Arcam DV139 Image Problem

[Pere Barcelo]

Hi everybody,

I'm a newbie here so please bear with me.

I just bought an almost brand new DV 139 from a US seller. The unit got to Spain no problem. Hooked it up like a child with a new toy and started playing some cd's. THIS IS AN AMAZING CD PLAYER!!!! The best I've had although I've never spent serious money on a dedicated unit. (max: 500€)

OK...to the point. The unit played one DVD properly from region 1. I looked up for the multiregion hack after that and I implemented it. Now, pressing 4792 it tells me it's set on multiregion. The software version is almost the latest, 4.02 I believe.

Well, after that it allowed me to play any dvd from any region (didn't get the nasty "wrong region or zone dvd" message) but I completely lost the image! It's all black. The Arcam "desktop" image is there. I can also navigate properly through the setup but when I load a DVD I can only hear amazing sound but no image.

I must say that I had a couple of addicional problems too. For a while the remote didn't work and I don't know how I got it to work. Messing with the dvd player trying to fix it I even lost the arcam menu image. I got it back by hooking up a euroconnecto and putting it back on HDMI auto.

I have a panasonic Panasonic TH-42PV500 which suports at least 720p and 1080i and is can handle both PAL and NTSC. I've had other dvd's with it and no problem.

Also, important! Sometimes, very occasionally, I can see the movie main menu before staring the feature movie. As soon, as I play the movie and I guess it skips to it ....goes back totally dark.

In the DVD display it says it's on "Progressive". I've read this could be the problem and looked at the FAQ in Arcam's website and tried to turned it off by pressing and holding 5 on the remote as it says...nothing happened.

Well, you get the picture (I've got none!!!!).

It's one of those real bummers. Spending a fortune on a machine and it doesn't even play movies properly....

I loved the sound and want to keep it. I know I'm going to love it once I'm trouble free. PLEASE HELP ME LOVE THIS MARVEALOUS UNIT

Anybody with similar problems or ideas?

Greatly apreciated

[ANDY_DUTTON]

Hi,

It sounds like your player is not authenticating with your display properly. The most common reason for this is cables that are too long, not properly inserted or of poor quality.

So I would try removing the HDMI cables and re-inserting them first, if that doesn't work then try a shorter cable if you can. If you are still not having any luck try changing the HDMI resolution, this shouldn't affect it but sometimes it seems to.

Regards,
Andrew

[Naimer]

In addition to what Andy said try setting the Display standard in the video setup menu to "PAL" and instead of "Auto". Although your display is capably of either PAL or NTSC I've found that when you make these players region free you need to select either NTSC or PAL as the default video output otherwise you get the behavior you mentioned.

[Pere Barcelo]

Thank you SO SO much Andy and Naimer.

I'll try both things as soon as I get home and tell you what happened.

The cable lenght right now is no more than 1,2 mts though. It's a middle of the run quality (40€). I have two other HDMI cables at home. I'll try them all.

Pere

[Pere Barcelo]

Hi again!

Seems to be working like a charm. Watched the fifth element in region 2 and tried kil bill 2 on region 1.

I unplugged the hdmi cable and turned off completely the arcam. This got me the player's menus back. Then I set the tv to Pal and the arcam to Auto for Pal/NSTC.

In any case, I suspect there is an issue of "communication" with my plasma as depending on the chronology of events (such as turning the tv on first and putting it on the hdmi input) the arcam has trouble again and goes dark.

I'll confirm this an posted for Arcam's knowledge.

Many thanks. In a moment of dispair you guys (and this forum) has proven very valueable!

[Timbo21]

I think it's generally best to switch the Arcam on last.

T.

[Dankeech]

Sounds like Macro-making time

Dan.