Help! New Sony LCD is flashing on HD channels

[rogue]

I could really use your help. I just got a new Sony Bravia 40" LCD (KDL40V2500) delivered today. Two different times tonight, while I was watching hd channels, the tv has flashed the channel on and off, on and off -- just to be clear, the tv power is not going on and off, it's just the channel. At first I thought the "last" button on the cable remote was stuck and it was changing the channels, but then I realized it kept flashing the same channel (fox 705, grey screen, fox 705, grey screen...). When I turned the cable box off to see if it was the cable, the tv kept doing it. On "video 6", the video source for the cable, it still did the same flashing, but just black and grey, black and grey... So I don't think it's the cable since it still happened when the cable was off. I turned the cable back on and it was still doing it. I switched to a non-HD channel and it was fine, then switched it back to fox HD and it was normal. The second time it happened a couple hours later (also on fox 705, actually), we switched to a random regular non-hd channel right away and it was fine, then immediately switched back to the fox hd channel, and it was fine. Argh!! What's going on? Is my tv broken?

 

[MDS]

Pretty weird but I highly doubt it is the TV. I'm inclined to think that the cable feed is momentarily interrupted and the TV loses sync so it just displays the channel and a blank screen until it can re-sync with the cable feed.

Cable in my area is reasonably reliable but not always and sometimes the picture freezes while the audio continues but I've never seen the kind of thing you describe (I suppose that is a good thing. )

 

[rogue]

Okay, more information for anyone who wants to put forth a hypothesis. Tonight when the flashing happened again while on an HD channel, I switched the channel to another HD channel, and it was still flashing. It seems the only way I can stop the flashing is by changing to a non-HD channel (since even turning the cable off keeps the tv flashing). Thoughts?

 

[Jedi2016]

Are you using an HDMI connection, by any chance? From what I've read of PS3 reviews, that's a sign of a handshake problem between the source device and the television. They've stopped "talking", so the HDMI goes into some freaky mode until the connection is restored. That's why it resets when you go to something else and then come back to it, since it re-establishes the connection when you switch to it from something else.

As for a fix? Not a clue.

 

[Bigsilvs]

I recently went over to my buddy's house to hook up his 32' Sharp Aquos HDTV with the Directv HD Receiver with an HDMI cable. Every time I would switch to a HD channel his screen would also "freak out" flashing all sorts of colors and the audio would even pop loud. When we tried connecting Component cables the picture would just flash, change colors, and switch channels, with no loud pop or any other side effects.

Last year, I hooked up my 42' Phillips HDTV with HDMI and I just got the normal flashing for a couple of seconds with no other side effects that the Sharp HDTV had with the same Directv HD Receiver. Not very often, I do switch to an HD channel and I get no picture, so then I turn off my HD Receiver and HDTV and it works fine.

I think it does depend on the HDTV and the components being used on it when hooking them up with HDMI. You could try and see if there are any Firmware upgrades for your HDTV and your Cable box. Otherwise, you might want to just connect your cable box to your HDTV with Component cables.

 

[rogue]

Great info, guys, thanks. Yeah, I am using an HDMI cable. Bigsilvs, did you ever get your friend's Aquos working even with the component cables? Sounds like it was still messed up.

I think the TV only came with a 15-pin cable and a coax. Here's the link to the Sony website which has specs and a pdf of the owner's manual. They sound like they are suggesting you use an HDMI cable or just the coax that comes with.

http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start?CategoryName=tv_flatpanel_32to40&ProductSKU=KDL40V2500&TabName=specs&var2=

 

[Bigsilvs]

When I used Component Cables things went back to normal. But, he wanted to use HDMI.

He initially wanted to watch Directv using his Sharp Aquos speakers (didn't want to have his wife and baby hear the TV all the time in other rooms), but the loud popping persisted. So we went back to using the HDMI cable and split the audio from the Directv HD receiver to his Bose speakers. The loud popping went away when switching to HD channels but he has to use his Bose speakers while watching Directv.

The flashing delay between HD channels does take a bit longer on the Sharp Aquos HDTV than on my Phillips HDTV when using the same Directv HD Receiver with HDMI.

All this did seem weird, but we went with what worked out best. It also seemed like the flashing did simmer down a bit the next time I went to his house. So I assumed there was a Directv update.

 

[rogue]

So another few days has passed, another few days of tv watching. Thus far I can summarize my problems as follow:

1. sometimes, there is a repetitive flashing when changing to an HD channel, as if the cable is out of sync with the tv and stuck in some kind of loop, and the only way to stop the flashing is by changing to a standard channel

2. sometimes, when turning the tv on after it had last been on an HD channel before it was turned off, there is no picture at all - we need to switch to a non-HD channel before the tv recognizes the cable is on at all and shows a picture

3. sometimes audio continues while picture freezes

So do we think this is all due to the terrible Time Warner New York cable? Is there any chance this is the TV? I called Sony and they seem convinced this is all because of the cable connection. I wonder if some other TVs, in spite of a lousy cable connection, are better able to reconcile themselves with shifty cable and perform better in the same conditions.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Great info, guys, thanks. Yeah, I am using an HDMI cable. Bigsilvs, did you ever get your friend's Aquos working even with the component cables? Sounds like it was still messed up.

I think the TV only came with a 15-pin cable and a coax. Here's the link to the Sony website which has specs and a pdf of the owner's manual. They sound like they are suggesting you use an HDMI cable or just the coax that comes with.

http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start?CategoryName=tv_flatpanel_32to40&ProductSKU=KDL40V2500&TabName=specs&var2=

Sounds like you need to get a better cable box from the cable provider, not an easy task. They like to point fingers top everyone else except themselves.

 

[rogue]

Okay, updates: I bought component video cables and audio cables to see if the connection would be any less problematic (well, first I bought another HDMI cable just to make sure I didn't have a defective cable, and sure enough, the flashing continued). With the component cables, there has been none of the same flashing as above, but instead, almost every time I change the channel, before the channel appears clearly on the screen, there is noise and lines and other analog-looking "crap" before it makes its transition (about 5 seconds worth). Once it's on the channel, there aren't really any problems. I have 2 days to return this TV to Circuit City, which is unfortunately not enough time for me to get another cable box from Time Warner New York in order to see if the problems go away with another box. Do you think this is the cable box and I should keep the TV, or do you think this could be the TV so I should try to return it? If it ends up being the TV and I miss the return window, Sony does have a warranty on it - but that would require a technician to come poke around and be useless, and probably replacement with a refurb with untold problems. Help please!

 

[wafflebird]

That is a tough one but I say return it

It, to me, sounds like a HDMI - TV handshake issue as the issue has stopped when you went to component cables, but it also sounds like it is taking a long time for it to "Switch" going from SD to Hi-Def channels as well. I say return it and get a new one, see if it does the same thing at least then you should have another return window to work with. Also do some searching around to see if this may be a specific TV problem. Good luck.

 

[rogue]

On component cables, the switching channel issue isn't just that it's taking a long time, it has the lines and noise and crazy screen issue for that period of transition as well (let's call this the "crazy transition"). As I noted, it only did this almost every time I changed the channel, not every time. After I posted last, I noticed that there was a pattern of when it did that crazy transition, and when it transitioned normally. Turns out, every time the output changed, it did the crazy transition. So going from channel 2 to 3 to 4 etc.--all channels that output automatically at 480i--did not produce the crazy transition and transitioned totally normally. Likewise, going from a 720p HD channel to another 720p HD channel, or a 1080i HD channel to another 1080i HD channel, was totally fine. The crazy transition happened going from 480i to 1080i, 720p to 1080i, 1080i to 480i, etc.

So, my work around...I manually set the cable box output formats to only output at 1080i, and voila, all crazy transitioning has stopped. Not sure if this would also fix the flashing issue if I did the same while it was hooked up with the HDMI cable. Weird huh? That sounds like the cable box to me. Honestly, I don't have the time to return the TV, so I hope I'm not making excuses for a potentially defective TV.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Honestly, I don't have the time to return the TV, so I hope I'm not making excuses for a potentially defective TV.

I don't think it is your TV. But, there has been lots written about the cable box interfacing with TV through HDMI, a handshake issue, sort of.

 

[rogue]

Are handshake issues the fault of the cable box?