HDMI problem with Onkyo 705

[Vaughan Odendaa]

Hi guys,

Client of mine bought an Onkyo 705 and also owns a Sony Bravia 46" LCD with 1080p native resolution.

He also owns the Xbox 360 and is using HDMI. When using his system for his satellite, text looks blurred and the entire image looks unstable; it sort of resembles a picture with a relatively low refresh rate. This was using the HDMI connection.

However when using composite instead of HDMI, the image looks rock solid and the text is clear. This is all connected via the av receiver. Now I understand full well that one can't expect better image quality when upconverting but I wasn't expecting any major degradation in the picture either.

I spoke to the Onkyo rep and he tells me, and I quote "we have never come across that problem in all our years. . .blah, blah. . ". He told me that you can't have the Xbox 360 set to 1080p. It should be set to 1080i and that it somehow is conflicting with the av receivers ability to output a stable image using the HDMI connection.

I didn't really understand that. He told me that the av receiver will deinterlace the image (Xbox 360) and convert to 1080p anyway. He tells me that this will definitely get rid of the blurry text when using HDMI for satellite.

What do you guys think ? I haven't tested this out yet because my client is away on business at the moment. Opinions would be appreciated. Thanks.

--Regards,

 

[Biggiesized]

Composite looks better than HDMI? Something is definitely wrong.

 

[Vaughan Odendaa]

Well, exactly. I was sitting 3 m away and the text looks smudged and unclear. The composite connection looks just fine.

I'm not sure that what my rep told me is valid. I double-checked to make sure the receiver wasn't faulty by replacing it with an identical model and the same problem occured.

--Regards,

 

[Biggiesized]

What is the satellite receiver box set to output? HDMI isn't supposed to carry 480i.

Make sure it's set at 1080i. The picture shouldn't look in any way decent using composite cables on a 46" 1080p LCD.

 

[Vaughan Odendaa]

I'm from South Africa, I ain't got no HD satellite yet. I should have been more clear about that. It's standard definition.

When using composite pass-thru to the Sony the image looks stable and the text looks sharp. When upconverting this image to HDMI the text looks shoddy. Why would composite yield much better results ?

I've tried two identical receivers so it isn't faulty. But I can't imagine people would accept images like this when upconverting to HDMI.

I don't understand how changing the resolution of the Xbox 360 to 1080i is going to solve this problem unless there is some HDMI handshaking problem that I am blissfully unaware of here (in my case).

--Regards,

 

[Vaughan Odendaa]

Is this a normal problem ?

--Regards,

 

[Midcow2]

The X-Box 360 supports direct HD why upconvert ?

Is your client using the Xbox 360 HD AV cable ? If not one can be purchase for not very much. $29.99 at Best Buy http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8362595&st=xbox++360+hd+cable&lp=2&type=product&cp=1&id=1177717628274


It would make better sense to use component out of X-box 360 and convert that to HDMI rather than use composite output an try to upconvert even though the Onkyo 705 can functionally do that!

===

Connect an Xbox 360 console to a high-definition TV 1. Turn off the Xbox 360 console.
2. Connect the audio-visual (AV) connector on the Component HD AV Cable to the AV port on the Xbox 360 console.
3. Set the HDTV switch on the AV Connector to HDTV.
Note Only set the switch to HDTV if the TV supports high-definition resolution, such as 480p, 720p, 1080i, or 1080p. 1080p became supported after the November 2006 Xbox Live update.
4. Connect the red, green, and blue RCA connectors on the Component HD AV Cable to the corresponding color input jacks on the high-definition TV. Do not use the yellow RCA composite video connector.
5. Connect the red and white RCA audio connectors on the Component HD AV Cable to the corresponding colored input jacks on the HDTV.
6. Turn on the Xbox 360 console. From the System section, you can change your display and HDTV settings. Select the appropriate high-definition video setting for the HDTV.

 

[Vaughan Odendaa]

It would make better sense to use component out of X-box 360 and convert that to HDMI rather than use composite output an try to upconvert even though the Onkyo 705 can functionally do that!

The client is using HDMI pass-thru for the Xbox 360. The problem is that his satellite picture looks better when using the composite connection rather than upconverting to HDMI. Text looks better defined and the image looks stable. What I don't seem to understand is that the Onkyo rep suggests that his Xbox 360 set to 1080p is what is causing his less-than-stellar image for satellite.

I don't understand how that could be the problem.

--Regards,