Question about AVR features.

[adrianthurn]

I currently have a Denon that does not have HDMI. I have an audio delay on my satellite, but I think that is normal for a satellite. I am looking at getting a new AVR and was looking at the Onkyo 605, but saw that some people are complaining about audio delay, and the fact that most people in the forum say the YAMMY 663 is a better buy, I discarded the 605. My question is about HDMI active intelligence and Sony's Bravia Theatre Synch. I have a PS3, and a Sony 46XBR2, which neither have Bravia Theatre Synch. The question is, do all receivers have HDMI active intellegence, which automatically chooses the best audio/video signal? And also, is it possible for Sony to come out with an update for my TV and the PS3 to enable BTS? If so, maybe it would be a good idea to get a Sony receiver.

Thanks.

 

[MDS]

I'm not sure what you mean by 'HDMI Active Intelligence' as that sounds like a marketing term. Receivers do have a kind of priority scheme for picking the 'best' audio and video signal in the sense that if you have both analog and digital audio signals present at the same time (say from a cable channel) it will automatically select the digital signal. Likewise with HDMI, it will use the HDMI signal instead of the digital coax/optical if a signal is present at both inputs.

As for audio delay...I would think Bravia Theater Sync is just Sony's trademarked name for their implementation of the HDMI CEC (consumer electronics control) protocol. CEC is the same kind of thing that Onkyo has offered for years with their RI (remote interactive) scheme and allows features like automatically turning on the receiver and changing to the dvd input when the dvd player is turned on, automatically turning on/off all connected devices when one is turned on/off, etc. Automatically calculating the required audio delay is another feature of HDMI CEC.

Every manufacturer has their own name for the same feature. They usually state that it is not guaranteed to work unless all components are their brand but the idea behind a standard control protocol is it should work with any device of any brand if it correctly implements the protocol.