If I buy a blue ray DVD player will I have to run 2 hdmi cables on for video to tv and one for the 7.1 surroun

Question

surround to my home theater or will optical audio still produce 7.1?

Answer 1

If you are using HDMI for video and audio you will need to connect one HDMI cable to the receiver and another HDMI cable from the receiver to the tv. Otherwise you can connect the HDMI cable from the player directly to the tv and use multi channel analog cables for sound.

Answer 2

If your receiver has the HDMI connection then connect this way.

Blu-Ray to Receiver via HDMI.

Receiver to TV via HDMI.

Optical will NOT get you 7.1 under any circumstance. Optical can only transmit up to Dolby Digital-EX(6.1 matrix sound only) or DTS-ES(can be 6.1 discreet but is often 6.1 matrix).

True 7.1 is only available on Dolby TrueHD or dts-HD and you can only transmit it through HDMI.

If your receiver has Dolby TrueHD or dts-HD and your Blu-Ray player is capable of it and you connect it right and set it up right you will be one of the few but it will be awesome in a way that can't be written. The difference between dts and dts-HD Master Audio is tremendous.

besides if you connect through the receiver you won't have to switch inputs on the TV anymore just on the receiver.

Make sure the HDMI cable is over 5Gbps for the audio.

Answer 3

Ron P nailed it right on the head.  HDMI for the video and optical for your reciever.  Remember though when watching a movie to turn down the sound on your TV HDMI carries both Video and Audio and if you are buying this equipment I take it you enjoy your movie experience. So turn the sound down on the TV so it doesn't distract.  Your HDTV will still work if it is an enhanced definition (720P), High Definition(1080i), or True HD (advertisiment word for 1080P), but you will get the best on the 1080P set.  You will notice a huge difference on the Pixar movies.  Enjoy

Answer 4

GREAT QUESTION!

Best approach:

Run HDMI directly from the Blu-ray player to the TV (if your TV is capable of reproducing 1080p,) and then run optical audio from the player to your AV receiver (keeping in mind that 7.1 ONLY works if your receiver has that capacity AND you have front left, center, front right, side left & right, rear left and right speakers and a subwoofer hooked up).

A lot of people have been buying these Blu-ray machines and running HDMI to their TVs without realizing that while their TV is technically "HD", it may only have a maximum resolution capability of 720p or 1080i - Blu-ray output (what you're paying for) is 1080p...otherwise they might be better off with a standard DVD player with HDMI output that up-converts to 720p, which on a 720p set looks pretty darned good (almost as good as the Blu-ray!  But not quite.)

Good luck and let me know how it goes.

Answer 5

You have several options depending on the equipment and your preference:

1) HDMI from Blu-ray to A/V receiver  and HDMI from receiver to TV (2 HDMI cables)

2) HDMI from Blu-ray to TV, optical (or digital coax) from Blu-ray to A/V receiver. (I HDMI, 1 Optical/Coax).

But HDMI cables do NOT have to be expensive. For normal use such as this you can use a $5-$10 cable.  See the links.