Tell the truth, if you go and peek behind your TV, how many devices are still connected with the good old SCART cable?If you are keen on technology it is very likely that the answer is none, or at most an old VCR or DVD Recorder.But the statistics speak for themselves: a little out of laziness, a little out of fear of the new, despite the fact that the HDMI connection is present on all new TVs, DVD and Blu-ray Disc players, on new generation consoles and on many camcorders and even cameras, the common user for the connections of the devices to his TV relies when he can on the SCART socket, or alternatively the yellow, red and white cable, the only one most often supplied with the audio / video devices .There are many who, looking with perplexity at that unknown connector on the back of the new DVD player, shrug and use the SCART of the old VCR to connect it to the TV: "at least" they think "this has always worked and certainly does".And there are also those who even connect their high definition console with the yellow cable.Yet HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) has been on our products for more than 5 years, it is the connection that offers the best possible quality and just like the SCART in a single cable it allows you to transmit everything you need, audio, video and data.If you have a flat screen TV at home even with a couple of years on your shoulders (even something more) and a DVD player it is very likely that both are already equipped with an HDMI port as well as SCART.DVD and LCD and Plasma displays are digital devices and the best way to transmit audio and video from one to another is of course to use digital signals.The SCART (or even worse the composite video, the yellow cable) instead transmits analog signals.This involves first a double conversion: from digital to analog output from the DVD, and then from analog to digital when the signal reaches the TV.Each of these conversions involves some degradation in the quality of the audio and video.In addition, analogue transmission, especially over very long cables, is susceptible to noise and interference.But the most important thing is that SCART can only be used with standard definition signals;it is no coincidence that most Blu-ray Disc players have them.These devices (but also digital satellite receivers and game consoles) offer another analog connection, called component and which uses three separate cables that is capable of transmitting analog high definition signals, but is perhaps even more unknown among common users of HDMI.Why SCART has remained so etched in users' minds is a mystery, but it's time for a change of music.So let's get to the point.In the digital age what is the best way to connect the components of an audio / video chain?In case it is still not clear enough, the answer is the HDMI connection, welcomed back in 2002 just like the digital SCART.Like its analog ancestor, HDMI is a standard that allows audio and video (digital and very high quality in this case) to be transmitted simultaneously in one cable.It is a very versatile connection, it is used in the world of consumer electronics but is now very widespread also in the PC field, also due to the backward compatibility with the DVI standard, similar connection in many respects, but which differs for the larger connector and due to the absence of audio.We talked about high quality audio and video: HDMI is capable of transmitting digital audio up to 7.1 channels without loss and in high resolution and video with quality even higher than that of high definition always lossless (lossless).Plus it's the only connection to support all compressed (lossless and lossless) Blu-ray Disc audio formats, such as Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio.So let's see with some practical examples the best way to make the connections using only digital connections.Case A: High definition display and DVD player Just one HDMI cable and that's it: better audio / video quality, no tangle of cables, if you are dealing with the latest generation products you can also use the remote control of one of the two to control the basic functions of the other as well.This is because HDMI since version 1.2 of the standard also allows the transmission of standard control signals between devices even of different brands.The function is called CEC, but each brand calls it in its own way: Bravia Sync for Sony, VIERA Link for Panasonic, Anynet + for Samsung, so many names to say the same thing.The system should guarantee interoperability even between different brands, but often if the products are of the same brand, the accessible functions are greater.Furthermore, there is now no DVD player that does not offer the 1080p upscaling function, an elaboration that artificially increases the resolution of standard definition discs and that can guarantee superior performance with HDTV displays.If the source is a Blu-ray Disc, then the choice is obligatory (but if you have a Blu-ray player we really hope you don't need this guide!): Without HDMI there is no high definition that holds.Case B: HDTV display, Blu-ray Disc player and a state-of-the-art Home Theater Amplifier We complicate the scenario a little, but not by much.All you need are two HDMI cables.With the first we will connect the Blu-ray Disc player to the amplifier.And with the second?In the analog era we would probably have connected the Blu-ray player directly to the TV.But in this case we will use the second HDMI cable to connect the amplifier to the display: the amp will process the audio (and on this we will dedicate one of the next DDay.it guides) and will send only the video in high definition to the TV.Simple and accurate: HDMI from player to amplifier and HDMI from amplifier to TV.Do I have an old amplifier that doesn't have HDMI?No problem, the cables will always remain two and always digital: we will use HDMI to connect the Blu-ray Disc player to the display, while to bring the audio to the amplifier we will use another digital connection called S / PDIF (Sony / Philips Digital Interconnect Format) available in two formats: optical and coaxial and widespread on practically all audio systems for more than a decade now in at least one of the two variants.The optical one uses more expensive cables composed of a plastic optical fiber that transmits the light of an LED.The coaxial version, on the other hand, uses a common coaxial cable with RCA connectors and is the most common.As to which of the two versions is the best, there is a long-standing debate going on among audiophile communities around the world that deserves to remain limited there and that should not worry you: choose the one that best suits you and your wallet, keeping to mind that optical cables are usually used on lengths of 2 or 3 meters maximum.Case C: High Definition Display, Blu-ray Disc Player, HD Satellite Box, Game Console Simple?Let's add one more variable this time: the TV only has two HDMI inputs.How do we do it?We have at least two solutions to solve the problem.The first is to combine your display with a nice multichannel amplifier with HDMI inputs (you need at least three) that can act as a source selector as well as give an extra gear to watching a DVD or Blu-ray.If multi-channel audio is not really your thing and you don't want to hear about amplifiers, there is an endless series of HDMI compatible accessories and among these there are the so-called switchers or switches.These are essentially boxes with many HDMI inputs and one or two outputs.Through a selector (the most sophisticated also include a remote control) it is possible to choose which of the sources connected to the inputs to send to the output.The beauty of digital connectivity is that there is no loss of quality by placing these "boxes" between sources and displays.Once we have chosen the switch that is right for us (i.e. equipped with a sufficient number of inputs for our needs), all we have to do is connect the Blu-ray player and satellite decoder to its inputs and then the output of the switch to one of the inputs of the TV.The other component, the console in this case, we can connect it directly to the other input on the TV, or take advantage of the switch for all sources using a single HDMI input on the TV.Copyright © 2022 DDay.it - ​​Scripta Manent publishing services srl - All rights reserved - VAT number 11967100154