Best way to connect PS3 to TV and AV Receiver?

[admin_exported]

Hi everyone,

What is the best way to connect the PS3 to the TV and AV Receiver?

Should I connect via HDMI to the AV Receiver and connect via proprietary Playstation TV output to the TV? Or should I do it the other way around?

Is there any advantage in using the optical digital audio output (SPDIF)? And what do I connect this to?

I will most likely only switch on the AV Receiver to watch Blu Ray while just using the TV only for all other activities like playing games, etc.

Thanks!

 

[Anonymous]

HDMI from PS3 straight to the TV so that you do not need to turn on the AVR while you are only playing games - sound only coming out from your tv speaker. Then optical or coaxial from PS3 to AVR. Hope this help

 

[professorhat]

Which AV receiver and TV do you have? If you connect the PS3 direct to the TV and then use optical for sound, this will allow you to do the above, but you won't get HD sound when watching Blu-Rays. However, your AV receiver needs to be capable of accepting the LPCM sent from the PS3 to it so need to know the model.

 

[Anonymous]

My Av Receiver is the Yamaha RX-V3900 and TV is Pioneer 428XD.

So, I should forget about the Sony component cables then, right?

Thanks!

 

[professorhat]

Not necessarily. I'm just downloading the Yamaha manual to see if I can figure out if it has an HDMI audio pass through (i.e. allows you to hook the PS3 up to the Yamaha using HDMI and then, if you wish, pass through the audio to the TV). Some amps let you do this even if the power is switched off which would suit you perfectly, others have to be switched on (which kind of defeats the point) so I'll try and find out if yours can do this.

However, don't discount the Sony component cable yet as if the above fails, looking at the specs of your TV, it suggests it has an RCA phono input - do you know if this is true? If so, you could hook the PS3 to the Yamaha via HDMI and also to the TV using the AV Multi Out Component cable connecting both the video cables and the red and white audio cables into the TV's in socket. When you want sound through the TV you could then change the settings on the PS3 to output the sound and video via the AV Multi Out socket and when you want to watch Blu-Rays, change the PS3 to output sound and video via the HDMI socket. It's fiddly, but it would work!

The other thing to point out is of course, most games do use surround sound and you would be far better off running the PS3 into the HDMI and using the amp for everything!

 

[professorhat]

Okay, page 94 of the manual describes Standby Through mode on the Yamaha (looks to be under the Setup (HDMI) menu). You can set this to Last or Fix (which allows you to specify which HDMI input and which HDMI output the signal is throughput) and this basically means, when the amp is in standby, the HDMI signals will pass through your amp and into your TV. So this should work nicely.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the detailed reply! Please bear with me while I ask some clarifying questions. Thank you!

 

[Anonymous]

professorhat:
Which AV receiver and TV do you have? If you connect the PS3 direct to the TV and then use optical for sound, this will allow you to do the above, but you won't get HD sound when watching Blu-Rays. However, your AV receiver needs to be capable of accepting the LPCM sent from the PS3 to it so need to know the model.

Why wouldn't I get HD sound if I connect the PS3 to the Av Receiver via Optical cable? Is it because HD sound can only be transmitted via HDMI?

What does LPCM stand for? How does the ability to accept LPCM from the PS3 impact the sound?

 

[Anonymous]

professorhat:
Not necessarily. I'm just downloading the Yamaha manual to see if I can figure out if it has an HDMI audio pass through (i.e. allows you to hook the PS3 up to the Yamaha using HDMI and then, if you wish, pass through the audio to the TV). Some amps let you do this even if the power is switched off which would suit you perfectly, others have to be switched on (which kind of defeats the point) so I'll try and find out if yours can do this.

However, don't discount the Sony component cable yet as if the above fails, looking at the specs of your TV, it suggests it has an RCA phono input - do you know if this is true? If so, you could hook the PS3 to the Yamaha via HDMI and also to the TV using the AV Multi Out Component cable connecting both the video cables and the red and white audio cables into the TV's in socket. When you want sound through the TV you could then change the settings on the PS3 to output the sound and video via the AV Multi Out socket and when you want to watch Blu-Rays, change the PS3 to output sound and video via the HDMI socket. It's fiddly, but it would work!

The other thing to point out is of course, most games do use surround sound and you would be far better off running the PS3 into the HDMI and using the amp for everything!

Yes, my TV does have the ability to accept the component cables from the PS3. So connecting the PS3 to the Yamaha AV Receiver via HDMI and connecting to the TV via Component should be possible. But why will this be fiddly? Isn't it possible to have sound coming out of both the TV and the AV Receiver when everything is switched on? Or is the PS3 only able to output to either the TV or AV Receiver but not both simultaneously?

 

[Anonymous]

professorhat:
Okay, page 94 of the manual describes Standby Through mode on the Yamaha (looks to be under the Setup (HDMI) menu). You can set this to Last or Fix (which allows you to specify which HDMI input and which HDMI output the signal is throughput) and this basically means, when the amp is in standby, the HDMI signals will pass through your amp and into your TV. So this should work nicely.

Thanks for looking through the manual! I have never had the time nor patience to read the manual. 🙂

So, does this mean that setting it to "Last" would allow all HDMI inputs to pass through?

Based on this, does it mean that I only need to connect the PS3 to the AV Receiver via HDMI and I should forget about the Optical cable and the Component cable connection?

Thanks for your help!

 

[Anonymous]

From what the Professor is saying the Yamaha allows you to have 1 HDMI into it and 1 HDMI out of it, that remain operational while the Yamaha is on standby. In this case, you would be able to connect 1 HDMI cable from PS3 to Yamaha, then 1 HDMI from Yamaha to Pioneer TV. FORGET all other cables, they are inferior. You must however read the Yamaha manual, page 94, and set up which HDMI sockets on the Yamaha you would like to use to pass through while the Yamaha is off.

 

[Anonymous]

Has anyone here used the Sony component cables to connect the PS3? Are they any good? Thanks.

 

[Anonymous]

hello,

the trouble with component cables is you only can get 1080i and not 1080p i think, and without sound. I always use my av receiver, why not, why have one if you don't use it.

 

[GazzyP]

Can I ask why on earth you would ever want to only use the sound on your TV? PS3 Games are also in 5.1 Dolby Digital and sound amazing through a decent receiver/amp - Switch off the TV speakers and make the most of the sound system you have!! Enjoy.

Also make sure you have the correct settings for audio output on the PS3 to make the most of what your receiver is capabale of.

 

[Anonymous]

I've connected my ps3 to my Denon AVR 1909 by HDMI and I cannot get any sound, though the video does feed through to my tv. It is driving me up the wall!