I am experiencing a quick screen flicker every 1 to 3 minutes when watching a DVD on my Panasonic BD30 over HDMI through my Onkyo 705 receiver. Actually the flicker occurs even when there is no DVD in the player (just the setup menu on the screen). Otherwise the picture and audio are pristine.

This does not occur when I run the same HDMI cable directly to the TV. It also does not happen when I watch digital cable TV through the Onkyo also over HDMI.

I even tried switching the DVD and STB inputs and cables to no avail.

Any ideas on what could be causing this?

I have been dealing with this nightmare for over a week. My best guess is that the Onkyo receivers simply are not sending enough "juice" from the HDMI port to your display. I put a booster/repeater/equalizer (whatever you want to call it) in line and that has seemed to do wonders. Also, how long is your cable run to your display? Are you sending 1080p/24 from your BD30 - if so remember that is a lot of bandwidth - try turning off the 24 frame mode and setting max output to 1080i if that clears up the problem - if the problem disappears on 1080i/60 then you need to make sure your cables can pass all of that bandwidth and you still may need a repeater. I hope that helps - this problem has been driving me crazy.

-DD

Thanks for your input, Onkyo support had never heard of this issue with the 705 and the BD-30. I had it set at 1080p/60. Last night I decided to change the input to HDMI-2 on the set and that seemed to work. My cable is 16 ft. long.

I may take your suggestion and use a booster.

Are you sending 1080p/24 from your BD30 - if so remember that is a lot of bandwidth - try turning off the 24 frame mode and setting max output to 1080i if that clears up the problem - if the problem disappears on 1080i/60 then you need to make sure your cables can pass all of that bandwidth and you still may need a repeater.

Doesn't the player do the 3:2 pulldown when set to 1080p or 1080i? I thought I read that 1080p24 uses less bandwidth than 1080p or 1080i. 24 full fps (1080p24) from the player is less than 60 full fps (1080p60) from the player, and less than 60 half fps (1080i60, which would be semi-equivalent to 30 full fps) from the player. Using 1080p24 only sends 24 fps, where as the other 2 options send 60fps. Please correct me if I am wrong (which happens often :)).

I have been dealing with this nightmare for over a week. My best guess is that the Onkyo receivers simply are not sending enough "juice" from the HDMI port to your display. I put a booster/repeater/equalizer (whatever you want to call it) in line and that has seemed to do wonders. Also, how long is your cable run to your display? Are you sending 1080p/24 from your BD30 - if so remember that is a lot of bandwidth - try turning off the 24 frame mode and setting max output to 1080i if that clears up the problem - if the problem disappears on 1080i/60 then you need to make sure your cables can pass all of that bandwidth and you still may need a repeater. I hope that helps - this problem has been driving me crazy.

-DD

Interesting theory - I've had the same problem with a Sony receiver and the flicker definitely only occurs with 1080p material. Where did you get your signal booster?

P