Cousin's new TV - not enough inputs, seeking input.

[JTScribe]

My cousin got a new TV for Christmas. The television has two HDMI ports, a component port, and a coaxial port.

She has a Wii (component), a VCR (composite), and a cable box (coax). As such she's having to switch back forth when she wants to play games or watch movies.

I'm thinking I can connect the VCR over coax, keep using the Wii on component.

The TV box is a Comcast HD box anyway (I don't know why the cable guy didn't set her up with an HD connection). It doesn't have HDMI out. Can I use a cable like this (http://www.amazon.com/eForCity-HDMI-RCA ... =pd_cp_e_0) to take the component out from the cable box and plug into the HDMI of her TV?

[barnabas1969]

No.

[JTScribe]

Okay . . . any other ideas? Switch box?

[JTScribe]

http://www.amazon.com/Component-video-Y ... nt+to+hdmi

Would that work? I can hook the Wii up through that, use component from the cable box, and then use coax with the VCR . . .

[crawfish]

The only thing I would consider is replacing the cable box with an HDMI one, which should be free.

[barnabas1969]

Yeah, I wouldn't connect anything over "coax" (I assume you mean the 75-ohm "F" connector)... except maybe the VCR (anyone still has one?).

[Venom51]

Toss the VCR into the relic bin where it belongs....replace the cable box with something made after the year 2001. Send the kid to his room with a TV and the Wii.

All are viable solutions.

[barnabas1969]

I refused to buy a DVD player until one day when I walked into Blockbuster (I didn't visit them very often because of their prices, their policy of forcing you to return a "3-day rental" in 2 days, and their ridiculous late fees... and now they're gone too) and they had sold all but a few of their VHS tapes. That was the day that I decided that VHS had finally been replaced, and I bought a Sony 5-disc carousel DVD changer (and an HDTV, and an AVR with Dolby-Digital & DTS, and an HD projector, and a 120 motorized screen). That was sometime in 2002-2003.

The moral of the story? If you still have a VCR, it's time to upgrade (and have those old home movies duplicated onto DVD).

[LuckyDay]

Wii doesn't support HD, so there's really no reason to keep it on component. You can buy an adapter to convert it to an HDMI signal however, and that would likely solve your problem.

So you can do:

HDMI(1) - For the DVD/Blu-Ray she is hopefully buying soon to replace the VCR.
HDMI(2) - Wii via HDMI adapter
Component - Cable box
Coax - VCR

I'm not endorsing this exact item, but this is the type of thing you need (do some research and see what people are using)
http://www.amazon.com/Wii-Converter-Ada ... roduct_top

Also, are you absolutely positive there is no composite input on the TV? Even on newer models having no composite is pretty rare. Sometimes they are just in a different spot than the rest (like on the side or other end of the TV).

Another option is to get a component selector box, to split the two devices and use the same component input. I have had random luck with these things, but it should work for her:
http://www.amazon.com/4X1-HD-Component- ... B000BVIBGI

[adam1991]

Lucky,

Most TVs nowadays are combining component/composite inputs into one physical set of plugs. The TV either autosenses what's plugged in, or you tell it via the menu what to look for and adapt to for those particular wires that are plugged in.

Cheapskates.

Anyway, I imagine if the OP looks hard enough he'll discover this nuance. It doesn't solve any problems, but at least he'll know.

[JTScribe]

Lucky,

Most TVs nowadays are combining component/composite inputs into one physical set of plugs. The TV either autosenses what's plugged in, or you tell it via the menu what to look for and adapt to for those particular wires that are plugged in.

Cheapskates.

Anyway, I imagine if the OP looks hard enough he'll discover this nuance. It doesn't solve any problems, but at least he'll know.

Yes, it has a bonded component/composite. That's actually how the Wii is hooked up. BTW my cousin is 40, she's not a kid, LOL.

[kingwr]

Wii doesn't support HD, so there's really no reason to keep it on component. You can buy an adapter to convert it to an HDMI signal however, and that would likely solve your problem.

Wii Does support 480P, however, which you can only get through component, not composite, s-video, or RF (coax).

I imagine you can pick up a used AVR which will upgrade everything to HDMI for under $100. My last VCR was a high-end Sony that got to the point where I had to have it serviced every 2 years to keep it working until it finally died in 2004 (used it to watch demo tapes at work). I imagine your cousin has taken really good care of her VCR if it is still functional!

[mdavej]

Some early HD cable boxes had DVI. If yours does, you can use an HDMI-DVI cable plus Red/White audio and free up your component input.

[adam1991]

Some early HD cable boxes had DVI. If yours does, you can use an HDMI-DVI cable plus Red/White audio and free up your component input.

if he also needs component or composite, that won't work. The HDMI will take video and the red/white will take audio, but those red/white are shared with the component video inputs as well.

[crawfish]

My cousin got a new TV for Christmas. The television has two HDMI ports, a component port, and a coaxial port.

She has a Wii (component), a VCR (composite), and a cable box (coax). As such she's having to switch back forth when she wants to play games or watch movies.

I'm thinking I can connect the VCR over coax, keep using the Wii on component.

The TV box is a Comcast HD box anyway (I don't know why the cable guy didn't set her up with an HD connection). It doesn't have HDMI out. Can I use a cable like this (http://www.amazon.com/eForCity-HDMI-RCA ... =pd_cp_e_0) to take the component out from the cable box and plug into the HDMI of her TV?

Again, the only sensible thing to do is trade in the "Comcast HD box" lacking HDMI for a "Comcast HD box" that has HDMI. If they are like my cable provider and have the same policy I understand every cable provider to have, it won't cost a thing, unlike the other proposals, and it will solve the problem completely. If this cannot be done for some reason, then there will be more to talk about, but until then, /thread. Jeez.

[RyC]

This was back in 2009, but I was able to go to my local Comcast office and exchange my component box with a HDMI box, without any hassle.

[TeddyR]

I am surprised no one mentioned any of the many products that Monoprice has (just be sure to use paypal with them... )

http://www.monoprice.com

search for "HDMI switch"... They have MANY products one of which will definitly meet your requirements.

and if its the component port that needs additional inputs, part #3027, otherwise search for "component switch".

They also have many converters

I (and probably many others here) have used many of their devices...

[some have remotes to make input switching easier/ some have CEC ... can be integrated with many of the learning remotes like the harmonys...]

[barnabas1969]

Yep, they even have some switches that can learn the IR commands from your existing remote.

[LuckyDay]

I am surprised no one mentioned any of the many products that Monoprice has

I did, five days ago.

[JTScribe]

New cable box did the trick. The phone CSR was clueless but when she went down to the office with an HDMI cable I gave her, they gave her a new box immediately.