Losing video on Samsung TV

[dcwebman]

I have a Samsung LN46A650 and am currently working with Samsung support through a problem I'm having that they haven't seen before, so I was wondering if anybody here has seen it.

I have 2 DirecTV HD DVR's (HR20-700's) connected to an Onkyo receiver TX-SR674 (one with HDMI and one with component) and the receiver connected to the TV via HDMI.

Occasionally when I first turn the TV on in the morning, things will be fine and then roughly 30-60 seconds later, the video goes directly to snow. Audio is still playing fine. If I change the channel the video comes back. I don't see the issue any more while watching, so it seems to only happen when getting warmed up.

I have a PS3 also connected via the receiver and the last time I talked to Samsung they are having me start up the TV with the PS3 as the video source. It's been over a week so far and I haven't seen the problem. If it continues like this, it could mean it's the DirecTV receivers.

Has anybody else seen this problem?

 

[imthedevil]

Have you tried bypassing the Onkyo and running the receivers directly to the TV?

Bill

 

[dcwebman]

No I haven't done that yet in the debug process. I was hoping that Samsung would say they knew the problem and give a firmware update instead of having to redo my whole setup to figure out what the problem may be. The problem is that the issue doesn't happen all the time otherwise it would be easy to rearrange things to reproduce it.

I was hoping someone here would have the 650 series TV since it's very popular and would have seen the problem or not.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[imthedevil]

You mention that the Onkyo is hooked to the TV via HDMI but that only one D* receiver is hooked to the Onkyo this way while the other is hooked to the Onkyo via component cables. Is the problem present on both D* receivers or is it possibly just having an issue with one of them. Maybe the Onkyo is having an issue with the component to HDMI conversion and is dropping the video until the station is changed and it gets re-tuned.

Of course all this aside it could just be the TV having issues. I found this as well it references the same model TV but not the same D* box
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gi-2Uqnlq70"]YouTube - LN46a650 has problems with DirecTV HR20-100 & HDMI = Mode not supported or white sparkles[/ame]


Just some thoughts

On a side note I have 2 Samsung LN-T4061F's and I can hear a hum from both of them if the back light is not set to 10. Samsung sent a tech out to replace every thing in one of them with the exception of the screen itself and the sound is still there :-( Best I can tell it seems to be related to the voltage draw on the PSU but replacing it made no difference.

Bill

 

[dcwebman]

Valid question as to which DVR and Samsung asked me that too. I wish I would have kept track which DVR it was when the problem happened but I just knew the workaround and didn't pay attention. Now I will.

I don't see the sparkles like that YouTube video so I guess that's good.

Regarding your side note, I replaced my Samsung LN-T4042H with the 650 in January and didn't have any problems with that TV. But both DVRs were connected to the receiver via HDMI and when I got the PS3 at the end of Dec., I had to switch one of them to component since the receiver only has 2 HDMI inputs. So your thought regarding the component to HDMI conversion may be valid. I have an email into Onkyo support also to see if they have any thoughts.

 

[thetech2009]

this is a well known problem by direct and samsung. there is a problem using the hdmi connection with the hr20 to samsung tv's . samsung does have a download for this . i would recomend useing component untill its resolved

 

[Zynergi]

Well before you rule anything as a D* issue you need to hook the DVR's up directly to the TV and also try the same setup you have now on another TV that hasnt had issue.. even if its a CRT. General rule of Thumb.. snowy screen is not a Sat issue. You are essentially Taking a Digital Signal.. then having the Onkyo convert it to analog then back to digital then your TV converting it back to analog.. thats just on the HDMI side.

Have you tries running 2 components to the Onkyo then Component out to the TV?

 

[dcwebman]

Thanks for the suggestions. I wish this problem was easily reproducible because it would make things a lot easier to debug. The problem is it was one week between the times it happened last time. Now if it is an HDMI problem some of those nights I could have left it on the non-HDMI DVR which means it would have taken longer to see.

If this is a well known problem, then the two Samsung support people I talked to along with the other people they talked to while on hold hasn't heard about it, at least with the 650 series. Never had the problem with both DVRs using HDMI to my older Samsung which unfortunately is gone now.

It's been over a week now starting up with the PS3 as the video source and the problem hasn't happened so I think it's time for the next change:
1. Connect both DVRs to the TV via HDMI. It should show up a lot faster then if that's the problem.
2. If nothing there, then I do have a small HDTV that I can easily use as a test with the existing system.

 

[dcwebman]

Before rewiring everything and doing the connecting of both DVRs to the TV via HDMI, I left the one DVR connected via HDMI to the receiver as the primary video that would start up this morning. As soon as I turned the TV and receiver on, the problem happened. I have no idea why this doesn't happen when I get home from work as it's at least, if not more time, than overnight. I think I'll try leaving the component cable connected DVR as the primary tonight and see what happens in the morning.

 

[dcwebman]

OK, since my last post I have started up my setup with the component cable connected HR20 and there hasn't been a problem. So as it was suggested, there apparently is still a problem between the Samsung TVs and the HDMI connected HR20. Now you know that Samsung will say it's DirecTV's fault and vice-versa.

Which one really has the problem???

 

[thetech2009]

in a tech note about a year or so ago direc said that samsung had a firmware update for this

 

[dcwebman]

Apparently Samsung didn't bother transferring the firmware updates to the 650's as they said I have the latest. I'll let them know that though!

 

[thetech2009]

Apparently Samsung didn't bother transferring the firmware updates to the 650's as they said I have the latest. I'll let them know that though!

i am not sure for what models just that it was samsung lcd tv's

 

[jackpete]

I have a Samsung LN46A650 and am currently working with Samsung support through a problem I'm having that they haven't seen before, so I was wondering if anybody here has seen it.

I have 2 DirecTV HD DVR's (HR20-700's) connected to an Onkyo receiver TX-SR674 (one with HDMI and one with component) and the receiver connected to the TV via HDMI.

Occasionally when I first turn the TV on in the morning, things will be fine and then roughly 30-60 seconds later, the video goes directly to snow. Audio is still playing fine. If I change the channel the video comes back. I don't see the issue any more while watching, so it seems to only happen when getting warmed up.

I have a PS3 also connected via the receiver and the last time I talked to Samsung they are having me start up the TV with the PS3 as the video source. It's been over a week so far and I haven't seen the problem. If it continues like this, it could mean it's the DirecTV receivers.

Has anybody else seen this problem?

I have a Samsung LN46A650 connected to Dish Network. Periodically, the video will flicker on and off and eventually the video disappears. The audio remains. Changing channels does not bring the video back. Shutting the set off and turning it back on seems to resolve the problem until the next time. The dealer where I purchased the set has installed a new main board but the set continues to behave the same way. It is not the receivers as when I play a DVD and the receiver, of course, is not on the same problem can happen. I wonder if it is the HDMI cable.

 

[jackpete]

No I haven't done that yet in the debug process. I was hoping that Samsung would say they knew the problem and give a firmware update instead of having to redo my whole setup to figure out what the problem may be. The problem is that the issue doesn't happen all the time otherwise it would be easy to rearrange things to reproduce it.

I was hoping someone here would have the 650 series TV since it's very popular and would have seen the problem or not.

Thanks for the reply.

I have a Samsung LN45A650 connected to the dish network. Periodically the video will flicker on and off and eventually disappears. The audio remains. Changing channels does not restore the video. If the set is turned off and then back on, the video is restored until the next event.. The dealer I purchased the set from has installed a new main board, but the problem persists. It is not the Dish receiver, as when I play a DVD and the receiver is not, of course on, the same problem can happen. Can not access the sources menu when the video is lost. I wonder if it is the HDMI cable?

 

[bobj2004]

I have Two HR20 HD DVRs and a PS3 connected via HDMI to my 58a650 version of the samsung.

Thats 3 HDMI connections.

Never an issue.

 

[dcwebman]

Coincidentally I had the one DVR hooked up to the receiver via component cables as the default when everything was turned on yesterday. Same problem occurred. It had been 3 weeks since I had changed the one DVR's HDMI cable to the receiver and had tried to keep that as the default just to see if it was the cable. Now if it's a cable problem, it's the one from the receiver to the TV.

I called Samsung today and they will now be sending out a field engineer to look at the TV. Will update with whatever they find.

 

[imthedevil]

Thanks for the update I am curious to see what the field engineer comes up with.

Bill

 

[dcwebman]

Thanks for the update I am curious to see what the field engineer comes up with.

Well now I need to wait for it to happen again which could be like 3 weeks or so. When it happens, I need to see if the TV remote's Menu or Info button brings up a menu. That will tell them whether it's the main board or another part that needs to be replaced. They're pretty sure it's not a cable issue but something with the TV.

 

[dcwebman]

Turns out the problem happened this morning. I was able to see the TV's menu over the snowy picture so they said it's the main board that needs to be replaced. Will order it and in 5 or so days will call for a time to change it.