I hadn't heard of the HD Fury before today, but it is an interesting (albeit expensive) device. I'm guessing that it works by tricking the signal source into thinking that the signal has terminated at the device, and then runs the signal through a DAC and sends the unencrypted analog RGB signal from itself to your display. I have no idea if any of that is correct, but once the signal has been converted into analog RGB, HDCP compliance no longer matters. So if this device does what it says, you should be able to connect it to any vga monitor. The HD Fury accomplishes what it does through active circuitry built into the device, so unfortunately there is no simple passive way to duplicate this.

I have a Phillips sound system and it didn't have a optical input although it had a optical output. It did have a digital coaxal input that I managed to get the system working ok by using a optical to coaxal converter, just make sure you get the optical input to coaxal output for the converter. I really wish that it had a optical input because chances are it would be somewhat better. But to get the very best out of a sound system a receiver with a HDMI input would be the very best connection. The red/white connection will not deliver a surround sound signal in any way you try, it will allow simulated that is still just a left and right channel sound where the digital coaxal and optical can deliver up to 5.1 surround sound (big difference in the two). Then HDMI will support all the way up 7.1 surround sound.jimm895

The MCD988 is only a 2.1 "virtual surround sound" system, and isn't really designed to be used as a receiver. There are no digital inputs of any kind, and only a single stereo line in, so there is really only one way a PS3 can be connected. Red and white stereo RCA cables are capable of carrying full 5.1 channel surround sound separation using Dolby Pro Logic II encoding, although I don't think it will make any difference with this system. I totally agree about the difference between two channel stereo and 5.1 surround sound. Binny_ed1, you may want to consider getting a surround sound receiver with digital inputs and at least 5.1 channel separation, you should notice a substantial difference in the way games and movies sound when compared to the 2.1 channel separation of your current system.

A TV's service menu is usually never meant to be accessed by the end user, so they are not made very user friendly. Having the service manual for your TV is probably necessary to make sense of everything, unless you have some specific instructions from somewhere else.

I had a similar situation a few years back, someone gave me a TV which had some bad convergence and geometry problems. I found the service manual on eBay and was able to use it to make some sense of things and fix the problems. As I recall, the menu used a lot of abbreviations and numerical values which were only explained in the manual. It is true that you can mess up your TV by doing the wrong thing in the service menu, so I wouldn't recommend trying to wing it.

Try searching around on the internet for the service manual of your model number. There are lots of free service manuals floating around in PDF format out there. If you can't find it there you could try eBay, or try looking through the service manual of a similar LG TV (the menu navigation and terminology will probably be similar.)

Cat6 cable has better shielding and more bandwidth than Cat5e, this means that it can pass more data over longer distances with less interference. Although, if the existing network in your home is wired with Cat5e or uses older equippment, then a Cat6 patch cable will certainly work, but no better than a Cat5e cable.

What length of cable are you buying and what are you connecting it to? Are you buying a spool of wire or just a patch cable? Twenty dollars already sounds like a lot to pay for an ordinary length of Cat6 cable.