Help: Too dumb to set up TV peripherals...

Poststructural Pub
1

So, maybe you can help.
I will do this tomorrow, as I am too tired to do anything other than watch American Idol, season premiere, tonight.

So, yes…this means that I got the HD flatscreen functioning, at least so far as watching tv goes, but I’m having trouble
with the peripherals. Here are pictures:

This is the plug-in place, on the back of the tv.

There are also these extra ports, on the side:

The guy at Radio Shack sold me this thing. It’s a switch-a-ma-bob:

Here’s the back of the digital cable box. Currently, the white coax. cable is coming from the wall, and
the blue one is running from here to the tv: (there is apparently no other connection option for this, apart from coax and the red/yellow/white pluggies.)

Here is the back of the dvd player:

And the old, very basic, (dusty) VCR:

There is also a PS3 (which comes with a red/white/yellow type cord)

And a Wii (same thing. red/white/yellow)

In theory, I should be able to connect the switch thing to the tv, and plug everything else into the switch thingy. So far, I have tried the
dvd. It is plugged into the central port of the switcher, and the switcher is plugged (using a red/white/yellow cord) to the side port of the tv.
But, so far, the tv is not recognizing that anything is plugged into it. (Yes, I know to change the source channel on the tv. There should, at this point only need to be 2 sources–the cable box, and one auxiliary, where the switch is plugged.)

Maybe the switchy-box is a big mistake, and I should be plugging everything directly into the tv? If so, I need something other than red/white/yellow cables, which is what I have left over from my old tv set-up.

Any thoughts on best way to do this?
(thing is, 15-20 years ago, I was the only family member who could, e.g., hook up the video cam to the tv, or record from one vcr to another. Technology, evidently, has left me in the dust.)

2

Ask The Kid. Why you asking us? If he doesn’t know, he has a friend, doesn’t he?

3

and the tv remote has a button that will allow you to select which of the sets of inputs on the back of the set it is to use at this time…(this is not a channel thing, this is a FM, cassette, CD thing)

4

He’s not smart in this way. A friend, maybe.

I’m not wondering about buttons…I’m wondering about where everything should plug in, and by what means.

5

Hi emmline

Plug the PS3 directly into the tv with an HDMI cable.

The video goes to the antenna in on the back of the tv.

The cable goes to the bottom row of connections - the yellow plug into the one surrounded with yellow and marked video the red and white ones into the ones to the left where it says AV in 1.

Do the same for the DVD by plugging the yellow, red and white plugs from it into the connections immediately above the cable ones. (edited to add Or just use the PS3 to play your DVDs and forget the DVD player altogether).

The Wii connections go into the yellow, red and white connections at the side.

That should mean you have a forest of cables behind the tv and no need for the switch box.

David

6

Thanks David–
I’ll get an HDMI cable and try this in the morning. That’s exactly the kind of directions I was looking for.

7

The guy at Radio Shack sold me this thing. It’s a switch-a-ma-bob:

Take it back. You have plenty of inputs and can use
the remote to switch between them.

Here is the back of the dvd player:

Get 1 component video cable (red, blue, green)
and 1 audio RCA cable (red and white). Connect
it to the bottom row on the back of the TV:

When you’re using the remote to select the source,
the DVD will then be something like “AV IN 1”.

And a Wii (same thing. red/white/yellow)

Connect the yellow/red/white cable to the TV side:




Here’s the back of the digital cable box.

Go to Comcast and demand a digital box with an HDMI
output. Use an HDMI cable to connect to TV.
EDIT: I just read Davy’s post. Yeah, do what
he said for DVD & Cable box

And the old, very basic, (dusty) VCR:

Use coax to connect from the “Out TO TV” connector
on the VCR to the “Ant IN” connector on back of TV.

8

assuming that none of your things gets moved around a lot, then like other people have said, with a few new cables everything should just work out and you can remove the switch

an HDMI cable of the PS3 will give you a clear place to plug it in, and then the PS3 will be giving you a better image

and then for either the dvd player or the Wii (or both if you wanted), get a red/blue/green component video cable. Which ever got the new cable will go into the “AV in 2” slot, while the other can use the yellow/red/white cable for “AV in 1”.

and finally the rest can be done like this wall>cable box>VCR>tv all using the standard coax
this all leaves you with the side ports open for whatever may come

but if anyone’s moving the video games around a lot, then they might do best on the side ports to keep people from messing around with the other connections

(btw, if you have the cables to do it, none of these red/blue/green/white/etc cables have to be the same colour as the ports, so if you have extra red/white cables, like I tend to end up with,you may not need a new cable, but this gets confusing making sure you get everything plugged in correctly)

Of course you could use the switch box if you figure out what’s going on with that, but it’s probably more hassle than it’s worth.

9

Hi emmline

As an addendum to my previous post I would agree with fearfoin in getting an upgraded cable box, one with an HDMI socket - that will give you the best picture options.

I also agree with him re the DVD player in that an RGB cable would be the best option for picture quality from your existing player. Though to my mind the best option would be to use the cash you get from returning the switch box and put it to an upscaling DVD player with an HDMI output.

David

10

Thanks to all.
I have a good, composite idea of best set-up now, and am off to return a switch box in exchange for a cable or two.

As for obtaining a Comcast cable box with hdmi–the thing is, I subscribe to basic digital. HD is an option, but I am
not such a connoisseur that I’m interested in paying more…at the moment. Still, since I was upgrading the tv (from a
roughly 10 year old basic, square (heavy) model (in the days when a largish tv could be obtained for $200,) it would
seem silly for it not to be an hdtv…for (I hope) long-term usefulness. Hence, if I eventually decide to pay more for HD
cable service, I’m sure I will get a box with the required connections at the time.

11

Oh, if you’re just getting SD TV, then just
go ahead and use the coax through the VCR
as suggested. Though, you may want to ask,
they might have an SD box with HDMI (the
connector is not inextricably linked to HD
content).

12

There is usually a large-format diagram that shows hookup options that comes with most electronic devices. They were included with my HDTV’s. I can’t follow the written directions in the instruction manual very well, but photos or diagrams are what I rely on. Just connect the blue wire from there to there. I can handle that. Back in the days of point-to-point wiring, I built several stereo audio amplifier and a ham transmitter using that method.

13

Ah, that’s your problem, emm.
Should have shopped at IKEA.

14

Does anybody else miss the simplicity of just plugging the TV in, hooking up the antenna, and turning it on? :smiley:

15

The HDMI standard is meant as to bring those days back.
I’ll believe it when I sees it.

16

Ah yes…I’ve assembled many an IKEA thing. And a few bikes as well.
I’m not hopeless. There was some diagramming, and description of options. I just figured that there would be Chiffers experienced
with such things who’d be able to say, right away, which way was better. I was right, because it’s now done. :slight_smile:

As for simplicity…I found this latest set-up to actually be less mind-boggling than working with certain dvd recorders and things a couple years ago with such obtuse operation protocols that you wanted to kill the machine and yourself.

17

I don’t have much more, though I do have cable and a DVD player. We used to have a VCR. I never learned how to program that. Our cable company is always trying to sell us some kind of a cable box. I tell them our TV is cable ready and I shouldn’t need a box. They tell me I could get the higher level channels. I tell them to put the higher level channels on those blank lower channels or take some of that crappy stuff off the lower level channels and put the higher level channels down in those lower channels.

18

Hi emmline

Satisfy my curiosity, what type of TV did you get?. It was interesting to see the difference in connections available to the US market v the European one. Here the connections would be much easier to work out -

PS3 - HDMI
Wii - video and audio cables as per US set up.
Video, Cable box and DVD would use SCART connections.

David

19

It’s a 42" Samsung HDTV. Nothing extraordinary. I don’t know for sure if the connection options it comes
with are typical, but I assume they are.

20

I feel your pain, Emm.

This afternoon I was telling someone to call my cell phone tomorrow if they need me, since I’ll be in a meeting all day with the phone off, and was just telling them to leave a voice mail when I realized I have no idea how to check the voice mail.

I miss the days when a peripheral was a piece of tinfoil to stick on the antenna.