Does Denon 3400h pass native video resolution? (1 Viewer)

[TonyD]

So a couple months ago I got a 4K tv.
Last week I noticed that everything is 2160 even things that should be 720p or 1080 etc.

i discovered when I turn the Denon off I can get a native video feed on the tv.
When I turn it on it switches everything to 2160.

I’ve gone through the settings and couldn’t find anything that would allow for native video pass through.

Anyone have an idea on this?

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Tony, I own the Denon X3300W, which is the predecessor to your model by one year. My AVR passes all video resolutions natively, so yours should, too. I would imagine the options in the setup menu are pretty close between the two models. Here are the video-related settings I am using according to my notes. If these don't work for you, I can check the actual AVR to make sure they are still set that way.

HDMI Pass Through = OFF
Video Conversion = ON
I/P Scaler = OFF
Resolution = AUTO
Video Mode = Bypass

It's been quite awhile since I configured the AVR, but if I recall those first two settings are that way in order to support the Denon's on screen display, even though you would think you'd want them set differently.

 

[TonyD]

Yeah that’s what I have it set to.

receiver doesn’t seem to have a “video mode —> Pass through” option.

I never thought about it in the couple of years I’ve had this particular Denon but now have a 4K tv and don’t care for everything being converted to 2160.

 

[JohnRice]

The I/P Scaler is what you want turned off.

BTW, everything that isn't 4K has to be scaled, so if nothing else does it, then the TV does it.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I just checked all the video settings on my actual Denon X3300W receiver, and here are all the options under the video category. I only have two components that are not 4K -- Xfinity cable box and Oppo 980H DVD player -- and I verified that both are sending 1080p through the Denon AVR, and that is what is being received by the Vizio 4K display when I press the Vizio's INFO button.

Picture Adjust
- Picture Mode = OFF
HDMI Setup
- HDMI Audio Out = AVR
- HDMI Pass Through = OFF
- HDMI Control = OFF
- ARC = OFF
Output Settings
- Video Mode = AUTO
- Video Conversion = ON
- i/p scaler = OFF
On Screen Display
- Volume = Top
- Info = OFF
- Now Playing = Always On
TV Format
- Format = NTSC


FYI, there is no "Video Mode = Bypass" setting on the receiver. My configuration notes had a footnote indicating that this setting may be for the X2300 model only. I had done some research into the X3300W before it shipped to find all the optimal settings and saved them in a configuration document. I must have never removed that line from the document.

 

[TonyD]

The problem with Comcast is that they don’t allow native screen resolution.
In settings you must choose one and then that’s what everything from their box is.
So,I set my X1 Comcast box to best available which would be 2160.

So everything from Comcast tv is 2160.

Now when I go to the firestick or Apptv Box everything there is also 2160.

I’ve made all the settings compatible with whatever should allow for pass through to give me whatever the source resolution is.

Amazon Firestick airs just about all the options from 480 to 720 and 1080.

If I turn off the Denon and just watch from the tv with no Denon I do get whatever the broadcast is sending through.

I might have to check with Denon to see what they can recommend.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

If I turn off the Denon and just watch from the tv with no Denon I do get whatever the broadcast is sending through.

So, are you switching to a cable run directly from the source component to the display when doing this? Can you list your settings for everything in the video section of your Denon's setup menu? Maybe we can see something you may be missing. You don't happen to have HDMI Control turned on, do you? That may be causing the issue.

 

[TonyD]

Everything goes into the Denon and one hdmi to the tv.

When I get home later I’ll check all the settings.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Since you seem to be having issues with your streaming devices, I checked on exactly how I have mine setup and what I am getting through my Denon receiver. For the Apple TV 4K device, I have the ATV4K's video setup as 4K SDR with Dolby Vision enabled. With those settings, everything gets converted on the Apple device to 4K and passed through the Denon as such. These settings allow the Apple to handle SDR, HDR10 and Dolby Vision material properly (i.e. no conversion of SDR material to HDR).

I do not own any Amazon Fire device, but I have my Roku Ultra that supports Dolby Vision setup in auto detect mode for the display type. It comes up as 4K, and passes that 4K through the Denon to the display.

So, what you may be experiencing is your Firestick and the Denon are negotiating the display resolution as 4K, similar to my Roku Ultra. You may be able to force the Firestick to a lower resolution just to see if the Denon then passes that lower resolution through to the display to test the theory. However, the video resolution eventually has to be converted to 4K somewhere in the chain, as your TV will only display its native resolution of 4K. So if the resolution is not converted to 4K before it reaches the display, the conversion happens there.

Personally, I am more concerned about SDR & HDR being handled properly with no artificial conversion of SDR material to HDR. All of my 4K devices are setup to support that, but all are outputting 4K resolution -- so the source device is converting lower res material to 4K. My two non-4K source devices -- the Xfinity X1 cable box and Oppo 980H DVD player -- have maximum output resolutions of 1080p, and that is what they send to the display through the Denon receiver and the Vizio display then upconverts the video to 4K.

 

[TonyD]

In the end this isn’t that big of a thing but I just want to watch whatever I can in it’s broadcasted format.
I just tested the Firestick.

Settings on that are highest res (auto)

With the denon turned OFF it passes Scarface through on the tv as 4K hdr10 as it should.
It will do this with Denon on too.
But when I switch to a show that is not 4K such as Legends of the Fall.
It appears as 1080p, as it should.

Now turning the Denon back on.....
Now Legends is 2160 on the tv.
Oh and I set the Comcast box to 1080 down from 2160 and I do get 1080 on the tv for that.
Now confusing it even more, with the Comcast box set to 1080 I can go into Prime app on the Comcast box and put a 4K item on.
Jack Ryan. Tv displays this as 1080 but also turns the hdr10 icon on.


So getting into my settings.....

 

[TonyD]

Picture Adjust
- Picture Mode = OFF
HDMI Setup
- HDMI Audio Out = AVR
- HDMI Pass Through = OFF
- HDMI Control = OFF
- ARC = OFF
Output Settings
- Video Mode = AUTO
- Video Conversion = ON
- i/p scaler = OFF
On Screen Display
- Volume = Top
- Info = OFF
- Now Playing = Always On
TV Format
- Format = NTSC

I compared what I had to this.
The only thing that I’m sure is different was ARC being on. I turned it off.

Anyway, over the last few days I thought I tried every combo.
Guess I didn’t because whatever I did I was able to get the correct setting to show the correct res.

Now for the Atv. I have the same setting as probably all of us in here.
Just for fun I switched it to 1080 SDR and interestingly enough it still gives DV but only 1080p video.
So Atv apparently doesn’t send out whatever the native video is for anything you watch there.

Whatever I did I was able to get it to do what I was trying to do.

Thanks Scott.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

In the end this isn’t that big of a thing but I just want to watch whatever I can in it’s broadcasted format.

Keep in mind you are never watching material in its native "broadcast format" resolution unless that native resolution is 4K (i.e. 2160). All 4K TV's are 2160 resolution only, so any lower resolution has to get converted to 4K somewhere along the way -- either by the source component, your AVR, or the TV.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

Keep in mind you are never watching material in its native "broadcast format" resolution unless that native resolution is 4K (i.e. 2160). All 4K TV's are 2160 resolution only, so any lower resolution has to get converted to 4K somewhere along the way -- either by the source component, your AVR, or the TV.

To that point, if Tony (or anyone else reading this) has the time and inclination, it can be worth playing around with the settings to see which scaler on which device does the best job. On my system, I found that my disc player did a better job of scaling DVD content than my TV or receiver did, but I found the opposite was true with my cable box (before I got rid of cable), that the receiver and TV both did better jobs than the cable box itself did. So that could be an afternoon project if you’re that bored one day!

 

[JohnRice]

That is usually something the bargain brands do poorly. I have two 4K Vizios, which are known to have bad scaling, so I have it done before the TV.

 

[TonyD]

My Vizio which is the biggest and best non OLED they offer is not great at scaling or converting or whatever it is.

4K is amazing but anything that’s not 4K is hit or miss.

What this tv is good at is revealing the limitations of a poor broadcast.

ABC, NFL channel and ESPN are the worst offenders.
Seems anything 720 tends to look poor.
Anyway I have Denon doing what I was looking for so that’s an accomplishment..

 

[Scott Merryfield]

That is usually something the bargain brands do poorly. I have two 4K Vizios, which are known to have bad scaling, so I have it done before the TV.

Same here with my 4K source components -- I let them handle the conversion to 2160. Plus, the configuration is simpler and the setup is easier to use (no changing resolutions on the source component if it doesn't do that automatically). For my two 1080p sources, I just let the display handle the upconversion. My Vizio display may not be the best at it, but it's simpler than trying to do it in the Denon AVR, and sometimes simpler is better.

 

[TonyD]

Ok guys back again for another question bout Denon.
I’ve noticed when I fast forward or pause on Resume the volume is lower or slightly muted.
After a few seconds it comes back to full volume.
It almost seems like a loud sound protection protocol.

I‘m perplexed

 

[JohnRice]

It could be exactly that kind of protection.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Ok guys back again for another question bout Denon.
I’ve noticed when I fast forward or pause on Resume the volume is lower or slightly muted.
After a few seconds it comes back to full volume.
It almost seems like a loud sound protection protocol.

I‘m perplexed

I don't think my Denon 3300 does this. If it does, it's slight enough that I never noticed. Maybe there is a setting in the audio setup for this?