Problem with Onkyo TX-SR674 using HDMI

sorry, i don't have a 1080 display, but i've never seen these issues. i use an upconverting DVD player at 720p (until my A2 arrives!) and also a Pro brand ATSC tuner at 1080i. neither seems to have a problem.

it strikes me as odd that your Bell PVR at 1080i doesn't exhibit the problem, but that your DVD player at 1080i does (though less often than at 1080p). when you tested the connection directly to the television, did you use the same cable?

I have the same problem with my Sammy Blu-ray player at 1080p through the 674. I thought I was alone.

Gillest, that's disheartening! Please keep us informed as to what happens with Onkyo support.

I'll do some testing with my HDtuner set at 1080i and see if I can produce the same problem with mine.

For what it's worth, I haven't had any problems with 720p or 1080i with the Onkyo-- just 1080p.

No, they haven't responded to either my email or voicemail.

thanks for staying on top of this gillest! let us know when you hear more regarding the fix.

My heart just sank after reading this thread. Now I feel ripped off by Onkyo. Please post your results after the supposed fix. Thanks

Gillest,

I'm curious, did you get your unit locally, or did you pick it up from an online retailer? I'm just looking at my options (Marantz SR 4001, HK AVR645, JVC RX-D702B, Denon AVR-887, Onkyo TX-SR674) and availability seems to be coming into play for my decision.

Also, good luck with getting the unit fixed... I've been following the thread for awhile to see how you make out.

If the fix works, I wonder if they will make production line changes so that the newer ones in the stores will be fixed.

Well, I bought this receiver to complement my 1080p lcd. When I get a 1080p disk player I fully expect 1080p passthrough with no glitches. From what you have posted it seems there is a problem with that. I do not expect to have to take a brand new unit to get an upgrade so soon.
Also, after reading other posts here about the 674 not being capable of 7.1 LPCM via HDMI, I think I should have waited before making my purchase. Honestly, since I am a newbie at this so I could be wrong, it appears that I will not be able to use HDMI for a 7.1 speaker set. If this is incorrect, someone please enlighten me.
I did get a good price for the 674 and it works great for now. It is the future hookups that I intended to make that worry me now.

Aparantly not yet. I emailed them with the same question as I'm currently looking at the 604 and 674. They see it as an isolated issute. Maybe if more have the problem they will think differntly.
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Thank You for contacting Onkyo USA Product Support.

James,
The issue you are asking about was an isolated issue we are aware and are currently researching it in our CS Lab.
Bob Elder

Again, thank you for contacting Onkyo USA Product Support,
if you need further Assistance feel free to call us at 800-229-1687.

Do the 674/604 have bass management over HDMI? I don't have a sub because I live in an apartment.

The fact that your problem is happening only once every few minutes implies to me that it is happening when the player tries to reconfirm the HDCP (copy protection) compliance of the HDMI signal path.

Running a 1080p signal uses a lot of bandwidth in the cable. If the cable is not quite up to it, the additional effort of re-doing the HDCP handshake may cause a glitch. It sounds like you are right on the borderline of this working.

A 1080i signal uses less bandwidth and thus is working for you.

If this is really what's going on, then you may only need to replace your current HDMI cables (all of them that need to be in the 1080p signal path) with high end cables that have slightly less signal degradation. Get the shortest cables that will work for you as length is also an issue in such cases.

Such cables are ridiculously expensive, so get them from a place where you can return them just in case they don't solve your problem.
--Bob

And remember it's not just the guage. A thicker cable is not necessarily better. Partly it is the internal connections and the quality of the contacts on the connectors. But largely it is just that the more expensive cables are cherry picked by quality control and only the best get the big price tag.
--Bob