anyone using / having problems with external HDMI switches?
A long time and many replacement 530 owner here that just received my trade-up 630 today.
I'm still on version 10 firmware, as when I tried to use the Option 4,9,7,7,2 navigation mentioned at the beginning of this thread, there was no '9' menu choice after '4'. I'm hoping this issue is older firmware, and that the new firmware will be pushed tonight.
I use an external HDMI switch to select sources for my projector. It's a well regarded Oppo HDMI 1.3 switch that has never had a problem with the many sources I have used it with. I also have very short ( 3' ) Blue Jeans HDMI cables between the sources and the switch, and the switch and the projector. I used a DVI / HDMI cable between my 530 and the switch, and never had any HDMI handshake issues.
The 630 is another story. Whenever I switch to another HDMI source, and switch back to the 630 there is no picture ( no HDMI signal ). I've waited up to 5 minutes for it to re-negotiate, but no luck. Only un-plugging and re-plugging the HDMI cable from the 630 will bring it back. While I could use component, I really don't want to. This is a real deal breaker for me. While my most recent (5th) 530 has been reliable for over a year, it recently started going south ( which is why I traded up ), so keeping it isn't an option either.
Does anyone use their 630 with an external switch? Does anyone know if the v13 firmware address this ( I've checked both the owners thread and this one, but couldn't find a conclusive answer ).
My second issue is something that probably doesn't affect anyone else, but, it does affect me, and is bad product design IMO. When you switch the 630 into standby, the TOSLINK optical audio transmitter remains on. I designed and built a custom controller to monitor the TOSLINK signal to see if the box was on or off ( since none of these boxes have discrete on/off IR codes ) for improved WAF. So, this is a step backwards for me. Even cheepo $29 DVD players switch TOSLINK on and off with the power state, so I don't see any reason why this box keeps it on all the time. Although PVR's are energy vampires by nature, they could also be a little 'greener' by implementing this.
On the plus side, I like it's diminutive size. We haven't had a chance to test anything else out yet. Hopefully better than these first impressions.
Jonathan