It seems people who have had HDMI issues in this thread have had their problems solved by replacing the SA unit. I certainly hope Rogers is not actively disabling the HDMI port on these units.

Thanks, 57, for the pointer on the diag screens. I can now see I'm running with SARA 1.89.16.2 and on screen 32/39 I see DVI/HDMI line under the Enabled column says no.

Anyone know if these settings are configurable? Or, perhaps this screen just tells me about my current cabling setup? I dunno... :-)

At this point I could care less, just curious. I'm happy to use component cables for the PVR and leave the HDMI cable on my DVD player.

Here's a simple question. Is the picture quality any different over HDMI compared to component?

If both inputs are properly calibrated, there will be little or no difference between those inputs/connections. Nevertheless, some people do see a difference.

See: DVI/HDMI Info, points 2, 3. (http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=17873)

just seems like a lot of people go through a lot of aggro for the HDMI. Persoally I think I'll stick with component and use HDMI for DVD and PC.

Thanks.

It also depends on the output device. My SA8300HD PVR for example, does not pass the "blacker than black" level on its component output, but it does on its HDMI output (and all its other analog outputs).

I just got a Sharp Aquos 46" LCD 46D62U TV and a cheaper Sony Receiver (STR-DG510) which has up to 1080i HDMI switching according to it's specs. I have an 8300HD SA box that I have been using for quite a while before I got the new TV/receiver.

I got HDMI working fine when connecting from the 8300HD directly to the TV. I can't seem to get the hdmi to pass through the receiver though. I get nothing but a blank screen on the TV when trying this. I have tried a couple of different cables and tried both input HDMI ports on the receiver and on the TV.

I'm assuming it must be an interworking issue with the receiver and the 8300HD but haven't been able to find any specific info on that on the net or here. I think the receiver is a newer model so maybe that's why.

Any hints or ideas? What I have been doing instead of using the receiver is using HDMI directly into the TV and then the optical audio out from the TV to the receiver. I'm not sure if this is passing the 5.1 signal to the receiver or not (sorry I'm a stereo newbie). If it isn't passing the full quality sound through I guess I can plug the optical audio out from the 8300HD directly into the receiver?

Thanks for any help/advice.

P.S. I'm loving the 8300HD/Aquos combination. Looks amazing.

From "Help > Digital Home FAQ's > FAQ - DVI/HDMI Information > Some HDMI comments:
- Some TVs have HDMI inputs and digital audio outputs. If you run HDMI to your TV and run a digital audio connection to your A/V receiver "through" the TV, you will likely lose the DD5.1 signal. Better to run the digital audio connection directly to your A/V receiver from the STB.

- There are some HDMI switching A/V Receivers on the market now, however, there have been some firmware issues in that signals from some devices have not been getting to the TV "through" the receiver (SA STBs for example).

To reinforce what was said above by jlet:

1. There were some firmware issues with some STBs that didn't allow you to go "through" an A/V Receiver. The latest Rogers firmware update seemed to resolve the issue for most users on this site. The issue may therefore be with the AVR and not with the STB? I'm assuming you're with Rogers.

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=56732

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showpost.php?p=490742&postcount=63 item 13.

2. You usually lose the DD5.1 signal if you go "through" a TV. You should connect the optical cable directly from the STB to the AVR.

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=17870

Ok thanks you two.

darrylr. it wasn't totally clear whether you are losing the audio or video or both. My AVR is different from yours but I had to make sure all the settings were correct in the AVR menus before I got both audio and video. So I would first make sure what you want to do will work wrt the AVR, and then try changing the settings. You could also make sure everything is turned off (or even unplugged) before trying again.

Lastely, on the Aquos I assume you can go to the input you're trying to use which means the TV sees the input. Are you getting the blue box that says the TV is getting some type of signal...this might help too.

Hmmm....

I just gave it a try again now and it all works - video and audio. Exactly the same components and cords.

Must have just been a loose connection although I swear that I tested them all twice last night.

I'm now running HDMI and digital coax audio into my receiver from the 8300HD and have my DVD player coming into the receiver with component video and optical audio. When I get my PS3 (for Blu-Ray and upconverting DVD's) I'll use the other HDMI input and the optical audio input for it. My Wii is connected to the component inputs on the TV since it doesn't support digital audio anyway.

I'm a very happy camper now.

It seems that the receiver will not take the 5.1 signal from the HDMI connection though (if it is being sent over that or not as 5.1 I don't know). I tried with the "HDMI", "Dolby Digital", and "Other" options in the 8300 Digital audio out menu and the receiver will not light up at 5.1. So instead I set the menu option "Dolby Digital" and use the coax or optical audio output.

Thats great, sometimes its the order of connecting things and powering on that makes HDMI work or not. Does the manual for your receiver say it won't accept 5.1 over HDMI? If not then again, maybe its something in the AVR menus.

It's not very clear in the manual unfortunatly. It seems that the setup I have now will work perfect for me anyway.

Have I mentioned that I love the picture on the 8300HD/Aquos combo and that 5.1 audio is awesome after having nothing but the speakers on the side of my 36" WEGA SD TV. :)

Thanks for your help.

I checked the 8300HD and there is one menu item that has to be set to HDMI to have the audio sent thru the HDMI cable.

Yeah I tried setting that to HDMI (Digital Audio output is the menu item I think) but that didn't work. So it must be an issue with the receiver.

Yesterday (July 19th) my Rogers SA8300HD, which I've had connected to my HDTV via HDMI, suddendly stopped supporting HDMI. (I've been using HDMI since January.) I know it's not a problem with my TV as my Oppo DVD player still works with HDMI.

My guess is a firmware update by Rogers that disabled HDMI output. I've sent an e-mail to Rogers but no response yet -- I've heard that Rogers doesn't officially support HDMI so I'm not too optimistic about any help from them.

Anyone else experienced this?

Same problem here. Been using the HDMI connection since I got my Samsung 4092 13 months ago. Today for the first time an error showed up on screen that HDCP is not recognized and to use component connections.

So I go through the hassle of putting component and audio cables into the STB and routing it through the entertainment unit to the TV and realize that my TV is already using the component cable input for my DVD (which doesn't have an HDMI connnection). So I unplug the DVD and voila, picture returns to the TV (I haven't yet actually connected the components from the STB)! I reconnect the DVD and the TV is still working. Haven't got a clue what happened or why, but I'm leaving the components plugged into the STB for now so that if it occurs again I can do a fast switch.

I occasionally get the HDCP Copy Protection message (The DVI/HDMI output is blocked / Press Exit to cancel). I simply press the "Exit" button to resume normal DVI/HDMI operation. This is probably just another quick in the SA8300HD Firmware.

Ok, this is interesting. I just replaced my Toshiba rear projection CRT set with a new LCD (Toshiba 42HL57). Since it has native HDMI ports, I figured I'd hook up my 8300HD PVR with the HDMI. Read through this whole thread and figured everything would be fine. Bought a cable, hooked it up between the STB and the TV, and retained the coax digital audio hookup between the STB and my receiver.

It all worked perfectly until I realized that my digital audio was being processed by my receiver as 2 channel sound, even when tuned to a channel that broadcasts with 5.1. Scratching my head :confused: and going through a process of elimination, I turned off the TV. And the digital audio then switched to true 5.1! Wow. :o

Doing some research on the web, I've learned that this is indeed the way the HDMI standard is supposed to work. The HDMI hookup will communicate back to the STB that the receiver (in this case the TV since the cable is plugged directly into it) is 2 channel, so the STB then sends 2 channel audio through all of the audio outputs. (see http://www.crutchfield.com/ISEO-rgbtcspd/learningcenter/home/hdmi.html?page=3 )

There's really no way around this since everything is doing what it's supposed to do. So it's back to component cables for now.