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N. Abstentia
05-13-2009, 05:02 PM
This is a longshot here, but I'm gonna try as I'm pulling my hair out over this problem! Hoping maybe somebody has experienced this.

Basically, I can no longer get my BluRay player (Sony S550) to display on my projector (Optoma H31). Here's the quick and dirty backstory:

My original H31 projector blew up. Color wheel go boom. Found a good deal on a NEW H31 so decided to go that route rather than completely reconfigure my projector mounting at this time. Nothing in my setup has changed. Nothing. Should be a matter of taking old projector down, putting new projector up, calibrate, pop the popcorn, enjoy. Right? Wrong.

Here's what I have connected to the projector via a Monoprice HDMI switcher:

DirecTV HD Recevier
Sony Upconverting DVD
Xbox w/HD-DVD
Sony S550 BluRay

There is also an HDMI splitter that sends the signal to the projector and to an LCD TV.

Keep in mind that all this worked fine before the projector swap.

First, plug everything in. Nothing on the projector. Black screen. No signal. Fumble around for a couple of hours, plug DirecTV directly into the cable that runs up to the projector...bam. Works fine. Well great, the splitter is bad. Right? Maybe.

Decide to worry about the splitter later, and will deal with manually plugging in the projector to the source I want for now. So I decide to hook it to the Xbox. Nothing. Whaat? Hook it to the DVD player. Nothing. WHAAAT? Hook it to the BluRay, nothing. CRAAAAAAAP. Plug it back into DirecTV, works fine. WHAT THE FFFFFFF???

Fumble around all day with it, somehow the DVD player starts working fine. Good, should be fine now. Nope. Xbox no work, BluRay no work.

Can't function at work during the day because this is driving me nuts.

Have a brainstorm in the middle of the night. Unplug the HD-DVD drive from the Xbox...BAM. Comes right up. Hmm. So now 3 out of 4 sources work finally. Only BluRay does not work.

SO. Something with that HD-DVD drive kept the Xbox from working (plugged it back in and it works with the HD-DVD drive now by the way). What could that be, and could that same thing keep the BluRay from working? HDCP does not seem to be the issue since it works with everything else...plus keep in mind that the BluRay worked fine on the previous H31 (yes it works fine when hooked to the LCD). But something seems to be blocking the BluRay player from sending a signal to the projector. I've changed all the RGB/Yr/Yb settings, tried different resolutions, updated the firmware, everything except trying another BluRay player or doing some sort of hard reset on the player.

Any ideas? And if you read this whole thing, thanks!!!

johnny p
05-14-2009, 05:10 AM
It sounds like a "Hand-shake" issue..... if you tried to eliminate the switcher, and it still didn't work.... I'm stumped!

kexodusc
05-14-2009, 05:34 AM
I'm subscribing to this thread just to see how it ends. This one's a real doozy, and particularly because I know you're not a noob and know your way around these things.

My initial thougth was some stupid after-thought setting hidden deep in the projector's menu somewhere, or possibly the output settings on the components, and then I remembered you had everything working properly on the old projector and nothing's changed so that shouldn't be the case. Looks like you went through menu inside out so scratch both of those. Tough to diagnose from here.

I dunno. At this stage I might start wondering about the new projector itself?

N. Abstentia
05-14-2009, 08:03 PM
I would also think that it's the projector since it's the only thing that's different. But everything else works fine on it, and the BluRay player works fine on my other display. But I'm thinking like johnny p in that it's a handshake issue. I'm replacing the HDMI splitter anyway, and I think I'll get a switch/splitter combo so that may help.

One day I'll be able to upgrade all my equipment to 'proper' HDMI inputs (the projector has DVI) and switchers and I'm sure that everything will jive then. But I'd love to make everything jive now, especially since it used to. I've been pretty proud of myself for being able to upgrade to HD sources with Dolby True/DTS HD audio despite not having any HDMI inputs on my preamp or projector. I've pushed my stuff to the limits, that's for sure so I'm not going to complain too much.

One thing I did find very odd was the fact that the Xbox would not work until I unplugged the HD-DVD drive from it. Unplugged the USB and it popped right up. Plugged it back in and it's worked fine ever since. I think I hate HDCP :)

pixelthis
05-14-2009, 11:40 PM
I would also think that it's the projector since it's the only thing that's different. But everything else works fine on it, and the BluRay player works fine on my other display. But I'm thinking like johnny p in that it's a handshake issue. I'm replacing the HDMI splitter anyway, and I think I'll get a switch/splitter combo so that may help.

One day I'll be able to upgrade all my equipment to 'proper' HDMI inputs (the projector has DVI) and switchers and I'm sure that everything will jive then. But I'd love to make everything jive now, especially since it used to. I've been pretty proud of myself for being able to upgrade to HD sources with Dolby True/DTS HD audio despite not having any HDMI inputs on my preamp or projector. I've pushed my stuff to the limits, that's for sure so I'm not going to complain too much.

One thing I did find very odd was the fact that the Xbox would not work until I unplugged the HD-DVD drive from it. Unplugged the USB and it popped right up. Plugged it back in and it's worked fine ever since. I think I hate HDCP :)

Have you checked the firmware?
Tried the BLU at a lower res?
You sure that the projector is the same and not an older version with lesser capebilities?
Probably a "handshake" issue, but since going lower res worked on XBOX try it on BLU,
set the res lower.:1:

N. Abstentia
05-15-2009, 03:16 AM
Firmware on BluRay was upgraded with no change.
Optoma said there is no firmware upgrade for the projector. All are the same. These projectors are identical, other than this one being newer.
I did try the the BluRay at lower resolution, no change.
I never lowered the resolution on the Xbox, just simply unplugged the HD-DVD drive add-on. That tells me like you guys said, handshake. Because I don't think the Xbox needs to handshake unless the HD-DVD drive is connected since there is no HDCP without it. But on the other hand, the Xbox/HD-DVD works fine now after plugging it back in. I'm sure the BluRay just handles handshakes differently. If I get to feeling froggy I might try another BluRay player, but that would involve ordering from Crutchfield and taking advantage of their 30 day trial. I hate to do that :)

pixelthis
05-15-2009, 01:56 PM
Firmware on BluRay was upgraded with no change.
Optoma said there is no firmware upgrade for the projector. All are the same. These projectors are identical, other than this one being newer.
I did try the the BluRay at lower resolution, no change.
I never lowered the resolution on the Xbox, just simply unplugged the HD-DVD drive add-on. That tells me like you guys said, handshake. Because I don't think the Xbox needs to handshake unless the HD-DVD drive is connected since there is no HDCP without it. But on the other hand, the Xbox/HD-DVD works fine now after plugging it back in. I'm sure the BluRay just handles handshakes differently. If I get to feeling froggy I might try another BluRay player, but that would involve ordering from Crutchfield and taking advantage of their 30 day trial. I hate to do that :)

And have the same trouble as with your first Blu player.
Why are you discounting the possibility of a problem with the projector?
Because you dont want there to be a problem with it? You could have "gotten lucky"
with the first, you know.
All things being equal its fifty-fifty on which component is not playing well with others.
I would find another monitor to try the Blu player on before I got a new one.:1:

N. Abstentia
05-15-2009, 07:39 PM
And have the same trouble as with your first Blu player.
Why are you discounting the possibility of a problem with the projector?
Because you dont want there to be a problem with it? You could have "gotten lucky"
with the first, you know.
All things being equal its fifty-fifty on which component is not playing well with others.
I would find another monitor to try the Blu player on before I got a new one.:1:

Wow I barely remember my first BluRay player, but there was some sort of issue with it now that you mention it. I'm gonna have to look at my old posts to read about that!

I definitely don't want there to be a problem with the projector! I have no interest in upgrading at this time, as that will cost $1000+ and I'll have to redo my ceiling mount (and drywall) since all the new projectors I looked at have to be moved around 4 feet closer to the screen.

But if you're right..and believe me I've thought of the exact same thing...if I just got lucky with the first H31 in that it would accept a signal from a BluRay player I'll just live without BluRay on the screen and watch them on my LCD. I've only got 3-4 movies anyway, I've actually got more concerts. I'd sure love to have BluRay on the big screen, but oh well.

But if that IS the case...what is different about the HDMI signal coming from BluRay and the HDMI signal coming from everything else? If the projector is the problem, why does it work with DirecTV, Xbox, HD-DVD, a laptop, and a DVD player without any issues?

pixelthis
05-17-2009, 10:34 PM
ITS just that I have found more "handshake" issues for some reason on the monitor side of things.
I had a DVD-A player for instance, expensive at the time, played great through component
on everything I tried it with, hooked it up to my friends Samsung projecton tv and
BLAM, a great big black square in the center of the picture!
Even tho your last projector worked fine manufacturers are constantly making revisions
midstream, and never announce them, handshake is something for older sets and your last one might have gotten an unanounced upgrade.
BUT if it is handshake good news, you can at least watch your discs at lower res.
If your projector upconverts (or downconverts) all incoming material to a set
"native" res, like most all sets do these days, it may be incompatible to what you have the BLU set to.
You have tried all resolutions with the BLU, right?:1:

N. Abstentia
05-18-2009, 03:24 AM
Yep, I tried all resolutions and nothing changed. Of my 2 BluRay players, both have been Sony so I might try something else just to see, mainly out of curiosity.

N. Abstentia
05-20-2009, 04:43 PM
Well guess what..this problem has been LICKED!

I replaced my existing HDMI switcher and my HDMI splitter with this all in one switcher/splitter:

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=101&cp_id=10110&cs_id=1011002&p_id=5312&seq=1&format=2

And it works splendidly. I can't say enough good things about this unit, everything works perfectly going through it and it will allow you to display different sources on each display if you ever need to do that.

Well I'm happy, I got my BluRay back on the big screen!! :)

pixelthis
05-20-2009, 11:35 PM
Well guess what..this problem has been LICKED!

I replaced my existing HDMI switcher and my HDMI splitter with this all in one switcher/splitter:

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=101&cp_id=10110&cs_id=1011002&p_id=5312&seq=1&format=2

And it works splendidly. I can't say enough good things about this unit, everything works perfectly going through it and it will allow you to display different sources on each display if you ever need to do that.

Well I'm happy, I got my BluRay back on the big screen!! :)

Congrats.
I had a Monoprice switcher(still do) , dont need it anymore with three inputs, but it cost twenty bucks and worked like a charm.
Great company, dont know how they do it.
Sorry I misunderstood, I thought you had a direct connection.
HDMI is bad about signal loss through several devices.:1:

N. Abstentia
05-21-2009, 03:03 AM
Congrats.
I had a Monoprice switcher(still do) , dont need it anymore with three inputs, but it cost twenty bucks and worked like a charm.
Great company, dont know how they do it.
Sorry I misunderstood, I thought you had a direct connection.
HDMI is bad about signal loss through several devices.:1:

No I always had to go through a switcher and a splitter, but BluRay has never worked when connected directly to the projector. I think the whole issue is basically just handshaking with the projector. When connected through the splitter, it has the LCD there to handshake with. I noticed it was having trouble handshaking last night when the LCD was turned off.

pixelthis
05-21-2009, 10:03 PM
HOW old is that projector of yours?:1:

N. Abstentia
05-22-2009, 03:15 AM
HOW old is that projector of yours?:1:

They stopped making it probably last year I guess. The first one I got was in 2005, the model was rather new then. It produces a beautiful 720p picture, it's quite stunning....especially for $400 :)

pixelthis
05-22-2009, 08:32 PM
They stopped making it probably last year I guess. The first one I got was in 2005, the model was rather new then. It produces a beautiful 720p picture, it's quite stunning....especially for $400 :)

Sounds like a steal , but not surprizing that you would have a few "issues" with it.:1:

N. Abstentia
05-23-2009, 06:06 AM
Sounds like a steal , but not surprizing that you would have a few "issues" with it.:1:

Luckily a $60 HDMI switcher fixes any issues with the projector :)