[Travelman1966]

Hello all,

Well....finally purchashed a refurb (I know I know!) 42 inch toshiba fullhd sl738b. 100hz-pic by far best in showroom (richer sounds could not even be bothered to phone back re: missing bit of stand/or to check stock).

Well pleased at 1st-FAB picture. Linked it up with my Virgin hd box (TIVO box with more moemory upstairs for mo). Used HDMI supplied by virgin. 1 standard dvd player to scart 1 & ps2 to scart 2.

Ok....sporadically it 'cuts out' & says 'please re-tune' so have to go to hdm1 setting (remote-top button lets you go to all hdmi ports to select which one you want). VERY ANNOYING if watching something -however you can allways re-wind. Is there something I'm doing wrong????! Dodgy HDMI leads???

I'm SO annoyed as spent a bit over budget & its a 40 min drive there. I can get a FULL refund witin 7 days-but the pic is SO good. Is there anything I can do to cure this? Is it the TV or the virgin box?

God-wish I'd stuck with my old tv (!). Please help & no 'I told you so's' about refurbs (!).

[John Currie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Travelman1966

sporadically it 'cuts out' & says 'please re-tune'

That message has nothing to do with your VM box or the HDMI leads.
It's being generated by the TVs built-in Freeview tuner I suspect.
I don't know if you have a terrestrial aerial connected but I'd advise you to go through the motions of tuning anyway.

[Travelman1966]

John-thanks for the reply!

Ok...we did the initial 'set-up' (after doing it 50%-thinking we were doing it wrong-turning tv off & starting again!) & it scanned & showed NO analogue/digital system.

As advised in (very small!) manual (downloaded full 6o page one off web) we did this with the Virgin HD box in standby/dvd player off.

Should we -re-tune again? With VM Box on/off?

No aeriel at all plugged in. We need to use remote to scroll to HDMI1 to get the virgin box signal.

[MrGiles2]

With all TVs using a HDMI lead, you have to use the TV remote to scroll down to the HDMI connection that you are using for your virgin media decoder, eg HDMI 1. Mine is wired into HDMI 2 with my blu-ray and SD DVD player into HDMI 1 and 3 respectively.

Unless you have a DVD player the same make as TV like I have with Sony, when I switch on the blu-ray it is automatic conenction via HDMI.

In your case, just use the remote.

I would also suggest that you re-tune your TV for freeview if you have the aerial connected. It does not matter whether the virgin decoder is connected or not.

Happy Viewing!!

[Travelman1966]

Mr Giles.....no aeriel & reception here anyway is rubish-only limited freeview. What I've done this am is swapped HDMI leads around (changed ends!)...made sure they are flush/properly connected.

I've reset V+ box & TV-started from 'scratch'...done the auto-tune (which of course doesn't pick up anything) & have now worked out how to assign HDMI for virgin so comes to this as default when tv on.Also re-set all virgin box sttings to correct, ie 1080, wide screen etc.

SO FAR with 1hrs viewing NO drop-out at all (it was worst last night between 10-30 & 11-30).

I ripped Quantumn of Solace from a friends DVD -its compressed (80% to fit single layer DVD)-feel sure the Toshiba upscales as the colour/action is just awesome. heaven knows how good a proper blue-ray would be!!!!

If anyone else has any imput on this it'd be great. Checked the 'technical' settings & no error messages on there (read somewhere else this tells if an errors occured & can be used to advise Virgin technical people).

Thanks again for your help.

[captainkremmen]

So you have TV that has no aerial cable plugged in?.

In that case the message when you switch on saying "No Signal" is perfectly normal if the TV is defaulting to the internal tuner. It isn't a fault and pretty much all TVs will do the same thing. No amount of "retuning" will change things if there is no aerial plugged in.

If your Virgin box is plugged into the HDMI1 you need to switch to that, and turn on the Virgin box before you will see any signal. Your Virgin box (like most receivers and PVRs these days) is essentially a computer, when you switch it on it takes a few seconds to start up and then has to negotiate with the TV to set correct resolution etc. This is what they call HDMI Handshaking. Until this handshaking is complete you may well get a "No Signal" message for a few seconds on the HDMI input too, until the Virgin box starts up fully. You may also see some flashing and static until the handshaking is complete. Again, this is perfectly normal but the picture should then remain solid until you switch off the Virgin box. If it doesn't and the picture via HDMI from your Virgin box breaks up or drops out, the first thing to try is a new HDMI cable.

If you only ever use the Virgin box for viewing then you need to set the appropriate HDMI input as default, so your TV defaults to it when switched on. In your last post it sounds like you've figured this out.

In your first post you seemed to be under the impression that your TV should display a picture when there is no aerial cable plugged in and the Virgin box was switched off. It wont, as there is nothing to tune into and the "No Signal" message is perfectly normal behaviour.

[Travelman1966]

Hi captainkremmen! Thanks for your detailed reply! ok....after resetting EVERYTHING 1st thing this am (v+ power down reset-tv re-tuned) & actually assigning the HDMI1 to virgin + HD box (hadn't sussed how to do this last pm-had to physically scroll to 'HDMI1' button from remote to get v+ hd signal& again if pic dropped & got the 're-tune channel' message) so that as soon as tv turned on it defaults to HDMI1-not had any issue since.

Could the 'assigning' of the HDMI1 to the TV (in other words it goes straight to v+hd signal as soon as tv turned on) have cured this 'skipping' to 'retune/blue screen' page? Also I've made sure HDMI lead (supplied by virgin) is flush & indeed turned lead opposite way round. Just to clarify there is NO aeriel into TV or V+ BOX-just cable.

Captain....is it worth spending any more money on a better hdmi cable? internet view is 'no' but you sound experienced-can you advise & do you think my 'assigning' HDMI1 to virgin as default has cured this issue?

[David (2)]

i know many people with SkyHD (connected with HDMI) and have no aerial at all, and for them they simply set everything going then power off the tv while still in HDMI input. When they power the tv back on, it goes direct into the last HDMI input used and this bypasses the Freeview tuner in the tv 100% for them.

Better (more expensive) HDMI cable is not worth it unless, you need HDMI v1.4 cables, or the hdmi cable is over a long distance.

[captainkremmen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Travelman1966

Hi captainkremmen! Thanks for your detailed reply! ok....after resetting EVERYTHING 1st thing this am (v+ power down reset-tv re-tuned) & actually assigning the HDMI1 to virgin + HD box (hadn't sussed how to do this last pm-had to physically scroll to 'HDMI1' button from remote to get v+ hd signal& again if pic dropped & got the 're-tune channel' message) so that as soon as tv turned on it defaults to HDMI1-not had any issue since.

Could the 'assigning' of the HDMI1 to the TV (in other words it goes straight to v+hd signal as soon as tv turned on) have cured this 'skipping' to 'retune/blue screen' page? Also I've made sure HDMI lead (supplied by virgin) is flush & indeed turned lead opposite way round. Just to clarify there is NO aeriel into TV or V+ BOX-just cable.

Captain....is it worth spending any more money on a better hdmi cable? internet view is 'no' but you sound experienced-can you advise & do you think my 'assigning' HDMI1 to virgin as default has cured this issue?

If your TV now defaults to HDMI1 then yes, it should cure the issue. The only time you'll see it is if you don't turn on the Virgin box within a few seconds of the TV, as the TV will (quite rightly) inform you that it has nothing to display. My own TV for example, waits around 5 minutes and, if it doesn't receive any signal and no interaction from the remote, it switches itself back into standby but others will just sit there displaying "No Signal" until you switch on the Virgin box.

As for HDMI cables, they are passing digital signals, it makes no difference to picture quality etc. as long as the cable is of decent construction, so a decent 1metre £3 cable will perform just as well as an expensive brand name one of the same length. As long as the cable is of decent enough quality and is properly shielded to prevent interference, then cheap cables work just as well. Where more expensive cables might come into their own is with very long cable runs, where the better quality materials and shielding help to minimise signal loss. With normal lengths of 1-3 metres it's not worth spending more than a fiver. In fact, myself and many others have even used £1 cables from Poundland and they work perfectly fine.

[ProDave]

Another possibility is the scart inputs.

Are the DVD and PS2 turned on or off when this happens?

I ask, because one previous tv I had read every scart control switch (on OR off) and reverted back to tv mode.

I'll try and explain that better. If I had selected HD input to view my sky HD box, and someone turned the DVD player connected to scart 2 off, the tv saw the scart control signal turn off, and switched back to internal tv. Rather stupid behavoiur as I was not even watching that input, but that's how it was designed to work.

It even did that if the freeview box was tuned on, and the channel it was tuned to switched from 4:3 to 16:9

So to avoid that make sure all scart connected devices are turned off, just in case that's what your tv is acting upon.

[Travelman1966]

Hi pro-dave! No-dvd/ps2 off. All seems fine now I've 'allocated' hd signal to HDM11 (by pressing text button on virgin box to confirm settings whilst highlighting HDMI1 socket with remote-before I did not do this within 15 secs or hightlight HDMI1)-so-all seems ok now!

[Travelman1966]

After a great 10 days or so of great HD viewing it's doing it again! Not regular as clockwork but every 5-15 minutes. SO FRUSTRATING!

Have to go to menu box & re-click 'HDMI1' to get pic back again.

Also...was watching a DVD & SAME thing happened????! Cables all brand-new (bought some new ones)-could it be the 'v-hd box' tripping out for a split second? Surely this wouldn't cause the DVD to go off?

Or...after my initial excitement...have I bought a dud with an error? Any ideas? Anything simplw I could do?

Also...I don't know if this is an issue/clue. If TV ON...virgin box on standby-put v box on-DOES NOT default to picture-have to manually scroll up to HDMI1 & press 'ok'-surely it should default to this?

I'm SO annoyed-please help (!)

[Travelman1966]

Paused HD TV....it 'dropped out' again YET STILL virgin HD was paused in right place??! Does this imply its the TV-not the V+ box tripping out??

[Travelman1966]

TV on for 1 1/4 hrs-no tripping out? Last night watched TV till early hours-tripping out happening much less-say every 30 mins. earlier on (7-10pm)-every 5-15 mins! Worth reporting to Virgin???

[Chasing Shadows]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Travelman1966

TV on for 1 1/4 hrs-no tripping out? Last night watched TV till early hours-tripping out happening much less-say every 30 mins. earlier on (7-10pm)-every 5-15 mins! Worth reporting to Virgin???

Obviously not - as it's nothing to do with Virgin. Your TV is losing its connection to its HDMI input. Why do you think Virgin would be interested in what your telly does or doesn't do?

Your TV is probably set to autoupdate its programme guide at regular intervals - and as you don't have a TV aerial connected it can't do, so is reporting to you that it is not receiving a signal. Go into the digital tuner signals on the telly and see whether there is some way of informing it that it doesn't have a TV aerial connected to it, or that you want to disable the terrestrial tuner(s) built into the telly, so it doesn't keep trying to update itself using connections which you don't have, then reporting to you that the signal is not in place.

[Chasing Shadows]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Travelman1966

Also...I don't know if this is an issue/clue. If TV ON...virgin box on standby-put v box on-DOES NOT default to picture-have to manually scroll up to HDMI1 & press 'ok'-surely it should default to this?

Many TVs won't select a digital input that does not exist. I can't select HDMI3 on my TV unless the thing which is conencted to HDMI3 (a DVD recorder) is switched on. So, no, the TV is probably quite right to not select an input which cannot possibly be sending it a signal. It is doing its best here, and instead trying to select an input which is in place (or at least which should be in place).

[Travelman1966]

Chasing Shadows...thanks for taking the time to reply. i completely understand what you're saying....BUT how come it's gone 10 days with NO issue & then 1 day WITH issues? This is what i can't figure out. I've gone through the manual with a fine toothcomb & also the settings via the menu box-can't find anything at all regarding 'letting the tv know' there is no tv signal.

I'm really at a loss as to what to do.

[Chasing Shadows]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Travelman1966

BUT how come it's gone 10 days with NO issue & then 1 day WITH issues?

Who knows how often its told to update? First day (or first weekend) of the month? Have you asked Toshiba how to disable it? Or have you tried connecting it to a friends' or neighbours' TV aerial, letting it tune the Freeview channels in, then disconnecting it?

[Travelman1966]

Been on to TOSH. They've said there is no way the tv tuner would override the HDMI1. They're fairly sure its a VM box fault. I also asked TOSH about the auto update & they said this would not affect tv as no channels stored in 1st place.

Problem is...1stly theres no reception really on this street in HD7 Huddersfield-so everyone has sky/virgin & no 2 as its not the (ahem!) poshest of areas I don't really want the neighbours to see I've a brand new 42 inch HDTV!

Also TOSH said that if there was a hardware issue with the Tv the HDMI would either work or it wouldn't. No inbetween. I must adimt I googled 'virgin dropping HD' & a lot of results came up.

Thanks all for the advice so far-lets see what the VM engineer says on Friday am.

[captainkremmen]

It does indeed appear to be a problem with some of Virgin's boxes, there are a few threads over to their own forum about it.

Yeah, see what the Virgin engineer says. It's not specific to Toshiba either, seems to affect most makes of TV. I would guess from some of the complaints the problem seems ti lie with the Virgin box's HDMI handshaking.

[Travelman1966]

Ok....Virgin guys been and gone...BRAND NEW Sansung v+ box, new HDMI cable, different HDMI port....tthought was ok...did it again a moment ago!

Toshiba said its either a dodgy remote (sending out signals when it shouldn't) & have suggested trying it with remote batteries out for 1-2 weeks....OR its a software/firmware issue which should take just a few minutes to fix. Am awaiting a call back from the company's engineer where I bought TV from.

NIGHTMARE!

[Travelman1966]

Not remote...as 2 mins after taking battery out same thing happened! Engineer called from company I bought it from-will swap it for a new one free of charge on Monday. Very happy with that as I'm outside the '7 day no return' time. Engineer reckons a 'pin' on the 'board' (?!!) may be slightly pushed out-causing the intermittent nature of the problem.

So...alls well that ends well! And a brand new V+HD box to boot...!

[in_focus]

What model number are they changing it too? Are you sure it's new?

Beware you could be out of the frying pan into the fire, a lot of the newest Toshiba's are in fact made by Vestel?

Intermittant faults can be an engineers worst nightmare as I said in a previous thread this place deals with supermarket returns and they get a maximum of 20 minutes test.

I have a JVC on test which I know is faulty and is hooked up to all sorts of test gear and the fault hasn't shown once over the last three weeks. A certain cure would be just to change the board but as it's over £250 it's not viable.

[Travelman1966]

Infocus-it'll be swapped forexactly the same model. As the fault (which I did not recognise as a fault-thought it was my lack of technical knowledge when setting up the system) occurred day one & they have a 7 day return period I can simply swap for same model. I thought this was pretty good of them as this was 2 weeks ago- did not call them about the issue day one (not knowing it was an issue).

The fault is so intermittent...10 days ok then drops out every 10 mins 3 times then fine.Luckily their office is around a 35 min drive away. Thanks for your help. i realise I took a bit of a risk but hey, take a reduced tv & you've gotta balance the risk versus the tv. I have to say the service given by electrotec has been fantastic.