Sky+HD installed this morning. Home cinema set up difficulties - please help.

[admin_exported]

Afternoon everyone,

This morning I had my standard Sky box replaced with a Sky+HD box. When the installer left everything seemed to be working fine but I am having a couple of difficulties restoring things to their previous working order.

Before this morning my set up was as follows..... Denon1910 with two HDMI's out. One to the TV and the second to the PS3. The standard Sky box was connected to the TV via scart to scart and I had a stero lead (double ended red and white thing) running into the Denon (I can't quite remember why I had this lead in place. I know there was a logical reason because I remember taking advice at the time but I can't for the life of me remember why. Actually, maybe it was to get audio from the standard Sky box through the amp).

The installer kept the above set up but ran a HDMI from the new Sky HD box to the Denon andremoved the scart and the stereo lead. As I say when he left, everything seemed fine. But this was only when the Denon was switched on. This would be ok if it were not for the fact that previously I (and my girlfirend) sometimes liked to watch Sky without necessarily having the Denon swithced on. After the installer left, I realised that when the Denon was switched off I was receiving the video on the TV but no audio.

Please could someone advise me on what I'm doing wrong? I obviously want to maximise my kit and will buy new leads if necessary. In short, my aim is to have all the beneifits of the Sky+HD when the Denon is both on and off.

I would really appreciate any help.

Thank you

Chris

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Chris,

The Sky Box only has 1 HDMI out, so you'll need to change it from being plugged into the receiver to being plugged into the TV if you want to watch TV without turning on your amp. The other option would be an amp with passthrough while on standby. You could also get an HDMI switching box from somewhere like Maplins, have the cable go into this, then 2 outputs, one to TV the other to amp, and switch depending on your preference. Also, the HDMI out from the Sky box will only be stereo. This is fine for nearly everything, but if you want to take advantage of the few programs that have DD5.1, then you'll need either a digital coaxial or an optical cable, depending on which model of Sky HD box you have.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Shug

 

[Anonymous]

My set does what you want and is wired like so. HDMI sky hd box to TV. Blue ray player HDMI to AMP. Optical lead Amp to Sky HD box

 

[Anonymous]

Can u not use a stereo lead to connect the skybox's stereo outs to the stereo inputs on ur tv ?

Page28 of the denon user manual - 'Standby Source' might also help.

 

[f1only]

You can watch Sky through the reciever as long as it it is switched into standby & not switched off + sky was the last thing you were watching through the reciever.

 

[michael hoy]

Hi,

I would set the Sky box up this way.

1. Scart lead to TV - this means you can just watch as normal as a back up or you do not want to leave the amp on stand by.

2. HDMI lead to amp and digital coax or optical lead to amp.

Your Denon will support video pass through so just needs to be in stand by mode, you will have to tell the amp you are using digital IN for the sound.

 

[d4v3pum4]

michael hoy:
Hi,

I would set the Sky box up this way.

1. Scart lead to TV - this means you can just watch as normal as a back up or you do not want to leave the amp on stand by.

2. HDMI lead to amp and digital coax or optical lead to amp.

Your Denon will support video pass through so just needs to be in stand by mode, you will have to tell the amp you are using digital IN for the sound.

Why would you connect a SCART cable? Either connect HDMI direct to the TV and when using the amp turn the TV volume down or use the amp for passthrough. I personally would connect it direct and give you a simple option of using either TV speakers or amp+speakers.

 

[michael hoy]

d4v3pum4:michael hoy:
Hi,

I would set the Sky box up this way.

1. Scart lead to TV - this means you can just watch as normal as a back up or you do not want to leave the amp on stand by.

2. HDMI lead to amp and digital coax or optical lead to amp.

Your Denon will support video pass through so just needs to be in stand by mode, you will have to tell the amp you are using digital IN for the sound.

Why would you connect a SCART cable? Either connect HDMI direct to the TV and when using the amp turn the TV volume down or use the amp for passthrough. I personally would connect it direct and give you a simple option of using either TV speakers or amp+speakers.

If the OP needs to pull the amp out for what ever reason the box will still be connected and usable (he has the cable already so no cost), I run all my HDMI leads into my amp and only have the one lead out to the TV. In my case the one to the TV is the longest lead all the others are very short.

Less clutter and shorter signal path.

 

[fayeanddavid]

d4v3pum4:michael hoy:
Hi,

I would set the Sky box up this way.

1. Scart lead to TV - this means you can just watch as normal as a back up or you do not want to leave the amp on stand by.

2. HDMI lead to amp and digital coax or optical lead to amp.

Your Denon will support video pass through so just needs to be in stand by mode, you will have to tell the amp you are using digital IN for the sound.

Why would you connect a SCART cable? Either connect HDMI direct to the TV and when using the amp turn the TV volume down or use the amp for passthrough. I personally would connect it direct and give you a simple option of using either TV speakers or amp+speakers.

Ditto here

 

[Anonymous]

fayeanddavid:d4v3pum4:michael hoy:
Hi,

I would set the Sky box up this way.

1. Scart lead to TV - this means you can just watch as normal as a back up or you do not want to leave the amp on stand by.

2. HDMI lead to amp and digital coax or optical lead to amp.

Your Denon will support video pass through so just needs to be in stand by mode, you will have to tell the amp you are using digital IN for the sound.

Why would you connect a SCART cable? Either connect HDMI direct to the TV and when using the amp turn the TV volume down or use the amp for passthrough. I personally would connect it direct and give you a simple option of using either TV speakers or amp+speakers.

Ditto here

I agree, why use the scart to the TV, you won't get HD picture. Simply run your HDMI & optical from Sky HD to AVR and then set the AVR to pass through the signal on Standby, job done.

 

[Liam19]

EagsBeags:
Afternoon everyone,

This morning I had my standard Sky box replaced with a Sky+HD box. When the installer left everything seemed to be working fine but I am having a couple of difficulties restoring things to their previous working order.

Before this morning my set up was as follows..... Denon1910 with two HDMI's out. One to the TV and the second to the PS3. The standard Sky box was connected to the TV via scart to scart and I had a stero lead (double ended red and white thing) running into the Denon (I can't quite remember why I had this lead in place. I know there was a logical reason because I remember taking advice at the time but I can't for the life of me remember why. Actually, maybe it was to get audio from the standard Sky box through the amp).

The installer kept the above set up but ran a HDMI from the new Sky HD box to the Denon andremoved the scart and the stereo lead. As I say when he left, everything seemed fine. But this was only when the Denon was switched on. This would be ok if it were not for the fact that previously I (and my girlfirend) sometimes liked to watch Sky without necessarily having the Denon swithced on. After the installer left, I realised that when the Denon was switched off I was receiving the video on the TV but no audio.

Please could someone advise me on what I'm doing wrong? I obviously want to maximise my kit and will buy new leads if necessary. In short, my aim is to have all the beneifits of the Sky+HD when the Denon is both on and off.

I would really appreciate any help.

Thank you

Chris

Hi Chris,

I have both Sky+HD and PS3 connected via HDMI to my Denon 1910 for video, along with an optical digital cable from the PS3 and a coaxial digital cable from Sky+HD for sound. If you do this then you can get Dolby Digital 5.1 sound from many HD programmes (NB - The Sky+HD box can't send this audio over HDMI, and your stereo cable won't be able to carry it either).

Now the Denon does have to be on for this to work, but to be honest I don't see why you'd choose the TV speakers over it for any type of viewing! I understand the potential hassle of getting the Denon to the right input (a particular problem with some other members of my household!), but my suggestion is to invest in an all-in-one remote (mine is the Logitech Harmony 525), which can set up all your different components properly with one button press.

One side note - the Denon can also upscale the 1080i feed from Sky+HD to 1080p, if you so desire.

You say you want to maximise your kit - AFAICS, this is the best way to achieve that.

 

[bigboss]

Liam19: to be honest I don't see why you'd choose the TV speakers over it for any type of viewing! I understand the potential hassle of getting the Denon to the right input (a particular problem with some other members of my household!), but my suggestion is to invest in an all-in-one remote (mine is the Logitech Harmony 525), which can set up all your different components properly with one button press.

One side note - the Denon can also upscale the 1080i feed from Sky+HD to 1080p, if you so desire.

You say you want to maximise your kit - AFAICS, this is the best way to achieve that.

Absolutely. I use my home cinema system (Yamaha + Monitor Audios) for all types of TV viewing......it's another matter that my TV doesn't have its own speakers

 

[michael hoy]

It is not a hassle to configure the Denon, but my point in using the scart is that not everyone wants to watch / listen to HD material all the time.

When my wife comes home from her 12hr shift she wants some breakfast and to wind down, she just wants to put the TV on for a few minutes.

She does not care about seeing every pimple on the news presenters face or hear a pin drop on the floor she just wants to wind down.

I use my system 90% of the time but when I get up for work I just want to watch the news for 15 mins and go to work and the scart lead lets me do just that.

It has it's uses.