Weird - playback sound but no video

[baj1]

New problem. I finally talked the wife into replacing her little 22-year-old CRT in the kitchen with a small 720p HD TV. Upgraded the composite connections on the PCH-A100 to HDMI. All works well when the PCH is first booted up. However, if we turn the TV off, then back on again the NPVR menus work okay, but when we play a video (any video) we get sound but no video. If we cycle power on the PCH-A100 again it works fine while the TV is on. I was able to repeat this with a PCH-A110 from another room. I'd blame the new TV/HDMI connection but why would the NPVR menu work then?

Any thoughts on this weirdness?

Thanks,
-Brad

[mvallevand]

It's not really weird or unexpected, a digital HDMI is similar to USB, when you turn it off the back on both devices do a h/w reset. To avoid this problem altogether the best solution is to exit to the NMT software and power off allowing mvpmcx2 to do full reinit when you turn the TV off. I can't really get my head around why NextPVR users like to leave it running for hours and days on end wasting so much power on the PC, the network and the NMT.

If you must keep it running, another solution is to hit the Eject+Delete key combination which forces the HDMI reset, or switch to component HD which does not need a reset.

Martin

[baj1]

If it's important, the new tv is a Vizio E19VA 19" Class LED-LCD 720p 60Hz HDTV. If I disconnect the HDMI and hook up the composite connections, playback works fine (get audio and video) after the tv has been turned off, then on again.

Hooked the HDMI back up. After cold booting and having the video working, I tried unplugging the TV after turning it off. I waited a minute, then plugged it back in. Still no video playback, only audio. I did notice the OSD works -- if I pause the video (with only audio) the progress bar shows up. Maybe that's not so surprising. I read some TVs have problems with HDCP handshaking, but wouldn't that affect the NPVR menu and OSD as well?

Very perplexing...

[baj1]

Thanks Martin. I guess I still don't understand how the NPVR menu and OSD differ from the video playback, but I guess I don't really need too. I've been using a PCH-A110 connected via HDMI to my Samsung UN40C6300 for 2 years and never had this issue, which is why this surprised me.

So what I'm hearing is I should either get a component video cable set or look for a different TV, maybe a small Samsung (if my 40" is any indicator).

As to why many users don't power down the NMTs I would guess they are like us - just not patient enough to wait for the boot-up and fiddling with the remote to get NPVR running. For us, we use the Hauppauge remotes so that'd be another remote we'd have to have handy all the time also. I once checked power usage of these and several other devices in my house and as I recall they draw about 10w. All my PCH's combined use less than a 60w light bulb. We're very conservative with our lights, so I don't feel bad about the PCHs.

Thanks,
-Brad

[mvallevand]

- Did you try the Eject+Delete option that I suggested.

- As for TV's some don't have this problem and it is not necessarily a function of cost, I think it is based on the HDMI chipset in the TV.

- for "why" it works for the OSD and not video, they use two different SDK's and the older one used for video is not hot plug aware.

- I am not saying to power the NMT down requiring a boot, I am saying hit the power button twice which gets you to the NMT menu and then just turns off the NMT monitor. The Hauppauge remote will work at that point.

- when you are measuring the NMT power don't forget that it is a network application so the PC is also working constantly as a server sending the screen saver and heart beat message, the PC drive is being written to for the logging, and your network switch can't go into any power saving modes.

Martin

[baj1]

Thanks Martin.

A quick Eject+Delete did nothing. Holding the two buttons for a short time shutdown NPVR and brought up the NMT menu, same as pressing the power button.

Sadly it appears this issue is contagious. After two years of using the same A-110 with my 40" Samsung via HDMI with no problems, and less than a month after first seeing the problem with a separate A-110 and Vizio TV, my original A-110 and Samsung are now doing this same thing. Regressing is NG.

I see what you mean about using the power button, by the way, and that isn't too bad. Seeing how I almost have to do that now on my main TV anyway maybe I can train the household on that procedure.

[mvallevand]

A quick Eject+Delete did nothing. Holding the two buttons for a short time shutdown NPVR and brought up the NMT menu, same as pressing the power button.

Since it's not clear, it is Eject followed by the Delete key. Eject twice does take you to the main menu. You also need to do this before playing video.

Martin

[lostboy]

I have a little Samsung 720p which has this behaviour, and a more recent Samsung 1080p which does not. When I forget to power off the A110 feeding the little set and I get the sound but no video behaviour, Eject + Delete doesn't seem to clear the problem, but I've found that I can get video back by playing a hi-def MKV file which seems to do the trick (I use a download of the trailer for the second fantastic four film), after playing this I can play the TS files NPVR captures from my DVB-S2 card without problems. This is faster than a full reset of the A110.

Chris

[mvallevand]

Yes that does the same type of reset. Simply going back to the NMT menu and returning to NextPVR also does a reset.

Martin

[baj1]

Update on my "contagious" situation. The PCH A-110 which contracted the "video-but-no-sound" illness after working fine for 2 years has been cured! I did a reset to factory defaults from the NMT menu, then reconfigured as it was before and TA-DA! It now displays video and sound as it did previously when the TV is powered on and off with the NMT on running NPVR.