So, by now that new TV you got for Christmas is probably set up. We discussed placement and initial visual setup of the TV the last few weeks. Assuming that you now have the TV where you want it and have most likely set it up with your existing cable box, media players and video game systems, we want to talk about the proper connections. If you have the HDTV set up the way you want it and don't want to change anything, then you can probably skip this week's discussion. We want to discuss connecting your HDTV properly. Read the full article from Cnet here. First off, the biggest misunderstanding of connecting your HDTV is that you need an expensive HDMI cable. Make no mistake, you need to have an HDMI cable for the best quality, but your average HDMI cable works just as well as anything the electronics 'specialist' tried to upgrade you on when the TV was purchased. Cnet breaks it down for you in this article.

If you haven't upgraded your other gear along with your new TV, component video is very common. If you've bought a new Blu-ray player or streaming media box (like Roku or Apple TV), HDMI is your only option.

If this is your first HDTV, they also direct you to check your settings on your DVD players and cable boxes to make sure you get the 16:9 aspect that fits your screen. They also recommend re-initializing the settings, like we discussed last week. One thing not to forget is to have a true HD connection from Armstrong. Plugging the cable directly into the TV is only going to give you an analog signal. Get your TV the HD connection it deserves.