Equipment:

Display: soon to be Sony SXRD (A3000), current Westy LCD w/ DVI input.
STB: Moto 6400 (HDMI/SPDIF)
Receiver: Denon AVR 1803 (no HDMI in/out)

Obviously I'll route the HDMI from the STB directly to the display for video but the question is if it is better to use the display's digital audio out back to the receiver's digitial audio in OR go directly from STB to receiver for audio? Is one method preferrable for audio synching issues?

Thanks.

Generally speaking, that doesn't work, because HDMI may carry the audio to the TV, but it usually doesn't pass DD back out through the optical output. So, the best option is to run HDMI to the TV, and optical from the box to the receiver. The optical output on the tv is for outputting DD when you receive over the air broadcasts. Hope that helps!

thanks drrick,

that's how my setup works now having only DVI input on my display. I"ve only noticed lip-synch problems on rare occassion but I chalked that up to Time Warner's subpar broadcasting. I think I've only seen it on low fidelity SD material. thanks again for your help.