Audio Video Cables for TV: Which Cord Does Your TV Actually Need?

A TV has fewer real cable needs than its back panel suggests, and the back panel is exactly where the confusion starts: four HDMI ports, an antenna input, optical and RCA jacks that may never get used. This guide answers the practical question – which audio video cables does a TV actually need, for what, and which of the ports on the back can stay empty. It covers the antenna feed, the source devices, the soundbar audio path, and the legacy cables that only matter if you still own pre-HDMI gear.

The Two Cables Every TV Needs

Strip the back panel down and every modern TV setup uses the same two cable types: one RF feed and one (or a few) HDMI runs. Everything else is optional legacy.

Coaxial (F-type): the antenna and cable feed

The coaxial cable with F-type screw connectors runs from the over-the-air antenna, or from the cable company’s wall plate, to the TV’s Antenna or Cable input. It carries the RF signal the TV’s tuner decodes into channels. This is the only cable that touches the wall plate, and it is the one cable a TV cannot do without if you want broadcast channels. Length is rarely an issue – a 3-10 m run from the wall plate to the TV is standard, and RG6 75-ohm coax is the correct construction.

HDMI: every source device

Each device that sends picture and sound to the TV – a game console, a streaming box, a cable or satellite set-top box, a Blu-ray player, a laptop – takes one HDMI cable to a free HDMI input. HDMI carries both audio and video, so a source device never needs a second cable for sound. A typical living-room TV ends up with two to four HDMI runs, one per source, plus the eARC run to the soundbar.

The Soundbar Path: Where TV Audio Goes Out

If the room’s audio comes from a soundbar rather than the TV’s speakers, a specific cable carries the TV’s audio out, and the correct choice depends on the soundbar’s inputs.

eARC HDMI: the preferred path

Connect the soundbar to the TV’s eARC-labeled HDMI port with a single HDMI cable. The TV’s audio – from its tuner, its apps, and every other connected source – travels out over that cable. eARC (HDMI 2.1) carries full-bandwidth audio, so a 4K TV with Dolby or DTS audio sends the complete bitstream to the soundbar without compression.

Optical and RCA: the legacy audio paths

An older soundbar without HDMI takes the TV’s audio over an optical (TOSLINK) cable from the TV’s Optical Out, or over a red/white RCA pair from the TV’s Audio Out (L/R). Both carry audio only – the video still arrives at the TV over its normal HDMI inputs. Optical carries stereo digital (S/PDIF), so multichannel formats are downmixed; RCA carries analog stereo. Use these paths only when the soundbar has no HDMI input.

Legacy Video Cables for Pre-HDMI Gear

If a source in the room predates HDMI – an older DVD player, VCR, or a pre-2012 HD display used as a secondary screen – the legacy cable set comes back into play, each with a specific ceiling.

Component plus RCA for legacy HD

A pre-HDMI HD source (early Blu-ray, PS3, Xbox 360) connects with a component cable set: three RCA for video (green, blue, red) plus a red/white RCA pair for audio, into the TV’s component input. Component carries up to 1080p. If the TV has no component input, an active component-to-HDMI converter is required, powered by USB.

Composite for standard definition

A DVD player or VCR with only a yellow RCA output connects with a composite video cord plus a red/white audio pair. Composite is limited to 480i/576i – standard definition – which is the ceiling for that source anyway. A single composite video cord plus the audio pair is all the connection needs.

When to convert and when to replace

Active converters (component-to-HDMI, composite-to-HDMI) keep legacy sources alive on a modern TV, with the source’s own resolution as the ceiling. The practical rule: convert only for a source you actually use – a VCR that plays once a month is a replacement candidate, not a converter project.

Audio Video Cables for a TV

Real-World Application Scenarios

A family living room uses exactly four cables: coaxial from the wall plate to the antenna input, HDMI from the streaming box, HDMI from the game console, and HDMI from the eARC port to the soundbar. A rental property TV uses the same set minus the soundbar – three cables: coaxial plus two HDMI. A home office TV used as a second monitor uses one HDMI or DisplayPort cable from the PC and nothing else. A media room with legacy gear adds a component set for a pre-HDMI Blu-ray player and a composite cord for the DVD player – the back panel’s unused ports are the tell that the room is otherwise modern. The count is the point: a TV needs one RF cable, one HDMI per source, one eARC to the soundbar, and zero of anything else in a fully modern setup.

Recommended Internal Resources

Editorial Note: Internal linking recommendation: (1) Audio and Video Cables – https://zh-zong.com/audio-and-video-cables/ (anchor: audio and video cables); (2) Video Cables – https://zh-zong.com/video-cables/ (anchor: video cables); (3) General FAQ – https://zh-zong.com/faq/ (anchor: cable FAQ)

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)