Owners of the da4es, inside please. (1 Viewer)

[Ryan DC]

First off I would like to wish everyone on this forum a merry christmas!
I have what seems to be a problem with my video 3 input connection on the front of this receiver. It only involves the video input (yellow) connection, the rest (back of receiver) work fine. What happens is whenever I connect my Ps2 using the video jack there are a bunch of vertical bars imposed on the screen with the graphics. Now whenever I connect using the s-video on the front or the other inputs on the back the picture is fine. I am using the monitor s-video out to my t.v.
This problem only seems to be associated with the Ps2 but my other video systems work fine through the front inputs (Snes,Ps1,genesis) although I haven't hooked up an Xbox to it yet. I was wondering what might be causing this problem? Whenever I pull out the video plug so that the outer ring doesn't touch the jack it goes away. I was also wondering if you could and had a Ps2, hook it up to your 4es through the video 3 composite inputs and report here whether you have this problem or not? That way we could see if this might be a design flaw of the 4es.
I appreciate your input on this and wish you all happy holidays!
Thanks

 

[Dan Joy]

Now whenever I connect using the s-video on the front or the other inputs on the back the picture is fine. I am using the monitor s-video out to my t.v.

I know on my DA5ES that if you use monitor out s-vid, all video must be s-vid to work!

 

[Ryan DC]

Dan, thanks for responding! The 4es has a new feature called upconversion which takes all video and converts that to the monitor out be it composite, componet, and s-video.

 

[Wayne Ernst]

Dan, thanks for responding! The 4es has a new feature called upconversion which takes all video and converts that to the monitor out be it composite, componet, and s-video.

Ryan,
You've brought up a good point in regards to the up-conversion. I'm assuming you are running component video cables between your receiver and TV. Correct? Is this issue still present when you run an S-video cable between your receiver and TV?
I don't hava a PS2 to run the test for you. However, my nephew will be over with his in a week or so. My guess is that someone will certainly be able to test the input with a PS2 before that time.

 

[alan_dana]

I know the DA4ES does composite to s-video upconversion, but I don't believe it can upconvert either composite or s-video to component.
It sounds like you have a ground loop of some kind in your system, given how the problem occurs as soon as the grounds are connected. Take a look at this link
http://www.epanorama.net/documents/g...isolation.html
Alan

 

[Ryan DC]

Wayne,

I am running an s-video cable from the monitor out on the back of the receiver to my t.v. But I have discovered something, When I switch to a composite cable hooked up to monitor out to my t.v. instead of the s-video cable the problem goes away!? I don't understand this, when I have the s-video cable hooked up as monitor out and I connect using composite to any of the back video ins (1,2,tv/sat) it works fine. It's only the front yellow jack video 3 input that has a problem when I use an s-video cable going out to my tv. Is it possible that the power transformer being so close to the video 3 input is screwing up the signal? Also I'd really appreciate it if you would be willing to hook up your nephews ps2 to see if you might have this problem also.

Alan,

First off thank you very much for that informative link.

You are right about the 4es not being able to do component my fault. The picture provided on that sight does not look anything like the problem I am experiencing. I have taken a digital picture of this problem but I don't really know how to post it on here. Do I just upload it to my pc and then attach it on this post? Or do I have to subscribe to a web site that has to host the picture first?

These vertical bars that I am having do not roll through the video they are stationary and seem to follow the contours of the graphics. I have noticed something that when I have the video 3 inputs connected and I move the flip down face plate up and down the interference moves a little. Moving the connected cable around does nothing. I have tried disconnecting everything from the receiver and tv. So that just the ps2 is plugged into the receiver and the s-video out to the tv, but the problem is still there. So I'm wondering if there is a ground loop problem it must be within the receiver?

Anyone else with a suggestion please reply, thank you!

 

[Wayne Ernst]

Ryan,
My nephew arrived last evening with his PS2. This morning, we connected the PS2 to my STR-DA4ES. Using video input #3 on the front panel reveals the vertical bars that you described. We then connected the PS2 to video input #2 in the back of the receiver - and the picture was perfect.
I'm not too sure why video input #3 on the front panel experiences this issue. Seems like a defect to me. After this weekend, I won't be using a PS2 connected to my 4ES - and will probably never use the video #3 input connection again for a PS2. However, for those who want to connect a PS2 to the 4ES in this manner, there is definately an issue with the video signal input quality for this port. :frowning:

 

[Ryan DC]

Wayne,
Thank you so much for checking out your da-4es on this problem! Did you happen to notice if the vertical bars subsided somewhat after playing for an hr or so? Mine seems to do this but I can still see faint vertical bars. I imagine you had an s-video going out from your receiver to your tv? Also if you don't mind me asking but what is the s/n # on your receiver? my last 4 digits are 5342. Also would you consider taking your receiver back if it was still within the 30 day return policy even if you had to pay return shipping ($40+) for this particular defect?
I was able to hook up my friends Xbox to the video 3 input with the original Xbox composite cable and there was no vertical bars whatsoever. But when I hooked up a Madcatz $10 universal composite cable (ps2,snes,xbox,gamecube) to the video 3 input the problem sprang up again, but was much worse than the ps2s cable. So maybe its just that the ps2s cable is el cheapo and doesn't offer enough shielding?
If anyone else can please check to see if your da-4es video 3 input has vertical bars when a Ps2 is connected to it, reply back here and let us know!

 

[Wayne Ernst]

Ryan,

We only kept the PS2 connected to video #3 for about 5 minutes. After detecting the issue, we moved the connection to video #2. I can't answer to the question that the picture would improve after an hour or so, because we never left it connected that long.

Yes, I was using an S-Video connector between my STR-DA4ES and my Sony Vega TV.

In regards to the serial number, I don't have it immediately available. However, I will locate it tomorrow and post it. My box is already in the attic and the receiver is a bear to pull out on the rack.

Would I return it within the 30-day return period? Peronally, no. I don't feel that I'll ever have a need to use video #3 again. Additionally, this only appears to be a conflict with the PS2 - and only on video #3. It would be interesting to see if the issue does get cleared up with a future firmware update, though. My STR-DA4ES does a find job of doing what I need it to do. Since this is the case, I'm very content with what I have. Video switching at the receiver level has never been a priority of mine. However, now that I have the capability to perform these functions, I'll soon take greater advantage of the option.

 

[Wayne Ernst]

So maybe its just that the ps2s cable is el cheapo and doesn't offer enough shielding?

I don't think that this is the case. The PS2 does not exhibit this same issue when connected to the back of the receiver via Video #2. It seems to be an internal issue with the receiver - from the point it receives the connection from the PS2 until it passes it onto the TV.

The PS2 video cable has an RF choke on it which resides about 1" away from the connection on the console itself. This should stabilize the signal somewhat. It would be interesting how the connection between the PS2 and Video input #3 would behave if an in-line video amplifier were used - or, some device to cut down on interference.

 

[Ryan DC]

Wayne,

Just wanted to say I really appreciated your help with this problem on the DA4ES. I'm gonna try to see if J&R music world will let me exchange this one I have now and see if the new one will have this problem or not. So I'll keep everyone informed when I get another one. Wish me luck!

Thanks again!

If you have any questions for me on your 4ES let me know and I'll try to answer them.