Apple TV Audio/video questions

[spkilo]

I would like to use AppleTV for my iPad and iPhone. I know that if I want to listen to music and watch a football game with the sound off, I can hook my cable hdmi out into the tv, then the tv hdmi out to the receiver, but then if I want to stream video to my tv from my iPhone or iPad, that won't work, right? Should I get the optical cable, run the cable, aTV, and blu ray into the reciever via hdmi, then also connect the receiver to the aTV via optical? I just don't want to have to stare at a blank screen while listening to music.

[Jtut10]

Yes, if your AV receiver has HDMI switching, what you can do if you would like to listen to music from your iPhone/iPad and watch a game at the same time is this: Apple TV into AV receiver via HDMI, then connect your cable/sat service directly to your display. This way, the TV will output the programming you want to watch while you listen to your music via the AV receiver. Of course, this is not taking advantage of the HDMI switching on your AV receiver, and you will have to change inputs on the display, but you get the results you are looking for.

[spkilo]

I am a bit of a rookie when it comes to AV connections... HDMI switching would allow me to play audio from one source and video from another? (I am yet to purchase a reciever, so this sounds like exactly what I would want)

If I hook everything up the way discussed, then would I be able to choose to use surround sound for the cable (when watching TV shows)?

[Jtut10]

Well the issue with doing it like this is that you need to utilize the display for one source (Video)and the AV receiver for another (sound). Ideally, everything should be ran through the AV receiver via HDMI, that way it is very easy to hook everything up with minimal cabling and to use the system. When you connect your different components (BluRay player, AppleTV, Cable/sat box gaming system etc) to the AV receiver via HDMI, and your HDMI output from the receiver to your display, whatever source you select on the AV receiver is what audio and video you will now be listening to/watching. By connecting the HDMI from your Cable/sat service directly to your display, you are bypassing the AV receiver, hence no surround sound. But you will be able to listen to music through the receiver while you watch a program on TV. This would also require you to switch back and forth between sources on the TV to say for example, Input 2 for TV and Input 1 for everything else. The only other way I could imagine this happening is if your cable/sat box outputs video signal on 2 outputs simultaneously, then you could run a set of component video cables to an input on the display , and the HDMI to the receiver, this way you would have the best of both worlds.

[spkilo]

after a bit more research, it is clear that I need a reciever with "Audio split mode". what is unclear is if you can get the sound from one hdmi connection and the video from another... I am going to start a new thread