Loss of Signal from Blu-Ray Player (1 Viewer)

[michael2012]

Good Day to All: I have a Sony BDP-CX960 Blu-Ray Player that is connected directly to a Sony KDL-55HX850 TV via HDMI. I have used this set-up for the last month with no problem since I disconnected it from an HDMI switch. When connected through the switch the signal was not stable at all, cutting out often while in playback. I used the switch becuase my receiver is a pre-HDMI unit. I am in the process of changing out the receiver as I write this. I used this forum when the initial loss of signal problems occured and found that Sony's (and LG's) do not like to see a modified signal through any source, including HDMI Switches. I removed the Switch from the path with great results. I am now encountering a similar problem with loss of signal. The signal cuts out intermittantly and the screen goes black proceeded by a notification from the TV notifying of the loss of signal. Two days prior I similarly lost the signal for about three seconds, with no recurrance for the remainder of the movie. Tonight the loss of signal happened three sepearte times for about three seconds each time with the signal going out permanently until I stopped playback. I tried playback with a different movie with no loss of signal. Since the switch was removed from the set-up I have been using a female/female HDMI connector and have been manually changing connections between the DirecTV DVR, the BR player and my DVD player. I encounter no such loss of signal when using the DVR or the DVD player. BTW the DVD player I use is a Sony CX-995V. My question is: what may cause this problem? When viewing through the BR player the picture is crisp with no other annomolies showing. I have been using the BR player for about 5 months when it was connected through the HDMI switch into a Toshiba 1080i HD set and encountered no problems with the player in that set-up. I made all of the appropriate setting modifications to the player when I changed from the 1080i Toshiba to the 1080p Sony. I would appreciate any input. Thanks.

 

[Jason Charlton]

"Hot swapping" HDMI devices is a recipe for handshake issues. This is mostly due to things like HDCP which is a copy protection mechanism that is almost universally used by Blu-ray players, but not always used by set top boxes and older DVD players (which may explain why the problem only happens when switching back to BR and not the DVD or DVR).
Once connected and "happy" - HDCP devices connected via HDMI don't like to be changed. The proper way to do so is to turn everything off (maybe even unplug the components), wait a few minutes then connect the devices, plug in the TV, then the rest of the components, turn on the TV first, then everything else.
Edit: I read your previous thread in which Sam described the process for re-establishing the handshake issue. He knows about that more than I do, and I think I got it bass-ackwards above. Follow his advice for resetting.
Really, if your TV has two HDMI inputs (according to the online specs it has 2 on the side, 2 on the bottom), I would leave the Blu-ray connected all the time to one input, and swap out the DVD and DVR as necessary since they aren't causing any problems.
Actually, since your TV has 4 inputs, why are you manually swapping things anyway? Why not connect each device to a different input and just leave them there? At least that way, you would switch inputs using the remote, rather than getting up from the sofa to manually plug/unplug cables.

 

[schan1269]

Your best option is to use the switch for the DVD/DVD and leave the BD on its own connection. Or, purchase one of the many 3HDMI soundbars. Those aren't very expensive and will improve your sound. Sony made one a while back(2008 I think) that pops up used every once in a while under $200. Has 150 in the model number.

 

[schan1269]

Love auto-correcting cell phones... DVD/DVR on the switch.

 

[michael2012]

Thanks for the great input. I am Hot-Swapping and will shut-down all devices from now on when switching. I used to never hot-swap and have only done so recently after watching others (particularly guys a HT shopping venues) do the same. I am swapping only because I am too cheap to buy three 50' HDMI runs from the cabinent to the point of use. I will solve this when I get the new receiver hooked up( and allow it to act as the switch. I assume this will solve all of my issues. Thanks again.

 

[michael2012]

One other question: if it is a hanshake problem would it be possible for thr first loss of signal to come after 10 minutes of playback/watching?