Hooking up sound to TV and HTPC?

[Alienwho]

I am planning on buying a Samsung LN40A550 in the near future and will hook that up to my HTPC (AM2 780G) I wanted to buy some small cheap speakers to hook it into. I'm thinking the Logitech Z-Cinema.

Can I just connect the speakers to the TV and when I watch a movie on the HTPC will it play through the speakers via the HDMI connection?

 

[heyheybooboo]

I think that speaker set connects to your PC via a USB port.

 

[Alienwho]

Yeah I was just noticing that. Any recommendations? Is my initial thought process still on track assuming I get a regular speaker set? It would suck to have to unplug the speakers if i want to watch a movie on the computer.

 

[s44]

You either need an amp/AVR, powered speakers, or -- if you haven't built the HTPC yet -- this mobo.

Most TV sets don't have surround sound outputs, and will only put out stereo sound.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Plug in the USB connection to the computer and then run from the audio out of the TV to the auxiliary line-in on the speakers?

Are the sources only going to be the TV's tuner and the HTPC?

When using the computer as souce, USB provides the audio connection... when using TV tuner as source, use the auxiliary analog input as the audio connection?

 

[Alienwho]

So I got a Samsung LN40A550. It has 3 HDMI ports. I have an HTPC with ECS A780GM-A. I am not getting any sound over HDMI. I am plugged into port 2 as well as the manual states. HDMI audio is enabled in the motherboard. When I use a DVI cable/audio cable the audio works fine. I am just trying to get audio through the tv speakers for now.

The LN40A550 manual has all sorts of talk of connecting your PC with an HDMI/DVI cable, but nothing on an HDMI PC to HDMI. Also, I don't get audio even if I plug a 3.5mm in for sound and use a red/black adapter on the tv like the manual states.

I know both the tv and the mobo support audio over HDMI. Any ideas?

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Did you follow all the steps in the ECS manual for enabling HDMI output? (not just BIOS)
page 49 for XP
page 50 for Vista

 

[Alienwho]

That was it. I had no idea I had to enable it in there.

Since you know all the answers to all my questions, I might as well see if you know this.

Now that it's connected to HDMI, I no longer have the ability to adjust the screen like I do when it's plugged into the VGA port. The HDMI default video settings have an inch of wasted space on all edges of the tv. With the VGA, I can go into the menu settings on the tv and adjust it. These options are not available via HDMI.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Originally posted by: Alienwho
That was it. I had no idea I had to enable it in there.

Since you know all the answers to all my questions, I might as well see if you know this.

Now that it's connected to HDMI, I no longer have the ability to adjust the screen like I do when it's plugged into the VGA port. The HDMI default video settings have an inch of wasted space on all edges of the tv. With the VGA, I can go into the menu settings on the tv and adjust it. These options are not available via HDMI.

Are you talking about overscan / underscan adjustment in the TV?

Do you have an option in the video settings for the integrated video that adjusts for overscan / underscan? (make sure you have the latest drivers installed too in case that gives you more options)

What resolution are you sending to the TV?

 

[Alienwho]

Turns out my problem was underscan. Thanks Jello.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

No problem!