# HR24 HDMI handshake problems



## cajunrc (Dec 2, 2006)

I have had handshake problems since I replaced an HR-20 with the HR24. When I turn on the TV (42" Panny plasma) I don't get a picture until I turn the TV off and on once or twice. I am going thru my AV receiver and do not have any problem with the DVD player. Any idea's what can this be?


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## sigma1914 (Sep 5, 2006)

cajunrc said:


> I have had handshake problems since I replaced an HR-20 with the HR24. When I turn on the TV (42" Panny plasma) I don't get a picture until I turn the TV off and on once or twice. I am going thru my AV receiver and do not have any problem with the DVD player. *Any idea's what can this be?*


Yes...A HDMI handshake problem.


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## DogLover (Mar 19, 2007)

I have a handshake problem as well, when switching from my HR22 to the HR24. Often, it can be fixed by changing to a channel with different resolution. I have my DVR set to native on. If you have native off, you can probably just cycle through the formats until you force a resolution change.

Occasionally that doesn't work and I turn the AV receiver off and then back on. That seems to force a re-handshake. 

(Those steps take less time than turning the TV off/on.)


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## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

Here you go....problem solved.


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## STEVEN-H (Jan 19, 2007)

I have posted a number of times and sent a number of reports about problems with HDMI and my Sony system. It makes the Sony automatic HDMI functions not work by just having the HR24 HDMI connected to my amp. There is a serious HDMI problem with did not exist with my HR 20 or HR21.


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## Carl Spock (Sep 3, 2004)

First, let me say I am talking completely out of my hat. I may be full of crap here. I'm guessing, but...

...my guess is that this is still an HDMI problem and not DirecTV's fault. We don't know the design requirements of the HR24, but it is probably HDMI 1.4, which supports 3D. *Earl* has said multiple times that the HR20 was HDMI 1.0. Given its manufacturer date, the HR21 would be HDMI 1.2 or maybe 1.3 at the best. I want to say Earl also said the HR21 was HDMI 1.0 but I can't remember for sure. Who knows what your Sony is. Now, supposedly all of these HDMI systems are fully backwards compatible and it's a wonderful world, but maybe that's not the case. Your experience tends to back that up, along with the other posts in this thread. HDMI is a really poor standard. As *texasbrit* said yesterday:



texasbrit said:


> I will be glad when we see the last of HDMI. Poor standard, badly implemented, poorly controlled.


I bet DirecTV will be able to implement a tweak in the HDMI protocols to ameliorate this problem with future software downloads but for now, *STEVEN-H*, you're screwed. Sorry. HDMI sucks.

_(Note to self: used "ameliorate" properly here in July. Can check off until August.)_


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## jgrade (Oct 1, 2006)

HDMI sucks; that's putting it mildly. I have given up on HDMI and gone back to component with my Sammy. Between the green screens and mode not supported, I spend more time fixing HDMI problems than I do watching the TV. After three different controller boards with new firmware, two different AV receivers, multiple cables and a HR20 and HR21 the HDMI issues continue. I know most of the blame is on the Sammy but still, HDMI is the worst ever. 

cajunrc: Don't think about this too much. As we have all said HDMI is the problem not the equipment. My only suggestion is to see if there is a firmware update for your TV. I updated a 32" Bravia I use for my computer monitor and it worked wonders. Handshake nightmares before the update.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

jgrade said:


> HDMI sucks; that's putting it mildly. I have given up on HDMI and gone back to component with my Sammy. Between the green screens and mode not supported, I spend more time fixing HDMI problems than I do watching the TV. After three different controller boards with new firmware, two different AV receivers, multiple cables and a HR20 and HR21 the HDMI issues continue. I know most of the blame is on the Sammy but still, HDMI is the worst ever.
> 
> cajunrc: Don't think about this too much. As we have all said HDMI is the problem not the equipment. My only suggestion is to see if there is a firmware update for your TV. I updated a 32" Bravia I use for my computer monitor and it worked wonders. Handshake nightmares before the update.


Here's a *link* that might give you hope. Looks as if implementation might begin this year.

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

STEVEN-H said:


> I have posted a number of times and sent a number of reports about problems with HDMI and my Sony system. It makes the Sony automatic HDMI functions not work by just having the HR24 HDMI connected to my amp. There is a serious HDMI problem with did not exist with my HR 20 or HR21.


Sony products and HDMI just don't seem to get along well. I had major problems back in the winter of '06 with two Sony TVs that wouldn't work with HDMI and the HRs. Spent a lot of money on those two Sonys and traded one to a contractor for work done and gave the other one away.

Rich


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## jaguar325 (Jan 2, 2006)

I don't have an HR24 so can't say definitively but this might be as easy as switching cables. I fixed an issue with a newer Mits LCD and HR22 about 6 months ago by switching out an HDMI cable that was not rated 1.3. If the HR24 is 1.4, I don't know if this idea would help you.

Good luck.


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## rahlquist (Jul 24, 2007)

rich584 said:


> Here's a *link* that might give you hope. Looks as if implementation might begin this year.


Does it provide some sort of sych between its digital video and digital audio? IF so sign me up.


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## jimmie57 (Jun 26, 2010)

cajunrc said:


> I have had handshake problems since I replaced an HR-20 with the HR24. When I turn on the TV (42" Panny plasma) I don't get a picture until I turn the TV off and on once or twice. I am going thru my AV receiver and do not have any problem with the DVD player. Any idea's what can this be?


My mother has a Samsung LCD TV and Comcast Cable.
Quite often the TV and Cable Box do not talk to each other.
She has learned over these past few months to go into the setup on her tv by pressing the Source button and then choosing the HDMI connection.

This might work for you also.

I suggested to her that one of the local children there hook her up with the Red, Green, Blue cable ( I always forget whether it is component or composite ) to see if that loses connection also. They have not done that yet since it only takes her a few second to re-choose the HDMI connection.
I would do it if I lived close but alas I am over 1,000 miles from her.

Good luck.


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## jimmie57 (Jun 26, 2010)

Here is a link if you want to read about the different designations of the HDMI cables.

http://www.bluejeanscable.com/articles/hdmi-spec-versions.htm

Ethernet Channel
*Specification version 1.4* introduced the new optional "Ethernet and Audio Return Channel." Unlike prior changes to the features and protocols supported by the spec, this change actually requires some alteration to the HDMI cable design. The connectors remain the same, and the pins still map as they did before, but two conductors have been given new additional tasks to perform, and because the bitrate to run through these conductors is rather high, the specification requires that they be run as a 100-ohm twisted pair. Prior cable designs did not run these conductors as a twisted pair, and so the impedance of the pair in a non-Ethernet cable could be almost anything, most likely unsuited for high-speed data.

It is important to remember that the Ethernet and Audio Return Channel is an optional HDMI cable feature. In other words, a cable which was compliant under any prior spec version continues to be compliant under HDMI 1.4 -- it is simply classified as a cable without Ethernet -- and new cables can continue to be certified compliant under HDMI 1.4 and its accompanying Compliance Testing Specification, again as non-Ethernet-capable cables. The version number of the certification does not in itself say anything about the cable's capabilities.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

rahlquist said:


> Does it provide some sort of sych between its digital video and digital audio? IF so sign me up.


I dunno. I just read the article and passed it on. Anyone who reads it knows as much as I do. Seems like a good thing, tho. 

Rich


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## hdtvfan0001 (Jul 28, 2004)

rich584 said:


> I dunno. I just read the article and passed it on. Anyone who reads it knows as much as I do. Seems like a good thing, tho.
> 
> Rich


Alot of this is surrounding the needs to support 3D...but yes...it should reduce sync issues...

Then again...now there's HDMI v1.4a... :eek2::eek2::eek2:

Make it stop daddy...


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

hdtvfan0001 said:


> Alot of this is surrounding the needs to support 3D...but yes...it should reduce sync issues...
> 
> Then again...now there's HDMI v1.4a... :eek2::eek2::eek2:
> 
> Make it stop daddy...


It's becoming almost unbearable to deal with all the technology and it doesn't look like it's gonna stop. In fact, I think we gotta face it, it's just not gonna stop. And my head's gonna explode! 

Rich


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## jimmie57 (Jun 26, 2010)

rich584 said:


> It's becoming almost unbearable to deal with all the technology and it doesn't look like it's gonna stop. In fact, I think we gotta face it, it's just not gonna stop. And my head's gonna explode!
> 
> Rich


Change is Good.
Technology is Awesome.
If it wasn't we would still be watching the old analog signals off the huge antennas in black and white maybe. LOL
Then again, we would not be spending any money on TV programming.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

jimmie57 said:


> Change is Good.
> Technology is Awesome.
> If it wasn't we would still be watching the old analog signals off the huge antennas in black and white maybe. LOL
> Then again, we would not be spending any money on TV programming.


The point I was trying to make is that the technology is coming so fast that it's almost impossible to keep up with it. Rain is great too, keeps the plants growing, the lawns green and the reservoirs filled up. But, let it rain in torrents for forty days and forty nights and, well, you know. 

Rich


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## jimmie57 (Jun 26, 2010)

rich584 said:


> The point I was trying to make is that the technology is coming so fast that it's almost impossible to keep up with it. Rain is great too, keeps the plants growing, the lawns green and the reservoirs filled up. But, let it rain in torrents for forty days and forty nights and, well, you know.
> 
> Rich


LOL


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## STEVEN-H (Jan 19, 2007)

My Sony System works just fine with HR20 and HR21 DVR's that have been updated for 3D. There is a problem with the HDMI implementation in the HR24 and it can and should be fixed by Direct TV. The problem did exist in the previous HR's until it was fixed in those. So let's not get to far adrift from the HR24 HDMI Handshake problem.


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## Scott Kocourek (Jun 13, 2009)

I am confident the HDMI problems will be corrected soon. I have a HR22-100 hooked to a Sony TV that had many issues in the past and it has none now. I also have a HR22-100 hooked to a different Sony tv with no problems but I do have a HR24-100 hooked to that same Sony and have HDMI issues. They have had problems in the past and have fixed them, I have no reason to believe they won't be able to fix the new problems.

I get the feeling that HDMI is more of a suggestion than a specification.


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## rahlquist (Jul 24, 2007)

scottandregan said:


> I am confident the HDMI problems will be corrected soon. I have a HR22-100 hooked to a Sony TV that had many issues in the past and it has none now. I also have a HR22-100 hooked to a different Sony tv with no problems but I do have a HR24-100 hooked to that same Sony and have HDMI issues. They have had problems in the past and have fixed them, I have no reason to believe they won't be able to fix the new problems.
> 
> I get the feeling that HDMI is more of a suggestion than a specification.


Unfortunately for 2 years my HR20 and Toshiba Plasma have never hand shook properly and routinely wind up with a screen full of 8-bit looking text characters 2-3inches tall overlaid on top of the picture. Just tried it again last week. I expect HDMI to never work between these two, however the Sony BluRay player and the Sony DVD player prior to it have never had HDMI problems with this television.


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## dvdguru (Aug 16, 2009)

Many times you can correct this by changing the order of how you turn everything on. For example, if you have a universal remote that runs a macro to turn on the tv, receiver and directv receiver keep trying a different order for the turn-on process. Try receiver, then tv, then box. Then try tv, then receiver, then box, etc. This method is not able to fix it all the time but more often that not it is. It all depends on your receiver and tv. 

I think my turn-on macro for my universal remote is: Turn on receiver, pause the macro for 1 second, then turn on tv then the directv receiver. I have the pause in there to make sure the receiver is ready to receive an input signal, etc. If you play around with these methods it will usually work after experimenting for awhile.


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## johnp37 (Sep 14, 2006)

I have a Sony HDTV, a Sony AV receiver, all hooked up HDMI to my HR24. Zero problems, nada, zilch. Can't explain why others are having problems and I am not.


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## penmaster (Jul 22, 2010)

We had the same problem - audio and video cutting out - the HR24 having trouble handshaking with the receiver. We have a Denon AVR-1910 receiver and a Mitsubishi WD-73837 73-Inch TV. This is our solution:

1. First we changed the power-up sequence for the remote control. We made sure to turn on the HR24 before turning on the receiver. We even added a 1 second delay after turning on the HR24. That fixed the problem about half of the time, but it was still doing it, although not as much. It seems that the DVR has to be on first so when the receiver comes on, it needs to detect it right away or it goes bananas.

2. We were using HDMI 1.3 cables. We bought an HDMI 1.4 cable and replaced the cable from the HR24 to the receiver. That solved the problem completely. No more cutting out and it comes up fast all the time. We think it is a bandwidth problem. If you give the connection more bandwidth then it will handshake, no problem. We think it has to do with the newer equipment requiring more bandwidth.

I hope this helps.

BTW the HDMI 1.4 cable I used was very inexpensive ($8.99). It got very good reviews at Amazon.com: Menotek Gold Plated 10FT HDMI 1.4 Cable (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0030HS50M)


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## TomCat (Aug 31, 2002)

Every time my HDMI shakes hands, it reaches for the hand sanitizer.


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## Dominator (Jul 25, 2010)

STEVEN-H said:


> I have posted a number of times and sent a number of reports about problems with HDMI and my Sony system. It makes the Sony automatic HDMI functions not work by just having the HR24 HDMI connected to my amp. There is a serious HDMI problem with did not exist with my HR 20 or HR21.


I have a similar setup to Steven-H. Downstairs, I have a Sony STR-DG920 amplifier, Sony KDF-55WF655, and an HR24/100. I just had DTV installed for the first time a few weeks ago. I was having no problems watching live TV downstairs or watching anything live or recorded on my upstairs Panasonic Plasma with my second HR24/100 which doesn't have any kind of audio A/V receiver connected to it (and even no problems watching shows upstairs that were recorded on downstairs DVR). During playback of most recordings downstairs, if I paused or fast forwarded, or apparently breathed the wrong way, I would lose audio. And the DVR wasn't responding to fast forward / rewind commands from my remote very well either. After a red button reset, things would work fine, the audio would come back, until I tried to play a recording from the DVR. After reading on this site about the HDMI problems with the HR24 boxes being related to Dolby Digital decoding during playback of recordings, I turned off Dolby Digital on the HR 24 for a brief experiment. DVR playback was much smoother but the audio quality with analog audio was not acceptable. So I disconnected my HDMI cable from my HR 24 to my Sony amp and connected instead with component video cables and a digital coax audio cable. So at least for a day or so, no problems, I get my Dolby Digital audio, and no red button resets required. I don't see a difference in picture quality between HDMI and Component. Hopefully DTV will update the HR24 software to eliminate this bug, but until then, I'll stick with component video and digital audio over coax. Thought this suggestion might help people having the same problems as me.


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## Scott Kocourek (Jun 13, 2009)

Dominator said:


> [...] So I disconnected my HDMI cable from my HR 24 to my Sony amp and connected instead with component video cables and a digital coax audio cable. So at least for a day or so, no problems, I get my Dolby Digital audio, and no red button resets required. I don't see a difference in picture quality between HDMI and Component. Hopefully DTV will update the HR24 software to eliminate this bug, but until then, I'll stick with component video and digital audio over coax. Thought this suggestion might help people having the same problems as me.


:welcome_s

This workaround has worked very well for others. I don't think it will be too long before the HDMI issue you describe is fixed.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

Dominator said:


> I have a similar setup to Steven-H. Downstairs, I have a Sony STR-DG920 amplifier, Sony KDF-55WF655, and an HR24/100. I just had DTV installed for the first time a few weeks ago. I was having no problems watching live TV downstairs or watching anything live or recorded on my upstairs Panasonic Plasma with my second HR24/100 which doesn't have any kind of audio A/V receiver connected to it (and even no problems watching shows upstairs that were recorded on downstairs DVR). During playback of most recordings downstairs, if I paused or fast forwarded, or apparently breathed the wrong way, I would lose audio. And the DVR wasn't responding to fast forward / rewind commands from my remote very well either. After a red button reset, things would work fine, the audio would come back, until I tried to play a recording from the DVR. After reading on this site about the HDMI problems with the HR24 boxes being related to Dolby Digital decoding during playback of recordings, I turned off Dolby Digital on the HR 24 for a brief experiment. DVR playback was much smoother but the audio quality with analog audio was not acceptable. So I disconnected my HDMI cable from my HR 24 to my Sony amp and connected instead with component video cables and a digital coax audio cable. So at least for a day or so, no problems, I get my Dolby Digital audio, and no red button resets required. I don't see a difference in picture quality between HDMI and Component. Hopefully DTV will update the HR24 software to eliminate this bug, but until then, I'll stick with component video and digital audio over coax. Thought this suggestion might help people having the same problems as me.


Sony's have been a PITA when trying to use HDMI since the HRs first came out. Samsungs were, but I don't see any posts about them anymore. I had two Sony TVs that I got rid of because of the HDMI problem. I don't think we can blame this on D*.

Rich


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