DVR Chatter

Which Series of the Motorola DVR are you using? Is it HDMI or DVI->HDMI?

Are you turning the STB on and off or just the TV?  I don't think this is the way it's intended to work.

I do not use HDMI so I'm kind of at a loss as to how to trouble shoot this.

I'll have to look at the box series - sorry, I don't remember it off the top of my head and I'm at work when I post.  The boxes I have both have HDMI output so I am using HDMI to HDMI and I'm putting this together little by little as I talk to other and look on the Internet.  From what I gather I am having 'handshake' issues but maybe not - does the handshake originate with the STB only or can it originate on either end (STB or TV) - if not then why not - sheesh - we can fly into space but we can't engineer user friendly digital media protection?  Should I call Comcast for help or will that just lead to me banging my head against the wall?  Can anyone tell me a little more about the 'handshake'?  Last night my DVR was busy recording and I turned on my TV - alas, snow and only snow - so I had to reach behind the STB and unplug the HDMI cable - then re-plug it back in to get picture - what a pain - other people can't be doing this regularly.  Does it solve the issue if I add a home theater amp inbetween the STB and the TV?  Then maybe I could power-cycle the amp to get the picture without needing to power cycle the STB.  Help...anybody...?

From what I've read, HDMI and Component are pretty much visually identical to all but the most fussy eye.

I've been using the component cables Comcast provided for 3 years, so you might even be able to get some from them.  I doubt they're the highest quality, but they work fine.  I don't know of any settings other than the ones here:
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_use … bPr_Output

A co-worker of mine has a similar issue between his 3412 and his Sony LCD whenever changing between SD and HD channels.  He would have to power cycle his TV to re-establish the connection.  Apparently Sony identified the incompatability between certain versions of their control boards and the Moto/Comcast boxes.  All companies point the finger at the other.  He just uses component with no problems.

On the other hand I have used both the 6412 (with DVI-HDMI adaptor) and 3416 (HDMI native) on both my LCDs (one is LG, the other Samsung) and have zero HDMI issues.

Post back with the component results, with symptoms if you can't get it to work.

Below is some info i posted in "Dear Comcast" forum regarding your issue.  Since the update, the problems with a few TVs have been corrected, but there are still some issues out there. If you are still having the same problems, I would definitely switch to 5-wire (component) as I did.  Something I have been meaning to try as well once I get the correct cable is using the IEEE (firewire) ports from DVR to TV. I haven't toyed with that yet as far as comparison of quality.  I hope this helps.

CommTech wrote:

As for other bugs, I don't have definite answers other than they are "mostly" Motorola-related. There was a firmware upgrade to ALL Moto boxes about 4-5 months ago that absolutely screwed us up in our processing center.  You may have noticed your main menu change, as well as guide setups change.  The firmware "update" also caused major issues specifically with the DVI/HDMI ports on all DCT5100/6200/6412P1/P2/P3 in the fact that the brand of your HDTV is now a factor in the functionality of these ports. To give an example: i have a Samsung DLP HDTV and was using the HDMI on a 6412P3. After the firmware "update", anytime I turned my TV on I would have a blank or green screen showing until I power-cycled my box.  I began to ask around and other people who had brands such as JVC and Sony had no problems at all.  The 5100 and 6200 HD boxes seemed to be affected the most with their DVI ports.  This problem may be more of a Samsung issue as i have heard since then that they tend to be last in line when it comes to engineering communication on firmware updates on any equipment hooked up to their TVs, but I have heard other brands of TVs have similar issues.

Menus / Guide are not displayed via Firewire either.

Frank wrote:

Menus / Guide are not displayed via Firewire either.

The Firewire apparently gets it's output before the graphics are added. It's sort of like the RF/composite/S-Video outputs when component/DVI/HDMI is outputting 480p+.

I'm really curious about this because I've been considering hooking up the HDMI->DVI contraption on my 6412, but I've been "talked" out of it by reading there's really no difference in PQ.

If HDMI rates 100, what does Component rate?

I have a similar problem on one of my sets where HDMI is flakey and I use component instead. I can't tell the difference between the pictures and from what I read the eye can't really tell the difference. I hate to ask this dumb question, but are you sure you're using component and not composite?

I use HDMI on my Phillips Plasma and it works perfectly with the 3412, but I regularly update the firmware from Philips on my Plasma. I have a Philips tube HD tv in my bedroom and this is the one that is flakey with the HDMI and I've had to revert to component cables.