Welcome to TV Connections, here we look at the various ways of connecting a televisions, displays, media devices and home cinema systems etc. For the past 30 years the scart lead has been the primary connection cable for connecting a device to a TV but in the last 3 years everything has changed as we have moved into the digital age.
The scart lead is still in widespread use today but is only capable of carrying an analogue TV signal with a standard definition resolution, most commonly in the UK referred to as 576i (576 lines of interlaced picture).
A new connection called an HDMI cable was created to carry a high definition TV (HDTV) signal into the new LCD and Plasma TV ranges. HDMI Cables have much smaller plugs than scart and if you’re not familiar with them you could mistake it for a USB connector. The HDMI Cable carries the signal digitally as a stream of 1s and 0s, as such it is much less prone to interference and all but a faulty cable will transfer the sound and picture in perfect quality.
Keep reading…
HDMI cables now come with a rotating and swivelling connector to get the perfect cable position in those awkward spaces and with a 2m rotating HDMI cable only costing £6.75 its a no brainer. The cables are also rated high speed with ethernet so will support all HDMI 1.4 functions.
Connecting HDMI to a VGA monitor is now quite simple with the use of an HDMI to VGA converter, the device takes an HDMI input and provides a VGA and stereo audio output, a great solutuion for watching Sky HD on your VGA monitor.
Despite being in wide spread use the term HDMI 1.4 Cable is now defunct, instead cables are now referred to as standard speed, high speed or high speed with ethernet. If you want to make sure you have all the HDMI 1.4 functionality then you should now buy a high speed hdmi cable with ethernet.
New Lindy HDMI Splitter (part codes 38026 and 38027) now support 3D over HDMI as well as 1080p.
Higher speed: HDMI 1.3 increases its single-link bandwidth to 340 MHz (10.2 Gbps) to support the demands of future HD display devices, such as higher resolutions, Deep Colour and high frame rates. In addition, built into the HDMI 1.3 specification is the technical foundations that will let future versions of HDMI reach significantly higher speeds
Deep Colour: HDMI 1.3 supports 10-bit, 12-bit and 16-bit (RGB or YCbCr) colour depths, up from the 8-bit depths in previous versions of the HDMI specification, for stunning rendering of over one billion colours in unprecedented detail
Broader colour space: HDMI 1.3 adds support for “x.v.Color™”, which removes current colour space limitations and enables the display of any colour viewable by the human eye
New mini connector: With small portable devices such as HD camcorders and still cameras demanding seamless connectivity to HDTVs, HDMI 1.3 offers a new, smaller form factor connector option
Lip Sync: Because consumer electronics devices are using increasingly complex digital signal processing to enhance the clarity and detail of the content, synchronization of video and audio in user devices has become a greater challenge and could potentially require complex end-user adjustments. HDMI 1.3 incorporates automatic audio synching capabilities which allow devices to perform this synchronization automatically with total accuracy
New HD lossless audio formats: In addition to HDMI‘s current ability to support high-bandwidth uncompressed digital audio and all currently-available compressed formats (such as Dolby® Digital and DTS®), HDMI 1.3 adds additional support for new lossless compressed digital audio formats Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio™
The splitter coupled with a high speed hdmi cable gives perfect 3D to more than 1 screen.
High speed hdmi and high speed with ethernet cables are now available in lengths up to 20m, these long hdmi cables can support 1080p resolutions and are compatible with 3D TV. If you need to go longer though we would recommend using HDMI over cat5 extender.
The Vision FC4 v2 is a small electronic converter that converts HDMI to component video. This unit is particularly useful for people with older HD displays that only have component video inputs. The FC4 outputs the same resolution as the input resolution from 480i to 1080p.
Now spring has arrived its time to think about camping and caravaning and with the world cup a few weeks away why not take a satellite receiver with you. Its easy to setup a satellite dish using a satellite tripod, just fix your dish to the tripod, align it with a satellite alignment kit and enjoy watching some great channels.
HDMI Adapters can be used to convert an HDMI cable to another cable type or to create an angle. Common types are HDMI to DVI, HDMI to displayport and HDMI angle adapters. Angle adapters are useful for turing an HDMI cable through 90 degrees.
All the benefits of a digital box, plus up to 70 hours a week of HD programmes, subscription-free. If you have an HD Ready TV or are thinking of buying one, this is a great option.
- Over 140 great digital TV and radio channels and services
- Free HD programmes from the BBC and ITV
- 8-day On Screen Programme Guide
- Interactive TV
- Fully interactive with LAN Port for future connection to Broadband
- 5.1 Surround Sound Digital Audio Out socket allowing easy connection to your Home Cinema System
- Parental control
- Subtitles and Audio Description
- HDMI – digital interface for perfect transmission of picture and sound
- Contains HD freesat Digital Box, Scart Cable, Power Adapter, 2 x AAA Batteries, Quick Start Guide, User Guide, Remote Control
- Auto detection of new channels or software – no need to ever re-tune
- One payment, no subscription, no bills
Connections
- 1 x HDMI Socket
- 2 x Scart Sockets
- LNB In and Out
- Ethernet
- SPDIF – Digital Audio Out
Dimensions W: 257mm D: 165mm H: 42mm Weight: 1kg
All the benefits of a digital box, plus up to 70 hours a week of HD programmes, subscription-free. If you have an HD Ready TV or are thinking of buying one, this is a great option.
- Over 140 great digital TV and radio channels and services
- Free HD programmes from the BBC and ITV
- 8-day On Screen Programme Guide
- Interactive TV
- Fully interactive with LAN Port for future connection to Broadband
- 5.1 Surround Sound Digital Audio Out socket allowing easy connection to your Home Cinema System
- Parental control
- Subtitles and Audio Description
- HDMI – digital interface for perfect transmission of picture and sound
- Contains HD freesat Digital Box, Scart Cable, Power Adapter, 2 x AAA Batteries, Quick Start Guide, User Guide, Remote Control
- Auto detection of new channels or software – no need to ever re-tune
- One payment, no subscription, no bills
Connections
- 1 x HDMI Socket
- 2 x Scart Sockets
- LNB In and Out
- Ethernet
- SPDIF – Digital Audio Out
Dimensions W: 257mm D: 165mm H: 42mm Weight: 1kg