Tag: Sky HD Connections

HDMI Matrix Switch

What is an HDMI Matrix switch?

It is an HDMI switch that allows 2 or more inputs to be connected to 2 or more outputs simultaneously, for example a 2 x 2 HDMI matrix switch has two inputs and two outputs, we could connect a blu ray DVD to input 1 and a Sky HD box to input  2, output 1 and output 2 would be connected to the displays, eg 2 plasmas or a plasma and a projector. With a matrix switch each output can connect to any input ie we could watch a blu ray DVD on display 1 and 2 or Sky HD on display 1 and blu ray on display 2 etc. A matrix can be configured to perform the same function as an HDMI splitter although they tend to cost more money.

Connecting Sky HD Box to Surround Sound System

Connecting a Sky HD box to a surround system will enhance your viewing experience especially when watching movies, to get the multichannel sound a digital connection must be made from the Sky HD box to the surround amplifier. If the surround sound system has an HDMI input it would seem the most obvious choice would be to connect the box to the amplifer with an HDMI cable and an HDMI cable from the amplifer to the TV. The problem is that Sky HD only supports 2 channel digital sound via the HDMI output hence an optical cable (toslink cable) should be connected from the Sky HD optical output to an optical input on the amplifier, this will provide 5.1 surround sound.

Connecting Sky HD Box to TV

The first generation of Sky HD boxes had both component video and HDMI High Definition outputs, more recent boxes have dropped the component output leaving HDMI as the only HD cable output.

If you have a spare HDMI input on the TV and you are using the TVs internal speakers for sound then the it is very easy to connect the Sky HD box to the TV, a single HDMI cable is all that is required to give you both the video and audio.