Connecting Your Sr5004; Video Output - Marantz SR5004 Manual

The Outlaws' Guide to the Marantz SR5004

Connecting Your SR5004

Perhaps the most daunting task in setting up a new home theater component is
connecting it to the other components in your system. This is particularly true for a
surround receiver, as it is the hub through which virtually everything passes. The
SR5004 User Manual offers examples for connecting typical components to the
SR5004. We are going to do something similar here, but from a different perspective.
This section will help you connect a SR5004 to a home theater system, starting with the
video display and working back through the video signal path, then turning around and
going from audio inputs back through audio outputs. Along the way, we will offer some
pointers for VCR/DVR record outputs and Zone A/Zone B outputs. Near the end, we will
touch on some miscellaneous connections such as trigger and antennas. We'll finish
with a connection summary sheet that you can use to plan and document your
connections.

Video Output

This is the last step in the signal path, but it is a good place to start because it will
determine what connections to make from the source components. After all, the TV is
where it all comes together, and we can't very well hook up an HDMI cable from your
upscaling DVD player if your TV's best video input is a composite video jack. In the
process of identifying the best video output connection for your system, we will define a
series of five Video Display Tiers that will be used when connecting video inputs.
Most SR5004 owners will be connecting the receiver to a high definition video display,
so we will begin with the optimal video output connection for such a case. We call that
case Video Display Tier HDMI, which applies to two situations: displays with an HDMI
input, and those that use DVI with HDCP rather than HDMI. If the TV has a DVI input,
check the TV's manual to determine if it supports HDCP (High-Definition Digital Copy
Protection). Many TV's with DVI ports will label the ports as "DVI-HDCP" to make this
clear, but even if the port isn't labeled as such it may still be compatible with HDCP. DVI
ports with HDCP can be treated exactly the same as HDMI ports for our purposes.
Without HDCP, a display will be unable to work with HDCP protected source devices
(HD cable and satellite receivers, upscaling DVD players, and HD-DVD and Blu-ray
players), forcing us to exclude HDMI from our supported video input connections later.
As a result, a DVI-equipped display that lacks HDCP will be our second classification:
Video Display Tier DVI (no HDCP).
The third possible input type available on an HDTV is component video. Most displays
will offer this input type, but you should only use it with the SR5004 if HDMI and DVI are
not available. This is the last of the video display tiers that will support HD resolutions:
Video Display Tier HD-Component.
Not everyone has a high definition display, and some SR5004 owners will be
connecting to a standard definition TV. Even with standard definition displays, there are
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