Annoying HDMI Display Problem with H57/i3 and Denon

OK, so I have this really annoying HDMI issue. I hope that someone out there can help...

My Setup:
- HTPC with H57/i3 motherboard (Gigabyte GA-H57M-USB3) with i3 530 CPU
- Denon 3808 AVR with latest firmware (2.04, DSP1 Ver 36.61)
- Panasonic TX-37LZD800F HDTV
- Units linked together via HDMI in sequence HTPC - Denon - HDTV

The Issue:
- If I switch to another HDMI input on the TV (e.g. to watch Satellite, which is connected directly to the TV) and then switch back to the input connected to the Denon, then I have lost the display of the HPTC, I just get a black screen.

Nothing will bring it back, only a forced reboot of the HTPC. Note: pushing the powerbutton will normally shut the HTPC down gracefully. In this situation, it does not work and I have to hit reset or hold in the Powerbutton for 5 seconds.

The problem seems to lie between the HTPC and the Denon, since if I switch to another input on the Denon (e.g. Net/USB or Tuner), then I will see the Denon's onscreen display on the TV. Switching back to the HTPC on the Denon will continue to show a blank screen from the HTPC.

I've tried to resolve the issue by installing an HDMI handshake utility (HdmiYo) on the HTPC, but while this seems to work when the HTPC resumes from sleep, it does not fix this particular blank screen issue. HdmiYo has a hot-key feature to force a HDMI reinitialise using the keyboard, but this does nothing. I have a feeling that when I get this blank screen, keyboard input is also disabled, since I can't even seem to shut down the HTPC by giving a Ctrl-Alt-Del and Tabbing to the onscreen powerbutton and pressing enter. Given the fact that the physical powerbutton no longer works as expected, I have the feeling that the system has crashed or entered limbo in a big way...

Now, one workaround is to connect the HTPC directly to the TV, and connect the TV back to the Denon with an optical digital audio cable. Then I can switch between HDMI inputs on the TV with no problem. The limitation is that this no longer gives the possibility of full 7.1 sound and Dolby TrueHD...

Can anyone help? Thanks in advance

Some more info on this:

- I put in a Radeon 4800 board from another PC to see if the problem persisted.

- With the Radeon board, the problem disappeared. I could switch HDMI inputs on the TV without losing the display from the HTPC.

So my conclusion is that there's something in the current Intel HD Graphics driver that causes the problem. Together with the lack of true 23.576Hz from the i3 graphics processor, I'm seriously thinking about just sticking in an ATi Radeon 5450 board into the HTPC to kill two birds with one stone.

Unless Intel come out soon with software to address both these issues, then I think I'll just do that.

Hmm, it does seem quite a hefty chunk of change (it's now listed at $129). It would be cheaper to buy an ATi Radeon 5xxx card for that sort of money.

Also, looking at the manual, the table of supported resolutions, refresh rates and supported audio seems more attuned to the US market than the European market. I didn't see an entry that would give me 1920x1080p, 50Hz and TrueHD/DTS Master bitstreaming...

Still, thanks for the suggestion.

OK, so I gave up on using the IGP of the Intel i3, and invested in an ATi Radeon 5670 to handle the graphics and HD Audio. Result:

• no more annoying HDMI handshaking problems
• proper 23.576Hz support
• the Denon onscreen display is present when using YCbCr (it wasn't with the i3 IGP)
• Great picture with BTB and WTW (trying to watch the opening of the second chapter of Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince on the i3 IGP was like trying to see a black cat in a coal cellar at night while wearing sunglasses).

Bliss.