KDFE50A12U HDMI blanks out every now and then

[davetherave2]

Now I have done a quick search on the forums and have seen others that have the same or similar issue that I have.

The problem seems to be that every so often about 30 - 45 minutes of using the HDMI connection the screen will go blank for a second or two and then come back to life.

this isn't too bad normally and I have only really noticed it recently as I generally used component or svideo on the TV. But I have test this with both my new 360 elite and a HTPC using a BFG 8800GTX and the same thing happens.

Is there a fix for this or is it a fault with the TV?

Other than this issue I have been loving this TV for the last 18 months or so and have been more than impressed with this fantastic set.

 

[davetherave2]

well just a quick update:

So have contacted Currys to get it fixed and an engineer has now been arranged for me. Hopefully they will be able to fix the TV for me.

 

[hexblade]

I've got the same set and the same problem. I recently purchased an XBox360 Elite. I decided to connect it via HDMI, Until now I've always used the basic HDTV cables. While playing Blue Dragon, the screen suddenly went black for about 3 seconds and then came back on again (as if the TV had suddenly lost the HDMI connection to the console) That happened twice in 1 hour.

I didn't see any different in picture quality when using HDMI anyway, which was a little disappointing. So I decided to go back to my original basic HDTV cable. Played Blue Dragon for 2 hours this morning with no black screens appearing. So i'm pretty sure it's not a fault with the TV.

But now after reading your last comment, i'm a little worried that my TV maybe broken. Could you let me know what the engineer has to say about it and let me know if it can actually be fixed without the hassle of getting a repairman round.

 

[davetherave2]

as i said it wasn't just the elite doing it but also my PC and up until recently (last month or so) it had been perfectly fine or at least I had never noticed it before and I am using a £30 DVI to HDMI cable which had been working fine since I got the set. Well not having the engineer round until the 10th of September so will report back then.

 

[hexblade]

ok mate, thanks. I'm pretty sure though that it's not a problem with the TV because basic HD still works fine for me. I'm guessing that it's the HDMI cable not being 100% compatible with the TV. It'll be interesting to hear what the engineer has to say.

 

[PHOTOSHOP KID]

I too have the same problem on my Pana plasma with a Sony 76 dvd player, I now have the dvd player connected to my Sony 55", and it still does it, I put it down to faulty lead, just seems odd that you have the same fault on your lead

 

[Ourouk0]

Hello ! and sorry for my english
The problem is only on HDMI 1080i/60 hz. My KDF was updated by Sony France for this and it doesn't work !

Photoshop you said that you have the Sony KDS 55 and it's the same thing ! Please check the message on the screen about resolution and frequency ?

I tried with a PS3 , a HD DVD Player, A DVD player with HDMI and differents cables and connected directly to the KDF : Same issue


So it's a real problem

 

[PHOTOSHOP KID]

Hello ! and sorry for my english
The problem is only on HDMI 1080i/60 hz. My KDF was updated by Sony France for this and it doesn't work !

Photoshop you said that you have the Sony KDS 55 and it's the same thing ! Please check the message on the screen about resolution and frequency ?

I tried with a PS3 , a HD DVD Player, A DVD player with HDMI and differents cables and connected directly to the KDF : Same issue


So it's a real problem

The only message on screen when it blanks out is when it comes back, it just says 1080i in the top left corner, no mention of frequency

 

[Ourouk0]

Thank you for your reply !

Can you confirm Photoshopkid your rear retro is the SONY KDS 55 Full hd ! When you press the touch number 6 on your remote , information displays on your screen . Are you sure there's no mention about frequency but only resolution because on KDF both appears

Do you have others products that send an hdmi signal 1080i ? You said that you have the same problem with your TV Panasonic so I cross the fingers maybe your DVD player is guilty

I have a Marantz DVD PLAYER No problem when I'm watching a DVD PAL (50 HZ) but with a DVD NTSC (60 HZ): blanks out


Very important for me your reply because I'm on contact with Sony and I want a lot of informartion to solve this issue

Thanks

 

[PHOTOSHOP KID]

Thank you for your reply !

Can you confirm Photoshopkid your rear retro is the SONY KDS 55 Full hd ! When you press the touch number 6 on your remote , information displays on your screen . Are you sure there's no mention about frequency but only resolution because on KDF both appears

Do you have others products that send an hdmi signal 1080i ? You said that you have the same problem with your TV Panasonic so I cross the fingers maybe your DVD player is guilty

I have a Marantz DVD PLAYER No problem when I'm watching a DVD PAL (50 HZ) but with a DVD NTSC (60 HZ): blanks out


Very important for me your reply because I'm on contact with Sony and I want a lot of informartion to solve this issue

Thanks

sorry, my tv is a Sony KDS55A2000, it could be the player, but I think it may be the lead, if I run the player in component, no problem on both tvs, hope this helps

 

[Ourouk0]

Yes Photoshopkid ,in component 1080i no problem for me . Do you have products that sends 1080p by HDMI on your SONY and problems with that resolution.

Thanks

 

[PHOTOSHOP KID]

Yes Photoshopkid ,in component 1080i no problem for me . Do you have products that sends 1080p by HDMI on your SONY and problems with that resolution.

Thanks

Sorry I only have the Sony dvd player which outputs via Hdmi, so I dont know for sure if it`s the lead thats faulty or the player, but a few people are having this problem, so maybe its a compatibility issue, I really dont think my lead or player is faulty.......

 

[kop 1]

hello , a friend of mine also has the same problem, he has a playstation 3 and a hd-e1 hd dvd player connected to a hdmi splitter connected to his sony kdfe50a12u .

 

[Ourouk0]

hello , a friend of mine also has the same problem, he has a playstation 3 and a hd-e1 hd dvd player connected to a hdmi splitter connected to his sony kdfe50a12u .

Yes ! Since HDMI appears more and more people discover the problem . No solution . I have tried HDMI plugged directly on KDF, via my HDMI receiver with XBOX 360 connected in YUV to HDMI on KDF, with Toshiba HD DVD.


No problem when the signal is 480i, 576i, 720p or 1080i/60 hz

 

[sergiosangiorgi]

Same problem here in Italy with the Sony KDF-E50A11E with PS3 and X360 Elite at 1080i/60hz... also with a pioneer dvd player when I upscale to 1080i/60hz!

 

[davetherave2]

well seems like currys have out done themselves on this one. They have managed to mess up the engineer booking so now have to wait until wednesday. Seems like the original booking was put on the wrong system and never rebooked. To be honest it shouldn't really surprise me but it is still shocking.

although it seemed to be ok for a day or so when watching stuff on my PC and the XBOX it is still happening and at random points. Again it seems to be when it is at 1080i. I used to have a HTPC connected to the TV and had that set at 720P so never noticed the problem before.

 

[davetherave2]

well just an update. had the guys from currys out today and they have said it is a compatability issue with this set and the xbox 360 and my PC. I explained to him it seems to be an issue when you set the system up at 1080i/60hz as I previously had my PC set at 720P/60hz and never had an issue.

Also have noticed the ghosting issue that is mentioned in the other thread.

The outcome is that they are going to pick it up and see if they can repair it but it doesn't look hopeful. Glad I have the extended warranty now.

Apparently this is a known issue with a number of Sony, Samsung and Toshiba LCD/Plasma sets.

 

[TheNomad]

The KDFE50A12U is only truely rated though to 720p and is probably why it is blanking out at 1080i. It may display the 1080i image but the quality is terrible (at least it was on mine at 1080i regardless of source).

 

[davetherave2]

I know it is only rated at 720p but I find that the PC and the 360 look better at this setting.

Well I get the TV back from repair tomorrow so I will have to wait and see if they have resolved both issues with it. (Just in time for Halo 3. I don't think I could have brought myself to play this on my 21" monitor)

Seems strange that over component the TV never experienced these issues with 1080i and only does it over the hdmi connection.

If the tv had such an issue with 1080i then Sony should have disabled the option and only allowed 720p as the top most resolution.

 

[davetherave2]

well the tv is back and the ghosting issue is fixed so am now waiting to see if the recurring hdmi issue rears up again.

update:

well spoke to soon looks like it has the same faults as before Just seems to take a bit longer for them to come back.

so looks like the TV is going to be written off now as Currys haven't been able to fix it in time. Shame really as it is still a fantastic set.

the 360 looks perfectly fine when it gets tested at 50hz just seems to have the issues when it is at 60hz. Same happens with the PC as well.

 

[davetherave2]

well just an update:

Well I had an engineer out to fix the ghosting issue which I had to give him the instructions of this forum to get it sorted as the info he had didn't work.

But they are unable to fix the blanking out issue and are now trying to tell me it is a compatability issue with my PC's and the 360 so are now refusing to write it off as Sony say it is my equipment that is causing the issue.

They apparently have tested a sky-HD box on it at 1080i and say it works. Sony have advised currys that I should only use the 360 on component and not on the hdmi port which i find very annoying as I wanted to use the wii on component.

As for my PC's they are trying to tell me it is down to a configuration issue with my systems that is causing the issue and again I find that hard to believe as I have rebuilt the system a couple of times to elimate this issue. What worse is they have tested a PC on the TV but using the VGA which is a complete waste of time.

So what do I do now I have a tv that I can't really trust and doesn't do what I want it to do reliably and the warranty which is meant to help resolve these issues currently isn't worth the paper it is written on.

 

[sergiosangiorgi]

Your pc and xbox are not the problem! I have the same issue with the PS3 at 1080i/60hz! If the signal is 1080i/50hz no blanking out... so the cause is the 60hz! Tested also with a Pioneer DVD Player: if I upscale PAL DVD at 1080i no problem but if I do the same with a NTSC DVD (60hz) I have the blanking out issue! So please tell this to the Sony's engineers... let me know. Bye!

 

[UkHardcore]

The KDFE50A12U is only truely rated though to 720p and is probably why it is blanking out at 1080i. It may display the 1080i image but the quality is terrible (at least it was on mine at 1080i regardless of source).

I use 1080i with the Xbox 360 and it looks far superior than 720p, 720 looks to blurry due to the size of the tv 1080i makes it look crystal clear and i've had it set up this way for 2 years without a single problem.

 

[davetherave2]

Your pc and xbox are not the problem! I have the same issue with the PS3 at 1080i/60hz! If the signal is 1080i/50hz no blanking out... so the cause is the 60hz! Tested also with a Pioneer DVD Player: if I upscale PAL DVD at 1080i no problem but if I do the same with a NTSC DVD (60hz) I have the blanking out issue! So please tell this to the Sony's engineers... let me know. Bye!

well just a quick update. the tv seemed to behave itself when I got it back on thursday but when I noticed that the 360 had set itself to 720p when it was being moved from my hyundai monitor to the tv it proved to me that the tv and the 360 are perfectly fine at this setting. So far touch wood the 360 has been behaving itself even when I set it back to 1080i/60hz.

But the pc is a different matter. I received Transformers on HD this week and tested it out on the big screen and it blanked out 3 times while watching the film at fairly critical action packed moments. So have called currys again and claimed the 21 day rule again as per my what ever happens policy. I am still waiting for their customer complaints department to deal with my complaint to a satisfactory degree but I will pursue the matter.

So have another engineer coming out on wednesday to look at it and they will probably say 'no i can't fix it, it will need to go away again. '.

As I see it at the moment the TV is not fit for the purpose it was designed for and in a way I am glad that I am not the only one who has seen this issue.

I just hope currys can get their act together and sort this out once and for all.

 

[davetherave2]

well lets see. I have had the engineer visit and again he said there is nothing that can be done as the tv is set to operate at 50hz and not 60hz. So he said he can send it away again but they will test it with their 50hz equipment but it not show any fault.

So I have had to resort to sending complaint letter to them expressing my dissapointment with this situation.

Also managed to find some handy info about the tv and how the hd-logo is given and as it states on http://www.eicta.org the tv has to accept the following resolutions on a HD-Ready tv:

HD capable inputs accept the following HD video formats:
1280x720 @ 50 and 60Hz progressive (“720p&#8221, and
1920x1080 @ 50 and 60Hz interlaced (“1080i&#8221


so looks like the engineer was not quite telling me the whole truth about this problem.

update:

well have contacted Sony and they have confirmed that the set is capable of outputing a signal of 1080i 50Hz/60Hz and that there is no know issues with this set or the 360 and both should work fine.

So have called Currys again and told them that Sony say there is no problem and that the TV has to be able to output at these settings and if it isn't then it is clearly faulty so have requested it be written off for the third time so hopefully they will do it this time.

The complaint letter is on standby now until the engineer comes out and hopefully gets this uplifted.

As I said earlier it is a shame that the TV is suffering this fault as it is still a magnificant set just that you don't spend nearly £1500 on a TV to have irritaing little faults like this on it.