What cables...do i need for my LCD TV's???

[august1968]

Help! I just bought two new LCD TV

[jawadsworth]

Congratulations on your purchase.
Both of these sets are extremely good sets and you definitively want the best picture possible.
That said, your type of cables depend on your sources.
HDMI is the best cable to get the best possible picture.
If your source components have HDMI outputs, then this is the way to go.
2nd best is component cables (red, blue, and green). component cable will also need red and white leads for the sound. HDMI passes both sound and video.
Then, in order is s-video and composite cables.
You can get extremely good cables at very reasonable prices at a number of sources on the net.
As has been said many times before in these pages, the difference between $10 and $100 cables, especially at short run lengths, is nil.
So hook up and enjoy.

[eliwhitney]

Hi -

There are many web sites which do provide excellent technical quality HDMI cables -
here's only one, in two "varities" or price lines - as long as one buys from a reputable vendor-
certainly Not Ebay, etc. - the certified 1.3 HDMI cables @ under $8 DO offer precisely the very same technical abilities as those $100 /each versions of your "sales person!"

http://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/hdm ... cables.htm

Amother web store is -

www.mycablemart.com ... here -
http://www.mycablemart.com/store/cart.p ... tail&p=871

For now, one HDMI cable for each TV, going from the HD Receiver to that set.

Understandably, you may be 'too anxious' to order / wait for delivery ? At our malls, the APPLE Computer store stocks excellent HDMIs, albeit somewhat more $$ -

http://store.apple.com/us/product/TL951 ... MTIxODk3Mw

And, of course, the proverbial SuperCenters or in stock at SAM's, too -- here -

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product. ... id=5855137

Do also consider that you will be "missing out " on the other half of this great HD Unless you do get some sort of Surround Sound for the embedded Dolby signal !

And, there IS no inexpensive means of recording one HD show while another HD is viewed except by 'renting' those captive dual tuner, hard drive HD Receivers from the HD service provider --- an essential to avoiding lost simultaneous HD presentations.

There are also quite good "D.I.Y. .... DVDs" for setting up your lovely new HDTVs . None are ready to view, out-of-the-shipping carton!

The default settings are strictly for store mass displays - never appropriate for in-home viewing.

Enjoy &, yes, congrats !

eli

[channelsurfer]

There are many cables that you may need depending on the set-up your looking for. It is probably a given that you would need an HDMI cable to connect to your DVD/Blue ray player. It really depends on what equipment you have along with your TV but you dont need to buy monster cables just because they are monster. There are plenty of great cables that are much cheaper and get all the same raitings. I would suggest visiting WizitAV.com that is where i purchase my cables. Good luck finding what your looking for.

[Roger Halstead]

Others have pretty well covered the needed cables. I agree that the expensive ones are electrically no better than much lower priced ones, but you do need to look at the physical construction. There is a difference between inexpensive and cheap. Gold plated pins do last longer than others, but only if they are connected and disconnected a lot. Latching HDMI cables are much nicer as they stay put and you can usually find them in the $20 range. I mention the latching as if it's difficult to get behind the set the HDMI cable is easily disconnected while dusting back there, or rearranging cables. If you set suddenly says "signal lost" and you are watching a recording it's most likely the HDMI connection.

[submarine]

Great advise.

I have found it's best to plan for plenty of room to access cables and connections. Also, use a good Radio Shack connection cleaner about every 6 months when changing smoke detector batteries. It only takes a few minutes to do an entire system.

As a side A/V set-up note, I also covered the rear of my Sony 60" LCD with a large, high volume air conditioning fabric filter. This greatly helps prevent dust from entering the cooling system of the TV, yet optimizes cooling system fans to run full blast.

That can be an expensive out-of-warranty service call.

And, try to turn off your TV and audio system equipment before vacuuming or dusting, and, continue for about 15 minutes after your done cleaning up. Dust can fly everywhere when cleaning. The cooling fans will draw it into your equipment and possibly block the flow enough to burn out lamps and fans prematurely.