Good way to connect Digital Cable Box, DVD Player/Recorder and TV?

Question

I have it currently set up like this:

Cable from wall goes into a splitter.

Coax from splitter goes to digital cable box (Cablevision).

Coax from splitter goes into DVD Player/Recorder.

RCA from DVD goes into TV (video in).

Coax from cable goes into TV (cable in).

RCA from cable out goes into DVD in.

The reason I have it done with a splitter is so that I can watch TV (doesn't have to go through cable box) while recording a different channel, and I have cable box connected to the dvd player so that it can record recently blocked channels that require the box.

My question is if this is an efficient way to connect it, and will the cable box continue to work this way? I ask because I was told by a Cablevision technician that the box has to be directly connected to the wall so it can talk back, which it is, i just have another path going that doesn't use the box.

Answer 1

Using the splitter is not a concern unless you have so many splitters in the path that your signal-to-noise ratio becomes too low. A single splitter should not cause any problems at all. (The thing which would prevent two-way communication with your cable box would be a one-way signal amplifier. These are becoming rare now that more and more cable systems require bidirectionality.)

The part of your setup which is suboptimal is your connections to your TV. If your TV has any better inputs (e.g., S-video, component, or HDMI) you should use them in preference to the composite video and RF inputs you're using now.