Newbie Question, how does home theater systems work?

[WhiteIphone5]

i want to buy a home theater system. its a bluray/receiver. one of those all in one type of system. im a bit confused as to how home theater system works. for example
the sytem has
2 HDMI IN
1 HDMI OUT
1 Optical Audio
1 Component Out

so basically the HDMI out connects to the tvs HDMI right? then say i have an apple tv and ps3 both connect to the IN? but if i connected to the home theater receiver then how do i get picture? im confused. so then what if i have another HDMI device, that would go to the tv since the receiver doesnt have any more, but then again how would i get audio since its not connected to the home theater receiver.
sorry im really clueless about how it works. Please someone clear it up for me.

[QuarterSwede]

The receiver works as a switch/router for the audio AND video. Basically, hook everything up to the receiver then hook up your receiver to your TV. That's the simplest way to do it.

[WhiteIphone5]

Originally Posted by QuarterSwede

The receiver works as a switch/router for the audio AND video. Basically, hook everything up to the receiver then hook up your receiver to your TV. That's the simplest way to do it.

ok receiver has 2 HDMI IN
Say that is my xbox and my google tv.
how do i get the audio quality since theres only 2 hdmi in? how do i connect my Apple tv to it? if i connect the apple tv straight towards my tv via HDMI will i get the same quality as my other devices connected through HDMI?

[QuarterSwede]

Originally Posted by WhiteIphone5

ok receiver has 2 HDMI IN
Say that is my xbox and my google tv.
how do i get the audio quality since theres only 2 hdmi in? how do i connect my Apple tv to it? if i connect the apple tv straight towards my tv via HDMI will i get the same quality as my other devices connected through HDMI?

If you have a third device you can buy an HDMI switcher which acts like a router enabling you to gain more HDMI inputs. Amazon has a great one for $13. I've had it for 6 months without issue and it works perfectly.

You can also send video over HDMI and audio over optical. I do that for my AppleTV and receiver.

[WhiteIphone5]

Originally Posted by QuarterSwede

If you have a third device you can buy an HDMI switcher which acts like a router enabling you to gain more HDMI inputs. Amazon has a great one for $13. I've had it for 6 months without issue and it works perfectly.

You can also send video over HDMI and audio over optical. I do that for my AppleTV and receiver.

ah i see that sucks, ive always though Connect receiver to TV and then all my devices plugged into the tv would have the sound. I mean i have desktop speakers connected to my tv via the Red/White and man everything plays as normal.

[QuarterSwede]

Originally Posted by WhiteIphone5

ah i see that sucks, ive always though Connect receiver to TV and then all my devices plugged into the tv would have the sound. I mean i have desktop speakers connected to my tv via the Red/White and man everything plays as normal.

You could do that as well. Hook an HDMI cable from your TV to your receiver and it should work as long as you have the settings correct on the TV. I also send audio from the TV to the receiver via optical (my receiver is older and has no HDMI).

[WhiteIphone5]

Originally Posted by QuarterSwede

You could do that as well. Hook an HDMI cable from your TV to your receiver and it should work as long as you have the settings correct on the TV. I also send audio from the TV to the receiver via optical (my receiver is older and has no HDMI).

the receiver and my tv have optical, so i can just hook it up via Optical and all my devices that are connected to the tv should work? also the bluray 3d receiver has hdmi out so it will connect to the tv via hdmi to watch right and thats it?

[QuarterSwede]

Originally Posted by WhiteIphone5

the receiver and my tv have optical, so i can just hook it up via Optical and all my devices that are connected to the tv should work? also the bluray 3d receiver has hdmi out so it will connect to the tv via hdmi to watch right and thats it?

It should work, yes.