[chasw98]

Dear HDMI_Org:

I have attempted to use 3 different HDMI switches so that I can switch between my DirecTV receiver, Accurian OTA HD tuner, HTPC w/DVI, and Denon 3910 DVD player with upscaling HDMI output. In all cases my Denon player will not put out a decent picture through any of the three switches, it looks scrambled. When hooked up directly to my projector the picture is beautiful. Would you say the problem is in the switches or the DVD player. If you tell me to get a different player, that will be very bad for me. The Denon is a $1500.00 player compared to a $100 receiver or a $100 tuner. I just can't understand why the player will not work with a switch yet all the cheap "giveaway" components pass the signal just fine. Could it be HDCP? If it is, then why would it play without the switch and why would the HD sources coming from satellite and the Networks pass through unaffected? Just trying to get everything to work. I am very leary of buying any product that incorporates HDMI switching or upscaling at the moment. It seems that the standards have not been worked out or possibly implemented very well. Thanks for your insight and help.


Chuck

 

[glyph]

Just a quick speculation, as I am not quite up on this, but you may be dealing with switch's ability to "repeat" the HDCP signals. Not much more I can add, but it might get you started on searches.

 

[HDMI_Org]

Do your other HDMI source devices (satellite STB and OTA tuner) go through the switch ok with no problems? If so, then that means your switch is probably ok because it has demonstrated that it can work. For a high end DVD player such as yours, it's possible the manufacturer has a firmware upgrade that will address this problem, so it's worth giving them a call and maybe they'll be able to send you instruction on how to download the firmware update and get it into your DVD player.


In general, most switch boxes are relatively simple and do not actually do any HDCP handshaking. In fact, there are a number of HDMI switch boxes that are design with just a set of DVI receivers and transmitter, and they work perfectly fine. Because such boxes do not actually decrypt the signal, they are just simple pass through devices.

 

[chasw98]



Quote:
Originally Posted by HDMI_Org /forum/post/0


Do your other HDMI source devices (satellite STB and OTA tuner) go through the switch ok with no problems?

Yes, they work perfectly on any port of the switch.

Quote:
Originally Posted by HDMI_Org /forum/post/0


If so, then that means your switch is probably ok because it has demonstrated that it can work. For a high end DVD player such as yours, it's possible the manufacturer has a firmware upgrade that will address this problem, so it's worth giving them a call and maybe they'll be able to send you instruction on how to download the firmware update and get it into your DVD player.

I have updated the unit to the latest firmware and double checked it.

Quote:
Originally Posted by HDMI_Org /forum/post/0


In general, most switch boxes are relatively simple and do not actually do any HDCP handshaking. In fact, there are a number of HDMI switch boxes that are design with just a set of DVI receivers and transmitter, and they work perfectly fine. Because such boxes do not actually decrypt the signal, they are just simple pass through devices.

Can you tell me the make and model number of these "pass through devices"? It is very hard to get any information or guarantee that a given switch by a given manufacturer will work with component A and component B. So far I have had to rely on user feedback of what works and what doesn't or where problems have occured. With new technology such as HDMI and being an early adopter it has been very frustrating to get components to work together. What was meant to be an easy and painless method for electronic devices to talk with each other has turned out to be less than easy. Maybe one day in the future we will look back on HDMI as the arcnet or token-ring protocol of consumer electronics, but until then it is not easy. Thank you for your response.


Chuck

 

[Darian]

I would love to have that info too.

 

[Radiient_Prez]

The Radiient Select-4 is a product that should meet your needs. It is exactly what HDMI_Org described--a pass through switch.


I'm the President of Radiient, and I'm also a co-inventor of HDMI. I'm new to posting on AVS Forum, and I've read the forum posting rules, but please let me know if my responses are appropriate.


We introduced the Select-4 in June of 2006, with the goal of creating an HDMI Switch that would have maximal compatibility. That's why we designed it as a pass through switch, which effectively acts like a train station's round house, to connect one of four HDMI inputs to the single HDMI output. Think of it as a USB Hub for HDMI, or an input port expander for an HDMI TV. We tested the Select-4 with as many HDMI sources and sinks as we could find, including devices in our lab, devices via our participation in CEA-sponsored HDMI Plugfests, and more devices as a result of our passing both HDMI ATC and SimplayHD certification testing. As far as we know, we are the only HDMI Switch on the market that has earned both the HDMI and SimplayHD logos.


I could go on for pages about the many other features of the Select-4, but that would not be appropriate, I feel. Please see our website for details, and please read the many positive reviews on the web about our product.


I believe the Select-4 will work in your system. If it doesn't, though, please let us know, and we will try to diagnose and fix the problem, and if we can't fix it with the Select-4, we'll try to find another solution for you.


As a co-inventor of HDMI, I have a personal interest in improving HDMI compatibility, because it pains me to hear of consumers struggling with some of the issues that are out there. I believe HDMI is a well-designed standard, but we must admit that currently, there are a number of implementation bugs that result in devices which won't work together. Hopefully, with more and more manufacturers passing HDMI ATC compliance, and the HDCP compliance test suites soon coming online, and engineers around the world becoming more experienced in implementing HDMI devices, compatibility problems will decrease, and the true ease-of-setup, ease-of-use, and richness of feature sets that HDMI enables will be realized across the board.