Sky HD box and 2 displays through AV amp

[lovejoy]

I've now seen this same problem in two different setups now and wondered if anyone else was experiencing the same thing and whether they knew for sure what is causing it.

The setup - Sky HD box with HDMI out to an Onkyo AV amp. The Onkyo has 2xHDMI outputs - Main and Sub. Main is connected to a TV and sub is connected to a projector for occasional viewing. Also connected in the same way is a Pioneer BluRay player.

Up until sometime around Christmas everything worked perfectly, but now if you switch the amp to route the Sky HD signal through to the projector, the projector no longer sees a signal. Sky HD to TV is fine, and BluRay to both TV and projector are fine which rules out any cable or amp connection issues. Also if you connect the Sky HD directly to the projector that works fine too, so I'm at a bit of a loss to explain it.

The only thing I can think that has changed is that Sky have downloaded new software into the HD box. Can this have broken it? Sky's helpline are pointing the finger at the amp, but if the BluRay functions perfectly through it, how can it be?

[Reid Malenfant]

Hi Rich, let me see if i have this straight :scratch:

Your blu ray player will work with both the projector & TV connected from the Onkyo without a problem, but your Sky box wont?

Is that right? :scratch:

[lovejoy]

Hi Rich, let me see if i have this straight :scratch:

Your blu ray player will work with both the projector & TV connected from the Onkyo without a problem, but your Sky box wont?

Is that right? :scratch:

Hi Mark,
Exactly right. Never any problems in switching the output from the amp from the TV to the projector with the BluRay selected, but the SkyHD completely refuses to play when I try switching the output from TV to projector.

I've tried swapping cables, powering the whole thing down and back up in different sequences and swapping the projector to being the Main output and the TV to Sub output, but the outcome is always the same.

It just seems a bit of a coincidence that I know of 2 people with very similar setups experiencing the same problems since Christmas where before they worked perfectly.

[Reid Malenfant]

It's got to be the Sky box then :scratch: The only difference is the equipment that feeds the Onkyo & obviously the Onkyo still works fine with the blu ray player so that can only lead to one conclusion :rolleyes:

What is the sky box outputting? Does it output a de-interlaced signal or is it progressive? Can you switch between the two just out of interest?

[lovejoy]

It's got to be the Sky box then :scratch: The only difference is the equipment that feeds the Onkyo & obviously the Onkyo still works fine with the blu ray player so that can only lead to one conclusion :rolleyes:

What is the sky box outputting? Does it output a de-interlaced signal or is it progressive? Can you switch between the two just out of interest?

I reached the same conclusion. I reckon Sky have been fiddling with their software and have broken it. It'll be interesting to see if the new software magically fixes it again next week. Sky's helpline were completely oblivious to the problem so weren't a lot of help, or just weren't giving anything away.

I *THINK* the HD box is outputting 1080i which the Onkyo then upscales to 1080p. Changing the output from the Sky box has no effect.

[Reid Malenfant]

If it doesn't fix it i'd recommend you invest in something like this (http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Octava-4-x-2-HDMI-Matrix-Switch-Full-HD-1080p-HDMX42-/180616332139?pt=UK_ConsumerElectronics_VideoSwitch es_SM&hash=item2a0d92836b) ;)

I use one of these myself except mine has 5 way inputs & dual outputs. Brilliant bit of kit :)

You'd only need to use a single output of the Onkyo in that case & let the Octava drive both displays or just a single one, which ever you choose..

[lovejoy]

Thanks for that, looks like a good backup plan. Fingers crossed it won't come to that though. Lets see what the magical software update from Sky does...

[MartinT]

What is the sky box outputting? Does it output a de-interlaced signal or is it progressive? Can you switch between the two just out of interest?

You can set the Sky HD box to output 1080i or 720p and it would be worth trying both for troubleshooting purposes. I have mine set to 1080i permanently as to me the picture quality is better.

[Reid Malenfant]

You can set the Sky HD box to output 1080i or 720p and it would be worth trying both for troubleshooting purposes. I have mine set to 1080i permanently as to me the picture quality is better.
This is what i was trying to establish earlier, cheers Martin :)

What i'd suggest then is to go into your blu ray player menu & disable de-interlacing (if possible) & try a few BBC blu rays (most of these are 1080i) & see if the same problem occurs...

[Spectral Morn]

I only use my av amp for sound....all video is routed to the TV direct. I think most often it looks better that way. Unless your AV amplifier has a very good video processor of course



Regards D S D L

[Alex_UK]

My Sky HD box started telling me my Panny Plasma was an "incompatible display" - I gave it what I call a hard reboot (disconnect from mains for over 30 seconds) and it has been fine ever since - could be worth a try if you haven't done already?

[Macca]

My Sky HD box started telling me my Panny Plasma was an "incompatible display" - I gave it what I call a hard reboot (disconnect from mains for over 30 seconds) and it has been fine ever since - could be worth a try if you haven't done already?

Typical IT bod -'turn it off and turn it back on again'...:)

[Alex_UK]

Typical IT bod -'turn it off and turn it back on again'...:)

Trust me, I've built an entire career based on it! :D

[pwood]

Call Genserve who are the UK service agent for Onkyo and explain the problem to them as Onkyo amps have their issues with certain displays and sources and they will be able to confirm if the firmware is up to date. I had a problem with my Panasonic G10 and Onkyo 875 and the amp got returned for a firmware upgrade however in the end it was a Panasonic handshake issue resulting in them sending out an SD card with new firmware. Until sorted the TV refused to accept 1080p upscaled SKY HD picture but would accept upscaled DVD sent at 576i into the amp and upscaled to 1080p. It really bugged me chronic at the time.

Before doing anything else though set the Onkyo to through or pass so it's only switching not scaling and see what happens. I suspect it will work as the scaling may be causing an HDMI handshake issue with the projector since the Sky box had the software downgrade!!