The Digital Connection
DVD players are the first consumer electronic devices to come with a standard digital audio connection. For many people this will be their first exposure to this type of connection. There are two different types of digital audio connections:

1. Optical cable uses a series of light pulses to transfer the digital signal. This connection sounds nasally when listening to stereo music CDs compared to a Coaxial digital connection, but perfectly fine when listening to digital sound formats.
2. Coaxial actually looks just like a standard RCA composite input. This is the best sounding digital connection for music, and is usually the best type of digital audio connection to use.

Both Optical and Coaxial digital audio cable perform equally well when listing to a digital surround sources such as movies or 5.1 digital music.

Many DVD players offer both types of digital audio connections giving you the choice on which one to use.

The advantage of a digital audio cable is that you only need one cable to hookup your DVD player's audio, and it's the only conenction that transfers the digital surround formats. This makes setup that much more simple. You can also use cheaper digital cables versus analog cables due to less interference and sound quality issues with digital signals

The Analog Connection
DVD players also include left and right analog audio RCA jacks. This allows DVD players to be connected to systems that lack a digital input. Another use is that you can use the left / right analog outputs to connect your DVD player to the CD input of your receiver while having the DVDs digital connection use the DVD input. Your receiver will use the digital connection for the DVD function and the analog input for the CD function.

The advantage of this setup is you can calibrate your speakers differently for movie watching and music listening, that is, if your receiver remembers speaker settings for each separate function. This allows for perfectly separate movie vs. music settings for your system, ready at the press of a button. This is a very convenient solution for your DVD player to serve as both a DVD and CD player in your system.

One item of concern is that you will need to buy expensive cable for your analog connection in order for it to match the sound quality offered by digital cable. (See the Cables article in the On Gear section for more info.)

The Video Connection
DVD offers the best video source available for home theater and brings with it a new video option many people may not be accustomed to.

Most everyone is familiar with the standard RCA composite video output also found on many VCRs. The main problem with this cable is that all the different pieces of information that make up a video signal are "mashed" together. This "mashing" of the information leads to distortion in the video signal resulting in edge patterns and color saturation issues.

S-Video uses separate wires within one cable for each piece of information. This separates the different pieces of information and results in an amazing picture with little or no distortion that RCA video connections suffer from.

Better than S-Video are the Component Video, DVI, and HDMI video connections. These connection types which are new to many consumers are the only connection you should use to connect a DVD player to an HDTV as they're the only connections capable of transferring progressive scan and high-definition content. For upscaling DVD players that upscale the DVD source to an HD resolution an HDMI or DVI connection is the only connection allowed due to copyright protection built into the DVD players.

A Component connection separates the individual video signal components into three separate cables. This prevents any possible interference from having all the information crammed in one cable, and offers the bandwidth capability of carrying high-definition sources.

HDMI and DVI offer a digital transfer of the video signal with a possible increase in picture quality over Component Video connections. Often, the increase in picture quality depends on the TV as once the video signal is transferred, it is scaled by the TVs internal circuitry.

HDMI is the only solution that transfers both the Audio and Video signals and had become the standard of choice for the consumer electronics industry.

The S-Video Advantage
S-Video offers a dramatic increase in picture quality and detail over the typical RCA connection. The downside is that S-Video is very reliant on cable quality. Cheap cable lacks the proper shielding from the individual wires allowing interference to happen. For a quality connection you will need to spend about $40 -$70 on a high quality S-Video cable. (See the Cables area in the On Gear section for more info.)

Component, HDMI and DVI Have Their Place.
Component Video offers a minor and often unnoticeable improvement in picture quality over S-Video, and costs more to connect. S-Video is the best and most practical connection for DVD players and, unless you want piece of mind by using a Component connection, chances are you won't be able to tell the difference between Component and S-Video connections.

You will, however, need to use a Component connection if you want to use a high-definition source such as a progressive-scan DVD player and an HDMI or DVI connection for upscaling DVD players. A good set of cables will run from $80-$130 (remember it's three separate cables), and the better picture quality that a progressive-scan DVD player provides is well worth spending the extra money on the connection.

Don't get ripped off on HDMI or DVI cables. Most stores are only selling the high priced cable and don't offer cheap cables. With digital cable connections a $5 cable can look just as good as a $100 cable!

DVD Settings
After you get you DVD player connected to the system you'll need to set it up using the DVD player's on-screen interface. Within this interface you'll set up the type of TV (HDTV or 4:3 standard), audio preferences, and a couple of personal preference settings. With every brand using a different on-screen interface it's impossible to go into detail on all of them. You may want to use the instruction manual to first guide your way through the interface to setup your DVD player.

DVD Player Connections Summary

Video:
• For HDTVs: Component, HDMI, or DVI routed through the audio receiver or directly to the TV
• S-Video connected either directly to the TV to save money or routed through the receiver
• RCA jack if your TV lacks S-Video capability

Audio:
• Coaxial digital connection to the receiver to handle all audio needs
• Optical digital audio connection to your receiver or DVD player

Optional Connections:
• Left / Right analog connection to the CD function of your receiver for stereo listening and using separate music settings
• Component connection to HDTV for progressive scan DVD players