How would I connect a DVD or Blu-ray player to my home theater receiver to get surround sound?

If you're hooking up a DVD player, you'll want to make an optical or coaxial digital connection between your player and receiver. These connections carry surround sound information from Dolby® Digital and DTS® soundtracks to your receiver, where they're decoded and sent to your speakers. Optical and coaxial digital connections also let you enjoy Dolby Digital and DTS soundtracks on Blu-ray Disc. However, these connections don't have enough bandwidth to support newer surround sound formats like Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD™ Master Audio. So if you'd like to get the best surround sound from Blu-ray, you'll want to use either HDMI or a multichannel analog connection. You can find HDMI connections on all Blu-ray players and many home theater receivers, and it's the better option since it's a noise-free digital connection. However, HDMI by itself is not sufficient for getting surround sound — you'll also need a surround sound decoder for the newest audio formats built into your receiver or your ... more