My HR20 experience so far.....

[mgill]

Hi everyone,

Thanks to all for the great posts and information. I took delivery of my HR20 two Fridays ago (had it running 10 days now) and we upgraded from our DirecTIVO box.

I'm having some peculiar things happen, all of which I dont see in threads in the same way Im seeing them so I thought I would post.

A brief run down of my setup - HR20-700 with external Seagate 750GB drive on eSATA port. Using HDMI to Denon receiver with HDMI switching to my Sony 50". I have connected both digital and analog audio to the Denon, primarily because I like using the digital when we are all in the family room but the Denon cant push digital signals to the other multizones in the house. So I need analog if Im listening to XM or wanting to turn TV sound on through the house.

Problem #1 (and biggest, most irritating one):
Im getting video drops. I started jotting them down on a notepad - they last about 5 seconds, anywhere from 2 to 6 times every 30 mins, and occur on both HD and non HD channels (ESPN HD, Noggin, PBS Sprout, both reg and HD locals). Audio is not affected. I do not suspect my HDMI setup because I'm finding it in recorded programs too. Every time it happens I can backup in the buffer and its actually recorded with the video drop.

Problem #2
Ive got to turn everything way up when Im watching something previously recorded. As soon as I switch to regular tv I blow everything out if I dont remember to turn things down before the channel change. Very irritating for someone that comes over and just turns on the tv if the last thing watched was a recorded program. Is it my two audio lines connected that is doing this?

Problem #3
The front LEDs. How do I turn them off? The manual and everything else I have found say to press and hold the left and right buttons on the remote to turn them off. Im pressing, but nothings changing.

Problem #4
HDMI switching - Im not blaming the HR20 for this one. If Im watching the DVR and then decide to go watch a DVD the Denon switches from HDMI to component in from the DVD. When I try to switch back to TV with the HR20 never being turned off the video never comes back, I have to cycle the power on the Denon. This is a current problem in the Denon forums - once I get my universal remote setup I'll just have it shut the DVR off when switching to DVD and I should get around my problem.

So there you go. 10 days in and problem #1 is where I need some feedback - should I be demanding a new box? Should I switch to component in instead of HDMI (lower quality??)? Or should I adjust my setup somehow? Or should I press the dreaded reset button? Or ???

Thanks all,

Mark

[gulfwarvet]

Problem #3
The front LEDs. How do I turn them off? The manual and everything else I have found say to press and hold the left and right buttons on the remote to turn them off. Im pressing, but nothings changing.


:welcome_s

press on hold the right and left arrow buttons on the receiver located on the front panel. NOT the remote.

[Koz]

First of all, welcome!
:welcome_s

I'll answer some of your questions with more questions.

Problem 1) Did you get a new dish when you got your HR20? What are your signal strengths?

Do you have other D* units? Do they exhibit the same problem? It would be even better if you can have an additional unit record the same program and see if they both have the drop.

I think a reset through the setup menu might be a good thing to try.

Problem 2) Do you have the same problem whether using analog or digital audio? Also, I have a similar problem when switching between SD and HD channels as HD tends to be quieter, but not the same problem you are having. That's a head-scratcher.

Problem 3) Press left and right on the front pannel, not the remote.

Problem 4) Sounds like you got a good handle on that one being a Denon problem and a decent workaround when you get the universal remote. Sounds like a pain, though. You might also try hitting the format button on the remote as that might trigger a handshake with the Denon.

[cygnusloop]

First off, :welcome_s to DBSTalk, Mark.


Problem #1 (and biggest, most irritating one):
Im getting video drops. I started jotting them down on a notepad - they last about 5 seconds, anywhere from 2 to 6 times every 30 mins, and occur on both HD and non HD channels (ESPN HD, Noggin, PBS Sprout, both reg and HD locals). Audio is not affected. I do not suspect my HDMI setup because I'm finding it in recorded programs too. Every time it happens I can backup in the buffer and its actually recorded with the video drop.

What is causing this, I don't know, but it's not normal behavior. I wouldn't immediately suspect HDMI either, but it might be worth running the HDMI direct to the TV, or using a component cable just to rule it out.

Problem #2
Ive got to turn everything way up when I'm watching something previously recorded. As soon as I switch to regular tv I blow everything out if I dont remember to turn things down before the channel change. Very irritating for someone that comes over and just turns on the tv if the last thing watched was a recorded program. Is it my two audio lines connected that is doing this?

Who knows what is happening with the Denon doing the switching here, but, again, this is not a problem I have seen, or heard of. There is no reason that prerecorded material should be any different than live or buffered material. Are you sure it's not the difference between Dolby Digital and PCM? Maybe you do have a flaky box. Hmmm....

Problem #3
The front LEDs. How do I turn them off? The manual and everything else I have found say to press and hold the left and right buttons on the remote to turn them off. Im pressing, but nothings changing.

It is the left and right buttons on the front of the HR20, not the remote. FYI, it only turns off the blue ring of fire, not the power or resolution LED's.

should I be demanding a new box? Should I switch to component in instead of HDMI (lower quality??)? Or should I adjust my setup somehow? Or should I press the dreaded reset button? Or ???


Certainly try a menu reset (use the setup menu, not the red button if you can). I bet that you will find component to be of equal quality to HDMI. Digital doesn't necessarily mean better, just different. Both support the same resolutions.

It's been debated many times on this forum, and the short of it is, some like component better, and some like HDMI. The biggest contributor to the difference between them will be the calibration of the particular input, not the fact that one is digital and one is analog.

It's possible that the HDMI switching is causing all your weirdness, it's possible that it's the HR20. Do some troubleshooting to rule out the HDMI factor, and then we will see.

[gulfwarvet]

Hi everyone,

Problem #1 (and biggest, most irritating one):
Im getting video drops. I started jotting them down on a notepad - they last about 5 seconds, anywhere from 2 to 6 times every 30 mins, and occur on both HD and non HD channels (ESPN HD, Noggin, PBS Sprout, both reg and HD locals). Audio is not affected. I do not suspect my HDMI setup because I'm finding it in recorded programs too. Every time it happens I can backup in the buffer and its actually recorded with the video drop.



have you tried a menu reset? also you can try a hard reset. turn off the reciever and pull the power cord and leave it sit for 10 to 15 minutes. then plug it back in for normal boot-up. if that still don't work, i would try a "reset everything". yes, you will loose all the recordings. sorry.