Hi, my ps3 is on the way, but I just noticed I don't have a hdmi receiver. So could anybody answer if it's possible for ps3 to send audio to receiver via optical but send video to lcd tv via hdmi cable? I'm needing answer to decide whether to upgrade my receiver. Thanks a lot!

Of course. However the sound quality your speakers recieve may be limited as I believe only HDMI can send uncompressed audio.

the optical can send 2.0 uncompressed audio.

For connecting over optical, make sure to set your audio output to "bitstream".

Of course. However the sound quality your speakers recieve may be limited as I believe only HDMI can send uncompressed audio.

It would depend on the speakers. A pair of $100 bookshelf speakers may not be able to fully take advantage of lossless audio. A pair of $1000 bookshelf's, on the other hand...