HDMI input vs HDMI output?

Question

Hi i'm looking to buy a theatre system and I'm confused about inputs vs outputs. Which one does the receiver need to have so i can play whatever sound i want from the tv to the theatre system? Thanks in Advance

Answer 1

"Input" on an AV receiver is where you plug in the signal from a "source" device, such as a DVD player, cable box, satellite receiver or game console.  A TV is normally considered a display device, but can be a "source" for a AV receiver IF THE TV has an "audio output" (often the TV is connected to a DVD player via an "input" since the signal from the DVD goes to (i.e. into) the TV).  In other words the output from one device is the input for another ... and the jacks are marked accordingly.  It should be obvious that you can't get a signal out of an input or input a signal into an output!

So ... re your specific question: ALL receivers will have suitable inputs ... the trick is making sure the TV has an audio OUTPUT of the same type.

Hope that helps.

Answer 2

it depends on if you are going to have a av reciever that will do the hdmi switching for you. All you need is to have a hdmi input on your tv to get video and audio to your tv.

But if you have an av receiver that does hdmi switching then you should be okay getting audio out of your tv speakers and av reciever. But not all recievers can send both, meaning it can only send sound through the reciever or only just to the tv and in this case i would run a set of analog cables from your recievers rec out to the tvs hdmi audio input. but no all tvs have hdmi analog inputs, so in that case i would run all my hdmi connections directly to the tv and use both an optical cable and a set of analog cables from the audio out of your tv to the av reciever.