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Losing sound when watching TV- TV,Reciever or Cable?

post #1 of 11
5/12/12 at 10:11am
Thread Starter 
I have a Panasonic 3D TV (VT30) and it is hooked up to cable by means of a Pioneer (VSX-1021) receiver. While watching HD TV I will get occasional sound dead spots which last for a second or three with parts of sentences going mute.
The picture flows uninterrupted. I really don't know whether the TV, the receiver, or the cable company is the source of this. When I asked at my local BB the guru there claimed it was an issue with the cable company, but then he was trying to convert me to switch to Dish. Anyone else experience these sound dead spots and been able to isolate their source? Is it going to get progressively worse? ( For what it is worth I don't believe this problem is evident when I play discs. It does happen though even when I am playing back from a recorded program on the DVR but does not seem to blank out at the same locations so I assume it is not being recorded.)
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post #2 of 11
5/12/12 at 12:42pm
Start by checking the cables, also if your running digital sound through a receiver, see if your running pcm or dolby. Also do you have any other equipment hooked up to it? Does it happen on that equipment too? If it does it is the tv.
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post #3 of 11
5/12/12 at 12:44pm
Do you have the latest driver from Panasonic installed?
Does it depend on what the resolution of the program is? Or on what channel it is on?
Do you also have any problems with video pixelating?
Does it happen if you bypass the receiver? Do you play the sound from the receiver or the TV?
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post #4 of 11
5/12/12 at 12:45pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by walford View Post

Do you have the latest driver from Panasonic installed?
Does it depend on what the resolution of the program is? Or on what channel it is on?
Do you also have any problems with video pixelating?

Excellent analysis, could be in your coax.
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post #5 of 11
5/15/12 at 12:38am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by walford View Post

Do you have the latest driver from Panasonic installed?
Does it depend on what the resolution of the program is? Or on what channel it is on?
Do you also have any problems with video pixelating?
Does it happen if you bypass the receiver? Do you play the sound from the receiver or the TV?

Thanks all!

RE: Drivers - unsure
RE: Resolution - only notice when watch HD content (but then only watch HD channels currently) Some channels do seem to have the problem more than others and it seems some channels do not have it at all.
RE: Pixelating - no problems.
RE: Sound Source - all sound coming from the receiver

The sound does not cut out when watching from Blu-ray DVD player. Would that alone eliminate TV being cause?
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post #6 of 11
5/15/12 at 11:38am
Not all HD chanels/programs have the same format/quality of sound. Apparently your receiver can not process the sound from some of your programs.
HD channels can be in 720p or 1080i format and can consist of content "filmed" with HD or Movie cameras or with SD content upscaled to HD (normaly shown with black or grey sidebars). ABC, BOX, Disney, and ESPN use 720p and the others use 1080i.
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post #7 of 11
5/15/12 at 1:16pm
If it does not happen at the same spot every time you play back a recorded show, that would be a huge clue.

In my experience, though, the only audio drop-outs I had were due to my optical digital cable being loose and not reliable. I'd say check or even just replace whatever cable you are using to connect the audio from the cable box to the receiver.
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post #8 of 11
5/15/12 at 2:07pm
You should also note what channels have this issue and from where that channel originates. For example, if it is a problem on CBS from your local CBS station but not a problem on TNT or ESPN (which are cable or satellite only), it might come from you cable company's conversion.

Local HD channels broadcast in the ATSC digital format, while your local cable company normally will convert that to QAM digital format. These two are somewhat different and while quality conversion is very possible, you cannot tell if your local cable company is using the best conversion equipment or if the settings on that equipment are the best possible. This two can cause issues.
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post #9 of 11
5/15/12 at 11:21pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by GEP View Post

You should also note what channels have this issue and from where that channel originates. For example, if it is a problem on CBS from your local CBS station but not a problem on TNT or ESPN (which are cable or satellite only), it might come from you cable company's conversion.

Local HD channels broadcast in the ATSC digital format, while your local cable company normally will convert that to QAM digital format. These two are somewhat different and while quality conversion is very possible, you cannot tell if your local cable company is using the best conversion equipment or if the settings on that equipment are the best possible. This two can cause issues.

Again, thanks all! Does not seem to be a problem with ESPN and is noticeable on CBS. Don't get TNT. Dish sales people claim my cable company can only broadcast in 720, though I don't know that as fact.
(As far as playing back from DVR the sound does not drop off at exactly the same spots from when played live. I'll have to replay a recorded program to see if on the re-replay it also varies.)
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post #10 of 11
5/16/12 at 10:15am
I am not aware of any cable company who only broadcast HD in 720p, almost all cable company HD broadcasts are in 1080i.
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post #11 of 11
5/18/12 at 12:05am
Thread Starter 
Of course my cable company is limited to a localized area and I'm not sure how much effort they have made to invest in infrastructure once HD became available. In any event I watched Person of Interest and The Mentalist tonight in HD on CBS, and unlike last week, there wasn't a single sound drop out. Go figure. Sun Spots, Solar Storms? We did have a 4 point plus earthquake this week with an epicenter 8 miles from my house so I guess that is just as likely as anything else to offer as an explanation.
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