AV setup advice please

[Rubber Bullets]

I've finally bought an AV amp and some surround speakers. I'd like some advice on setting up the wiring.

I have a DVD recorder and a Sky+ box supplying my pictures, and a Netgear MP101 alongside a digital radio reciever supplying my sounds. At some point I may well add a console of some sort.

I also have an aging, but still perfectly servicable Panasonic TV, the problem is that this only has 2 SCART sockets, and a S-video in that is on teh front panel and looks untidy to use on a permanent basis.

Currently I have scarts going from Sky to TV, Sky to DVD and DVD to TV.

Is it worth disrupting this setup to run the video signals through the amp? I will obviously be taking the surround signals from the SKy and DVD through there, but is it worth it for the picture too?

My feeling is that I keep things as they are ATM, and when/if I get a console to take the DVD>TV output and put that through the AMP so that I can also put the console output through it too, and switch them that way.

Sadly the Sky box will not throughput the DVD signal, though the DVD will throughput the Sky signal. It does however lose its auto aspect function, and it also lightens the image .

At the point where I have to change the telly these will all get a lot easier to answer, but aside from the lack of SCARTs and the fact it is a bit big and bulky for a slightly small (28") picture it is still in very good nick.

Any thoughts from the AV experts please?

RB

 

[Panda On Smack]

Personally i would put all your sources into the AV Amp then you have 1 lead coming out of it into your TV etc.

Easily switching through all sources with the remote and no channel changing

Daisy chaining is a bit messy

P.S. At the moment you can just take the composite out and plug it into a scart converter whcih will go into your TV

 

[babs]

The problem you're going to have is that your amp (and this is if you're looking to route video through it) limits what kind of picture you're going to have. I'd imagine your TV only has one RGB scart socket at the back, and if you're trying to not use the s-video port, that's your best hope for the best picture.

RGB > s-video > composite.

In the future if you get a TV with component inputs then it would be ideal, but in the meantime I'd go for a solution which gives you RGB from all devices. I obviously haven't seen your setup, but I think your best bet would be...

SKY > DVD Recorder > TV.

Using fully wired scart cables too, to make sure you get RGB. You'll also have to make sure your sky box and dvdr are set up to output in RGB rather than composite.

If you weren't adverse to using s-video you could route that through the amp, but really don't bother if you're going to use compos(h)ite. You'll have great audio but a terrible picture

For the bit about losing aspect ratio, is it a Liteon DVDR by any chance? I have one of those and they ignore the voltage sent on pin 8 (I think), which means you have to manually change it. It's a pain in the arse. The change in colour could be down to a poor cable, which may also explain the lack of aspect ratio changing.

Please don't use composite though, it really is poor

 

[Rubber Bullets]

Hi Panda and Babs,

Sorry it's taken a while, but many thanks for the input.

I'm not sure if the telly utilises a RGB inout or not, the picture is fine, but I haven't got a lot to go on.

The sound is fairly impressive, especially as I spent very little on the speakers (I know, but I just can't justify more ATM).

I have also splashed out on this which is taking a bit of setting up partly because the telly has a strange way of switching between AV inputs, and partly because I didn't have a clue about how the amp works

Oh and by teh way, Babs, spot on with the LiteOn bit, are you stalking me?

RB

 

[Ch3tan]

If it has two scarts, then scart 1 will most probably be RGB while the second scart will not. Unless your manufacturer decided to grace you with two RGB capable sockets.

 

[babs]

Not stalking so much as beating off outside your window

My liteon does exactly the same and it rang alarm bells