Sky+HD connect to AV - HDMI / Optical digital input

[admin_exported]

This is my first post, so thanks in advance for any responses.

I am looking to upgrade my current system to (which includes Sky+HD):

Panasonic TX42G10, Sony BDP-S360 / S760 Blu Ray DVD (still to decide), Denon AVR1910 / 2310 (still to decide), B&W MT-25

Concerning Sky+HD connectivity for the above new setup, I had assumed that all I will require is an HDMI cable from the Sky+HD to the HDMI 'in' on the AV and an HDMI cable from the HDMI 'out' on the AV to the HDMI on the Full HD TV. However, in What Hi FI Ultimate Guide to Blu Ray, which I bought recently, there is a review of the Yamaha RX-V765 that states:

'Thanks to a recent firmware fix, it'll also allow you to independently asign an optical digital input to an HDMI input (to ensure proper support for Sky+HD boxes).'

This appears to imply that the connection from Sky+HD to the AV requires both an HDMI and an optical digital input, whereas I thought you only required a single HDMI connection for both video & audio. Can anyone please clarify my lack of understanding?

Finally, I know there are a lot of threads concerning upscaling (should you let the Sky+HD do it, or the AV, or the HD TV?), and while I appreciate that the best way to find out is to find somewhere to demo before buying, this is not always possible. Considering my proposed new set up above, does anyone know if there is any significant (noticable) difference between the Denon AVR1910 / 2310 in terms of upscaling HDMI - HDMI to 1080p from Sky+HD (570p & 1080i)? The AVR1910 has the Anchor Bay ABT 1030 chip, while the AVR 2010 has the Anchor Bay ABT 2010 chip. Both scalers from the same company, so how much of a difference?

If anyone can also provide an opinion on whether to allow either of the above Denon AVs, or the Pana HD TV, to do the Sky+HD upscaling and how significant that will be would be of interest (I cannot really see much difference on my current set up of a Pana 760 HD Ready TV doing the upscaling with Sky+HD set to Automatic versus having the Sky+HD set to 760p).

Sorry for the long questions!

Great magazine!

Paul, West Sussex.

 

[daveh75]

pauled51:Concerning Sky+HD connectivity for the above new setup, I had
assumed that all I will require is an HDMI cable from the Sky+HD to the
HDMI 'in' on the AV and an HDMI cable from the HDMI 'out' on the AV to
the HDMI on the Full HD TV. However, in What Hi FI Ultimate Guide to
Blu Ray, which I bought recently, there is a review of the Yamaha
RX-V765 that states:

'Thanks to a recent firmware fix, it'll
also allow you to independently asign an optical digital input to an
HDMI input (to ensure proper support for Sky+HD boxes).'

This
appears to imply that the connection from Sky+HD to the AV requires
both an HDMI and an optical digital input, whereas I thought you only
required a single HDMI connection for both video & audio. Can
anyone please clarify my lack of understanding?

Due to hardware limitations Sky HD boxes can only output stereo over HDMI, so to get Dolby Digital 5.1 sound(when available) an additional optical/co-axial connection must be made to your a/v receiver.

 

[Anonymous]

I ran separate HDMI from the Sky HD box to the TV and fibre optic from the Sky HD box to the surround sound box. No HDMI on my Cyrus surround sound box anyway. Not sure if you get full 5.1 surround sound on SkyHD. One plus is that you can chose to watch your TV in "normal TV" mode late at night, if, like me you live in a flat,without annoying the neighbours.

 

[daveh75]

Darren Heal: Not sure if you get full 5.1 surround sound on SkyHD. You can,but only certain programmes/channels broadcast it.