Entertainment Center: TVs, Stereos, VCRs and DVDs - Using video in on receiver

OK, I'm a bit confused. I have a Yamaha HTR-5730 and I am reading the setup guide and it shows that when hooking up the DVD player and cable box, that it says to hookup the video out from these components to the video in on the back of the receiver. I have never hooked up the video inputs on the back of a receiver, only audio. What is the reason for the video in on the receiver and is it really needed? On my old receiver, I just noticed that it also has video in but I never hooked into this, only audio, and it worked just fine. Thanks.

you can use the reciever to switch your video sources. It just passes the video through it to the TV....(not quite true, mine has on-screen menu's). Example, you select DVD on the reciever, it sends whatever video is on the DVD input to the TV.

You don't have to use it, but if your TV is running low on inputs, it does help.

Hope this helped.

I guess my question is - why not run all video into the receiver?

You only have one connection running to the tv. It simplifies life. When changing from cable to dvd to vcr to game box to camcorder, you only need change the receiver. Otherwise, you need to change both the receiver AND the tv. ie) you no longer need the tv's remote control.
It also means you don't need long cables for all your video sources.

The audio and video inputs bypass the tuner and IF circuits and feed the signal directly to the video and audio amps thus giving you a cleaner and crisper audio and video. This is most useful for your DVD player because it gives you the full use of its' features.