jimgfitzgerald's profile

Guru

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1.1K Messages

Sunday, July 10th, 2011 8:43 PM

Help Me Understand The HDMI 5.1 DD Issue

I have a Cisco IPN-4320 DVR connected to my tv with HDMI.  I have optical from the DVR to an Onkyo surround sound receiver.  Normally, I watch tv with the surround sound system turned off.  I get sound from the DVR to tv via HDMI.  When I want surround sound, I turn on the Onkyo receiver and get sound from the DVR to Onkyo via optical.  If I leave the Cisco DVR set on stereo, I get simulated surround sound, or I can change the DVR to surround sound and get 5.1.  I would prefer to just leave the DVR set on surround sound, but if the Onkyo is turned off, I don't get any sound from the DVR to the tv via the connected HDMI cable.  Why is that?  This is the exact same setup I used with Charter cable and it worked.  I did a search here and found threads where people are saying U-Verse now transmits 5.1 via HDMI.  Is that not correct or is there something about the way I have my DVR wired that is preventing this?  I'm confused on this issue.  Thanks.

Guru

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1.1K Messages

13 years ago

OK, I figured it out.  It's this particular Samsung tv and how it handles 5.1 over HDMI.  It is supposed to accept it, but for some reason, it won't accept it from the Cisco DVR.  There must be something about the way U-Verse sends it that the tv can't deal with.  To verify this, I moved our small Samsung flat screen from the kitchen and plugged it into the HDMI cable from the DVR and was able to receive sound via HDMI.  So, I think my choices are to just deal with it or switch from HDMI to component cables.  I might also be able to simply add R/L audio cables from the DVR to my tv for sound and keep HDMI for video.  There is a set of R/L jacks on my tv that are assigned to one of the HDMI jacks for use with DVI.  I think I'll try that first.

Guru

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1.1K Messages

13 years ago

It appears the only work around is component cables.  I did some research on my model Samsung tv and there are issues with HDMI.  Some people have replace circuit boards, etc. to resolve the issue, but it's not worth that for me.  I would switch to component, but I would have to downgrade my Slingbox from component to S-video or move the Slingbox to another tv.  So, for now, I'm stuck with having to manually switch back and forth between stereo and surround.

Expert

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10.1K Messages

13 years ago

You did not report on why the analog Jacks did not work. This is the thing I suggested in the beginning. What is your model TV? I will look at the manual to see if there is a setting. Better yet post the link to the manual.

Why not move the DVR (as you proposed) With phase 2 the DVR needed to be at the most used TV to allow backup of live TV. With phase 3 the DVR should be at the least used TV to open up the extra channel.

If you want to use component, you can connect both slingbox and TV with Y connectors.

New Member

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25.7K Messages

13 years ago

If it's any consolation, I have 2 Sony flat screens.  One is a 40XBR3 and the other is a 52XBR9.  The 40XBR3 will not get audio thru the TV speakers if set to "surround" but the 52XBR9 will.  The 40 only has 2 built in speakers and the 52 has 4.  Nothing I can do to make the 40XBR3 receive surround though.  I guess it's just to old.

Guru

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1.1K Messages

13 years ago

I don't know why the analog jacks won't work, but I just get a pop, then nothing. I think the audio follows the video and needs a video source to activate the audio.  My tv is a Samsung LN-S4096D.  There are no options for mixing and matching video and audio sources.  There are lots of threads about defective boards, etc.  Swapping the DVR and STB would not solve the problem.  Also, it's just my wife and I and we rarely use more than 2 HD streams at a time.  I guess I could use Y-connectors if I wanted 10 wires hanging behind my tv in addition to a bunch that are already back there.  Thanks.

Guru

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1.1K Messages

13 years ago

My tv is supposed to accept surround sound through HDMI.  I guess there is some sort of defect that's probably not worth fixing.  It's $89 for the guy to come diagnosis it.

Expert

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10.1K Messages

13 years ago

I looked through the manual - the only thing I could find is SRS - If I read it correctly the SRS accepts the 5.1 and simulates it on two speakers.

SRS is on/off by button on the remote or menu selection.

Did you try that?

Guru

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1.1K Messages

13 years ago

Yep, it makes no difference.  I basically tried everything.  The tv is pretty simple, actually.  As much as I hate to, I may try the component option with splitters to share the signal with my Slingbox.  I would only need 3 splitters since the Cisco DVR has two pairs of L/R audio jacks.  I already have a good set of audio cables, so I would need to purchase 3 video cables and 3 splitters.  Thanks for your help.

Guru

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1.1K Messages

13 years ago

What can I use to split the component video signal that won't degrade the picture quality significantly?  Where can I get them?  Maybe I should just bite the bullit and switch my Slingbox to S-video and keep the tv picture quality as good as possible.  Only problem here is I'm using my Slingbox S-video input for my Roku.  All of this just because I don't want to manually switch back and forth between stereo and surround sound on my U-Verse DVR.  I guess I could ditch the Roku feed since I can watch Netflix directly from their website and there is now a Netflix app for my Droid.

Expert

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10.1K Messages

13 years ago

You have options & you can decide what is best. I searched radio shack for the Y adapter & found a deluxe model. You should be able to find one less expensive. I have seen concerns about the quality of connection, but have not had a problem doing it. If it is bad you can return it.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3909665
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