When smart electronics are really, really dumb.

My surround sound receiver died 2 weeks ago. After 6 years of service, my old Aiwa (yes, laugh, get it out of the way) receiver died. Not bad for something bought on sale from best buy (speakers included).

I ended up purchasing a Panasonic receiver to replace it.... and so begins my story of stupid, stupid electronics.

There are two setup issues here. First, I had to get the receiver working (Toshiba DVD player > 5.1 audio (Optical) + video (Composite) to Receiver, then the same to the TV.

Interestingly, Optical Input 1 does not automatically pair with Video Input 1. You have to manually assign it. Same for Optical Input 2. So really, Optical Input 2 could deal with Video Input 1, and vice versa. Also annoying: labelled inputs. Unless there is a specific function, why label your inputs DVD, DVR, VCR1, VCR2, etc? Besides the fact that noone would waste their time using a VCR with a surround sound receiver? Beats me. Personally, I've got a PS2 hooked up to VCR1 and a Nintendo 64 hooked up for VCR2 (yeah, I'm not a big gamer). If you're not going to let me label them myself, just leave the names generic (video 1, component 1, whatever).

As for my DVD player... I made the jump to component cables (from Monoprice.com for the increase in picture quality over the composite cables I had been using. So I plug everything in... and my TV is red. All red. My DVD player, receiver and TV manuals aren't helpful, so I turn to the internet.

Step 1) Check connections (everything is plugged in. Step 2) Plug DVD directly to TV (still red). Step 3) Change cables (still red). Step 4) Try another TV (well, not possible for me). Step 5) Try another DVD player. Turns out my 8 year old Sony has component video out... which works! Oh well, I'm out the cost of a DVD player.

While, I'm annoyed, it could be worse. DVD players are much cheaper than a TV, and mine should be under warranty. On a whim, I remove the DVD and see what the 'setup' button on the DVD remote does.

Hark! A menu appears, with "video output" listed. Could this fix it?

Yep. Choosing component from the menu instead of composite fixes everything. What's the dumb part? My 8 year old Sony DVD player is capable of outputting the video signal correctly, simply by plugging in the damn cable. Apparently, we've regressed a bit - current technology now requires you to specificy whhich to use.