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For many homeowners, who don't work in a trade, setting up home theater properly can be one of the more technically demanding tasks they are faced with in life. Not to say it's hard of course, but there is certainly scope for confusion and mistakes to get in the way of an enjoyable home theater experience. In this article, we will take a look at some of the common types of video and audio cable connectors so you are well armed with knowledge when setting up your home theater system.
Cabling
There are many different styles of cable used in a home theater system. To connect a TV, you may need to identify any of these types of cable:
RCA connectors. These are the familiar red, white and yellow cables. They carry both audio and video to your TV and/or speakers. Signal quality is generally not as good as with other types of cabling in use, as RCA doesn't carry a digital signal.
S-Video. This type of connecter is a round ended socket, with 4 pins. This is a step up from RCA connectors but has still been superseded by more recent cabling technology.
Composite. These cables look similar to RCA cables, but the three cables (red, green and blue) only carry a video signal. These cables carry a good quality signal, but have been replaced by HDMI.
HDMI. HDMI cable carries a digital signal, both picture and sound. Quality is generally very high, as these cables are designed for modern digital equipment. HDMI cables are a small, rectangular shape with one edge a little shorter than the other.
DVI. DVI cables are more often used for connecting PC monitors, but they can be used for high quality video as well - however, they don't transmit any sound so a separate audio connection is needed.
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Recognizing these types of cable is important, but so is understanding their respective benefits and disadvantages, to make the most informed choice whether you are setting home theater wiring from scratch, or even shopping for a 3D TV and making sure it will be fully compatible with your new system. It's important to buy gear that is compatible with your existing gear while still future-proofing by keeping your connection options open.
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