what does an optical cable do for my hdtv?

Derrick Smsith: This Site Might Help You.RE:what does an optical cable do for my hdtv?i just bought a panasonic 50"720p hdtv. and im trying to improve the picture. i also have a dvd home theatre surround sound. i heard something about an optical cable making it better, but im not too sure. any help? thanks...Show more

Geraldo Mccalla: for the hdmi cable, which i have, can i use it to connect to the cable box and tv to improve the picture?

Jeannetta Gaffigan: That's for audio. Do a quick search on like Amazon or such for a Toslink cable. That's what the optical port is on your TV and your cable box. It is the best option for audio though.For the picture the best you can do is HDMI. But if you have a home theatre, your receiver/amp would have to be an HDMI distribution box as well (newer ones are but you didn't say). If its not, I think the Panasonic is smart enough still to accept HDMI video from your cable box/BluRay player but optical audio from the home! theatre (I just can't recall for sure right now).If HDMI can't be made to work, then you have to go component. Component (RGB cables) is still a very strong choice. You can still get a very good picture quality result going that route. It might not suit the videophiles/nerds out there, but for most people, its still a pretty damn good looking image. It can handle all flavors of HD accept 1080/24 I believe (which is very rarely used)...Show more

Mel Crapo: For the best answers, search on this site https://shorturl.im/aw2TOIt could be that your rear speakers are louder than your front speakers (the center speaker most importantly, as it is a main dialog speaker), so you may be getting the dialog, just the rear speakers are overpowering it, this problem occurs more from LCD and Plasma televisions with a surround feature, as louder sound usually travels farther (I get this problem myself when watching SNL, so when the live audience laughs, I can't hear what anybody i! s saying in the skit, as the laughing is set to go to the back! of the room) Try going through your settings and see if you can turn down the volume of the back speakers, or turn up the volume of the front speakers...Show more

Jeannine Vassie: Optical cables are used to provide surround sound. If you run the optical cable out of the tv's optical out port on the back and you are using an antenna you'll get surround. If however, you are using a cable box or anything other than an antenna, the tv's optical sends stereo. So if you have an HD cable box, game system or blu ray, run the optical straight from the item into the receiver, don't go thru the tv to get surround.About the HDMI, yes you can connect it to the tv, use the optical straight from the HD box to the receiver, turn off the tv sound and they will work together for best pic and surround sound....Show more

Len Bormes: What Is An Optical Cable