Your A/V experience depends on good
connections for flat screen TV!
You may have an expensive flat screen TV but unless you use the best connections for flat screen TV you can get, you will end up with nothing but a fair A/V (audio + visual) experience!
Here I shall explain the most commonly used and best connections for flat screen TV also when to use them!
Line Input / Line Level
Line level is the signal level outputted by virtually all domestic audio equipment.
Usually A/V equipment can be connected using RCA phono connections with white and red (White for left, Red for right) connectors for a stereo signal.
Any equipment you see with these connections is usually outputting or inputting a line level signal.
RF 
The RF (Radio frequency) or (F connectors) also called (input and output) connections (as known outside Europe) are DRM (Digital rights management) free you find them on most A/V equipment. The first transmission of TV Pictures using RF was in 1938! 
Composite
Composite video is for the picture only and is used usually as a cable with an RF type connector for A/V appliances. This connector which shoud be avoided for quality in performance reasons, is usually yellow.
 
Component Video
A high quality video connection found on video sources like DVD & Blu-Ray Disc and for switching between them on amplifiers/receivers and of course on display devices like plasma, projection etc....
Component Video can also be used for carrying the signal when DVD players have Progressive Scan output
Labelled as "Y" "Pr" and "Pb"
"Y" is luminance, luma, or "Brightness" This describes the level of white (or black).
"Pr" is the level of Red
"Pb" is the Level of Blue
The green section of the final colour output is derived from the levels of red, blue and white level, whatever the difference present in the the white level after subtracting blue and red must be green
The debate?
Which are the best connections for flat screen TV?
Around 2005 HDMI was brought to us as the new standard connections for flat screen TV.
High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) was placed in a lot of new HDMI A/V devices and is now taking over as standard practice.
Your TV will still work with any pre 2005 connections (as you know!) But it won't have High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP). In other words you can duplicate your A/V media much to artists dismay!
HDMI is the currently "so called" best connection, the difference between HDMI and the SCART connection is simple, one is digital - (HDMI) and the other analogue - (SCART) the difference in quality of A/V is so minimal to
human senses it is practically unnoticeable to both naked eye and ear!
HDMI  
Both HDMI and SCART use single connections for flat screen TV and other A/V equipment, both produce the best performances HDMI (digitally) SCART (analogicly). Some manufacturers have made their A/V equipment not function fully unless both devices contain the HDCP code.
Pre-2005 HDMI and DVI formats already displayed HD r esolutions but without any digital protection (HDCP).
The HDCP code is a signal sent from one HDCP enabled device and answered by the other HDCP enabled device. (Not all A/V devices use HDCP) yet!
In the UK I recently upgraded my Sky package to HD and the engineer who installed it insisted that I used a HDMI connection? A bit annoying as most of my A/V connections were by SCART, was I expected to change them all?
Well luckily for us, using Sky's directions on their website, there is no need!
So I just use both!
SCART 
From the French (Syndicat des Constructeurs d'Appareils Radiorécepteurs et Téléviseurs) the SCART or (Euroconnector) as its sometimes called, has been the standard connector used in Europe since it was designed in the 1970s.
The SCART can connect all A/V devices that are SCART compliant with one lead to another (very tidy!), it does not have the HDCP as it came way before the idea of HDCP. 
This diagram explains the pins and their uses.
 
Optical Digital
The Optical Digital connection is for passing digital audio from one component to another.
The digital information is converted in to light and then transmitted along a fibre optic cable.
Optical digital can carry Dolby Digital, PCM and DTS Audio formats amongst others.
On most home equipment a "Toslink" interface is used as pictured above, but some, such as portable devices also use a 3.5mm jack
Leave connections for flat screen TV and return to Flat Screen TV Guide home
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