HDMI and RCA Make For The Ideal Entertainment Setup

HDMI and RCA Make For
The Ideal Entertainment
Setup
The debate about digital and analog is hardly new. Digital methods
and gadgets are more convenient whereas analog methods are
more authentic and less lossy. This debate is especially yappier
when it comes to audio.
Audiophiles will tell you that there is no better way to listen to
music than vinyl records and tech enthusiasts will tell you the
convenience of wireless headphones is unparalleled. The industry
is paying homage to retro tech nowadays by bringing back certain
design elements and a general discourse about it. This has led to
analog getting some attention that was missing for the last few
years as the industry was moving fast and breaking things.
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The missing headphone jack from phones stands out in stark
contrast to the Walkman’s 40th anniversary. Vloggers have made
the idea of having a vinyl record player romantic, and exercising
with music streaming from your watch to wireless earphones,
practical.
Visual media consumption has changed and with it, the ways of
consuming it. Televisions have better display technology but don’t
always have great audio output. This is where you can experiment
with speakers. Even today, RCA ports, the gold standard from
yesteryears are available on TVs for you to have an analog
component in your home theatre system.
When buying a new TV, you need to pay attention to the
possibilities of audio enhancement you can have with it, as the
inbuilt speakers are hardly ever good. You can go with, HDMI or
RCA, digital or analog. Let’s explore both of them:
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HDMI
High Definition Multimedia Interface is the standard all OEMs use
for their TVs. It uses a single port and therefore a single HDMI
cable to get both audio and video to the display from an external
streaming box or device.
There is also a special type of HDMI standard that comes with an
audio return channel, called HDMI ARC. This allows the audio to
go to an external speaker, which gives you a wide room to
experiment with what speakers or soundbars you could use with it.
Additionally, having one cable makes it easier to manage the cable
clutter that can happen. Televisions also provide more than one
HDMI port, so you always have more ports available to plug
something else into. You can choose to connect one streaming box
with an HDMI cable and a soundbar into an HDMI ARC port.
It’s the obvious solution for someone who wants a no-hassle setup
to get their favorite TV shows and movies to the biggest screen in
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their house. You don’t need to be an expert to connect something
with this cable. Its beauty lies in its simplicity.
RCA
On the analog side, there are RCA cables for audio and video. RCA
cable is not a single port, single cable solution. Audio uses two
cables and ports and video uses one ​RCA cable​. Audio can either
use just one, or add a second one for stereo sound.
This setup is useful especially when you want to keep using your
older speaker with a newer television. The speaker will have RCA
ports built in which you can leverage. The only thing that changes
in your setup is your display when you use RCA cables. It can add
more years to your speakers that otherwise would have gone to
waste with this upgrade of your TV.
Not only does this cable extend the life of your speakers, but they
are also easily available and don’t have varying standards. HDMI
has standards, so you have to make sure to get the right one to get
the results that your TV promises.
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HDMI + RCA - The Ideal Setup
The choice of how you outfit your television is up to you and it
isn’t quite as binary as digital and analog if you don’t want it to be.
You can use both at the same time. Plug in the streaming device
with an ​HDMI cable for an immersive display and external
speakers via RCA cables for surround sound.
Both of these cables are simple to find and easy enough to use. You
should check which ports you have on your TV and what standards
they support. Then, you can order the required length of wire. The
shorter the cable, the fewer issues it will face when passing a
signal.
SF Cable stocks cables for all your multimedia needs. Just pick the
variant you need and you are good to go for a top-notch movie
experience.
This Blog is Originally posted here:
https://www.sfcable.com/blog/hdmi-rca-make-ideal-entertainme
nt-setup/
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