[JosephinSeoul]

I have just had a Radeon HD 4350 added to my computer and ran a 10-meter HDMI cable from the computer to a new 47" X-Canvas tv. At first all worked fine. But later the same day I started to get "no signal" on the tv. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. But overall, after two days, it seems to be getting worse. (Vista 32 is my system)

My tech knowledge is very limited; but tech is suddenly coming into my life in a variety of ways and I am beginning to learn. The thing is, computer techs here who come to the house vary in skill level and clear communication ability. Sometimes what they tell you turns out to be...questionable. Sometimes they fix things, sometimes....problems continue.
The guy who installed the card had difficulty getting the sound to work for a while.

So: I just want to have some idea of what the real issues are, in case I have to bring someone in.

In Korea it is possible to watch a variety of good quality video from the computer. Many people do it successfully. Things are fast here. Some of the sites I stream are from the States, however, and those may be more problematic. I watched the Daily Show yesterday successfully, but then it would not work later.

Any thoughts much appreciated.

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10 meter cable - that's over 30 feet - are you sure your cable is that long? While there are no specified limits to HDMI cables, there are technical limits that depend on the material quality and construction. What "type" cable did you get? It should be HDMI 1.3 Category 2 type cables, typically labeled "High Speed". If your cable is category 1 ("Standard"), that is likely your problem. I would try to rearrange your setup to get everything closer together, then go with as short, and as high a quality cable possible. Note that most expensive does not necessarily mean best, but cheap does mean cheap.

[Digerati]

10 meter cable - that's over 30 feet - are you sure your cable is that long? While there are no specified limits to HDMI cables, there are technical limits that depend on the material quality and construction. What "type" cable did you get? It should be HDMI 1.3 Category 2 type cables, typically labeled "High Speed". If your cable is category 1 ("Standard"), that is likely your problem. I would try to rearrange your setup to get everything closer together, then go with as short, and as high a quality cable possible. Note that most expensive does not necessarily mean best, but cheap does mean cheap.

[JosephinSeoul]

Yes, it's 10 meters because the next size down is 5 meters and I need about 6, 6 1/2. The thing that puzzles me, among many, is that it worked fine at first and for a while, video streaming, playing a downloaded film, etc.

(ps: as I typed this, my wife turned on the tv and it was still set to HDMI and all this is showing on the tv, no problem. I may go crazy.)

Edited by JosephinSeoul, 23 July 2009 - 06:52 AM.

[JosephinSeoul]

one more piece of info for those who take the time to read all this: when the tv connection has worked the computer speakers did not; I had not dealt with that yet. Now suddenly the cable stream is working but the sound only comes through my computer speakers, and not the tv!

Thanks for any thoughts.

[Digerati]

Then you need to make sure it is a good quality cable, and the connections are secure.

Edited by Digerati, 23 July 2009 - 06:59 AM.

[Digerati]

Wow. You got that last reply in during the same minute as mine.
***

when the tv connection has worked the computer speakers did not; I had not dealt with that yet. Now suddenly the cable stream is working but the sound only comes through my computer speakers, and not the tv!

That's the beauty and the problem with HDMI. Are all devices 1.3? In a perfect world, you should be able to press 1 button and through HDMI communications the monitor, DVD/BluRay drive, receivers/sound cards, and speakers will reconfigure automatically. Depending on the defaults, watching TV, the TV speakers only work. Click play on the DVD player, the audio switches to 5.1 surround sound and the TV switches inputs to the DVD player and flips to the necessary resolution. So much for perfect worlds. 1.3 is getting close, if the device makers take advantage of all the capabilities. 1.3 is compatible with earlier versions. You are going to have to check all the options for all your devices and set or change the defaults for each given source.

[JosephinSeoul]

Thanks for the replies. I don't know if "all" the devices are 1.3. But the cable is. I have not used any DVD yet. Only streaming and playing downloaded.

Talked to an upper level person at the computer center. They said we need to reinstall the graphics card and download the sound driver again. So that will happen next. Then we'll see.

Will post any interesting results or further questions.

thanks again.

[JosephinSeoul]

Wow. You got that last reply in during the same minute as mine.
***

when the tv connection has worked the computer speakers did not; I had not dealt with that yet. Now suddenly the cable stream is working but the sound only comes through my computer speakers, and not the tv!

That's the beauty and the problem with HDMI. Are all devices 1.3? In a perfect world, you should be able to press 1 button and through HDMI communications the monitor, DVD/BluRay drive, receivers/sound cards, and speakers will reconfigure automatically. Depending on the defaults, watching TV, the TV speakers only work. Click play on the DVD player, the audio switches to 5.1 surround sound and the TV switches inputs to the DVD player and flips to the necessary resolution. So much for perfect worlds. 1.3 is getting close, if the device makers take advantage of all the capabilities. 1.3 is compatible with earlier versions. You are going to have to check all the options for all your devices and set or change the defaults for each given source.

Thanks D,

I will keep this in mind as things develop, and I will interrogate the techs I meet here about these specs