[sg5440]

Thanks - unfortunately didn't work

I tried the small power button - unfortunately it still flickers (more of an off/on thing than a flicker, really). I find it really bizarre that the PVR was working fine with the Denon and now the connection decided to go haywire. I'll have to try re-setting tomorrow. Wish me luck!

 

[sg5440]

Rebooting the PVR solved the problem

Thank you lgplasma for providing the power button suggestion. I rebooted the PVR (unplug the PVR for 30 seconds and then power back up) and that seems to have solved the problem.

 

[solomantis]

Fixed receiver screen flicker/snow/glitch

I've had this issue with a Denon S900W, started happening without any changes to the receiver. It was faint snow at first, then got progressively worse into full on glitch-outs where my TV would just black out. Have been banging my head against the wall for upwards of a year and thought I tried everything from firmware updates to new HDMI cables.

I FINALLY just fixed it, for how long who knows, but there's zero glitch or snow. What I did was:

1. UNPLUG EVERYTHING - HDMI and Devices from power. I originally only unplugged the power strip to no avail. You'll need to unplug everything from the strip (and the strip itself for good measure) and wait at least 10 minutes.

2. PLUG THE TV AND RECEIVER IN - Connect ONLY the TV to the receiver. Turn both on.

3. FACTORY RESET THE RECEIVER - On a Denon, turn it off, then hold down TUNER PRESET CH + and TUNER PRESET CH - *WHILE* you turn it back on. It should say "initializing" and follow the prompts *EXACTLY*.

4. ADD SOURCES - After setting up the speakers and network, it'll give you a few screens to add sources. The first says connect the device's HDMI *WITHOUT* turning it on. Then it'll tell you to turn the device on and check that you're able to see it on screen. At this point you should be able to tell whether or not it'll still flicker. If not, you should be good to add the rest of your devices!

No idea what the significance of the order is, but it apparently matters.

 

[ExDilbert]

I had picture issues with my Denon receiver as well. Thought it was the TV at first. Resetting the receiver video options and unplugging the receiver for a minute cleared it up. I was prepared to reset to factory defaults but it wasn't needed. That wasn't the first issue that required unplugging it. Sometimes, unplugging will trigger a firmware update.

 

[Darrins]

Hello,

I am new to this forum (and fairly new to building a Home Theatre in general).

I was looking for a good sub $1000 receiver that had 4 HDMI inputs. I settled on the Denon AVR-889 (Managed to get it for under $800). I had also looked at the Yamaha HTR 6190 and 6290 - but they were considerably more than the AVR-889 - and the 889 had all the features I wanted.

I hooked it up last night and plugged both my HD-DVD player and my Shaw Pace Tahoe HD PVR into the receiver through HDMI. I then took a third HDMI cable and hooked it up to my Sharp Aquos TV.

Everything seemed fine at first - but then after awhile the screen started to flicker on the HD-DVD player, and to jump around and to strange things on the PVR (I would almost say it was flickering - but it was not quite the same as it was for the HD-DVD player - more like the image just jumping around).

The flicker I was seeing with my HD-DVD player was quite often and would flash from the movie to a screen of snow (or whatever you call it when you unplug a cable vision cable from your tv).

Immediately I thought it might be the $15 dynex HDMI cable I picked up at Futureshop - so I unplugged it and used just the two HDMI cables I had purchased at Costco a while back (part of a Wirelogic HDTV cable kit). I still had the same issue. Sometimes it would be fine, most of the time it would flicker.

At first I figured the Reciever was defective. But I did some searching and found a few posts regarding the HDMI cables.

One of the salesguys said that there are not "versions" on the HDMI cables - there is just higher quality and not so high quality (higher quality being able to handle the bandwidth I guess).

So I guess my question is this:
Does it sound like it's a receiver issue? Or is that a common symptom of a poor HDMI cable?

The two HDMI cables I used were ones I have been using for about 10 months. However up until now - they have always been used for Video only (I used coaxial or optical output for audio).

So could it be that these cables - while they worked fine for just video - can't handle the bandwidth of video + audio? I am totally new to this and of course the logical culprit is the Receiver as it is the only new thing added. But I can't ignore the fact that it could also be an HDMI cable issue.

I am not going to go to Futureshop and buy monster cables to try. However I was planning on ordering some speaker wire from Monoprice soon, maybe it is worth adding in 3 or 4 HDMI cables from there (since they are cheap) and use those instead.

Any suggestions or help would be appreciated. I'd hate to think that I chose poorly with the Denon..I heard good things about them. And I just couldn't justify the extra $300 to $400 for the Yamaha model.

I had the jitters for a bit. Just removed & reattached the HDMI and seemed to work. I was having no luck with the audio, so gave-up and bought a Digital Optical Cable … problem solved. 😎🔊🎶

 

[ExDilbert]

Using optical audio is not the optimal solution. With newer audio formats lot of audio information is lost. I don't recommend buying cables from Futureshop. They tend to overprice cables in order to pad profits on equipment sales. Monster cables are particularly prone for overpricing. Monoprice is a reputable company that stands behind their products but are no longer the price leader. I usually look for cables on Amazon. A good HDMI cable can be purchased for under $20, a bit more for longer cables. There are lots of generic brands that will work but I look for one of the more established brands with good pricing and ratings. I've had good luck with uGreen and Bluerigger which are both reasonably priced but there are others, including Monoprice.

When buying HDMI cables there are certain things to look for:
1. HDMI version. This should be HDMI 2.1 or higher. That can also be stated as Ultra High Speed.
2. Quality construction. Better cables have a fabric sheath, a strain relief at the connectors and gold plated contacts.
3. Bandwidth. It should be at least 4K at 60Hz and 18Gbps. Newer cables are rated for 4K at 120Hz, 8K at 60Hz and 48Gbps. They provide some degree of future proofing.

The flicker I was seeing with my HD-DVD player was quite often and would flash from the movie to a screen of snow

This is a typical symptom of HDCP handshaking failure. It can be caused by poor quality cables.

Just removed & reattached the HDMI and seemed to work. I was having no luck with the audio,

This sounds like a poor quality or damaged cable/connector.