Attaching cables to a flat screen TV can often be a tedious task. One can easily get confused looking at the tangle of wires not knowing which cable goes where.
Here are some steps that will make the task easier and save time.
1. First and foremost get the equipment in place. Be sure to have all components at hand when you begin to connect the cables to the flat screen TV.
2. Mount the flat screen TV on the wall. House the AV receiver, cable box, DVD player and games console in cabinet below or put them up on shelves. When Mounting your TV on the wall please use a Tilting TV or swivel TV mount so you can access the back of the TV. Remember if you use a flat TV mount you have to connect your components to the TV prior to mount your TV. Also make sure you have electrical and cable outlets at the bottom of the wall where the TV will be mounted.
3. To Power your equipment use a power strip with built in surge protectors. This way it will be easier to connect the different devices while also ensuring longevity of the equipment.
4. If you have older equipment(component cable) an easy way to make out which cable goes where is by matching the color of the wire with that of the socket. Usually audio and video cables are different in color with most systems having red for audio and yellow for video.
5. If you use new equipment (2yr old) then you will use HDMI Cables. You will need one HDMI cable for each device that will connect to your TV. If your TV is mounted on a plain wall you will need a 10ft HDMI cable for each device. If your TV is mounted over a Fireplace then you will need at least 15ft HDMI cable for each device.
Start connecting all the cables into their respective sockets and the wires into the power strips or sockets.
The logical order of the connection process is as follows
- Antenna cable to the cable box
- The cable box to TV (either with component cable or HDMI cable)
- The DVD player/ VCR to the TV
- AV Receiver to the TV (OR for new AV Receivers with multiple HDMI ports connect cable, DVD etc to the AV Receiver and then with one HDMI cable connect the AV Receiver to the TV.)
- Speakers to the AV Receiver
1. The cable box will have 2 sockets usually labeled as “Cable In” and “TV Out”. Hook the cable jack to the socket marked as “Cable In”.
2. Connect the other cable from the “TV Out” socket to the TV either with an HDMI cable or component cable.
3. Then connect the DVD player (the Out socket) with component cable or HDMI cable on the TV set.
4. In case you have additional speakers the receiver can be connected with the speakers using Speaker cables.
Label the connections
Bear in mind to mark everything with a label describing the equipments connected using the “In and Out” methodology. This way you won’t be overwhelmed in case you have to remove the connections due to the TV screen freezing and then reconnect again.
Finally make sure all connections are secure before switching on the power.
HDMI standard
Use high quality cables for better sound and picture. If your TV supports HDMI (high definition multimedia interface) standards you can get compatible cables and equipment like Blu-ray DVD player, set-top box, PlayStation and receiver for high definition picture.
Connect your PC
You can also hook up your PC to the setup provided it supports HDMI standards or if your flat screen TV has a VGA port. You can also use an adapter to make your PC, HDMI or DVI (digital visual interface) compatible along with upgrading your PC video card to support the interface.
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