Problem with Sony HDMI switching.

sealion

07-05-2013

I have a Sony Bravia, a Sony PVR. and a Satellite box. At the moment they are all connected (via HDMI) through a Sony amp.

My problem comes when I want to switch inputs on the TV from the Sat box or the PVR. The amp refuses to pass the appropriate signal. The TV has a 2 way HDMI loop-back to the amp. This means you don't have to take the amp out of standby.

What I would like to know is, should I just live with the current setup or as has been suggested to connect each box directly to the TV and choose which input I want on it. The question is, if I want to hear surround sound will the signal from each TV input pass to the amp without losing any Dolby etc.

Nigel Goodwin

07-05-2013

Do your amp and TV both support ARC?.

chrisjr

07-05-2013

Not entirely sure what the problem is?

Is it a case that you want to be able to watch either satellite or PVR while the amp is in standby or that the amp doesn't pass the pictures to the TV at all?

If the former then that is quite possible. The amp needs to have HDMI passthrough in stand by. Not all do, my own Onkyo for one. In that case you either need to have the amp on all the time or plug everything to the telly.

If you do plug everything to the telly it could be you only get stereo, even if the programme you are watching has a surround audio track. It all depends on the capability of the TV. I have seen a few Sony sets which can pass Dolby Digital from HDMI to the optical digital out, not sure if they also do it to the ARC channel on HDMI. So it is possible.

You might need to fish out the manuals for all the kit and see what it is capable of.

sealion

07-05-2013

Originally Posted by chrisjr:
“Not entirely sure what the problem is?

Is it a case that you want to be able to watch either satellite or PVR while the amp is in standby or that the amp doesn't pass the pictures to the TV at all?

If the former then that is quite possible. The amp needs to have HDMI passthrough in stand by. Not all do, my own Onkyo for one. In that case you either need to have the amp on all the time or plug everything to the telly.

If you do plug everything to the telly it could be you only get stereo, even if the programme you are watching has a surround audio track. It all depends on the capability of the TV. I have seen a few Sony sets which can pass Dolby Digital from HDMI to the optical digital out, not sure if they also do it to the ARC channel on HDMI. So it is possible.

You might need to fish out the manuals for all the kit and see what it is capable of.”

Yes, just watch, although the Sony PVR can be very temperamental at times by not switching the TV to the correct input.

The TV does have ARC, therefore, if I would get full Dolby by plugging inputs directly to the TV and let the ARC loop-through to the amp do its thing ( when switched out of standby) when I want surround, that would solve the problem.

Nigel Goodwin

07-05-2013

Originally Posted by sealion:
“Yes, just watch, although the Sony PVR can be very temperamental at times by not switching the TV to the correct input.

The TV does have ARC, therefore, if I would get full Dolby by plugging inputs directly to the TV and let the ARC loop-through to the amp do its thing ( when switched out of standby) when I want surround, that would solve the problem.”

Yes you would - depending if the individual sources output 5.1 over HDMI or not (but that applies direct to the amp anyway as well).