I had an issue Wednesday night... one that I have never encountered. I am curious if anyone else has seen this as well.

Equipment:
1) Denon AVR controlled serial
2) New Sony XBR TV (also exhibited the same behavior with an older Fujitsu)
3) Xfinity X1 slave, Apple TV, Sony Blu-ray.
4) RTI T1B+ via RM433 and XP8s

1. When first fired on, no problem. Picture and audio displays.
2. Once the system is on and I select a new source via RTI remote, I loose picture (does not resync to new source) and audio remains on previous source despite input change on AVR.
3. When I change AVR source via knob (manual selection) or I turn on/off the receiver manually the source "changes" like it should.
4. The issue seems to only exist when the AVR input is changed via serial control.

Additional detail...

1. When this first appeared with an older Fujitsu I was able to resolve by switching away from the TV HDMI input and back to it so I chalked it up to the older HDMI spec on this 10 year old TV.
2. When I installed the new Sony TV, switching the TV input back and forth did not work as it had with the Fujitsu.
3. I removed all TV commands including power and input commands just to make sure these commands were not being processed during the HDMI sync process and interfering somehow.
4. Serial for the AVR, High out IR to the room for TV and source control and connections for the RM433 are all carried on a single CAT 5 wire so the potential for some sort of cross signal contamination could be happening however, all communications seem to execute properly.

Any takers?
 

Sounds like the receiver's RS232 command that you're using is able to change the video signal separate from the input selection, thus the audio source staying and attempt to switch video source, since it's HDMI, no shake thus no picture and old audio.

Denon AVRs do have a video select feature but these are not the commands being used. I am using tried and true RTI serial driver commands for main zone input commands and these should be no different from switching inputs manually. I did not however, try issuing IR commands from the native remote.

How long is the cable run for the rs232? I ask because we have been told by Sony that ours are too long and that is why we sometimes have issues with their projectors not turning on every time.

Sounds like a receiver issue to me. Hard reset yet? Firmware? Try IR control?

I would try the AVR's remote. If it works properly i would try switching (reprogramming) the AVR over to IR and see if it works like it should.

If that works you are done and you aren't really losing anything (volume level etc) since the T1-B doesn't have a touchscreen. If it doesn't work then you have ruled out the serial commands/cable and maybe your AVR has a problem.

That would be the first thing to try. However, this part would suggest it's not a control issue

|When this first appeared with an older Fujitsu I was able to resolve by switching away from the TV HDMI input and back to it so I chalked it up to the older HDMI spec on this 10 year old TV.

Try Yamaha ;)

I thought the same thing but this part is describing something wonky happening somewhere.


My uneducated guess here is that the serial command is more sophisticated (and more likely to be wonky with HDMI crap) than the IR command. Hopefully the IR command brute forces the source change. I am imagining the serial command speaking to the receiver in a British accent "pardon me sir...might you please switch to the Blu-ray player?" and the IR command is a NY taxi driver "come on...switch sources already i dont have all day".

...Yamaha 'may' resolve it, but that might not be the answer.

I've had 2 Sony XBR65x850's we've done in the past 2 months (with Yamaha receivers) all done with IR control, and the SONY TV's are finicky.

They need a minimum half second of no IR before and after their commands are sent. Took a while to figure this out...so it might be a CEC issue on the back end coupled with IR control Power/Input commands on the front end...and the use of a Denon Receiver (which model number and how old would be helpful too).

I'm working with an old Fujitsu and an RX-A2040 and have found that hitting the TV with an input command too soon after a power command might cause a black screen and audio dropouts. Since the only connection to the TV is HDMI, I assume that this is a handshake issue. Adding a delay after the power command seems to have eliminated the issue. Since there is no reason to change the input on the TV, I'm tempted to remove that command from my string. As another "hedge" I have a flag that tracks TV power. TV power and input commands are issued only as the system is started up. Normally, I will not do this, but in this case there is little risk that anyone will turn OFF the TV except via my program.

What are the source change strings you're using? The behavior kind of sounds like video select.

The commands are very simple like SICD, SITUNER, SICABLE.

I take it you're sending the HDMI command as a guarantee. Shift it to the shutdown macro so the TV doesn't have that challenge upon system start.

When I had the Fujitsu installed (about three days before the client pulled the trigger on the Sony) I had thought the same thing. I slowly stripped away TV commands from the macro thinking it did not like a power command issued (after it was on) during the HDMI conversation. This was not the case in the end.

I know my Denon serial in and out. I guarantee this has nothing to do with Video Select commands. It does sound like the video select architecture could be gacking however.

I will be there Monday to test more. I suspect I will kick it over to IR if it is truly free of the issue. The AVR is several years old (4310 or 4311)

My thoughts in no order:

1. HDMI board on AVR going bad.
2. Video select architecture going bad.
3. Serial connection allowing induced interference to AVR (Serial run is long and the CAT5 it is on carries other signals as well.
4. Wire signals jamming or interfering with each other. This room is using one IR feed for all devices from the processor High Out. IR Signals are sequenced but tightly so and perhaps the length of the run is affecting cross talk confusing the components.

Facts:

1. All commands execute using Serial on the AVR and IR on all other devices.
2. Via serial, an AVR source change often causes a loss of video and the audio remains on the prior source.
3. Via manual operation, an AVR source change seems to behave properly most if not all of the time.
4. If the switch does not behave properly, a manual shift away from and back to the troubled source resolves the issue.

Thanks for all the responses.