Hitachi HDMI Problem

[admin_exported]

Hi. Currently using a Hitachi 42PD7200, Sky HD and an upscaling DVD player (a Toshiba something or other). All was fine until I started using the HDMI connector for SkyHD - the signal seems to be very unstable! I get an excellent picture and sound for a few minutes - then it flickers. Just a split second but the flicker is very noticable as it's bright green. The sound cuts out too. Very annoying. The worst tho is when the sound breaks down totally and all I get is an incredibly loud thrumming sound - if I change input away and back again it clears up but the sound is unbelievable until I do. Has anyone else heard of this happening? I've asked this question elsewhere but it seems to be a fairly unique problem - I've contacted Hitachi directly and they are being particularly evasive - everytime I raise the problem they just send me a link to their service centre. No advice or description - just a link. This isn't a major problem as I'm using the component inputs however I'd like to use the HDMI as well. Any suggestions of anything I can try before I have to call out an engineer? I've tried about 3 different HDMI cables and they're all the same - apart from my Van den Hul HDMI cable which the nice Sky engineer snapped and didn't bother telling me about - he just hid it down the back and put in the cheap cable the box comes with! Thanks in advance.

 

[Andrew Everard]

Well, sounds to me like the HDMI cable is making and breaking contact, and thus losing the 'handshake' between the player and the TV.

Could be caused by the vibration from the speakers, given how small the contacts are on an HDMI plug/socket, plus some damage to the socket itself - well, if the engineer was hamfisted enough to snap your vdH cable, chances are he did it when trying to plug it in!

It's another reason why I keep still think the HDMI connector is fundamentally flawed, with a design more driven by the need to cram more and more on the rear panel of components, and less by the need for a good, solid, reliable electrical connection.

I know our review guys suffer from it all the time, with cables giving up the ghost after relatively few connect/disconnect/reconnect cycles. They're always unplugging and replugging products, and after a while the connections become loose and flaky.

And I'm annoyed how many TVs see to have their HDMI sockets mounted vertically - that's just asking for the plug to fall out. Or do they design these things in zero gravity?

If only the designers of the HDMI connectors had built in thumb-screws or clips to hold the plugs in the sockets, we probably wouldn't have had these problems.

For now, I suggest a change of cable - the one supplied with the Sky box is hardly a paragon of quality - and hope that wire fits more firmly into the socket.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the advice. I've ordered a new HDMI cable to see if a better quality cable will make a better connection. I'll update when it arrives and let you know.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi, I have exactly the same problem with my HDMI connection, that you described. Did you manage to find a solution ? Did the new cable help ?