Video Asylum

Posted by Joe Murphy Jr (A) on December 11, 2011 at 20:30:06

In Reply to: RE: I need your help! posted by No Regrets on December 08, 2011 at 10:44:10

Cable

Don't wait for Time Warner. Connect the cable to your TV, let the tuner tune and start watching stuff right now. Everything that isn't scrambled will be shown by your TV, whether it be analog or digital, SD or HD. You only need a cable box for scrambled channels (movie channels like HBO/Cinemax, Playboy, Pay-Per-View, etc).



Blu-ray player

At this point in time, I would recommend an oppo BDP-93 or a Sony PS3. The oppo ($499) will get you excellent picture quality from Blu-ray and DVD. The PS3 ($249, but you may still be able to find some sellers also offering a $50 gift card with the purchase) is a monster of a media player that does almost everything.

http://www.oppodigital.com/blu-ray-bdp-93/

http://us.playstation.com/



Connection helper

Order a monoprice HDX-401TA. It's an HDMI switcher that can simultaneously output HDMI, optical, coax and 2.0 analog. Sound will be sent to the TV -- via HDMI -- and to the Big Rig -- via the 2.0 analog. When you just want TV sound, leave the Big Rig off. When you just want the Big Rig sound, turn it on and mute the TV.

• HDMI switcher   (Open in New Window)