# A/V holes thingie in the TV- Input from Technical Gurus Appreciated! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 28, 2003, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-v-holes-thingie-in-the-tv-input-from-technical-gurus-appreciated/209956 "2003-10-28T02:14:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![gubernator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@gubernator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gubernator)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2003, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-v-holes-thingie-in-the-tv-input-from-technical-gurus-appreciated/209956/1 "2003-10-28T02:14:10Z")
I was looking at my cheapo TV the other day. It’s one of them Panasonic ones with the VCRs built right into the TV. Anyway I notice two holes at the front of the TV, labelled Video In and Audio In, respectively. I remember from my brother’s old PlayStation that when he used to play it, there were three plugs from the PS that was connected to the TV, two of which goes in the above mentioned holes. What hole’s the third one supposed to have gone in? What’s it’s primary use? I was just wondering about this since I’ve been thinking of picking up a cheap second hand PS2 and noticed that my TV seem to be one hole short for it to be plugged in to it. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2003, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-v-holes-thingie-in-the-tv-input-from-technical-gurus-appreciated/209956/2 "2003-10-28T02:32:07Z")
On a mono TV there are only the yellow video connector and the white audio. On a stereo unit, there are three: the yellow video, white left audio channel and the red right audio channel. You can use a simple Y adapter to connect both cables from the game to the single whit audio connector on your TV. ---
**Author:** ![Saranga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Saranga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saranga)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2003, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-v-holes-thingie-in-the-tv-input-from-technical-gurus-appreciated/209956/3 "2003-10-28T07:16:24Z")
Eh? I was under the impression that this was not ok, but that impression could easily be wrong. [See this link](http://www.hut.fi/Misc/Electronics/circuits/linesum.html) I know the Dreamcast had an option for stereo or mono output in its global settings. The Playstation might have the same option. If not, a combiner doohickey won’t cost more than $5. ---
**Author:** ![Saranga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Saranga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saranga)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2003, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-v-holes-thingie-in-the-tv-input-from-technical-gurus-appreciated/209956/4 "2003-10-28T07:27:32Z")
Eh? I was under the impression that this was not ok, but that impression could easily be wrong. [See this link](http://www.hut.fi/Misc/Electronics/circuits/linesum.html) I know the Dreamcast had an option for stereo or mono output in its global settings. The Playstation might have the same option. If not, a combiner doohickey won’t cost more than $5. ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2003, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-v-holes-thingie-in-the-tv-input-from-technical-gurus-appreciated/209956/5 "2003-10-28T11:25:09Z")
Quite often there’s an option for Mono/Stereo/Super-17speaker-Surround-Something in the game itself. Setting this option to Mono would make the deck output all sounds to one channel (the left, based on \*\*Q.E.D.\*\*s post, and when is he ever wrong?), which you plug in to the single input on your TV. No adapter needed, everything accounted for. ---
**Author:** ![Horseflesh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horseflesh/32/7502_2.png) [@Horseflesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horseflesh)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2003, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-v-holes-thingie-in-the-tv-input-from-technical-gurus-appreciated/209956/6 "2003-10-28T11:44:59Z")
**Q.E.D** is correct, the left channel is always the mono channel if your equipment can be switched from stereo to mono IME (of course, a simple experiment will tell you for sure). I have never had a problem combining right and left channels into one with a Y-adapter. Of course, if the games are not programmed for stereo and simply split the same signal to both the left and right channels, you won’t even need the adapter. Just plug the white cable from the left or right jack on your game console to your mono TV. ---
**Author:** ![Desmostylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2003, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-v-holes-thingie-in-the-tv-input-from-technical-gurus-appreciated/209956/7 "2003-10-28T12:01:06Z")
If you set the _game_ to mono, it’s going to output the _same_ signal on both channels. So it doesn’t matter which one you connect to the TV. It only matters which is the mono channel when you’ve got something with a single mono output, and you’re trying to connect it to something that normally expects _two inputs_. That doesn’t apply in this situation. The TV is mono, and is only expecting one input. ---
**Author:** ![Saranga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Saranga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saranga)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2003, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-v-holes-thingie-in-the-tv-input-from-technical-gurus-appreciated/209956/8 "2003-10-28T21:34:21Z")
Reread Q.E.D.'s post and reread my link. I acknowledge the fact that he is right far more often than I am, but he never said to only connect the left channel. He advised a Y-adapter, which is not considered a “safe” practice for combining stereo _outputs_ to a mono _input_. The other way around is perfectly allright. Obviously a Y-adapter will work, but you can’t guarantee it won’t fry the outputs on that new (used) PS2. Unless you can prove it is perfectly safe in this application I would advise against it, but I am open to arguments to the contrary. My advice: Skip the Y-splitter and connect left channel only to the tv, then set the game to mono if possible. If the setting is unavailable, and you are concerned about “hearing everything”, buy/build a simple stereo-to-mono mixer.