AV Sync issue with Sony BDP-S3700 (1 Viewer)

[John-Miles]

Ok So i know this is going to be a weird one.

I bought my wife a Sony BDP-S3700 as a little add on gift, it was intended to replace the aging DVD player on our secondary TV.

It is connected via HDMI directly to our Samsung TV, and we use the TV speakers.

The first unit i had displayed a very noticeable AV sync issue where the video was playing ahead of the audio. This could not be rectified with the AV Sync settings as they only went one way correcting audio that preceeded video. I returned that unit and got a new one assuming the original to be defective.

The replacement had the same issue but not as bad, so i was really stumped. I then started swapping cables and inputs and eventually found the problem to be my HDMI cable (I had never suspected it as i was using a very nice cable from Blue Jeans and they have always been excellent.) So i swap the cable for a different BJC HDMI and all the problems were solved. Until an hour or two later when ti was back.

So then i went out and bought brand new cables, i plugged in the new cable and it worked fine, for a few hours, then it was out of sync again.

So finally i swapped the inputs on the TV, now both sources on both inputs seem to be working but I am not confident this will last.

If it turns out that the problem is related to a single input on the TV (which only has two inputs, and we Have a cable box and BD player, does anyone have any suggestions?

Is it possible i have missed a possible source of this sync issue?

 

[Scott Merryfield]

If the issue is with the HDMI input on the display, you could always purchase an HDMI switch box to connect both the cable box and BD player to the same working HDMI input on the display. I believe that Monoprice sells them for a decent price. I used an off-brand switching box on the old display in our bedroom, which only had two HDMI inputs, to connect a BD player and Roku box to the 2nd input (the cable box was connected to the 1st input). Our new 4K display (a Christmas present to ourselves) has three inputs, so the switching box is no longer needed.

 

[John-Miles]

Hey Scott,

I did think of that idea as well. Unfortunately more testing has determined that itbis not the input.

Right now it seems like this is the biggest coincidence yet or I am missing something very basic.

We are now getting the audio lag on both inputs, with both our cable box and the be player.

Strangely I can solve the issue by unplugging the HDMI cable and plugging it back in.

Given that the only idea I have left is that using cables of different lengths may be the issue and that disconnecting somehow resets auto adjustments

 

[Scott Merryfield]

John, it sounds like you are experiencing some sort of weird HDMI handshake issue. Those can be very difficult to resolve. The first thing I would suggest doing is making sure the firmware is up to date for all your devices -- display, cable box and BD player. Also, check to see if you have the sync issue with the cable box if the BD player is not plugged into the other input -- that should at least help narrow down where the problem originates.

I doubt the problem is with different length cables, unless one of the cables is very long (over 25 feet). Since none of your devices is 4K, you shouldn't need certified 18Gbps high speed cables, either. You could try them (Monoprice sells them cheap), but I doubt it will make a difference.

 

[John-Miles]

Hey Scott,

So i finally found an Ethernet cable long enough to connect to my TV (Had to dig through alot of boxes) unfortunately the TV did not have any updates available.

I think you are correct that there is some kind of handshake issue, because it appears that everytime i use a new input or source that the sync goes out and i need to disconnect and reconnect an HDMI cable.

so if i watch tv today, and i watch tv tomorrow it will be fine, but if i watch tv today, then put on a movie, it will be out, then out again when i go back to TV. (note i still need to do a little more testing to ensure that it ALWAYS happens like this, but so far that's what seems to be happening.