supported by HDMI that can't be carried across optical or coaxial, after all.

OK... Thanks, Bruin. That explains everything! I recall reading that the Roku had optical output. When I went online to order one, it was evident that the latest model was the 2 XD/S. At that point I didn't realize the optical had been removed. I guess the 2 translates into cheaper, less value. Oh, the fine print!

Well, my intent is to get the 978 (someday....) so the problem would be solved. I also was not aware of the HDMI switches you refer to–but I can't see this problem coming up again so in the meantime I think I'll return my Roku to Radio Shack - had it for abt 10 days. I'll check ebay as you suggested. I guess I want the one WITHOUT the 2?

Yea, Gonk. I recall reading that the optical can transport even fewer formats that the coaxial.
Thanks to all...

No, optical and coaxial can carry the exact same data. Both can carry PCM stereo, Dolby Digital and DTS. Neither can carry multichannel PCM, DD+, TrueHD, DTS-HD MA, DTS-HD HR, or DSD - all of which are possible with HDMI.

Gonk: Are any of these HDMI-only formats output by any device other than an Blu-ray player? If not it would seem that Robert's Oppo BDP-83 could handle these formats and covert the output to analog.