Put yourself in the shoes of a retail CE customer. You have recently purchased the home theater system of your dreams with all the specialty components to match your desire for outstanding audio and video quality. You are beaming!

Until you get it home. You open box number one, number two….number ten. You are beginning to panic.

“How does this all go together?”

“How can I set this up to maximize performance?”

“What do I do with all these cords?”

The CE industry is diverse and technologically sophisticated and continually delivers leading edge products that meet customer demand. With these products, however, comes an added burden on the consumer to connect their home’s various A/V components and to do so in a way that maximizes the performance and quality of their home entertainment systems.

The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) recognizes that the average CE consumer may need a little help connecting their latest purchases to one another, as well as to their existing home theater systems. To make the process easier, CEA has developed a Connections Guide—a unique, interactive resource designed to help end-users quickly and easily get the best connections for their A/V devices.

With easy-to-understand descriptions and photographs of each connector, the Connections Guide shows the consumers where the connectors are located and how they can use them to optimize product performance. Consumers also are educated about the performance differences of each connector.

"The CEA Connections Guide offers retailers and manufacturers customer service that reaches beyond the point of sale," said CEA President and CEO Gary Shapiro. "Through an Internet connection and a few mouse clicks, consumers now can now quickly decipher which cord goes where. This application is yet another way CEA is helping simplify consumer electronics for the end user."

Consumers can print out customized directions from the CEA Connections Guide to assist in the assembly of their A/V purchases. Users can also explore various connection options prior to making a purchase so that they can identify the precise connection components they want when they are ready to make a purchase.

The CEA Connections Guide is now available at www.CE.org/connectionsguide .