HDMI connection problem

[NJB]

I have a curious problem with my home cinema set up. I have an HDMI lead from the cable box to the AV receiver, and another HDMI from the receiver to the TV. Normally it works fine, but sometimes I lose video and audio. The video is totally gone, whilst the audio comes back every minute or so for about 5 seconds. It does not cure itself.

The cable company says it is not a cable box issue, and say that it looks like an HDMI issue.

If I swap out the lead from the cable box to the receiver, nothing changes. But if I connect the lead from the receiver to the TV directly into the cable box then I get video and audio.

That suggests that the receiver is at fault, but the same thing happened with my previous all in one home cinema set up. So, I am rather confused especially as after all this cable swapping, I can then revert to the normal cable set up through the receiver and it all works fine for another few days before it all starts again.

Any ideas? I am into crazy theories of cable static, capacitance, heat related cable problems, arcing between pins causing deposits on the pins........

 

[stavvy]

I had a very similair problem and had the receiver sent to genserve and everything thinking it was the HDMI board that had failed since its a common fault with Onkyo receivers. Rather embarrassingly, because I was using very thick QED performance HDMI leads, they were quite heavy and inflexible and they were falling out of the hdmi socket on the back of the receiver ever so slightly. I bought these clamps which held everything in place and its been all right since:

http://www.blueechosolutions.com/proddetail.php?prod=hd-ez-lock

Dont rule out something as silly as this before going to more trouble to find what the problem is!

 

[NJB]

My leads are regular ones, gold plated connectors but nothing fancy. Once the fault has appeared, no amount of wriggling or reconnecting makes a difference.

 

[proffski]

I have a curious problem with my home cinema set up. I have an HDMI lead from the cable box to the AV receiver, and another HDMI from the receiver to the TV. Normally it works fine, but sometimes I lose video and audio. The video is totally gone, whilst the audio comes back every minute or so for about 5 seconds. It does not cure itself.

The cable company says it is not a cable box issue, and say that it looks like an HDMI issue.

If I swap out the lead from the cable box to the receiver, nothing changes. But if I connect the lead from the receiver to the TV directly into the cable box then I get video and audio.

That suggests that the receiver is at fault, but the same thing happened with my previous all in one home cinema set up. So, I am rather confused especially as after all this cable swapping, I can then revert to the normal cable set up through the receiver and it all works fine for another few days before it all starts again.

Any ideas? I am into crazy theories of cable static, capacitance, heat related cable problems, arcing between pins causing deposits on the pins...

Agreed on every count! I have experienced heavy HDMI leads failing to make reliable contact as they were not able to support themselves in the socket correctly because of their weight. And indeed some Onkyo behemoths did have issues with the HDMI processor boards overheating and suffered almost 100% failure rate. After repairs to mine I fitted a couple of small quiet extra fans to keep the overall temerature down inside the amplifier.

 

[NJB]

My receiver is a one month old Sony DN840, and as this happened with my previous system then this unit is well down the list of potential causes. My suspicion has always fallen on the cable box, which radiates more heat than I consider necessary. However, a fault in the cable box would not clear when I changed to the direct connection to the tv. I had thought about recessed pins on the cable box that struggled with certain hdmi leads, but this is another of my 'clutching at straws' type theories.

 

[stavvy]

I installed 2 120mm fans in the back of the cabinet where my onkyo is kept which made quite a difference. I then took it a stage further by buying a faulty onkyo amp similar to mine, cutting a hole in the cover above the hdmi board and slotting a 120 mm fan in there. I can feel the air being sucked in through the amp at the bottom front so I've got a nice airflow through the entire unit. Unit is now actually COLD to the touch even after long film/game sessions. :bounce: