noob tryin to set up new home theater system

[bigjoe1986]

Hey all, I was just given a custom home theater system from a friend but am trying to figure things out for the setup. I want to connect both my pc and hd cable box to the receiver via hdmi but im not sure how i would go about switching between cable and computer for the input. My tv only has one hdmi port so im trying to figure out how to make everything work together. If i change from cable to the input selection in the receiver it kicks out the audio for the cable but i have no video for the pc. Any suggestions would be appreciated

[rbinck]

It would be helpful to know what receiver you have. I'm assuming it has more than one HDMI input and you have connected both the PC and cable box to different inputs.

Your problem could be the PC is not set for a HDTV resolution. I would start by connecting the PC to the TV directly and booting up the PC to see if you can get a picture. Most of the time during boot a PC will ask the monitor (in your case a HDTV) what resolution is best and will set up the video card accordingly. If that does not work then I would get a computer monitor attached to the PC and set the resolution to a HDTV resolution. Since your TV only has a single HDMI input, I'd assume it is an older HDTV (it would be helpful to know the brand and model #)and some of those are very picky about what signals they will accept. If you can get the PC video directly connected then you should be able to reconnect through the receiver.

[bigjoe1986]

Originally Posted by rbinck

It would be helpful to know what receiver you have. I'm assuming it has more than one HDMI input and you have connected both the PC and cable box to different inputs.

Your problem could be the PC is not set for a HDTV resolution. I would start by connecting the PC to the TV directly and booting up the PC to see if you can get a picture. Most of the time during boot a PC will ask the monitor (in your case a HDTV) what resolution is best and will set up the video card accordingly. If that does not work then I would get a computer monitor attached to the PC and set the resolution to a HDTV resolution. Since your TV only has a single HDMI input, I'd assume it is an older HDTV (it would be helpful to know the brand and model #)and some of those are very picky about what signals they will accept. If you can get the PC video directly connected then you should be able to reconnect through the receiver.

My receiver is a Sony STR-DH510. I have the Cable box and pc connected to two different hdmi ports on the receiver and i believe the receiver has 3 hdmi in and 1 out. I have had the pc connected to my tv directly for a few years now via hdmi and it has worked perfect. The tv is a 22" samsung (cant find model number searching online but will be able to get that later when im home. It is approximately 5 years old. 10,000:1 contrast ratio, 1080 I.When i connect the cable box via hdmi to the receiver and to the tv from the hdmi out on the receiver i get perfect audio from the system and perfect video from the tv.

[einteractive]

Setting up a home theater ain't that easy as it seems. Hence, I would recommend you to get professional help to install a home theater system in your home for perfect audio distribution and quality.