A/V tech questions and awnsers

[DrKnow65]

Wanna pay postage on a free one? I just threw one in my bag for a spare today :)

Monster is overrated (like Bose), ALL HDMI cables have to meet a minimum standard and the only real difference is the quality of the connectors (how often you can bend/straighten plug/unplug them befor they wear). If you are building a stationary fairly permanent system the cheaper cord will do.

There are different versions of HDMI cables (the full sized ones for TV/DVD type connectons and now a new one for smaller stuff like camcorders, v1.2, v1.2a, v1.3
The one I have is v1.3, the bigger one, and about 4ft long.

Spend money on good RCA connectors and quad shielded coax for your audio (assuming you are using more than the TV) and make sure all the components share a common ground. Some of the bigger houses have the low voltage room sooo far from the periferals that we have to use ground isolators because the ground for one part of the house is different from the other parts.

Other than that adjusting the setting on your display seems to be a biggie, the factory settings are hard on the display and your eyes :)