Home Cinema - Old xbox 360 problem

[shabs999]

Hi all,

I have recently purchased a home cinema system (HC) and I'm having a bit of a problem with the connections. I'm normally quite good at this type of thing but I seem to have run into a bit of dead end ideas wise....

System

HC = LG HT806PH (1 x HDMI out + 1 x Optical In)
HDTV = LG 42LK530T (3 x HDMI in + 1 x Optical Out)
Xbox 360 - older version without HDMI

Setup

HC - HDTV = HDMI
HDTV - Xbox = Component

Problem

When viewing HDTV I run an optical cable from the TV to the HC, however when I want to switch the xbox on I have to remove the optical from the TV and plug it into the xbox as the component cable does not carry 5.1. Is there a way I can avoid the manual switching of cables?

I've looked into optical switches yet I do not believe these would work as I understand one of the devices needs to be switched off and when running the xbox all would be on.

I've also looked to see if there is a way to get my xbox to carry 5.1 direclty to the TV other than via optical, this would solve the problem as my TV allows 5.1 pass through.

Willing to purchase add ons, extentions, converters but not major kit.

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated

Thanks in advance

 

[StevieBuck]

The only way you could send 5.1 audio to the TV would be to use a newer console with HDMI out. Even if you tried this, there's no guarantee that your TV will be able to pass through 5.1 audio from the HDMI input to its optical connection.

The simplest solution to this problem is to use an optical switch. Typical switches have 3 optical inputs and one output. A manuallly controlled dial lets you choose one of the inputs to be fed through to the output. Due to the way each of the inputs are isolated from each other by the switch mechanism, it doesn't matter whether or not you have more than one optical source active at a time.

The problems you will have read about arise when you try and use an optical splitter in reverse to perform the same job as an optical switch. Due to the lack of switching mechanism, an optical splitter connected in reverse will only work if you only have one optical source active at a time. Unless you have an option to disable the TV's optical out, you will need to use a switch as opposed to a splitter.

 

[shabs999]

Thanks Stevie,

I had read about the 'manual' switches but assumed that they would suffer from the same problem and the splitters, so thanks for clearing that up for me.

Since your post I have been reading that they can be quite unreliable, do you have any experience of using one/suggestions on which to buy?

If anyone else has any suggestions, I would appreciate your input....

Thanks again

 

[StevieBuck]

I didn’t read your post properly where you said your TV allows 5.1 passthrough. The only way you could make use of this feature to solve your problem would be to convert/merge the component and optical signals to HDMI. Whether such a unit exists that can do this, I don’t know.

As for the optical switch, I haven’t had to resort to using one myself - so there aren’t any I can recommend from personal experience. The standard 3-in/1-out manual switches can be had for less than a tenner so if there’s the chance it will solve your problem one of these may be worth a punt.

There are some remote controlled switches available like this one from Lindy, but do cost significantly more:

4 Way TosLink Digital Optical Audio Switch

 

[shabs999]

Thanks for all the help Stevie

For anyone who may be interested I had a quick search and the before mentioned 'convert/merge the component and optical signals to HDMI' device does exist (amazon) but its around £50 and requires its own power source...would solve the problem but I personally think its a bit of overkill.

I will however be looking into the splitter option so thanks again for that

 

[StevieBuck]

I will however be looking into the splitter option so thanks again for that

A switch, not a splitter!