I have a nice brass three-prong red/white/yellow cable....is that what I use to hook up my DVD player....do I use ALL three of the wire....I am a bit confused. I have DVD through S cable right now....which will be fine ... for now.
You can use the red/yellow/white cable, but use it just for picture. (I know you have a surround system, so I know you have your sound already attached from DVD player to receiver.)
You can put the yellow cable in the green jacks, the red cable in the red jacks, and the white cable in the blue jacks on the back of the DVD player and then into the TV. Be sure you keep the colors consistent from player to TV.
If you use the yellow in the yellow jack, you're going to get a WORSE picture than using the S-video cable, AND you won't have any progressive scan capability.