anyone experience HDMI problems with their TV ?

[1 FMF]

have an LG 47LE5400 i bought from newegg just over 2 years ago. it was defective when delivered, bad HDMI. whenever using hdmi, the screen and sound would go blank/silent every 5 minutes for a second then come back. LG replaced the main board twice under warranty- first replacement had defective network jack. tonight i'm watching tv and it clicks and goes to no signal. None of the 4 or 5 hdmi ports work now, all show no signal. But the component and composite and all other inputs seems to work.

thinking of just using component for uverse and dvd and saying to [censored] with hdmi.
think it's worth buying a new main board for $100-200 if I can find one for working hdmi ?
have a call into LG for repair, I'm out of warranty, they state $89 for a required diagnostic visit. doubt i can bypass that garbage and buy just the board from LG.
seems like the web has quite a bit of complaints about hdmi.

 

[1 FMF]

forgot to ask, going to dig up some cables to get this pos working.
all i have is a blu-ray dvd player and have AT&T uverse HD.
would i be sacrificing hd if i connect uverse via coax cable ?

 

[Quattro Pete]

Personally, I've never had any HDMI issues on any of the sets I owned (Panasonics, Samsungs, Sonys, Toshibas), but that's not to say they don't happen. I think you just happened to come across a bad unit.

If the replacement board only lasted 2 years, then I'd be a little hesitant to spend money on another board and trying to fix it. I may just be looking for a new TV. You can get a brand new 47" TV for less than $500 these days.


But before you do that, just try it over component inputs, like you said. Picture quality should be comparable.

 

[FoxS]

No problems on mine.

If you purchased with credit card, you may have another year of warranty.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: 1 FMF
would i be sacrificing hd if i connect uverse via coax cable ?

Does the uverse service come with an HD box similar to a cable box? If so, then yes, you will not get HD signal if you connect this HD box to your TV using coax. Use component instead. You will then also need to run separate audio cables to the TV (or to a home theater receiver).

 

[Scotty1981]

That would sour me on LG, as it is now though I stick with Samsung for my television/monitor needs. They seem to have a picture quality and color that I prefer over other brands.

Keep in mind everyone's eyes seem to be different and we all prefer different things. I recommend you check out a few different brands at friends houses or store displays before making a decision. I am not stating that Samsung is the best or anything like that.

 

[michaelluscher]

I agree, but you always want to go as high up the totem pole on input quality as you can.

Low to High.
1. Coaxial Cable. RG6 is a plus.
2. Composite. R+W+Y cables.
3. S-Video. Not too relevant anymore, plus you have to send audio a separate way.
4. Component Cable. YPBPR. Almost HDMI quality, - the convenience.
5. HDMI. Just about the best that can be done at this level. Convenient too.

 

[Hokiefyd]

I was having odd issues with my TV communicating with our cable box via HDMI. I work with someone who used to be an installer for Dish. He says that whenever they have call-backs, it's because of an HDMI problem. His stories of repeated issues mirror those reported by the OP. The HDMI architecture requires a two-way line of communication between both devices to be established. Power-cycling a device can re-establish this line of communication if it gets lost, but it's a nuisance. Component cable removes this issue.

And sure enough, it removed the issues I was having.

It's not quite accurate to say that HDMI's quality is superior to quality supplied by component cable. In some cases, the reverse is true. It all comes down to the equipment.

Excellent article on Blue Jeans Cable:

http://www.bluejeanscable.com/articles/dvihdmicomponent.htm

 

[MrHorspwer]

Originally Posted By: Scotty1981
That would sour me on LG, as it is now though I stick with Samsung for my television/monitor needs. They seem to have a picture quality and color that I prefer over other brands.

Keep in mind everyone's eyes seem to be different and we all prefer different things. I recommend you check out a few different brands at friends houses or store displays before making a decision. I am not stating that Samsung is the best or anything like that.


All televisions break. At 6 months, my 46" Samsung went into a constant reboot cycle and required a mainboard replacement. Meanwhile, my 42" LG, which is older and has many more hours of use, remains rock solid.

What does that mean? Absolutely nothing. Regardless of manufacturer, things break.

To that end, I just purchased a new 55" set for my family room. What brand did I choose? Samsung.

 

[dishdude]

HDMI was forced onto electronics manufacturers from the studios for copyright protection. There is a secure handshake that takes place between devices, and for some reason there can be some compatibility issues with certain combination of devices.

One thing you could also try is lowering the resolution on the device you are connecting to 720P.

 

[azjake]

I have HDMI on our two HDTV's and no problem (Cox cable). My Panasonic 50 inch 1080P came with ferrite cores to place around the HDMI connectors as close as possible to where the cable plugs into the TV to help avoid any possible interference. Never even knew such a thing existed, but put them on all the same. I've used HDMI on our 42 inch "el cheapo" Element for about 4 years without the ferrite cores and no problems. BTW. the Element is 720P and has always had, and still does have a great crystal clear picture.

 

[97tbird]

Samsung LCD bought in 2008 I think....
So far zero problems with HDMI...
I have connected dvd/blu ray players, laptops, and streaming devices like Roku...

 

[TxHeat]

Uverse has a long history of not being hdmi friendly. I've been on Uverse since late 2007 and for most of that time could not use hdmi successfully so used component. Starting about a year ago I tried it again and it has been working pretty well. Still get the occassional hiccup though, picture freeze or loss of sound. Once in a while I have to restart the box to get everything working again.

I bought my first, (and last), LG a little over a year ago. The ethernet connector has never worked on mine either.

Have you visited the Uverse users forum? There are some pretty "Uverse knowledgeable" folks there. You can find it here. Hey, it's not as good as Bitog, but then what is?

 

[javacontour]

The only time I have any HDMI issues is when I start up the entertainment system. The TV takes it's input from the A/V receiver, so sometimes the components are not ready at the right times and it takes 10 seconds or so for everything to negotiate what they are going to do.

But after that, no issues.

BTW, I've had uVerse since early 2010. The installer said avoid the HDMI, but I've really had no issues.

FWIW