HDTV Forum

Help. I've got Time-Warner cable and I can't get through a 30 minute program without the picture dropping out and going black for just a few seconds. When this happens my Panasonic's display temporarily flashes "HDMI Input" in the top left hand corner. That display disappears when the picture returns. Here's the weird part: I never lose audio and when I rewind the DVR (since it is constantly recording live TV) , the part of the programming that went black is still there. Why would I lose video signal but not audio, and why wouldn't I see the same drop out in the same area when I rewind the DVR? I've checked all of the cables and everything is connected properly-nothing is lose. Is this a weak signal? Bad cables? Problems with my TV? This just started and the TV is only about 3 or 4 months old. Help.

Since there does not appear to be a problem with the recording, I would propose that the problem exists either in your HDMI Cable or TV. I would suggest (in this order):

1. Try the HDMI into a different input. If that works fine, it would indicate a problem with the current HDMI input (the TV).

2. Try replacing the HDMI cable with another. If that solves it, then toss that cable.

If it still doesn't go away, it would likely suggest a more involved problem with your set. Being so new, it likely is still under warranty, yes?

Richard may be able to help more here.

- Shane

Thanks!
I've got the cable guy coming out today to take a look and check the signal strength before I go buy another expensive HDMI cable.
If, God forbid, it's the TV, what can I expect when dealing with the warranty? I bought from a big box retailer but did not buy their extended warranty because it was so expensive. Since I did not buy, am I responsible for shipping this thing back somewhere? I guess I need to read the warranty and see what I'm in for. I'm PRAYING it has something to do with the cable or the box.

FN1, are you using a DVI to HDMI cable? TimeWarner in my area only provides DVI outputs. DVI to HDMI is notorious for having handshake issues with certain setups. Have you seen any such errors or issues?

The HD-DVR Time Warner gave me has a regular HDMI output. The cable guys came yesterday, told me that the signal was extremely low and put a booster on the house. They also put in a service call to have the main box at the top of the telephone poll across the street replaced. After they left, I was still having the issue so I rebooted the box and everything ran fine the rest of the evening. I'm thinking that if this is not a cable issue, it may be a problem with the DVR itself. I've lost all audio from this DVR before and had to reboot to get the audio to return.