Confused by Comcast HDTV/DVR HDMI issue

[pengrus]

I did a lot of reading, but deeply confused by the HDMI surround sound issue with Motorola 6412 III box used by Comcast.

I have the following equipment ordered:
Panasonic PT-AE900U Projector (HDMI)
Pioneer Elite VSX-74TXVi (two HDMI in, one HDMI out)
Polk 5.1 Speaker System
Oppo DVD player (HDMI)
Comcast Motorola 6412 III Box, HDTV/DVR (HDMI)

What is the best and most efficient wiring setup for these?

I originally thought like this:
DVD hdmi TO Receiver
Motorola 6412 III HDTV/DVR hdmi TO Receiver
Receiver hdmi TO Projector

But so many posts reported that this will not work when receiver gets in the way on hdmi connection to Projector, and many said the surround sound will be become stereo sound.

I'd like to use the Projector's HDMI in to get the best quality. What is my option in connecting them?

Many thanks for your kind help.

 

[skipsterut]

I did a lot of reading, but deeply confused by the HDMI surround sound issue with Motorola 6412 III box used by Comcast.

I have the following equipment ordered:
Panasonic PT-AE900U Projector (HDMI)
Pioneer Elite VSX-74TXVi (two HDMI in, one HDMI out)
Polk 5.1 Speaker System
Oppo DVD player (HDMI)
Comcast Motorola 6412 III Box, HDTV/DVR (HDMI)

What is the best and most efficient wiring setup for these?

I originally thought like this:
DVD hdmi TO Receiver
Motorola 6412 III HDTV/DVR hdmi TO Receiver
Receiver hdmi TO Projector

But so many posts reported that this will not work when receiver gets in the way on hdmi connection to Projector, and many said the surround sound will be become stereo sound.

I'd like to use the Projector's HDMI in to get the best quality. What is my option in connecting them?

Many thanks for your kind help.

Pengrus -- You have a nice challenge there. I have a similar setup and will be glad to share what I have done. Unfortunately I just saw your post and am about to "hit the sack" for the night -- so will try to reply tomorrow in greater detail about my setup.

But I'm curious -- I haven't been able to get the Moto 6412 III with HDMI in our area yet. I'm still stuck with the II which has DVI outpuit but is not HDCP compliant and therefore causes issues with the HMDI (HDCP compliant) features of the Pio 72/74 receiver. Where are you located?

 

[pengrus]

I am in Foster City of California.

So far, I heard the safest setup is to run component cable from Moto box to Projector, and run digital audio cable from Moto box to receiver, then run hdmi from the receiver to Projector.

Curious to see your setup.

Thanks!

 

[skipsterut]

Today I called our local (Salt Lake City) Comcast office and got one of the last Moto 6412 Series III boxes. I'm going to try it out tomorrow. So rather than discuss my current setup, I'll report tomorrow on my adventures, success or otherwise with the new Moto 6412 box.

In the meantime here are some links you might want to check out --

http://replayguide.sourceforge.net/dct6412/DCT6412_Passport.html

Although this is posted by Cox and not Comcast it still has much useful info. One thing to note in the section titled "DCT6412 Phase 3 Box Information (hardware differences from earlier boxes)" it has this item --

"... There were some reports that with earlier firmware versions (12.15) using HDMI output causes box to reboot and miss recordings. There were also reports that sound output reverts back to PCM from Dolby Digital when changing channels. These problems were fixed with firmware update 12.27 on January 18, 2006."

So, if you are having problems with Dolby Digital via HDMI it could be you don't have the latest firmware -- it's worth checking.

Also -- in case you haven't seen it--www.avsforum.com has a whole bunch of forums/threads on HDTV, Cable, etc. that you should check out. I think there is even a dedicated thread for the Moto 6412.

 

[pengrus]

This is the first time that I read about confirmation of firmwire fixing the sound problem. Many thanks. I hope it all works out. I will try mine on Thursday.