Flat screen TV technical question

[a nameless entity]

I need to buy a new TV. So I am finally making the transition to an LED flat screen TV.
I have decided upon a Samsung 22" F5000 series TV for my kitchen. The specs say that it has an earplug outlet, as well as a digital audio out jack. According to the online customer ratings, the built in speakers are pretty good on this TV.

But those two audio out jacks got me to wondering if I could hook up my old Altec Lansing PC speakers through one or the other of them. Those Altecs were top of the line and awesome on my first PC. They have a single pin audio jack on them, and use their own power supply. So if they are compatible then I will be able to listen to TV with premium stereo sound, complete with bass from the subwoofer.

Does anyone know if this idea will actually work?

[Terraniux]

most modern tv's can be connected to any audio output. It depends more on what cable/jack your trying to connect. 3,5mm I presume? or HiFi 4/5mm stereo jack. ?

[Hermskii]

I agree with T. I think it all depends on the jack.

[a nameless entity]

It appears to be a standard sized mini jack on the speakers I plan to use. So now that I am aware that a new small size has been introduced, I'll have to wait until I buy the TV to see if I can directly hook up the speakers or not. Radio Shack no longer exists in Canada, so I'm at a loss as to where I might find a size adapter if I need one.

But I still need to know which output jack to use. The analogue earphone jack, or the digital output jack? Which kind of input is usual for a set of self powered PC speakers?
I have no idea what type of output my old Sound Blaster sound card on my 1997 Dell used.

Edit:
Well, it seems the online manual was wrong. I made the long bus ride to the opposite end of town and picked up the TV at the only store in town that had one in stock. Upon setting up the new TV I saw that there is only one mini jack outlet on the back of the TV instead of two. So unless the input the speakers require is the same as for a pair of headphones, I am out of luck on the Altecs.

But it doesn't matter really. It would be nice to have a more premium sound, but the TV has good speakers inside, and there are several sound modes too. I really like the "clear voice" mode for watching the news. Otherwise "music" seems best for everything else perhaps, but maybe that's just because it is louder than "standard" mode, and louder always sounds better at first impression.
I've had also had fun playing with the other modes for picture, lean angle, and etc.

But the best thing of all is that the TV is 1080p. I knew I was missing detail with an old crt tv, but I was unaware just how much. Everything is just so much sharper and clearer. I've seen 1080p before, but that was with cable tv. I am very happy to see that broadcast HD tv really is in HD.

I've broken the budget for the month, but I don't care. It's worth it.

[Terraniux]

You can also try this trick, a common one to amplifiers and radios.


google search: 3,5mm to stereo jack:
https://www.google.nl/search?q=3,5+to+s ... 20&bih=943

Insert the small one in the plug and the frond to the tv.

same idea, but tulp:



last one:

[Hook]

Hmmm all my new 55" LG tv has is an Optical sound out.

[a nameless entity]

Hey, thanks for the illustrations of all of those adapters Terraniux.
The HDMI and DVI cables with a small mini jack outlet on them were a revelation to me. And I had seen the male mini jack to RCA jack adapters before, but do not recall ever seeing one the other way around, with a pair of RCA jacks going to a female mini jack adapter.

That latter adapter may just work. I must check the manual again and look at the back of the TV once more. I know that there are more component video and sound RCA outlets than you need to hook up a set top cable box, so perhaps those extra outlets may just be for sound out. If so then I can hook up the Altecs to the female mini jack and have the premium sound I want. The only problem then will be how to arrange the TV and 3 speakers in the limited space available.

[Hermskii]

Nameless,

My wife's grandfather bought a sweet 47" plasma flat screen TV when they first came out many years ago. He died several years later and then a few years after that grandma gave us the TV. I had it a year or two and was impressed with the picture but then found out I wasn't using the hi-def option at all. What!!! Yep, I said it. We wren't using the function because:

1. You have to pay extra for the high-def channels and I didn't know that
2. You have to use a high-def DVR or cable box with your cable service and I didn't know that either.
3. Lastly for us was the fact you had to set your high-def DVR or cable box (whatever you have) to use the high-def function or you are just watching regular TV on a nice TV.

I didn't know better and so for years had a great flat screen 1080 capable tv that I used as a regular TV. I have all of this stuff figured out now and this same TV is just plain awesome. Now what you "HAVE TO DO" is go get a "Sony" Blue-Ray player for your TV. Just do that and then let me know when you are there! I'll show you some totally cool stuff after that!

[a nameless entity]

Okay, thanks Herm.
I have no idea when I will be getting a blue ray player. I have a DVD player now that I hardly ever use.
This is a 22" kitchen TV, so I'm not planning to do much more with it other than use it as a simple TV set. It is hooked up to my outdoor antenna which is on a 50' tower. Most broadcasters now only broadcast in HD. For a while many of them provided both HD and SD channels, but soon figured out that anyone with an old fashioned TV would see no difference anyway. So they converted the SD channels to HD and made a second channel with different programming. The local PBS broadcaster did that. WKBW out of Buffalo just recently went from one channel to three. Only one local broadcaster still transmits the same programming in both HD on one channel and SD on the other.
I don't subscribe to cable TV, and see no need to do so, with so many more channels becoming available for free over the air all of the time.
Oh and btw, this new TV has much better "pulling power" than my old adapter box. I hardly ever lose channels during bad weather any more, and drop outs due to weak signals are rare.
Free HD broadcast TV is awesome. If you still have an antenna sitting on top of your house, give it a try. You might be pleasantly surprised with all that's available.

[Hook]

Hermskii, you and I do a lot of things the same.
I also have a "Sony" Blue-Ray player on 2 of my TVs.
LOVE them!
I have never even played a blue ray on either of them.
I use them for Online TV and internet access on the big screens.
Turns your TVs into Smart TVs!

[a nameless entity]

It turns out that all 5 of the RCA jacks on the back of my new TV are for inputs only. So the only output is the headphone mini jack. I hooked up a pair of headphones to it, and it cut off the internal speakers as I expected.

I guess I am meant to hook up external speakers to a set top box of some sort that handles the sound and video input and outputs. I don't like the booming of "surround sound" home theatre, so perhaps my top of the line Altecs can be used in a nice 2.1 solution, come the day when I buy a large screen TV and a Blue Ray player.

For now I am okay with the simple TV setup. The online reviews were accurate. The built in speakers are very nice for a 22" TV, and equal to or better than what I had before. And watching a hi rez 16:9 22" diagonal image is a lot more fun than the old low rez 13" image I had before.

[--=Razer=--]

Hi Namey I have a Samsung 24" led tv and i used the headphone jack to plug in an old set of 2.1 speakers which work fine although i do have to have the volume up quiet high on them as the sound level is limited for listening through headphones.

[a nameless entity]

Hey Razer! Long time no see!

Thanks for the reply, m8. I think I'll give it a shot, now that I know it will work.