I posted this in the lcd section, but thought it might be better to post here, so here goes:

I'm replacing an old CRT with a new lcd and have a question about audio out. My current setup has my satellite box and DVD player hooked up to the television and a variable audio out going to my receiver. The volume on the receiver stays the same and I control the volume with my Direct remote, which is programmed to control the volume on the television.

The lcd I was looking at (a Panasonic) only offers an optical out. My understanding is this will not work like my current setup and would require the use of 2 remotes (a no go from a WAF standup). Do I need to find a set with RCA outs? If it has RCA outs, does that automatically mean it will be variable?

Any insight someone could offer would be highly appreciated. I would hate to get a new set home and it not work the way I need it to.

I posted this in the lcd section, but thought it might be better to post here, so here goes:

I'm replacing an old CRT with a new lcd and have a question about audio out. My current setup has my satellite box and DVD player hooked up to the television and a variable audio out going to my receiver. The volume on the receiver stays the same and I control the volume with my Direct remote, which is programmed to control the volume on the television.

The lcd I was looking at (a Panasonic) only offers an optical out. My understanding is this will not work like my current setup and would require the use of 2 remotes (a no go from a WAF standup). Do I need to find a set with RCA outs? If it has RCA outs, does that automatically mean it will be variable?

Any insight someone could offer would be highly appreciated. I would hate to get a new set home and it not work the way I need it to.

You have two issues here.

First, you won't get discrete 5.1 sound for anything if you run it through the TV. Panasonics (and just about any TV) only output multichannel audio from the set's internal tuners. The set top box and DVD player will be downmixed to stereo PCM. You need to run digital audio direct to the receiver instead of going through the TV.

Second, get a Harmony remote. No matter how you route audio and video, a single button push on the remote will power up all the needed components, switch them to the correct inputs, and set the buttons on the remote to control the right devices. It's all based on what you tell the remote to do. We have a fairly complicated setup consisting of a cable box, four disc players, an HDMI switch, and two audio paths from some of the components to the AVR. My wife and kids have no problem running the system. They simply press a button and the remote takes care of everything for them. Harmony uses an easy web interface to program the remote. You don't need to know any codes.

From what you posted, do you not have any external speakers? You just use the speakers in the TV?

I posted this in the lcd section, but thought it might be better to post here, so here goes:

I'm replacing an old CRT with a new lcd and have a question about audio out. My current setup has my satellite box and DVD player hooked up to the television and a variable audio out going to my receiver. The volume on the receiver stays the same and I control the volume with my Direct remote, which is programmed to control the volume on the television.

The lcd I was looking at (a Panasonic) only offers an optical out. My understanding is this will not work like my current setup and would require the use of 2 remotes (a no go from a WAF standup). Do I need to find a set with RCA outs? If it has RCA outs, does that automatically mean it will be variable?

Any insight someone could offer would be highly appreciated. I would hate to get a new set home and it not work the way I need it to.

From what you posted, do you not have any external speakers? You just use the speakers in the TV?

Since he says he has a receiver, I'm guessing he has speakers attached to it. Maybe his he or his wife use the TV's speakers on occasion.

Yes I see that he mentioned he has a receiver.....but I dont assume anything anymore.

Why would he use his receiver to control the volume on the TV speakers then?
This setup makes no sense whatsoever.

Thank you all for your replies. Yes, I do have speakers connected to the receiver (a 3.1 setup).

BIslander, does the Harmony remote have the 30 second skip forward/backward keys on it? This sounds like a possible solution.

Yes I see that he mentioned he has a receiver.....but I dont assume anything anymore.

Why would he use his receiver to control the volume on the TV speakers then?
This setup makes no sense whatsoever.

Yosh, the speakers on my television are turned off, but I use the volume on the television to raise/lower the volume on my audio out to my receiver. Sorry for being unclear and I'm still not sure I've explained it clearly.

BIslander, does the Harmony remote have the 30 second skip forward/backward keys on it? This sounds like a possible solution.It depends on the device you are controlling. But, if there's a command that can be sent from a remote, it will be in the Harmony database or you can use the learn function to capture the command string from another remote. So, I think the answer is almost certainly yes. I have a :30 skip for a Motorola 3412 DVR mapped to the Chapter Skip button on my Harmony.