# how do I know if I have "HDMI switching" or "HDMI repeater" on my HDTV?



## demonikal (Nov 12, 2012)

I read on Yahoo Answers that HDMI only carries audio on receivers that say they are capable of "HDMI switching" or "HDMI repeater". But I don't know how advanced my HDTV is and I don't know how to interpret everything on the page. Currently, I don't have cable TV or satellite TV connected to my HDTV. I only have my computer connected via VGA to it. The HDTV does have two speakers on the back, but I don't know how to get sound through them.

Here's my HDTV. Dell is where I got it from, so that's why I'm using this link:
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&sku=A5827355&~ck=baynoteSearch&baynote_bnrank=0&baynote_irrank=0

The Yahoo Answers page said I would need an optical cable or coaxial cable to carry sound. But I don't know technically if an HDTV is considered a receiver or not.


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## User0one (Dec 5, 2012)

Try a cable like this, one end hooks to the computer sound card the other end to the Audio Input RCA jacks on the TV.


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## demonikal (Dec 5, 2012)

User0one said:


> Try a cable like this, one end hooks to the computer sound card the other end to the Audio Input RCA jacks on the TV.



Hey User0one. I actually DO have one of those I'm pretty sure. What I did after no one answered my post was try hooking an 3.5mm jack to one of the jacks on the back of the with a 3.5mm jack on the other end to the sound card. And I got nothin.

I'll try that later on Wednesday. Thanks.

Now I just got to figure out, after buying a decent HDMI 6 foot cable on Newegg, why my NVIDIA GT 430 graphics card (that has an HDMI port) will not send video to the HDTV. It makes no freakin sense cuz it's supposedly a powerful enough graphics card to handle the HDTV.

Thanks again.


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## User0one (Dec 5, 2012)

The computer should have a Green port for Stereo Sound out. 

Some of the HDTVs have Several Pairs of RCA jacks that are "Sound Out", and "Sound In", It is the "Sound In" RCA ports you need to use.

If you use a HDMI cable you may need to go to Display Properties on the Computer to set the HDMI output as default. To get Sound to work with HDMI you go to Sound Properties and Set the HDMI to carry the Sound. Basically a Video Card that has HDMI output also has its own a built in Sound Card. So you need to set that as your Default Sound Card instead of the Regular PC Sound Card.


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## demonikal (Dec 6, 2012)

User0one said:


> The computer should have a Green port for Stereo Sound out.
> 
> Some of the HDTVs have Several Pairs of RCA jacks that are "Sound Out", and "Sound In", It is the "Sound In" RCA ports you need to use.
> 
> If you use a HDMI cable you may need to go to Display Properties on the Computer to set the HDMI output as default. To get Sound to work with HDMI you go to Sound Properties and Set the HDMI to carry the Sound. Basically a Video Card that has HDMI output also has its own a built in Sound Card. So you need to set that as your Default Sound Card instead of the Regular PC Sound Card.



Today you ended, oh, I would say about 7 months of trying to figure out why the heck I couldn't get HDMI from my graphics card to my HDTV. I actually went to a local Walmart when I first got the HDTV in April. I got a really good HDMI cable, something like $30 (or supposedly really good), and tried it out at home and got nothing. I assumed the cable was bad and so I returned it for a refund telling them it was a defective cable. And then in November I bought the most top rated and cheapest 6 foot HDMI cable by Rosewill on Newegg. I think it was like $4, so I got two of them cuz they were so cheap. And plugged it in and thought that this cable was a crappy cable too (a new egg, but a bad egg ) and so I just gave up until I saw your answer on the sound. Now everything works. But my speaker quality is actually a lot better coming out of the onboard sound card than it is out of the two speakers in the back of the HDTV. So, I'll stick with that until maybe one day I invest in surround sound or something.

:good::good::good:Thanks again!!! :good::good::good:


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## User0one (Dec 6, 2012)

Audio, Video, and really any Computer Cable are always 90% cheaper online. If you don't need a Cable like right now, never buy them at a Brick&Mortar Store.

Save up for a Home Theater system, for a few hundred bucks you can get a pretty good one. Then use a Optical Audio Cable if both the TV and Home Theater system have those type connectors. You get a Great Surround Sound that way.

So the "Optical Out" on the TV goes to "Optical In" on the Home Theater, Then Mute the TV Speakers or you get a echo. Then you get great sound. The Optical Cable only passes the Sound, but for true 5.1 Dolby Optical Cable is best.


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## demonikal (Dec 6, 2012)

User0one said:


> Audio, Video, and really any Computer Cable are always 90% cheaper online. If you don't need a Cable like right now, never buy them at a Brick&Mortar Store.
> 
> Save up for a Home Theater system, for a few hundred bucks you can get a pretty good one. Then use a Optical Audio Cable if both the TV and Home Theater system have those type connectors. You get a Great Surround Sound that way.
> 
> So the "Optical Out" on the TV goes to "Optical In" on the Home Theater, Then Mute the TV Speakers or you get a echo. Then you get great sound. The Optical Cable only passes the Sound, but for true 5.1 Dolby Optical Cable is best.



Would a good example of optical be where an SPDIF port is? I've never used one, so I have a feeling that would be optical. All I know or think I know is that the "S" stands for "Sony", right?


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## User0one (Dec 6, 2012)

The Long name is "Digital Optical SPDIF Audio Cable"






Not many Computer Sound Cards have this connection, so with a Home Theater Receiver you would use the HDMI Cable from the Video Card to TV because the HDMI Sound will be able to carry the 5.1 Surround from the Computer to the TV. Providing the Video source has the 5.1 encoded into it anyway.

Then the Optical Cable from the TV will carry signal out to the Receiver.

The Home Theater receiver will make it all sound good. Having the Center Channel Bass makes a lot of difference in the Action Adventure Movies.

Most the Home Theater Systems let you run HDMI Cable to the Receiver also, but then you always have to have the Home Theater Receiver on to listen to TV. 

For me the TVs speakers work fine for News and some shows that don't have 5.1 Dolby, so I prefer not to use the HDMI source on the Home Theater for those type programs.


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## demonikal (Dec 7, 2012)

Thanks for all that.

I don't know if you looked at my link to the HDTV when you answered my first question, but it says that my TV has this:

Digital TV Tuner: ATSC, QAM

Analog TV Tuner: NTSC

We used to have AT&T U-verse TV when my sister lived here, but then we got rid of it when she moved out. With these TV tuners inside the Sharp HDTV, will I still need a converter box to convert analog to digital and then have a cable going from the converter box to my TV (as well as an amplifier since we took the antenna down off the top of the roof). We have an amplifier upstairs and it works pretty good. I think it gets like 25-30 mile range or something like that. Sometimes TV cuts in and out, but we don't watch a lot. I know I would definitely need a stronger amp though cuz my computer with HDTV is down in the basement. I think I'd have to route a weather-worthy amplifier outside the basement window to get a good enough strong signal. But what I really don't know is if I need that same converter box for analog to digital signals.

Thanks.


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## User0one (Dec 7, 2012)

Digital TV Tuner verses Analog TV Tuner has more to do with the "Over the Air" signals that local TV Broadcasters use. 

I almost took down a Roof Top Antenna when our area switched to the Digital TV Broadcasting.

These Days our area only has One Analog TV broadcast, it is just a Information channel. All regular "Over the Air" TV is now from Digital.

In my area, I was a little surprised that about a dozen new Channels were added to the "Over the Air" Digital Broadcast line up, that were not available before on the old Analog Broadcasts.

I live where Rabbit ears don't work well for the Digital Broadcasting, and a Roof Top Antenna helps get much better reception. The new local Digital programing I can't get on the Satellite Box, and people I know who use cable don't even have access to all the new Channels. So I ended up keeping the Antenna, and still watch much of the Local Programming thru the TV Tuner.

As far as anything you hook up to the TV video/audio jacks on the Back of the TV don't worry about the Digital verses Analog, the Tuners in any Cable or Satellite Boxes take care of it.


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