RusstyB – 54 minutes ago  » 

Everyone seems to sing the praises of hdmi connectivity

I don’t know anybody that sings the praises, Intel or Sony maybe, but it’s a real pita, a nightmare and Humax’s implementation over the years seems to cause more problems than other manufacturers.

Look at a hdmi switch/splitter/adapter that does EDID, something like:

https://www.lindy.co.uk/audio-video-c2/matrix-switches-splitters-c166/edid-emulator-adapter-hdmi-with-preset-edid-p8234/s8385

or

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HDMI-MHL-Audio-SPDIF-R-L-Extractor-4K-ARC-EDID-Setting-Audio-Extractor-New-Lot-/381372403160

Not too sure if either will fix the problem, but it’s where I’d start. Humax aren’t going to change anything their end.

Let us know how you get on, and welcome to the forum

Hi RusstyB,

A lot of this will be trial and error and particular to your setup, it does get overly complicated at times.

I’m assuming you exhausted the configuration possibilities before sending the TV and soundbar back and having them replaced.

You don’t mention any other devices that are connected.

If I’ve understood, the fvp is connected to the tv and the soundbar is also connected to the tv. The tv and soundbar don’t handshake correctly, i.e. re-establish a proper connection when the fvp is connected to the tv.

I assume picture and sound from the fvp get to the tv okay i.e. you can watch and hear the fvp normally on tv and it’s just the audio to the soundbar that fails.

I also assume, you’ve the soundbar hdmi output plugged into hdmi input2 (arc) on the tv and the fvp plugged into hdmi 3 or 4, i.e. the non 4K inputs?

Also you’ve explored plugging the fvp hdmi into the soundbar, which means you don’t always need the tv on to listen to music/radio, and the soundbar as normal into hdmi 2 of the tv.

Also that the fvp is set to multichannel/dolby-digital in the audio section of general settings and the fvp’s own volume is set to maximum (20)

Also that hdmi-cec in system settings is off on the fvp and you’ve been through the equivalent cec/viera-link settings on the tv for the hdmi input that the fvp is connected to.

Personally, I’d have all devices (fvp etc) plugged into the soundbar and a single hdmi from the soundbar to the tv and use a universal remote to control it.

So far I’m trying to cover all bases to see if anything’s been missed. If none of the above works and it’s clear the fvp is the culprit then it needs to be isolated. I wouldn’t want to go down a switch route, firstly it’d be a pain to manually switch it physically or by remote control and secondly the fvp will have to go through handshaking again and it’s anybody’s guess whether this’ll work 100% of the time or whether it’ll need rebooting or whether it’ll affect the tv and soundbar.

It’s not clear to me whether the lindy adapter passes audio through (I assume it does, but no mention of it), what I liked though was that there’s no messy power supply.

The adapter would be connected between the fvp and the tv as it’s the fvp that’s causing the problem according to your post. The idea is that the fvp handshakes with the adapter and that remains constant. The adapter also keeps a constant connection with the tv. In theory when the soundbar and tv re-establish their connection then the fvp isn’t really brought into the equation as the tv just sees the adapter and the fvp has no reason to send any data/signals that would muck up the soundbar/tv handshake.

I trust this makes sort of sense. As previously mentioned this will be trial and error, unless someone out there has the exact same setup and has found a solution.

I would double check first that the fvp is going into hdmi 3 or 4 on the tv and the soundbar is going into hdmi 2 with the appropriate settings if you want to keep the same setup.

Personally, as mentioned above, I’d have everything going into the soundbar and a single hdmi from the soundbar -> tv and any adapter/switch/splitter should be seen as a last resort.

let us know how you get on.

Ok. So it’s a bit late but here’s what I’ve found. The issue isn’t specifically a ‘problem’ with the hummy box, more of a feature, I’ll explain. Pin 13 of the HDMI connector is used for all Arc and CEC comms between devices. Its used to swith other devices on or off remotely. The 4000T has the ability to swith on the TV as the hummy box switches on and this is done via pin 13. The issue with the hummy box is that whilst in stand by it’s still periodically talking on pin 13 (software issue from Humax) and this causes interference with other CEC devices and that includes Arc. There are currently 2 work arounds:-

1) change the sttings in the hummy box power management section to prevent auto stand by and simply leave the hummy box on. (Obviously this isn’t always the best for power consumption, hdd life etc)

2) buy a CEC isolator adaptor (£10) which basically removes the pin 13 connection between the hummy box and the TV. You simply plug it in to either end of your HDMI lead and the problem goes away.

http://www.lindy.co.uk/cables-adapters-c1/audio-video-c107/hdmi-cec-less-adapter-female-to-male-p7299

By the way, this issue isn’t just caused by Humax boxes. Sky Q and other PVR devices can cause issues with sound bar / amp control

Even with HDMI function turned off the FVP4k leaves an ON signal or at some random time pulses one which interferes with other devices.

The Software updtae when Humax added the HDMI CEC off option helped but never fixed my problems, I bought an adapter in the end.

Before I got a 5000t. I had the same problem between my Panasonic pvr, Samsung 4k TK, and my Sony surround system.

I found that connecting my sound system via the optical lead instead of the HDMI cured the problem, and is still in use now with my 5000t.

As long as you’ve got an output on your TV and an input on your sound bar

It may be worth a try, as an optical lead is a really cheap fix.

This way anything you are watching on the TV you just by switching on the sound bar when required regardless of the source worked for me.

I hope this idea helps.