STR-DN1000 (1 Viewer)

[RCsound]

I have had my receiver for over 6-8 months, my problem is the video every once in a while will blank out audio works fine. I think i have narrowed it down to the input of the receiver. is there a upgrade or do I need to use a digital optical cable? any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. set as follows HDMI from cable box to receiver HDMI from receiver to TV HDMI from receiver to Blue Ray ( works fine all the time)

 

[John Garcia]

Sounds like a handshake issue between your cable box and receiver, which I think is actually fairly common. Have you tried connecting it directly to the TV and then like you said, optical to the receiver for audio? I have mine like that because my receiver doesn't have HDMI and I only very rarely have artifacting, but never a loss of picture on two different TVs.

 

[RCsound]

So using the digital optical cable I will still get the good sound I am getting now? also what is the setting when using the digital cable? Is there a setting change? does the digital cable go from the TV to the receiver? sorry for all the questions, but this has been bugging me for a very long time.

 

[John Garcia]

Yes, there will be a setting in the audio menu of the cable box to switch it to optical, though if it is like mine (Dish 722), it will output via both simultaneously, which is actually what you want. That gives you the ability to watch TV without the receiver on all the time if you choose. You would have the optical cable going from the cable box to the receiver. I don't think there will be a difference in audio, since they are not broadcasting the new higher bitrate formats beyond DD+ currently as far as I know, so audio should actually be the same. In the receiver, you may need to assign that optical input to the desired displayed input on the receiver and the receiver should do the rest, decoding surround when it is present. The FIRST thing I would try though, is just going direct to the TV with the HDMI cable from the cable box for a bit to make sure the problem goes away. It doesn't sound like the issue is between your receiver and TV because you said the Blu-ray works fine.

 

[RCsound]

okay John 1st of all i am using a Comcast cable box and i do not see any kind of setting. 2nd of all i have bypassed the receiver and I am about 100% sure it is the receiver. I thought you said take my HDMI cable and bypass the receiver and go directly to the TV then use the optical cable from the TV to the receiver for the audio portion. is that not correct? I am sorry I thought i knew what i was doing. If that is correct is there a setting either in the receiver or the TV or both?

 

[John Garcia]

No, that's not exactly what I suggested, however that should work just fine as well. In that case, you would need to look in the TV for the audio output options to make sure it is set to output via optical, as it may not do it by default. Theoretically, you should get the same thing whether you connect the optical from the TV (though I have heard of some TVs not doing this correctly) or the cable box to the receiver, but most people tend to have the cable box near the receiver, so that is often easier, but it should still work the way you have it. On the receiver side, as I mentioned, you need to determine which input the optical is assigned to (TV, DVD, etc...) and/or reassign it in the receiver's setup menu, to the input you would like it to be (TV, Cable, etc...) You may also consider contacting Comcast and tell them the receiver you have; they may know if there are settings either in the receiver or cable box that might fix the issue.

 

[RCsound]

John thank you very much. I do not have the optical cable yet will have to purchase and then try it. If i have more problems i will let you know and hopefully you will be able to help me. thanks again for your patience.

 

[RCsound]

John I went out and purchased the able Digital Optical Cable and installed. I ran a HDMI from the cable box to the TV. This will bypass the receiver. Then I ran the digital optical cable from the TV to the receiver. On the remote control of the receiver there is a button called TV, I pushed it and video comes up and the audio running through the digital cable. all is good except for one thing. The audio is faster than the the mouth if that makes sense. In other words the mouth of the people on TV is slower than the actual audio. It is like the old Japanese movies. How do I fix that?

 

[John Garcia]

That is called lipsynch. Your receiver may have the ability to compensate for it, though I don't know if it applies to that digital connection or not. That Sony receiver would seem to be current enough that it probably has this feature. I'd recommend trying the optical cable from the cable box itself to the receiver to see if that helps with the lipsynch.

 

[RCsound]

So John it would be the same setup, but just run the optical cable from the cable box to the receiver correct? I would still have HDMI from the cable box to the TV correct?

 

[John Garcia]

Yes, that is correct. That's how I setup my dad's Comcast box because he has an older receiver with no HDMI, and as mentioned, is how I have my own Dish box setup for the same reason.

 

[RCsound]

That is how I did it and it worked perfect. Thanks for your help. I have to use 2 remotes but can live with it.

 

[John Garcia]

Always a good day when it ends up working