Re: HDMI stopped working on my HD DVR yet AGAIN!
ak2009
Enthusiast - Level 3

You are right, Verizon refuses to acknowledge that their DVR has a problem; and it's not just a year, it's FIVE years! See this link where customers have been complaining about the issue since 2005 with no fix in sight.

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,15011485

Meanwhile, the customer suffers and gets to use old defective DVR technology with new upgraded fiber optics! Ironic isn't it?

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Re: HDMI stopped working on my HD DVR yet AGAIN!
CSimpson
Contributor - Level 1

Probably a combination of Verizon and various TV manufacturers are to blame about poor HDMI implementation.  I have two different HDTV's hooked up via HDMI and have had zero issues with the HDMI handshake issue.  In fact, I just purchased a new Onkyo TX-SR606 receiver for my 55" Sony Projection LCD and have my AppleTV, PS3, and Fios DVR all hooked up to it using cheap HDMI cables purchased from monoprice and everything works flawlessly. 

A few things to try if you are deadset on using HDMI:  Find another new cable and update your TV's firmware (probably need an SD mem card).  If those don't work, then use component+optical cables.  You should see virtually ZERO difference between HDMI and Component.  If you do see a noticable difference, then it could be on the TV-end since video settings for each of your TV's inputs are probably independent from one another. 

BTW... are you running video through your Onkyo receiver?  If so, does it upconvert signals to 1080i? 

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Re: HDMI stopped working on my HD DVR yet AGAIN!
ak2009
Enthusiast - Level 3

Yes, I'm running the Video through the Onkyo receiver. And it is an upconverting receiver so it does convert the signals to 1080i. In fact SD video also looks pretty good because of this feature. The receiver works perfectly with my DVD player and also worked perfectly with DirecTV DVR for the last two years both using HDMI cables. I have two HDMI inputs (DVD player + DVR) on the receiver and one HDMI output that goes to the TV.

I already have on my list to try the optical cable for digital audio with component for analog video. I will try that to see if it is any better because the Red+White composite cables for audio is just too bad. Is there any difference in optical cables or will a cheap $20 cable work just as well? I did not even think of trying to update the firmware on the TV. I will explore this possibility as well. Thanks for your help.

BTW... do component video cables support 1080i? I thought it only offered HD in 720p, which is why I'm not too happy to use component at all but would rather use HDMI. And on a 61" TV it does make a difference.

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Re: HDMI stopped working on my HD DVR yet AGAIN!
TimSykes
Specialist - Level 2

@ak2009 wrote:

BTW... do component video cables support 1080i? I thought it only offered HD in 720p, which is why I'm not too happy to use component at all but would rather use HDMI. And on a 61" TV it does make a difference.


They will support up to 1080p. It is hardware dependent on what resolution you will get.

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Re: HDMI stopped working on my HD DVR yet AGAIN!
CSimpson
Contributor - Level 1

Yes, component cables support up to 1080p and will certainly support 1080i/720p from the Fios HD-DVR.

Keep in mind that the majority of Onkyo receivers will only upconvert SD signals coming from Composite, S-Video, and Component inputs when using HDMI as the output to the TV.  It shouldn't upconvert any signals coming from HDMI inputs, as those are untouched.  So you may see a slight improvement in SD picture quality if you switch to component cables when processing video thru the Onkyo receiver.

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Re: HDMI stopped working on my HD DVR yet AGAIN!
CSimpson
Contributor - Level 1

Here is a chart that came out of my Onkyo manual that displays what signals are actually upconverted.  As you see, HDMI inputs don't get upconverted at all.  Only the other inputs are capable of being upconverted when using HDMI as your output.

Onkyo upconversion chart

Re: HDMI stopped working on my HD DVR yet AGAIN!
acitrano
Enthusiast - Level 3

I have just had FIOS installed today and encountered the "green screen" issue.

Some people here have blamed the TV and receiver companies. My experience shows this is really not the whole story.

I just switched from Time Warner.  I had a Motorola 3416 STB from Time Warner going through my Onkyo 806 via HDMI to my Panasonic TC-P50G10 plasma.  It worked fine - never saw a green screen in my life.  (Although, Time Warner picture quality and internet service was awful, but that's another story.)

But today, the installer connected the new FIOS STB (Motorola QIP 7216).  It was connected *exactly* the same way as the TW box:

---COAX-->  MOTOROLA STB  ---HDMI--->  ONKYO 806   ---HDMI-->   TV 

Within 15 seconds or so of the FIOS box being turned on, I saw the "green screen" so many people have been talking about.

Since this seems to happen with multiple TVs (Sony and Panasonic both, based on my research), and multiple receivers (Sony, Pioneer, and Onkyo), this makes it fairly obvious to me that there's something going on in Verizon's Motorola STB.

Hope it gets fixed.  In the meantime I guess I need to run some component and optical cables.... urgh... Smiley Mad

Message Edited by acitrano on 05-07-2009 02:17 PM
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Re: HDMI stopped working on my HD DVR yet AGAIN!
TimSykes
Specialist - Level 2
The likely hood component cable will not fix the issue. The issue is with the new firmware rolled out. It is a issue of 1080i resolution. If you change your video settings to 720p it should fix the issue until verizon fixes its firmware.
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Re: HDMI stopped working on my HD DVR yet AGAIN!
lswinford
Newbie

Charles, I know you mean well, and you are stating what you believe to be the case, but as they used to say, I beg to differ. I had Time Warner Cable with an HDMI cable between my current Mitsubishi TV and their Motorola 6416 III (Note: a Model III, not the Model II offered by Verizon) and NEVER had this problem or any other. As I saw posted here on this forum the TWC picture was never as good, but I was never asked by TWC how old my TV was, not to use HDMI (!?!?!), or if I could buy cables or hardware on my own to make TWC hardware work.  

I switched to Verizon FiOS when I moved last fall, and since then I have had at least four tech visits to address this Green Screen (in my case Blue Screen and then Black) issue, have been accused of messing with cables, have had my internal coax from the router to the Motorola box replaced, (which Verizon installed last fall during the install), have had the router replaced once and the 6416 II TWICE now.

I have had no one from Verizon FiOS tech support admit there was a known problem, and only one of the techs who told me it was a known problem related to the router (which he replaced). I've also been told by several of the techs and some tech support people on the phone that I do not want to even think about requesting the new 7000 series Motorola box since it has a whole list of other problems. 

I've offered my input on what still worked on other boxes in the house when the DVR was "checked out", what I've noticed before and after the incidents (4 incidents last week, with my 3rd 6416 II), and even offered error codes I've seen display on the DVR after an incident and copied down, but absolutely no one has been interested.

I could understand on a standard "swap everything until the problem goes away" if my issues had been isolated incidents, but judging from the comments on this Verizon Forum I see I am just one of the crowd.  

 

The one difference between me and the rest of the crowd may be that I am a Verizon employee, and have an extreme amount of heartburn at what I see we put our customers through. Since I have friends at ATT and other LECs I can say this has been a source of constant amusement to them.

 

Since my wife also works for another LEC she finds this both hilarious and extremely frustrating since she can just about count on getting a blue screen when she tries to play something she has recorded.  

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Re: HDMI stopped working on my HD DVR yet AGAIN!
G-Pon
Contributor - Level 1

  If the TV’s in question are Samsung or Sony Bravia you can just quit trying to get the HDMI to work. The execution of the HDMI protocols by many of the sets produced by these 2 mfgrs do not exactly match those of the entire rest of the industry on the entire planet.

I’m not saying they have it wrong necessarily all data protocols are somewhat subject to interpretation. Also subjective is the amount of RAM necessary to process them rapidly enough.

I’m not saying that Motorola and Verizon won’t be able to eventually modify their HDMI protocol deployment to compensate for the chip-sets in those TV’s either, we ARE working on it. But at my house I quit worrying about it, switched to component.

The issue source, if anyone cares, is similar to the way 2 fax machines communicate, they have a process like a “handshake” in which the 2 devices make a friendly agreement upon a transmission rate of speed and other details of the millions per min transactions. The handshake is lost in most of these failures, the agreed upon criteria can not be met and the communication ceases.

A previous post is correct, it is a battle between Motorola and the TV mfgrs in which ComCast, Verizon, CableVision, Brighthouse, EVERYBODY is caught in the middle. I’m going to side with Motorola slightly though because their boxes work so well with most TVs.

Remember this is the industry’s first attempt at a 2 way conversation between a TV and another device; it is a LOT of computer processing, this is a task TV’s have never had to do before.

I have also seen cases where long runs of HDMI cable, bad HDMI cables and bad HDMI ports can cause this behavior too.

If the issue occurs on TV’s other than those mfgrs listed above other measures may succeed in resolving them, but Verizon’s 7000 series Motorola boxes have no greater elasticity in maintaining the HDMI handshake than the 6000 series, the HDMI protocol “stack” is the same on either box.

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