Being a UK brand I'm not sure how many US AV enthusiasts will have Arcam players, but I only need one person to know the answer, so here goes.

I have this (superb) DVD player connected with HDMI to an Arcam AV9 amp and then via a 5m Chord Silver HDMI cable to a SIM2 HT380. The problem is I get no image with region encoded discs. It will display unencoded (region 0) disc without a problem, but as soon as I pop a region 1 or 2 disc in, all I get is a blank screen. My other HDMI equipment (satellite box, PS3, Apple TV) all work fine.
I have even borrowed a friends 139 and that too won't work in my setup.
If I connect the 139 directly to the PJ everything is OK, and if I connect via component everything is OK.

Any suggestions??

Just ran this by an Arcam USA customer service specialist. He said that there is a possibility that one of the HDMI cables is not HDMI 2 compliant, or that the combined length of the two HDMI cables is the problem (as the AV9 serves only as HDMI switcher). If you are running 1080p on the DV139, change it to 720P and see if the HDMI signal then passes through the AV9 to the PJ properly. You may also have to borrow a HDMI/HDMI adaptor to combine the two cables to see if all is still ok running from the DV139 direct to the PJ. In either case, it is virtually impossible for it to be a problem with the DV139 as it works directly to the PJ. It's either a cable problem or the AV9. Let me know what you find.

Hi Webhammer,
I have tried lowering the resolution to 1080i, and 720p, with no joy - the combined length of the two cables is 7m (20ft).

Andy

Doesn't sound like hardware issues. Sounds like firmware - the player has it's region setting buggered. Region code has nothing to do with how the disc is encoded (eg PAL vs NTSC etc). Or, still FW, it's possible the Region 0 disc has no Macrovision protection and the other discs do and for some reason the player thinks it shouldn't upconvert. Does 480p/576p work?

larry

Now tried all possible resolutions and still not getting an image unless region free disc.:(:confused:

If component, s-video, or composite output works, then I wouldn't think it's a region coding mix-up. Otherwise that's what it appears to be.

larry

Could be a bad HDMI port on the AV9, have you tried the others? If not, maybe time to have the dealer out for some trouble shooting.

Could be a bad HDMI port on the AV9, have you tried the others? If not, maybe time to have the dealer out for some trouble shooting. Could be. Switching ports would help. Also, I just noticed that direct connect to PJ works. That eliminates region coding issues. Could still be macrovision issues and whether or not vidio can be upscaled or not.

larry

guys thanks for your suggestions. I have since tried another AV9 from my dealer, and that doesn't work either. Interestingly I tried a simple HDMI switch between the DVD and the projector, and this also managed to prevent an image. I assume this means there must be a problem with the HT380??

Just an update

This problem has now been resolved - A big thanks to Alan Roser and SIM2 both in the UK and Italy. In order to resolve this issue SIM2 UK sent the arcam 139 to Italy in order to work out the cause of the problem. I am not technically minded but it appears there was a problem with the resistors on the ABT board which prevented the signal from being passed to the HDMI output. (Don't quote me on this as I may be wrong) - But this is definitely a unique problem with this combination of products, and I am impressed at the lengths SIM have gone to to resolve this issue for me. Customer care at its best. SIM have worked out a solution and I have had my repair done today while I waited in SIMs offices. As I type this my PJ is back in its rightful position and I am watching a fantastic image watching "Shooter"

Thanks to the guys on the forum for all your suggestions

Andy