Hi all,

First post here.

I bought a Panasonic PZ77 last week and set it up with a HD PVR from Rogers. However, I am running into these problems:
1. While I can watch HD Sportsnet, ABC, NBC or CBS, I can't watch HD Omni 1 or HD Omni 2 or HD Score channel. There is no signal at all. I called Rogers and they confirmed that those channels are free HD channels. They are sending a technician to check it out tonight. Just wondering what the reason could be?
2. As I have two HDMI ports from the TV, I set up one for my Blu-Ray DVD player and the other one to the PVR box. Again, there is no signal at all from the box through HDMI (Blu-Ray DVD players works great). I tried the component video cable and it works fine. I have also switch the HDMI port and/or HDMI cable to no avails). Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

1. Poor signal strength on those channels. See:

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=17719 SA STB

2. See: http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=71112 HDMI

And: http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=19694 Things to check

And: http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=57741 Lots of newbie information, please take the time to read this post and the relevant links therein.

Please put your location and service provider into your UserCP Profile (location). This will also help us help you.

Thanks, 57, I have read those threads and tried everything possible.

Well, the Rogers technician "fixed" the missing HD channels problem (Omni 1, Omni 2 and PBS). He said it was a signal strength issue. All he did was cutting and connecting a couple of cables in the basement.

The sad thing is that he could not fix the HDMI issue. He rebooted both TV and cable box and still nothing. He said there was nothing wrong with the cable box but suggested me to exchange the box to see if it helped. Well, since I am going to get a Yamaha YSP4000 sound projector soon, I will wait to see if I would have the same problem with the receiver.

HDMI is flaky, as discussed in my second link above. There are some cases where you simply can't get it to work.

I am just thinking ...

If somehow the PVR can't handshake with my TV. There may still a chance that it can successfully handshake with a AVR that I am planning to purchase, right? I am hoping it does so I can take full advantage of HDMI connection. :(

There is no audio advantage from the PVR to the AVR for HDMI over optical or coaxial.

If it doesn't currently handshake well with the TV, then I doubt the addition of the AVR will help since the ultimate handshake is still between the PVR and the TV.

I called Rogers up yesterday and swapped for a new HDPVR. Glad to report that I can now connect the PVR to the receiver with HDMI cable.

The only minor annyoyance is that, when I change channels, the audio will come on instantly while the image will delay for 1-2 seconds. I am using a 10' HDMI cable. Could that be a problem? Also, do I still need digital audio cable to ensure that I am getting digital 5.1 if the broadcast has that feature?