scootermaster
Platinum Member
So, as many of you may or may not know, I've had a Denon 3801 since pretty much the beginning of time.
I recently bought a Denon x2000 as a bridge between now and whenever I decide I need HDMI 2.0+HDCP 2.2/I get a 4K panel/I feel like upgrading (I have a 64" F8500 now).
But now, I finally have HDMI! Woo hop! I immediately ripped out a bunch of cables and tossed them aside. This is veritable shangri-la of ease and convenience. Except...not. HDMI-CEC doesn't seem to do what I want it to do, ARC isn't as handy as I'd thought, and in generally, things aren't working as smoothly as I'd hoped (one cable to rule them all!)
So come with me as we learn about what "modern" -- meaning built in the last 8+ years -- AVR's can do, and how to fix some niggles that I wasn't expecting.
I'd love it if somebody had ideas for how to get around/fix some of these issues.
Thanks in advance!
1). There's this HDMI-CEC thing, and I'm not sure it does what I want it to do.
PROBLEM: It's really cool that I can use my TV remote and it'll turn on the receiver! But it's not so cool that I mainly use my home theater for music, and often times I need to tweak some settings -- so I need the TV (although this should decrease as time goes on) -- but I don't actually need the TV to be on, so when I shut the TV down, poof, there goes the AVR.
SOLUTION: I don't think there is one. Either turn off the "power on" feature, or grab two remotes. (Or, perhaps leave it on, but when I'm playing music, make it so I don't need to tinker with settings so I won't need the TV)
2). ARC is cool, but not magical.
PROBLEM: Ever since I was a little boy, all I ever wanted out of life was just ONE cable, running from my AVR to my TV. That way, I could leave the TV on the same input, and really, wouldn't ever need the TV remote for anything except to turn things on and the occasional settings tweak (or to use the built in apps). ARC is great, except that it requires me to switch the inputs. I don't have cable -- don't want it! -- but I do have some ClearQAM stations (less than I had 5 months ago, though. =[) so when I want to watch a football game, I gotta switch the input on the TV to "cable/antenna", and then gotta switch the input on the receiver to "TV audio" (although it's possible this happens automatically with CEC, but I'm not sure). This is not my dream! Presumably if I had a cable box, it would fix this, but I don't want a freakin' cable box!
SOLUTION: If CEC does the AVR input-switching for me when it detects the TV input is "cable/antenna" we're good here, I guess. Otherwise, I'm still tinkering with two remotes. Also, it'd be awesome if the AVR autoswitched to TV Audio when I activated the TV's apps, but that's probably two much to ask here.
3). HDCP Handshake issues using HDMI-CEC?
PROBLEM: When I turn on the TV -- which turns on the AVR using HDMI-CEC -- I get the Denon status thingee on the screen, but often I don't get anything after switching to the appropriate input (which in this case is either my AppleTV or my Xbox 360, but connected via RedMere HDMI cables). Often times I have to power-cycle the AVR/TV in a specific order to get video. I'm *assuming* this is some sort of handshake issue, because I can't imagine what else it'd be. It just seems like if they turn on in an incorrect sequence, perhaps there isn't time to handshake.
SOLUTION: Obviously doing the little dance I'm doing now isn't a solution. Again, I guess if I turn off the "power on" feature of my TV, perhaps that'd help. But, again, now I'm fumbling for two remotes. Anyone else noticed this?
4). HDMI processing isn't free / SERIOUS LAG on XBOX
PROBLEM: The Samsung Plasma I haven't isn't the best for gaming lag anyway, but I could deal with it. But it really is pretty much unbearable when the Xbox is routed to the receiver and then to the TV.
SOLUTION: Is there one, other than just plugging another cable from the Xbox to the TV, and then requiring yet another input (thereby exacerbating the problem I mentioned in #1?) Are there settings on the x2000 that can mitigate this?
Anyway, I know that's a lot to read, and it seems like all of these problems can be fixed by simply being more inconvenienced...but that seems suboptimal. And you can imagine how I feel after spending so many years with component+optical cables that when I FINALLY got HDMI, I thought it would be amazing...and it hasn't been.
Help?
I recently bought a Denon x2000 as a bridge between now and whenever I decide I need HDMI 2.0+HDCP 2.2/I get a 4K panel/I feel like upgrading (I have a 64" F8500 now).
But now, I finally have HDMI! Woo hop! I immediately ripped out a bunch of cables and tossed them aside. This is veritable shangri-la of ease and convenience. Except...not. HDMI-CEC doesn't seem to do what I want it to do, ARC isn't as handy as I'd thought, and in generally, things aren't working as smoothly as I'd hoped (one cable to rule them all!)
So come with me as we learn about what "modern" -- meaning built in the last 8+ years -- AVR's can do, and how to fix some niggles that I wasn't expecting.
I'd love it if somebody had ideas for how to get around/fix some of these issues.
Thanks in advance!
1). There's this HDMI-CEC thing, and I'm not sure it does what I want it to do.
PROBLEM: It's really cool that I can use my TV remote and it'll turn on the receiver! But it's not so cool that I mainly use my home theater for music, and often times I need to tweak some settings -- so I need the TV (although this should decrease as time goes on) -- but I don't actually need the TV to be on, so when I shut the TV down, poof, there goes the AVR.
SOLUTION: I don't think there is one. Either turn off the "power on" feature, or grab two remotes. (Or, perhaps leave it on, but when I'm playing music, make it so I don't need to tinker with settings so I won't need the TV)
2). ARC is cool, but not magical.
PROBLEM: Ever since I was a little boy, all I ever wanted out of life was just ONE cable, running from my AVR to my TV. That way, I could leave the TV on the same input, and really, wouldn't ever need the TV remote for anything except to turn things on and the occasional settings tweak (or to use the built in apps). ARC is great, except that it requires me to switch the inputs. I don't have cable -- don't want it! -- but I do have some ClearQAM stations (less than I had 5 months ago, though. =[) so when I want to watch a football game, I gotta switch the input on the TV to "cable/antenna", and then gotta switch the input on the receiver to "TV audio" (although it's possible this happens automatically with CEC, but I'm not sure). This is not my dream! Presumably if I had a cable box, it would fix this, but I don't want a freakin' cable box!
SOLUTION: If CEC does the AVR input-switching for me when it detects the TV input is "cable/antenna" we're good here, I guess. Otherwise, I'm still tinkering with two remotes. Also, it'd be awesome if the AVR autoswitched to TV Audio when I activated the TV's apps, but that's probably two much to ask here.
3). HDCP Handshake issues using HDMI-CEC?
PROBLEM: When I turn on the TV -- which turns on the AVR using HDMI-CEC -- I get the Denon status thingee on the screen, but often I don't get anything after switching to the appropriate input (which in this case is either my AppleTV or my Xbox 360, but connected via RedMere HDMI cables). Often times I have to power-cycle the AVR/TV in a specific order to get video. I'm *assuming* this is some sort of handshake issue, because I can't imagine what else it'd be. It just seems like if they turn on in an incorrect sequence, perhaps there isn't time to handshake.
SOLUTION: Obviously doing the little dance I'm doing now isn't a solution. Again, I guess if I turn off the "power on" feature of my TV, perhaps that'd help. But, again, now I'm fumbling for two remotes. Anyone else noticed this?
4). HDMI processing isn't free / SERIOUS LAG on XBOX
PROBLEM: The Samsung Plasma I haven't isn't the best for gaming lag anyway, but I could deal with it. But it really is pretty much unbearable when the Xbox is routed to the receiver and then to the TV.
SOLUTION: Is there one, other than just plugging another cable from the Xbox to the TV, and then requiring yet another input (thereby exacerbating the problem I mentioned in #1?) Are there settings on the x2000 that can mitigate this?
Anyway, I know that's a lot to read, and it seems like all of these problems can be fixed by simply being more inconvenienced...but that seems suboptimal. And you can imagine how I feel after spending so many years with component+optical cables that when I FINALLY got HDMI, I thought it would be amazing...and it hasn't been.
Help?
Last edited:
