I purchased a new Sony Vaio laptop FW-298Y with HDMI output and Blueray player anticipating using it to watch Blueray movies on my Panasonic TV Model TH-50PX500U purchased 3 ½ years ago. According to the owner’s manual, the Panasonic TV HDMI input supports EIA/CEA-861/861B compliant consumer electronic devices.

When using the same HDMI cable that functions fine using the Scientific Atlanta set top cable box and connecting it to the HDMI output on the Sony Vaio, there is no picture on the Panasonic TV. Using the VGA output from the Sony Vaio works fine on the Panasonic TV.

After telephone technical support with Sony verifying the proper installation of the ATI driver and correct settings, they recommended I contact Panasonic.

Upon contacting Panasonic, I was told that based on the age of the TV, only a cable box HDMI output and not a computer HDMI output will function properly. The Panasonic technician explained that the HDMI input on the TV has different buffer characteristics explaining something about 1 pin with 3 volts, as contrasted with the new Panasonic TV’s which have 1 input buffered and 2 not buffered.

Is there a device that will convert the HDMI signal from the Sony Vaio to the correct signal used by the HDMI port on the Panasonic TV that would make the signal the equivalent of the set top box signal?

Thanks for any advice.

-Tom

Don't know if it would work but you could try an HDMI booster/repeater such as http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10419&cs_id=1041907&p_id=2849&seq=1&format=2. Connect it at the input to the TV. It may shift the levels such that the Vaio signal will be compatible with the TV.

Don't know if it would work but you could try an HDMI booster/repeater. Connect it at the input to the TV. It may shift the levels such that the Vaio signal will be compatible with the TV.

Thanks for the suggestion. I’ll check out the booster.

Under Troubleshooting in the owner’s manual, in the “No Picture, No Sound” section, it says: “Make sure that a PC is not connected to the HDMI input.” I wish I would have read that before I had the desire to spend $1,600 on the new Sony notebook with the Blu-Ray read/write drive that won’t display on the TV. The HDCP is working good too, because I tried to watch the Blu-Ray movie using the VGA cable and it blocks it with a copyright message. I really want to know why there is no interoperability on the HDMI ports. I want to know the technical reason better than I do now.

My recollection is the HDMI cable I purchased 3 ½ years ago is either 25 or 30 feet. It’s a lot thicker than the other HDMI cables I have. But perhaps it needs a boost. I also need to troubleshoot with a short cable with the Sony Vaio close to the TV and with another, newer TV.

After listening to the Panasonic rep tell me that the TV would work only with a set top box, or a stand alone DVD or Blu-Ray player, I read all I could on this and other forums and particularly on HDMI.org. There is no information I can find on this particular incompatibility relating to buffer. I guess by buffer, they mean signal strength. There is plenty of discussion on incompatibility, but its all related to the manufacturers lack of implementation and testing. The site discusses new testing standards and also describes “plug fests” where they invite all the manufactures to meet and plug in to each other to see if it works out of the box.

There is an interesting podcast on the main page of HDMI.org with a rep from Dolby as the moderator, discussing how backward compatible everything is and how plug and play everything is. They discuss plug and play and talk about how invisible the technology is to the end user and how all you have to do is just plug it in and it works. Yeah.

I also found the discussion of the new CES standard interesting, where the devices configure each other, so when you pop a Blu-Ray in a drive, the amp turns on and selects the right input, turns the TV on and configures the TV to select the input from the Blue-Ray. We’ll see about all that. All I know is I’m tired of buying gear and watching it become obsolete, because of connectors. Nuff said. -Tom

Could it be some type of scan incompatibility between the Viao and the TV? What is the scan resolution and frequency of the Viao when it is set to play Blu-Ray?

Possibily, but I had a manager with Sony tech support on the phone for two hours who knew the notebook's ATI driver very well. He worked every setting the driver had. I asked about scanning frequency and resolution. The short answer he gave: you hook it up and press fn and F7 and it should output to the TV.

We then used the VGA cable attached to the TV and hooked it up to the Sony laptop which worked fine. At that point he said we have now ruled out the driver, but we haven't ruled out the HDMI port on either the Sony or the Panasonic TV. He also wondered about HDCP, but the manual says the TV is HDCP compliant.

Once I rule out any problems with the HDMI port on the new notebook, I'm going back to Panasonic and ask for more technical information on the statement in the manual: "Make sure a PC is not plugged into the HDMI port." Im sure that must have someting to do with the previous answer relating to their older TV's having different "buffer" characteristics on the HDMI port. The Panasonic rep said this was changed about a year ago on the new TV's - something about 1 input (pin?) is buffered and two are not and therefore a PC can be plugged into the HDMI port and work. There is no information on HDMI.org regarding HDMI buffer.

I checked out the repeater you pointed to. The reviews by people are very favorable. Only a few people said it didn't solve the problem. I wonder if there is any difference in their product vs. something from Gefen. Its only 25 bucks so if it doesn't work, not a big deal.

Its also possible that Monoprice.com can answer the question, or someone with ATI.

Once I rule out any problems with the HDMI port on the new notebook, I'm going back to Panasonic and ask for more technical information on the statement in the manual: "Make sure a PC is not plugged into the HDMI port." Im sure that must have someting to do with the previous answer relating to their older TV's having different "buffer" characteristics on the HDMI port. The Panasonic rep said this was changed about a year ago on the new TV's - something about 1 input (pin?) is buffered and two are not and therefore a PC can be plugged into the HDMI port and work. There is no information on HDMI.org regarding HDMI buffer.

I checked out the repeater you pointed to. The reviews by people are very favorable. Only a few people said it didn't solve the problem. I wonder if there is any difference in their product vs. something from Gefen. Its only 25 bucks so if it doesn't work, not a big deal.
If the TV has more than one HDMI input then he may have been referring to some type of buffer circuit on input 1, not pin 1. But it's not at all clear why an input buffer would affect whether a PC would work as a source or not. The HDMI signal is supposed to be standardized and it shouldn't matter what the source, as long as it's HDMI compliant. It would seem that a repeater/extender would have similar characteristics to such a buffer.

Gefen devices are certainly more expensive and seem to work well. Whether they are better than Monoprice, it's hard to say how much of the extra Gefen cost is for the brand name and how much is for a better design. Try the Monoprice and, if it doesn't work, return for a refund.