[martin10]

Will a HDMI cable give me surround sound from a Sky TV programme out of my surround speakers?

I have a Sony 40W2000 LCD TV and a Sony 5.1 home cinema kit. I also have Sky HD. What cable do I need to get 5.1 sound out of my subwoofer and surround sound speakers from a Sky TV programme. I presume the sound will only happen if the TV programme is broadcast in 5.1.

Also where does the cable connect to and from. Will a HDMI cable do it all or do I need a separate optical cable.

Can you give me the exact name of the cable I need as it seems some retailers sell cables under different names.

[davepuma]

All the links I get for that Sony are a 2.1 system and info. on what connections it has are pretty thin. If it has optical input, you will be able to get DD 5.1 surround sound from sky. If it doesn't and it only has analogue inputs (RCA phono/stereo/red&white) then you will be able to get Dolby ProLogic which is surround sound mixed from a 2.0 stereo signal. If it has no audio inputs, then you will only be able to get surround sound from the built in DVD player. I'm afraid that's the limitations with all-in-one surround systems, they are not flexible enough for modern AV setups with games consoles, digiboxes etc. IMHO. Check your manual to see what input connections it has and you should be able to figure out how you will get surround sound from your sky HD box.

optical
RCA phono stereo cable

Also, if it has a digital co-ax input, you would need to convert the signal from an optical output from sky hd to co-ax using one of these and the necessary cables for input/output.