Q. I have a 4-year-old, 50-in. 720p Fujitsu plasma, which still gets a great picture. It does not have an HDMI connection, but it does have DVI. How can I hook up an HD DVD or Blu-ray player? - Chase, Tacoma, WA

You can connect HD DVD or Blu-Ray players to your 720p plasma in a few different ways. Due to the ever-changing state of technology, manufacturers make “hybrid” or crossover cables. These cables have one type of connection on one end and a completely different connection on the other. There are also converter connections, which are much shorter than crossover cables since they don’t have cable between the two ends. There are many companies that make these cables, so you should have no problem finding the type of connection you need.

You may have a problem if the DVI input is not HDCP enabled. HDCP stands for High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection. This is a form of DRM (Digital Rights Management), which will not allow certain content from being transferred from one device to another. After some research of 2003/2004 720p Fujitsu plasmas with DVI inputs… it looks like the majority are HDCP enabled. You may want to check your TV’s model number before you buy a player to determine if your plasma is HDCP enabled.

Graig Stephens - Executive Partner, Visually Sound

Visually Sound is a dynamic group of professionals who incorporate the most up-to-date audio, video, lighting, communications, and automation equipment into both new and existing residential and commercial construction. With over a decade of professional experience, we have been faced with many challenges and have always exceeded our client's expectations, in quality, ingenuity, and timeliness.