Extron DXP HDMI and Tandberg C60

staticattic

I have a system with 2 NEC P521-AVT's, Extron DXP HDMI 8x8 switcher, Tandberg C60, and a DVD player. I am having issues and I was hoping someone else was having similar issues and could discuss their fix actions or work arounds.

1 - The Extron switch is giving me a difficult time. Sometimes it passes the HDMI signals, other times I have to struggle with it. One thing I have noticed, when I change sources, like from the Tandberg to the DVD player, I have to break the connection first, then send the new connection. In other words, if I have the DVD player going to the left monitor and want to send the Tandberg, I first have to send input 0 to the left monitor, then send the Tandberg. If I send the Tandberg directly, without breaking the connection, all I get is a grey screen.

2 - When the DVD player is on and being displayed, I can power it off or the display showing it, and whenever power is reapplied, the DVD continues to display. If I try that with the Tandberg, all I get is a grey screen, requiring me to break the connection, then resend it again.

3 - Sometimes, when the system is first powered on, once the DVD player is selected, the screens will only display the "Green Screen of Death" indicating the HDCP compliant handshaking was never accomplished. The fix action for this has been to power cycle the monitors. Sometimes it takes a few power cycles to correct.

There is no "pattern" that repeats that I can tailor my programming to accomodate. I am trying my hardest to make this system as idiot proof as possible so all the user has to worry about is conducting his or her business without having to finger diddle with buttons to "fix" something. This is my first time dealing with a Tandberg C-60 and an Extron HDMI switcher. In the EDID configuration for the matrix, I have set all of the inputs to 1080p @ 60Hz, but no matter what I change this to, I get the same results. What am I missing? Anyone else with similar equipment experiencing similar problems?

patb

Welcome to the world of EDID and HDCP. If you work with HDMI long enough you'll grow to know those two words very well. I had similar issues with the C series codecs before that left me wanting to pull out my hair. We had HDMI extenders on the cameras and dealt with all kinds of issues like this. There wasn't a single clear cut solution unfortunately. In the end (many months later) we found out that one of the projectors had a limited EDID table because it was an older version that had less memory than the new projector in the same line. The manufacturer only had memory to put a certain number of EDID listings and had to pick which ones to leave out. The final solution was to upgrade to the newest model projector.

We also found that the extenders were VERY picky about the cables. The installers had to re crimp the CAT connectors several times and even use a wire brush to clean the contact points on the CAT connectors before the camera signal would become stable and not blink on and off. Sorry I don't have a good answer - trial and error is often your best tool. Just keep trying things no matter how crazy until you find something that works.

DHawthorne

Gefen makes a box that stores EDID data when initialized, and memorizes it so that disconnects and power cycles won't break your video connection and force a re-sync. I've used older models just to force a resolution when monitors got switched around, but they say the latest model supports HDCP and there is a good chance it will prevent your problem. I'd give their engineers a call to be sure before actually buying one, but I think it will do the job.

http://www.gefen.com/kvm/dproduct.jsp?prod_id=8005

Jimweir192

Does the extron not do EDID capture?

I've found extron TS to be very good on this sort of issue.

staticattic

Jimweir192 wrote: »

Does the extron not do EDID capture?

I've found extron TS to be very good on this sort of issue.

It does. For whatever reason, when running HDMI to HDMI the Extron, Tandberg, and NEC's, don't play well with each other. If I run HDMI to DVI, everything works like a champ, 100% of the time. The problem now is finding how to handle my audio. There is no funding left to buy anything new, so I am going to have to rig something with parts on hand. The NEC's have 3 audio inputs, so if I have to, I can run each audio source independently to the NEC's and switch audio inputs via serial commands. Kind of a lame way to do it, but since I am under a time crunch, my list of options is getting shorter.

staticattic

Follow up...

To close this story, just in case anyone cares, the customer bought 2 Extron HAE 100's. I let the customer see what I was dealing with and they decided to buy more parts. So now I am running HDMI out of the devices to HDMI In on the Extron switch, HDMI Out of the Extron switch to HDMI In on the HAE 100, HDMI Out of the HAE 100 to DVI In on the monitors. The audio is de-embedded and ran as analog stereo. The 2 HAE 100's arrived last week (finally!!!), have been installed, the programming has been completed, meets their requirements, and I can move on with my life.

Extron makes great products and I have had great success with them over the years. My personal opinion that I'll share here, I am not entirely convinced Extron's DXP HDMI matrix swtichers were quite ready for prime time. But the HAE's fixed any shortcomings, the customer has their break away audio that they so dearly wanted, and everyone is happy.