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Descrambler: Calming the Cable Cacophony

Do you get the heebie-jeebies when you see all those inputs on the back of a home theater receiver, a TiVo, or your stereo equipment? We can help sort them out.

Michael Riggs

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The Right Way to Hook It All Up

There are an absurd number of ways to connect a home theater system, but the basic rule of thumb is to stay digital wherever possible and use the connection that results in the highest-quality audio and video signals. In the example below, the satellite receiver connects directly to an HDTV using either an HDMI or DVI cable for a digital video signal. If your video source won't allow this, use the next best thing: component cables. If you can't do that, use S-Video or composite as a last resort.

Photograph: David Puckett

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