How do you wire an hdtv (samsung), dvd recorder (samsung) and comcast hd box?

Question

the tv is pretty late model as is the dvd

Answer 1

[answer appended to on bottom]

If I had to take a guess, I'd assume you'd hook both the DVD Recorder and the Comcast HD Box up via component (red, green, blue, red, white) cables.... unless they support anything better. However, the DVD recorder may not support component inputs... in which case you'd have to connect the Box directly to the TV with the component cables and hook up seperate composite (yellow, red, white) or even coaxial )(single twist on wire) video cables from the cable box to the DVD recorder, if you wish to record the programs off the TV. Then you can most likely hook up the DVD to the TV via the component cables, unless both your TV and recorder support HDMI. Obviously, however, the things you record from TV onto DVD recorder will not be in HD... since DVD doesn't support HD.

This is all just an assumsion though and it depends heavily on what specific hardware you have. If you post or e-mail me the exact model numbers for the TV, the DVD recorder, and the HD Box... then I could look it up and tell you for sure.

---- Addendum ----

Thanks for the additional info. Having looked over your equiptment, it looks like your setup should be easy concidering you have some pretty modern gear. All 3 of those devices support HDMI connections, according to their manual.  You'll need 2 HDMI cables and likely one set of composite/S-Video cables.  FYI, you don't need to buy the $100 dollar HDMI cables they try to push on you at the electronics store... there are plenty of cheaper options that are just as good. If you care to use an online retailer, monoprice.com and newegg.com come highly recommended.

For the HD Box, your simply connecting the boxes HDMI out to any of your TVs HDMI inputs.  That will take care of both the video and the audio.

The same goes for your DVD recorder to your TV. Connect the DVD Recorder's HDMI out to another one of the TVs HDMI inputs.  However, presuming you still want to record television programs, you'll need to connect a seperate set of wires from your HD Box to your DVD Recorder.  To get the best quality recording, I would recommend using an S-Video cable to connect from your HD boxes S-Video out to your recorder's S-Video in.  Then connect the two RCA audio outs (white and red) from the box to the recorder.  However, you can also use a yellow composite video cable as well.. often budled with white and red audio cables... and simply hook that up to the recorder yellow composite video input instead. All of these are found under "AV 1 In" on the back of your recorder... according to the manual anyway.

Past that, all you'll need to do is set the TV and recorder to the neccessary input/output channels in their menus and you should be set. This setup assumes your not using any sort of home theater / surround sound system. Obviously the things recorded on the DVD recorder would not be recorder in HD.  The satellite box is sending the HD content directly to your TV, while it's using a seperate set of cables to send the regular definition video to your DVD system for recording.  In other words, to watch TV in full quality/HD make sure your TV is set to the HDMI channel/source that the box is connected to directly, we'll say HDMI 1 for purpose of example.  To double check that the recorder is recieving the TV signal and that your recording or to playback a DVD, set the TV to the other HDMI channel (HDMI 2 for example).

Their are few unlikely but possible problems that may arise. Some DVD recorders (like my own) will only display DVD footage via higher quality connections... so in such a case you'd need a seperate set of composite cables going from your DVD to your TV to see inputed video live. However, my DVD recorders old and not nearly as fancy, so that's probably not the case for you (nor did the manual seem to mention anything).  Also, there's a slim chance that your satellite service doesn't have HDMI output enables on the box... I have no idea why they would.. but oddities like that occur. However, again I'm nearly certain that's probably not the case and according to the boxes manual it fully supports HDMI output. In case your curious you can find the manual for your HD box here... http://www.sciatl.com/products/consumers...

Certain things on the box may vary depending on the cable/satellite distributor that your utilizing it through.  Also, here are the manuals for the other devices...

http://downloadcenter.samsung.com/conten...

http://downloadcenter.samsung.com/conten...

Answer 2

I'm not sure what he said, but you should have at least two outputs from the hd box.  Run another cable direct to the tv on a video input so you don't degrade your HD signal.  You can use the remote to flip through the tv/video until you get your picture.