Okay, thanks for reading my post. I own a surround sound system with optical audio in and a Samsung DLP with optical audio out. I'm not stupid but I've never had an experience with optical audio before now.

I buy the TOSLINK cable, no name brand I'm thinking I got it at the clearance store. The surround sound receiver has a little plastic "door" type thing I have to open first to fit the cable in and it fits in there firmly. "Great" I think.

My tv does not have this little door thing and the cable fits very loosely. I can see that the amount of light coming out of the receiver end of the cable varies greatly if I wiggle the cable around in the tv's connector. So I play with it and get the cable to be perpendicular to the back of the tv as best I can.

I somehow got the cable to fit in there pretty well but I am experiencing audio dropouts when watching OTA digital HD programs. No dropouts if I'm playing xbox or watching a dvd or watching regular cable, all of those audio signals going through the tv and through the same optical cable.

So here are my questions: (and thanks a million for answering)


-Is my tv "defective" for not having that little door? Or is it just a different design?

-Does that little "door" secure the cable - hence the reason my cable kind of just dangles there?

-Is there a difference in TOSLINK cable quality and could this be causing my audio dropouts?

-If the answer to the preceding question is "yes" then what do I look for in a good cable?

Thanks again, I am hoping to figure this out once and for all.

It is not the cable. It is the broadcast of the Tv show. If it works on the other devices then that points to the answer.

Okay, thanks for reading my post. I own a surround sound system with optical audio in and a Samsung DLP with optical audio out. I'm not stupid but I've never had an experience with optical audio before now.

I buy the TOSLINK cable, no name brand I'm thinking I got it at the clearance store. The surround sound receiver has a little plastic "door" type thing I have to open first to fit the cable in and it fits in there firmly. "Great" I think.

My tv does not have this little door thing and the cable fits very loosely. I can see that the amount of light coming out of the receiver end of the cable varies greatly if I wiggle the cable around in the tv's connector. So I play with it and get the cable to be perpendicular to the back of the tv as best I can.

I somehow got the cable to fit in there pretty well but I am experiencing audio dropouts when watching OTA digital HD programs. No dropouts if I'm playing xbox or watching a dvd or watching regular cable, all of those audio signals going through the tv and through the same optical cable.

So here are my questions: (and thanks a million for answering)


-Is my tv "defective" for not having that little door? Or is it just a different design?

-Does that little "door" secure the cable - hence the reason my cable kind of just dangles there?

-Is there a difference in TOSLINK cable quality and could this be causing my audio dropouts?

-If the answer to the preceding question is "yes" then what do I look for in a good cable?

Thanks again, I am hoping to figure this out once and for all.


Why don't you just run all of your inputs (cable box, game system, DVD, etc) directly into your receiver and then simply use one video cable out from your receiver to the tv? This would do two things. First it would simplfy your cabling and second it would eliminate the need for a digital cable to the TV.

You may experience some short dropouts when the audio signal changes from DD5:1 to a 2:1 signal, i.e. this can happen when your local network affiliate superimposes a weather warning.

It may not happen when you watch cable b/c the audio out on the tv (at least on my HLS model) will only output a DD5:1 signal for the tv's internal OTA tuner & won't pass 5:1 from external sources.

A lot of toslink connections aren't particularly secure - if you still have doubts about the cable, check out monoprice in the avs sponsors above.

Why don't you just run all of your inputs (cable box, game system, DVD, etc) directly into your receiver and then simply use one video cable out from your receiver to the tv? This would do two things. First it would simplfy your cabling and second it would eliminate the need for a digital cable to the TV.

The digital connection with the TV goes the other way and is the only way to get 5.1 audio from off air broadcasts.

I am experiencing audio dropouts when watching OTA digital HD programs.

The digital connection with the TV goes the other way and is the only way to get 5.1 audio from off air broadcasts.

Thanks, I don't do OTA as I get locals from Direct TV. But my Direct TV HD receiver has a connector on the back of it if I wanted to utilize OTA. If I, in fact, connected my OTA antenna directly to my Direct TV box, wouldn't it do the processing or is it just a direct pass through??

Thanks but I do know for a fact that it is not when they simply go to commercials and the audio changes from 2.0 to 5.1 or vice versa.

Still not sure what is going on but thanks for all input so far.

No dropouts if I'm playing xbox or watching a dvd or watching regular cable, all of those audio signals going through the tv and through the same optical cable. While OTA requires a digital connection from your set to your receiver for 5.1 audio, the previous poster is correct in asking why you are running everything else through your TV as well. Most sets (not all, but most) downmix external inputs to two channels. Even if your set is one of the few that passes 5.1 audio, your wiring scheme will limit you to using the same digital processing for all your devices. Receivers are designed for multiple audio inputs and are generally a better way to go.