Issue with SKY HD and Sony 40w4500 (not clouding related!!)

[admin_exported]

Hi all,

I've stumbled across a problem with my new set-up which I'm hoping someone will able to shed some light on for me.

I've recently upgraded my TV from a 32" Tosh (32wlt66) to a new 40" Sony (40w4500) and I've developed an issue when watching SKY HD.

Basically, when watching any of the HD channels, I'm getting an intermittent loss of picture. Effectively, the screen goes blank for a second or two and then comes back. It does this a couple of times and then the picture comes back for good. Now, I thought originally that it might just be a loss of signal, but the sound continues uninterrupted (its feed to the AV receiver by optical).

I've tried swapping the HDMI cables around after making sure they were fitted correctly, but the problem remains. I've never had this problem with the Tosh, so I'm assuming it’s a fault with the TV or possibly a setting I am unaware of.

For reference, I don't have any issue when watching SD channels, this only happens on HD (e.g. BBC HD, SKY 1 HD, etc..)

Possibly related to this, is when I change channels on Sky from a HD channel to SD (or vice versa from SD to HD), the On Screen Display on the TV pops up to show me the input that’s currently assigned along with the screen resolution being displayed. This doesn't appear when changing between SD channels.

Any suggestions would be very welcome.

Cheers
Ketch

 

[Clare Newsome]

Have you got your Sky HD box set to output at Auto or 1080i?

 

[Anonymous]

Its currently set to Auto. Do you think this is confusing the Sony?

 

[Clare Newsome]

It's not 'confusing' the Sony as such - it's making the Sony change its upscaling everytime the picture resolution changes (ad breaks; HD to SD show on an HD channel etc). Some displays/AV receivers react more quickly than others, but there's almost always a brief interuption to the pictures as the scaling adjusts.

It's the trade-off between setting the Sky box to 1080i, so it's upscaling all the SD content, or setting it to Auto so your TV/receiver does the upscaling (typically the better result).

Personally, I live with the occasional flicker (heck, it's not like it happens DURING the show) because I know my Onkyo 906 upscales way better than the Sky HD box....

However, if it's really bugging you, setting the Sky box to 1080i should solve the situation - and you can always do an A/B comparison to see if you're really losing on the scaling front.

 

[Anonymous]

Ah, did I forget to mention that the loss of picture lasts at least a second or two (rather than just a flicker)....... and in both cases was during a show (most recently when watching Wallander BBC HD on Sunday).

 

[Clare Newsome]

Now that's NOT good!

First of all, I'd try switching the Sky HD box to outputting 1080i to see if that makes any difference.

Also, is it just during Wallender that you had the 'blackout' during a show? If so, can you remember when it was during the programme? I've got it on my Sky HD box, so could check if it was a broadcast problem - if there was an interuption of signal, your Sony would have started on a resolution-hunt, just as if you'd changed channels/gone to an ad-break.

 

[Anonymous]

i had the same thing when i got my sky hd box new and set it up on my pioneer as auto. just set it to 1080i as clare said that should fix the problem.

 

[Anonymous]

Can't remember exactly where it was (and I wouldn't want to post any spoilers for you before you watch it!).

I'll set it tonight and I'll post back on here tomorrow with the results.

Thanks both.

 

[Anonymous]

Ok, as promised, here is my update.

Setting the Sky HD box to output HD at 1080i (it was indeed set to Auto) cured the problem of the input screen (Sony's OSD) appearing when changing between SD and HD channels.

I thought this was the end of it............. until half way through watching Stargate on Sky HD last night, the picture yet again disappeared for a few seconds.

What followed was an hour of head scratching. I couldn't understand why the TV would be getting varying singals as the SKY box now has a fixed output. I checked the satellite signal strength to make sure it wasn't dropping out and thus providing a weaker signal (maybe the TV thought a drop in quality would be a change in resolution), but the signal strength was nearly at its maximum. The only conlcusion I could come up with is that maybe the SKY box is faulty or alternatively maybe the TV is struggling to upscale the 1080i signal into a 1080p picture.

Therefore, in an attempt to make sure that a stable signal is reaching the TV, I checked the settings on my Onkyo. It was set to pass through the video signal without any upscaling (it wasn't required on my old Tosh), so I set this to upscale to 1080p and I've not had a problem since (granted I've only had 30 minutes viewing time to check this out).

So, in summary the only conclusions I can come to are that either I have a faulty HD box, or the TV's upscaling abilities are struggling to handle the processing of a 1080i feed from SKY.

Fingers crossed when I get home tonight, I'll be able to watch an entire programme uninterrupted again!