Strange problem with HDMI

[arath]

Hi,

I've had the pch for a while now. Today i bought a new sony TV and receiver and started using HDMI to connect the PCH and receiver/TV.

I've upgraded also to the newest firmware, and got a strange problem. While i boot the PCH everything looks fine, browsing and watching a film, still good.

When i end the film the display begins to blink on and off with regular intervals. It is solved using setup to save change settings and save, but still a little to much hassle if you want to go through more than one film/episode.

This behavior does not exist when i use component.

Anyone got any ideas to how to solve the problem? or an easier workaround?
Am i the only one that experience this?

Kind regards,
Arath

[chris57]

I have a Sony TV but no receiver. I dont get this problem but did have AR problems before I set a resolution rather than 'Auto'. Choose a resolution in the PCH SETUP to see if this helps resolve what seems like a HDMI handshake problem.

If that doesn't try to take the receiver out of the link if you are going PCH>AVReceiver>TV via HDMI just go direct from PCH>TV to check.

[arath]

Thanks for the tips, I'll check if it might be the receiver cutting me off.
Strange it works at boot and during movie, only stops after i played a movie.

Did try 1080p 50hz and 60hz still same problem. but if i switch between them after the issue has arrived it starts working again.

[arath]

I've tested some more.

Removing the receiver from the loop makes the hdmi sync issues go away.
Not quite the result that i hoped for. But then I have a possible solution. Only cost quite some bucks for a extra set of cables.....

Then to the strange part which makes me belive it is a pch problem and not a receiver problem as the receiver should just be a hub in this picture.
I've tried this in a few video out settings: auto, 1080p 24hz,1080p 50hz and 1080p 60 hz.

Booting: everythings fine
Watching film: everythings fine
ending film, browsing for next film, HDMI handshake issues
Starting new film: everythings fine
ending film, browsing for next film, HDMI handshake issues

So its just annoying, not critical at least.
To end the problem I need to pull the plug and restart pch. The first few times it worked changing resolution. but not anymore.

I just wish there was a powerbutton on the box :wink:
Thanks for the help so far, and if anyone has any good ideas let me know.

[linuxworks]

I have a feeling that the 'clean passthru' that some people think the receivers are giving are - aren't really good pass thrus.

I'm not sure why its 'hard' to be an hdmi switch, but it seems that not all of them work well. I am reading more and more reports of the hdmi switch inside various receivers is doing more harm than good.

my receiver is too old for hdmi. it has tons of spdif toslink and rca inputs (and even component) but nothing for hdmi.

am I motivated to BUY a new receiver with hdmi ports on it? no! every so often I think about it (I see them on sale all the time) but I think back to all the trouble people have with them. some work fine but enough don't just 'plug and play' as they should.

places like monoprice sell 3 and 4 port hdmi switches for something like $30. its cheap enough (and they work!) that I'm not really going to WANT to integrate hdmi and audio in my stereo receiver. I'm going to try to keep them separate for as long as possible. by decoupling the hdmi stuff from your home stereo, you can solve one problem and not have to 'throw out' a whole system to fix it.

[arath]

What I find curious is that I do not have these issues while watching a movie, only when I'm at the PCH user interface.

I've only started with the hdmi, and knows way to little about it.
But it does have a nice WAF (if it only worked as intended). If it was only me operating the systems I wouldn't mind doing manual work and/or double set of settings.
But the ease of use is important for me here.
I'll keep on testing a few things to see if it helps.

[arath]

So far it also looks like the problem is solved by setting tv in standby off and on again

[linuxworks]

arath Wrote:So far it also looks like the problem is solved by setting tv in standby off and on again

yes, I do that all the time. its my first go-to fix (sigh).

isn't it strange that we have to REBOOT our tv's (that's really what goes on when you power a tv off and on again) to get the hdmi sender to start sending again?

it happens for cable boxes and other hdmi sources (including dvi or hdmi pc video cards).

get used to it. old hdmi tv's have an excuse but I see reports of even current tv's needing a hdmi handshake 'helper' reboot from time to time. oh well... ;(

[snap156]

Im also having a HDMI handshake issue ,

Ive got the Yamaha 1080p RV1800 amp with HDMI inputs and outputs, which my PCH runs through straight to my projector.

If i start the PCH and my amp is switched to the PCH input on my amp and not my DVD player , it boots to the display screen no prob, but if I left the amp with say the DVD or FoxTel input selected then boot and then try to switch over to my PCH input i get no display....

A Reboot with the PCH on the correct input is needed for it to work...Any one else experience this....

Yes I also wished the PCH had a power button in front ( i hate leaving it on all the time) Has anyone added one yet themselves...

[arath]

linuxworks Wrote:yes, I do that all the time. its my first go-to fix (sigh).

isn't it strange that we have to REBOOT our tv's (that's really what goes on when you power a tv off and on again) to get the hdmi sender to start sending again?

I should ofc have tried that myself as well. Is there a piece of electronic that doesn't need a reboot to fix a problem now and then? But just didn't think of the TV.

At least its far easier to reboot the tv than the pch.

[linuxworks]

arath Wrote:

linuxworks Wrote:yes, I do that all the time. its my first go-to fix (sigh).

isn't it strange that we have to REBOOT our tv's (that's really what goes on when you power a tv off and on again) to get the hdmi sender to start sending again?

I should ofc have tried that myself as well. Is there a piece of electronic that doesn't need a reboot to fix a problem now and then? But just didn't think of the TV.

At least its far easier to reboot the tv than the pch.

well, when a woman gives birth, does the doctor slap the baby or the woman?



the logic is that messed up. its laughably messed up. to get a sender to start (or continue) sending, you reboot the thing you are sending TO.

if that's not a case of the doctor slapping the woman, I'm not sure what is

[rant]
for years and years, computer video cards (senders) and dvi displays (receivers) never had to 'bounce' each other to sync up. I've hot plugged and unplugged dvi cables to older dvi video cards JUST FINE. never had to 'reboot' my monitor.

up until those wonderful genius entertainment guys invented HDMI. its not even hdcp; its hdmi that's the first real brokenness about the good old dvi standard.

as long as the makers continue to consider the end user 'suspect' and break the logical link (requiring a stack re-init via a re-plug) at the drop of a hat, we'll have to keep doing the hdmi-handshake over and over and over. its because they think we're guilty and we need to CONTINUALLY prove that we're not guilty.

isn't technology great?
[/rant]

[wimpie3]

I have the same problem. When the popcorn runs through my switch, the HDMI connection drops once in a while. With a direct connection to the tv: no problems... the strange thing is: all other devices connected to the switch work fine... only the popcorn causes problems.

[chrmhoffmann]

I got a Yamaha 1800 as well and I got same problem: after some time when I am on a different source into the amp and I switch back to popcorn, I get no image on the TV. I then just do a TV MODE + 0 (auto) on the remote control and the image comes back. Not great, but better than rebooting the popcorn. Switching the amp on/off doesnt help.

Chris

[spawn]

I find the easiest way to get picture back after going back from a different source, is simply to press the red powerbutton once (to turn off the videosignal), and then once more (to turn it on again). This allways initiate a new handshake and a picture on the screen.

[linuxworks]

spawn Wrote:I find the easiest way to get picture back after going back from a different source, is simply to press the red powerbutton once (to turn off the videosignal), and then once more (to turn it on again). This allways initiate a new handshake and a picture on the screen.

you're saying to tell the SENDER (the pch) to stop sending and have it restart?

I tried that on my setup and I have to press the power button (on the remote) of my *TV*. that seems to tell the sender - that it needs to re-init. I guess its from sender to receiver but the receiver can 'trigger' the sender to start the handshake.

my tv is 'sensitive' (read: stubborn) and needs to have its logical power bounced before it will even ACCEPT a signal, even if the sender re-inits itself. the tv, in my case, is the gating factor.

I blame the tv's actually. for being too darned (cough) sensitive about the whole topology-change thing. if I had to describe this bad behavior I'd call it 'overly paranoid peers' (LOL)

everytime I see a lack of video, bouncing the tv's power button always gets me video back - whether its a dvi-out from a video card or the pch box.

if you have a tv that doesn't need to be bounced, that's great. maybe even exceptional?