Scott Wilkinson

It's been less than a week since we <A href="http://www.ultimateavmag.com/news/208badhd/">reported</A> that Netflix will stop renting HD DVDs in favor of Blu-ray discs and Best Buy will promote only Blu-ray, even though it will still carry HD DVD products in its stores. Now, an <A href="http://checkoutblog.com/entries/2008/2/15/wal_mart_chooses_a_hi_def_plat... blog</A> by some Wal-Mart Associates reveals that the &#252;ber retail chain will carry Blu-ray discs and players exclusively as of June, 2008. As blogger Susan writes, "If you bought the HD player like me, I'd retire it to the bedroom, kid's playroom, or give it to your parents to play their John Wayne standard-def movies."

If you want the best possible video and audio experience in your home theater, there is no better source than Blu-ray Discs—in fact, nothing else equals the super-sharp video and awesome audio you get from Blu-ray. But I get many questions about how to connect a Blu-ray player for optimum performance, so I thought I'd spell it out here. (Don't be intimidated by the diagram above; it shows lots of possible connections between lots of home-theater devices. This article covers only the connections between the Blu-ray player in the center, A/V receiver on the left, and TV at the top.)