TV Has 1 HDMI Port - Help! [Cablesson 3x1 Switch?]

maillme

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Hi there,

Complete AV newbie here - clueless to say the least. Have read through previous posts, so apologies if im duplicating a regular question here, but i don't really understand the others :(

I have:

- Samsung LE40R7 TV (only 1 HDMI Input)
- Samsung HT-Q11 DVD / Surround Sound 2:1 (Only 1 HDMI Output)
- PlayStation 3
- Sky Plus
- Laptop with HDMI output

I would like to have all of these connected so that whichever one i happen to be watching / using, is played / viewed through my surround sound via HDMI. Unfortunatelly, just now only a DVD plays through HDMI - everything else is having to use either SCART or RCA phono's, and apparently i'm missing out lots by not using HDMI.

I done a quick search and found this (link here >) (Cablesson 3x1 Switch). Will this do the trick?

Many thanks for any help you can give and apologies for not knowing more.

thanks again,
Neil
 
Yes that will work but I think the audio is equally of concern. What audio connections does your Samsung h/c have? Does it have optical? If it does and it only has 1 optical input, I would look at the Thor HDMI switch that also switches digital audio too.

Links to the online manual of your h/c would be helpful.
 
Hi Dave,

thanks for the reply:

My Home Cinema User guide is here >>

My surround sound does have optical out.

I was thinking, could i have a 3-way switch

1 x Input PlayStation
1 x Input Home Cinema
1 x Input Laptop

1 x Output to TV

And then connect my TV to the Home Cinema's optical out ensuring all devices audio comes through my surround sound?

thanks,
Neil
 
The optical connection on the home cinema system is an input, the others are outputs, therefore you would connect TV, PS3 and Laptop to the switch (3 x inputs) and the output would go to the h/c system.
 
How would i then get my picture form my PS3 onto my tv?

thanks,
Neil
 
Also,

If my Home Cinama has optical in, and my TV has optical out – then would it not be a case of the Audio going into my TV (via the HDMI) then ciming out the TV to my Home Cinema via the Optical Digital Cable?

Apologies if im getting it completely wrong – all new to me!

Thanks,
Neil
 
If you're short of hdmi inputs then you'll need the switch, which is why I suggested the Thor unit as it combines HDMI and digital audio switching in one box and is remote controllable etc.

In order to get true surround sound you have to connect direct. The TV will only accept a stereo signal from your sources via HDMI as it only has 2.0 speakers. When HDMI devices are connected together they perform a 'handshake' to determine the supported video and audio. This 2.0 channel (stereo) signal is output over optical (if the TV permits external audio sources over it's audio out, not all TV's do) to the home cinema system. The home cinema system will take this 2.0 channel signal and mix it to give you a pseudo effect such as Dolby Prologic. This isn't true surround sound.

Edit - Just realised your system is 2.1. I would still connect direct as DD5.1 offers better clarity and so on anyway.
 
Hi Dave,

Thanks again for all your help with this. So, it looks like a switch is the way to go. Now, is buying a switch with digital audio out (optical) the same as buying a non digital audio out, and connecting my digital audio out to my home cinema in? As there is a £50 difference, which if I don't need to spend it I would rather not.

Also, going by what you said (connecting tv, laptop and PS3 IN) am I going to be able to view these on my TV?

Thanks again,
Neil
 
Thanks again for all your help with this. So, it looks like a switch is the way to go. Now, is buying a switch with digital audio out (optical) the same as buying a non digital audio out, and connecting my digital audio out to my home cinema in? As there is a £50 difference, which if I don't need to spend it I would rather not.

You might find the Thor unit cheaper, it is discontinued from what I've read. Do a search and check your local comet, currys etc. as I'm sure I heard someone bagging one for a tenner a few weeks back. If you can't source it you will need a HDMI switch and an optical switch (manual is cheap).

Also, going by what you said (connecting tv, laptop and PS3 IN) am I going to be able to view these on my TV?

Yes, the sources will connect to the inputs on the switch and the TV will connect to the output so that you can view them on the TV.
 
Aha,

That's where you had me confused. Your previous post says connect my output to the home cinema.

So I need to buy a switch for HDMI and a switch for dig out??? Is it not the case that any signal going through my tv (E.gm all of them) will b played back out through the dig out?

Thanks agaian,
Neil
 
No, when I was referring to the TV, the HDMI is an input and the optical is the output. The output on the HDMI switch connects to the TV for video and the output on the optical switch will connect to the h/c for audio.

The audio output from the TV is 2.0 channel stereo and as I said it's not true surround sound, you need to connect sources directly for that.
 
Hi Dave,

OK, i have it all working. Only thing is, the sound is a bit dull with digital out - yet the minute i put a DVD or CD in my DVD player - its a lot louder........

is this expected?

thanks again,
neil
 

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