HDMI cables and ARC
 

I have a Panasonic TV and an Onkyo AV receiver. To play the audio
through the receiver while watching programs received by the TV, I use
the HDMI audio return channel (ARC), which sends the TV's audio output
through the HDMI cable to the receiver - the opposite direction from
that in which video is sent when watching other sources. It's very
convenient, in particular because I don't need to use a separate
remote control for the volume - the ARC spec includes volume control
over the HDMI (using the TV's remote).

This has worked well, except that every now and then (maybe twice in
an hour) the audio drops out for a couple of seconds. The receiver
display suggests that it is losing the HDMI connection.

I was on the point of returning the receiver under guarantee when,
without much hope, it occurred to me to try another HDMI cable. ARC
is supposed to work with all HDMI cables - it's an optional feature
for the equipment, but not as far as the cable is concerned. The
result was interesting: it got much worse! Audio dropped out briefly
every time I changed the volume. I tried a third cable, and like
Goldilocks found it was just right: it works perfectly (so far). None
of these cables had any problem when used for conventional (non-ARC)
connection.

I conclude that not all HDMI cables are equal. The one that works is
a cheap Amazon Basics "high speed HDMI cable with ethernet". I'm not
using the ethernet channel, but perhaps to support ethernet it has to
be better shielded than the others.

-- Richard

HDMI cables and ARC
 

Richard Tobin wrote:

I conclude that not all HDMI cables are equal. The one that works is
a cheap Amazon Basics "high speed HDMI cable with ethernet".

Odd. Crud in the HDMI sockets? No problems with a £2 Tesco Value HDMI
lead here.

My TV is too old to support ARC, thankfully the TV has S/PDIF out and
the amp can be configured to use than instead, the TV's volume controls
still control the amp's volume.

HDMI cables and ARC
 

HDMI cables and ARC
 

On Thu, 18 Oct 2012 07:27:13 +0100, Andy Burns wrote:

Richard Tobin wrote:

I conclude that not all HDMI cables are equal. The one that works is
a cheap Amazon Basics "high speed HDMI cable with ethernet".

Odd. Crud in the HDMI sockets? No problems with a £2 Tesco Value HDMI
lead here.

My TV is too old to support ARC, thankfully the TV has S/PDIF out and
the amp can be configured to use than instead, the TV's volume controls
still control the amp's volume.

This is the method that I used with my Onkyo - the standby power is 1W but
turning on the HDMI support needed for ARC takes it to, IIRC, 19W!

Of course, all the HDMI cable needs is a dose of Andrews.
--
Peter.
The gods will stay away
whilst religions hold sway

HDMI cables and ARC
 

Probably. One other possibility to bear in mind, is that high quality
components with faster propagation delays can sometimes show up bugs in
other areas. If drivers are not balanced properly, for example, they
might actually benefit from a lossy cable to squash noise and transients.

Beings back memories of repairing an RS232 serial cable and finding the
results were far worse - it was the loss over the crap soldering job done by
the original bodger that provided sufficient voltage drop to stop the
receiver going into oscillation!

Paul DS.

HDMI cables and ARC
 

If circuitry is that touchy though, could it be said to be not up to spec. I
mean we have needed to move video around for years, yet here we are having
this sort of issue.
Kind of makes me wonder if the buzzing I'm getting when I connect my pc via
the 8way D to a tv monitor might be cured by a different lead where the
video has less coupling to the earth in the cable.

Brian

--
From the Sofa of Brian Gaff Reply address is active
"Dave Farrance" wrote in message
...
(Richard Tobin) wrote:

I conclude that not all HDMI cables are equal. The one that works is
a cheap Amazon Basics "high speed HDMI cable with ethernet". I'm not
using the ethernet channel, but perhaps to support ethernet it has to
be better shielded than the others.

Probably. One other possibility to bear in mind, is that high quality
components with faster propagation delays can sometimes show up bugs in
other areas. If drivers are not balanced properly, for example, they
might actually benefit from a lossy cable to squash noise and transients.

HDMI cables and ARC
 

Richard Tobin wrote:
I have a Panasonic TV and an Onkyo AV receiver. To play the audio
through the receiver while watching programs received by the TV, I use
the HDMI audio return channel (ARC), which sends the TV's audio output
through the HDMI cable to the receiver - the opposite direction from
that in which video is sent when watching other sources. It's very
convenient, in particular because I don't need to use a separate
remote control for the volume - the ARC spec includes volume control
over the HDMI (using the TV's remote).

This has worked well, except that every now and then (maybe twice in
an hour) the audio drops out for a couple of seconds. The receiver
display suggests that it is losing the HDMI connection.

I was on the point of returning the receiver under guarantee when,
without much hope, it occurred to me to try another HDMI cable. ARC
is supposed to work with all HDMI cables - it's an optional feature
for the equipment, but not as far as the cable is concerned. The
result was interesting: it got much worse! Audio dropped out briefly
every time I changed the volume. I tried a third cable, and like
Goldilocks found it was just right: it works perfectly (so far). None
of these cables had any problem when used for conventional (non-ARC)
connection.

I conclude that not all HDMI cables are equal. The one that works is
a cheap Amazon Basics "high speed HDMI cable with ethernet". I'm not
using the ethernet channel, but perhaps to support ethernet it has to
be better shielded than the others.

-- Richard

I have found the same results with the same setup.
--
Adrian