Dashed Black/White Line on TV Screen When Inputting Magnavox MDR513 Through SONY STRH830 Home...

I have a Magnavox MDR513 that is use to do some occasional analog recording of programs from my 3 tuner Moxi. I do this in order to archive some programs stored on the Moxi to DVD. The Moxi is connected to the 531 via the composite video output from the Moxi to the L2 (front) 513 video inputs. The 513 had been connected to my Vizio HT420M HDTV via the 513 component video output to a Vizio component video input. The video resolution on the Moxi is set at 480I when using this arrangement since that is the only way to get video output on the Moxi composite video out. This arrangement has worked fine for me for SD video recording for quite some time now.

I have recently added a Sony STRDH830 home theater receiver in order to collect the input from a number of my video devices and input that signal to my Vizio via an HDMI connection (and also for the enhanced audio capabilities of the receiver). Once I started using this method of connecting my 513 to the TV, I started noticing a distinct black/white dashed line at the top of the screen and which extends from the center of the picture to the left edge.

I have a number of programs that had already been recorded onto the HDD of the 513 prior to installing the receiver. If I display programs that were recorded using the 513 native tuner, the picture appears fine. If I display programs that had been recorded previously using the input from the Moxi, the black/white dashed line appears. Also, any NEW program which is displayed from the 513 and which originates from the Moxi in order to be recorded also shows the dashed line.

I tried connecting the 513 to the Sony receiver using the component video output/inputs thinking that it might correct the problem (the connection between the Sony and the TV is still via HDMI in this arrangement however). The dashed lines still remained however. I also tried connecting the 513 directly to the TV with an HDMI cable and completely bypassing the Sony receiver. Again, the dashed lines remained.

It seems clear to me that the lines appear whenever an HDMI connection is used anywhere between the 513 and the TV (whether the connection is through the Sony receiver or whether it is a direct connection from the 513 to the TV). In that regard, it is really a problem with the HDMI connection between the 513 and the TV (and not with the receiver itself) when using input from the Moxi.

Does anyone have any ideas on what might be causing this to happen and if there is anything I can do to avoid it? The dashed line is quite noticeable and annoying but right now the only way I can think of to prevent it is to revert back to my old component vidio connection directly from the 513 to the TV and bypassing the Sony receiver completely. That partly defeats the purpose of getting the Sony in the first place however. I did try using “S” video between the Moxi and the 513 but that had no effect on the problem. There is no component video IN on the 513 so I was not able to try that possibility with the connection from the Moxi.

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

Thanks for the response. The only place I can change the HDMI formats is on the Moxi. As far as this particular application goes, I really can't change them there however since any format other than 480i will only output audio but no video. The only way to get video on either the "S" video or component video outputs on the Moxi is to set the resolution to 480i. I did try changing the video formats on the TV (i.e. aspect ratios and picture format) but none of those made any difference. The dashed line remained regardless of those settings.

Thanks for the response. I have tried the settings on the TV and there is no adjustment there to change what you suggest. I have now tried every setting I could find on both the TV and the recorder that I thought could possibly affect this problem but none of them had any effect on the picture. Unfortunately, it looks as if I am probably going to have to live with this.

Thanks for all of the responses. I finally found a solution for my problem. I discovered that the Sony has a component video output which sends the same output signal that it’s sending out over the HDMI output. I used it to connect the Sony to the TV and selected the component video input on the TV. This means I am using the component video connection between the 513 and the Sony and another component video connection between the Sony and the TV.

When I use this arrangement, I don’t get the dashed lines. So, whenever I get dashed lines now from the 513, all I have to do is switch the TV input from the 513 from HDMI to component video. This is basically the same arrangement that I was using previously when going directly from the 513 to the TV via component video. For this reason, compared to my old arrangement, I don’t lose anything video wise by going through the Sony receiver plus I pick up the benefits of the receiver audio functions that way. Even if I am not getting upconverting from the receiver this way, the TV apparently handles the upconverting anyway.

One thing that I noticed after I got all of this working is that when I am using the component video connection, I can utilize all of the picture view settings on the TV (i.e. widescreen, full screen, etc.). If I use the HDMI input, none of those screen settings are adjustable. I'm still not quite sure why that is happening though.