Panasonic TX-L55WT50B TV. Problem with Sony Home Cinema Unit. Sound but No Picture.

[JSoapy0]

I have a Panasonic TX-L55WT50B TV and a Sony BDV-E880 Home Cinema Unit. They have been working fine for over 10 years.

They were working the last time I used it to watch a DVD about a month ago. But yesterday playing a DVD results in sound but no picture. It’s connected to the HDMI 2 (ARC) Port on the TV.

I have tried so far:-

• Disconnecting/Reconnecting the HDMI Lead.
• Different HDMI Lead.
• Disconnecting both Power Leads for an hour.
• Using different DVD’s (Blu-Ray and Standard)
• Ensuring both Units Firmware are up to date.
• Renaming the HDMI 2 Input to DVD.
• Connecting to the other 3 HDMI Sockets on the TV (HDMI 1 has a BT TV Unit connected and works fine)
• Turning On/Off Viera Link.
• I connected my laptop to the HDMI 2 Socket on the TV with the same HDMI lead I use for the Sony Unit and it displays fine.
• Factory Reset the TV.

As a final check I took the Sony Player and the HDMI lead and connected it to my TV in the bedroom and it works fine!

It seems something has happened and now they won’t talk to each other as regards the Video Signal.

I can't understand why the Sony Player works on my bedroom TV but doesn't with my Panasonic TV.

I've proved the all the HDMI Sockets work on the TV using my Laptop.

As a last resort I have ordered a new High Speed Ultra HD 2.0 Cable but I thought I would seek any other ideas people might have while I’m waiting.

 

[JSoapy0]

Tried the new cable. Still the same.

Using my upstairs bedroom tv I set the Video Output Setting to all the available options one at a time (advice on a Sony Forum) and it's still not working.

Scratching my head.

 

[mikej]

FWIW, you've done a pretty thorough job of trouble-shooting this - you've tried all of the things I would have suggested, at least. If they've worked fine together for 10 years and you've factory reset both, plus checked each is outputting/inputting correctly and swapped out the cable, then I would be scratching my head too. This definitely points towards some kind of sudden incompatibility between the two or an incorrect setting somewhere.

There is another HDMI-related setting in the Setup menu on my GZ950 though, known as the 'HDMI Auto Setting' which says "If the image or sound is not displayed properly due to connected equipment, please select in order from [Mode 1]" so it would be worth seeing if your set has anything similar and if so, trying all the options.

All my HDMI inputs are set to Mode 2 and I'm presuming this is the default, as I don't think I've ever changed them. This option isn't available in the Setup menu while watching the Freeview tuner on my set so you will probably need to have one of the HDMI inputs selected in order to access it (the input doesn't need to be 'live' with a source - just selected)

What were the video-out options available on the Sony, out of interest ?

 

[JSoapy0]

Hi Mike, I've tried to work in a methodical logical way. I was a Helicopter Engineer for nearly 30 years and had my fair share of head scratching defects in my time.
The Video Output Options range from 480i to 1080p including an Auto selection.
One of the baffling things I've found is I currently have a BT Tv box hooked into HDMI 1 and when you initially select that Channel it displays 1080p/50Hz so I thought I would preselect that on the Sony Unit Menu using the Bedroom Tv and connect it to HDMI 1. Still didn't work.

My Tv is over 10 years old and doesn't appear to have a Mode 1 or 2 Option that I can find.

See pictures for the Output Options I've tried them all!

 

[mikej]

The Video Output Options range from 480i to 1080p including an Auto selection.
See pictures for the Output Options I've tried them all!

Ah OK. I would guess that your TV would accept all of those input resolutions anyway (a quick check of the TV's specs in the manual would confirm this) in which case changing that setting on the Sony will just determine whether it's the player or TV that does the upscaling, rather than determining whether you get a picture or not. Worth checking as you did though anyway, just in case.

 

[JSoapy0]

Well I have given up on finding what the issue is.
Just by good luck I saw a Panasonic Blu-ray Player for sale for £25 locally and thought I would take a punt.
I connected it in to HDMI 4 and it works (although it is very slow to read a disc). I've kept the Sony Unit connected so I get the 5.1 Sound through the ARC Link.