compatibility issues

[wheelchairmike]

We have just bought a KD-43XF7596 which is great but it will not work with a Virgin V6 box but will with the Tivo box which is annoying.

Anyone found a work around?

[dutchice]

Hi @wheelchairmike,

Welcome to the Sony Community and congrats on your new XF75 BRAVIA TV! If you tell us what is not working on the TV when connected to the Virgin V6 box, then perhaps we could find a solution together for you.

Cheers,

Dutchice

[wheelchairmike]

Sorry for the slow response but it has been a bad week and I was out volunteering yesterday.    I'm 71 with MS so have to take things a bit slowly and tech has a way of getting away from me.

We have an unusual set up. We rebuilt the house in 2010 and it is semi automated with all the A V ( V6 box, router and other bits of kit) in an I.T. cupboard about 15 metres from the lounge.  The lounge has surround sound provided by an Onkyo unit in the cupboard.   All the signals are sent by Cat 5 cable from the cupboard to the TV.  The V6 box worked perfectly with the old Bravia T V but we thought we would upgrade to a new Sony Bravia TV - wish we hadn't bothered

The installation  set up team had failed to get a picture, my wife read  the manual and plugged the HDMI lead into slot 3 and got a picture success she thought and switched off.  When she switched back on to show me the new TV working we were greeted by a blank screen with a yellow triangle with an exclamation mark and a message "no signal check external inputs etc." in the lower right hand corner

We have had Virgin engineers out and they have replaced the V6 box twice with no success.  We have had our own HiFi TV man out and he connected the V6 box to the TV with a long HDMI cable and was able to see the set up page - a step forward and he took it off the 4K setting that the V6 had defaulted to as it had recognised the TV as being 4K ready and put it back to 1080 and it worked fine.  We had by this time also upgraded the HDMI cables to 4K compatible and changed the Cat 5 connector boxes in case these were the cause of the problem.  Everything ran well for 2 hours and then we noticed the picture had gone and the blank screen with the warning triangle and message was back.  The sound through the Onkyo is fine and we have reverted to an old Tivo box we had kept and we now have a picture.

What is the incompatibility between the new Sony TV and the Virgin V6 box?  The Virgin guys don't know and the high end TV shop guy is baffled.  If you do have a solution I will need it in very easy to follow stages with no jargon please!

[wheelchairmike]

I keep getting emails saying there are suggestions on my question but I cannot find them what's going on?  Has any body got a solution

[dutchice]

Hi @wheelchairmike,

Sorry for the slight delay on my response. I have been reviewing the information you provided and based on that I have a test which I would like you to go through and report back the result.

For your own background information, just like us human beings with voice being very unique and specific to each one of us, the HDMI board in each TV model has very specific characteristics to it regarding TX and RX voltages, SNR tolerance, sensitivity to signal strength, etc. This comes down to the electronic components being used and the overall design of the board. So no two TV models will ever be the same in this respect and therefor will also react differently to the same circumstances.

My understanding from your situation is that the length of HDMI cable from your 'IT cupboard' where the V6 BOX is placed to the lounge where the TV is situated exceeds the standard meter and a half length. As a test, try moving your V6 BOX next to the TV and connect it with an HDMI cable no longer than 2 meters, then start playback of content which was known to be problematic before. You will most surely notice that the 'No HDMI input signal error' will be resolved.

So my suggestion is to look for solutions on either shortening the physical distance between your TV and BOX to less than 2 meters, or to look for replacing your current cable with an HDMI Premium Certified cable. You can note Premium Certified cables by the orange certification label, these have generally less resistance to current flow and also better shielding to external interferences (since they have passed the HDMI certification test). Since they are made of higher grade copper which passes through better the signal. Or as a third solution you could always look for HDMI Signal Boosters to use it in conjunction with your current HDMI cable. I recommend signal booster types with an external power supply.

I hope I have been clear and easy to follow. Please don't hesitate to send us a message if you still have questions, and we definitely look forward to your results.

Cheers,

Dutchice

[LightFoot]

Hi @wheelchairmike

If I have understood correctly, you are trying to send 2160p HDMI over 15 metres? That is never going to work. The maximum length for 2160p is probably 5 metres.

I would imagine that there is no compatibility problems. If your V6 Box was sending 1080 then I assume that worked okay. Set your V6 box to 1080 if you want to send a signal over that distance. Of course if you want 2160p then you must move the V6 box, preferably within 2 metres of the TV and ensure that you are using a high speed HDMI 2.0 cable.

Another check, are the Cat5 connection boxes HDCP 2.2 compatible.