How to Hook Your New Blu-ray Disc Player Up to Your A/V Receiver or HDTV

So you've just purchased your first Blu-ray disc player and you're ready to start enjoying crystal-clear, vivid high-definition movies with your 1080p HDTV. But how do you hook the thing up? Do you need special tools? And what cabling do you need? In this article, we'll answer these questions and what you need to do after taking the Blu-ray player out of the box.

1) Cables Needed. Your new Blu-ray disc player will come with various outputs including S-Video, Component Video, Composite Video, Optical Audio Output, Coaxial Digital Audio Output, and Analog Audio Output. Do yourself a favor and scratch all of the above. All you need is an HDMI 1.3 Audio/Video cable, which is necessary for your Blu-ray player to provide you with the best digital audio and video quality.

2) Hooking Your Blu-ray Disc Player Up to Your HDTV. If your new Blu-ray disc player didn't come with an HDMI 1.3 cable, hopefully you purchased one when you bought the Blu-ray disc player. If not, simply head out to any major retail outlet with an electronics section and pick one up. Hookup is easy; simply plug one end into your HDTV and the other end into the Blu-ray disc player.

3) Hooking Your Blu-ray Disc Player Up to Your A/V Receiver or Home Theater System. If you have an audio/video receiver or home theater system, simply plug the HDMI cable from your Blu-ray disc player into the HDMI input port on your receiver. If you don't already have one, you'll need a second HDMI cable that goes from your receiver's HDMI output port to the HDMI input port on your HDTV. In summary: Blu-ray disc player in > A/V Receiver out > HDTV in.

Tips:

• Purchase an HDMI 1.3 cable in the store if the Blu-ray player you're buying doesn't come with one. Shielded, gold-plated HDMI cabling is preferred.
• Make sure your HDMI cable is long enough to go from the Blu-ray player to either your HDTV or your A/V receiver.
• You can hook your new Blu-ray disc player up to a 720p HDTV; but for optimum picture and sound quality, pair it with a newer 1080p HDTV.
• Use an HDMI 1.3 cable only to hook up your new Blu-ray disc player.