HDMI for Onkyo HTR 508?

Question

I have an Onkyo HTR 508 Receiver with 2 HDMI inputs and One output. In the Brochure it says that the model supports 1080p as pass through. Does that mean that when I connect a DVD player with HDMI out to the receiver it will take only the video and I will have to connect Audio seperately with a optical cable.

Or Does the HDMI carry both Video and Audio to the receiver and from there to the TV.

Answer 1

Some people don't want to use the surround system all the time (too loud, kids sleeping etc) so yes the hdmi pass through will send video and audio to the TV. What I found with My Integra (Onkyo's premium line but operationally the same) when i pass through the HDMI audio to the tv, I can't get Dolby Digital on the reciever, so I need to change the HDMI pass through to no when I want to listen to Dolby digital on the Home theatre. So HDMI handles audio and video in the reciever and passes both to the TV ( With my Integra it Upscales every video input to 1080P if the TV is capable of that). You just need to tell the receiver how it should handle the Audio pass through.

Answer 2

the hdmi cable carries all the information audio and video

Answer 3

The latter.

Barry is right, but his answer is ambiguous since he doesn't specify which cable.

Pass through means that both the video and audio are "passed through" the receiver and are available to the connected device (i.e. HDTV). That said, why would anyone want the audio at the HDTV if they already have it on a great receiver (and presumably a surround sound speaker system)?