SCART problem

mikep

mikep

New Member
I've just moved from a 9200T to the HDR Fox T2.

My major problem is that when the Fox is connected to my TV (Sony KDL-32W4000) by SCART I suffer a picture blackout when the Fox wakes up 15 minutes or so before a scheduled recording. I had this with the 9200T but it only lasted a few seconds. With the Fox it is continuous.

If I unplug the SCART the TV reverts to tuner input as opposed to line input. As soon as I put the SCART back in the TV reverts to line input.

I managed to contact Humax support by phone but the only advice was a system reset.

I tried this but the situation has not changed.

I now use the HDMI connection because my TV does not recognise the Fox as HDMI compliant.

I would be interested if anyone else has had this problem.

BTW congratulations to everyone who has set this site up. I used hummy.org.uk a lot and like many of you I miss it. Hopefully this site will fill the gap.
 
This sounds like it could be related to an issue I have with my HD Fox T2 when connected to a TV by a scart.

My video equipment including the fox is connected to the mains by one of those wireless remote power off units.

If I simply power everything off this way last thing, when I next power everything up, the fox box powers up OK and displays the channel last viewed with sound, then after a couple of minutes the picture disappears, but the sound continues . So I then have to switch the Fox to standby using the remote, and then power it up again.

Because of this I now always try to remember to put the Fox in standby before powering everything off, and then I don't have a problem.
 
Thats what my tv does,goes of about 15 mins before a recording is due to start,i just switch the tv off and on and its okay.the hummy records okay,my hummy is connected to the tv via a scart lead.old analog.tv.Cumbrian
 
Cumbrian said:
Thats what my tv does,goes of about 15 mins before a recording is due to start,i just switch the tv off and on and its okay.the hummy records okay,my hummy is connected to the tv via a scart lead.old analog.tv.Cumbrian
Click to expand...

That's interesting. It sounds to me that the relevant pin in the SCART is being kept high by the Fox and I wouldn't have thought switching the TV off and then on would have made any difference.

I'll do a number of tests and see what happens.

Thanks for your interest.
 
mikep said:
my TV does not recognise the Fox as HDMI compliant.
Click to expand...

It's actually that the Sony TV doesn't recognize the Hummy as Control for HDMI compliant. Control for HDMI is Sony's implementation of the CEC standard.

I have a Sony TV and Home Theatre Surround Sound system and have the same problem. I say 'problem' but after being annoyed that it didn't work I have come to the conclusion that it is probably better that it doesn't.

When I open the drawer and put a disk in the Blu-ray player (also Sony), the TV and HT switch on and switch to the correct inputs for the Blu-ray. Now, if this happened with the Hummy chances are you'd have the TV switching on/changing inputs when you didn't want it to because the Hummy records when it's in standby so would you want everythign switching on when the Hummy starts recording?

The only thing that the Hummy seems to break by having it connected to my system is that if I've put the HT amp into standby when it's using the SAT input (which the Hummy is connected to) then putting a disk in the Blu-ray player doesn't cause the amp and TV to switch on.
 
parish said:
The only thing that the Hummy seems to break by having it connected to my system is that if I've put the HT amp into standby when it's using the SAT input (which the Hummy is connected to) then putting a disk in the Blu-ray player doesn't cause the amp and TV to switch on.
Click to expand...

That's a very good point! It would drive me up the wall if the Hummy started changing channels on the TV just because it was starting to record.
 
OK, I've just spent nearly an hour staring at a blank TV in order to document the natutal history of my SCART problem!

To recap:
1) The Fox is connected to the TV (Sony KDL-32W4000) by SCART
2) I've scheduled the Fox to record a programme at a given time
3) I'm watching something on the TV; the Fox is in standby biding its time
4) About 15 minutes before the start time of the recording the Fox comes out of standby and readies itself to start recording when the current programme finishes
5) The TV is switched from tuner input to line input so the screen goes blank
6) With my old 9200T this lasted for a few seconds before tuner input was restored and, with it, the picture of whatever I had been watching
7) With the Fox the TV stays switched to line input

I scheduled a recording this afternoon and sat and waited. As expected the Fox switched the TV to line input and there it stayed.

I removed the SCART from the TV and it returned to tuner input.

I replaced the SCART and the TV switched to line input (blank screen).

I switched the TV off and then back on. It went straight to line input.

I waited to see what would happen to the TV when the Fox started recording. Nothing, it stayed on line input.

It stayed on line input until the recording was complete and the Fox went back into standby.

Only then did the TV switch back to tuner input.

I know I could change the input on the TV manually with the remote (that doesn't sound right but you know what I mean!) but I shouldn't have to.

It would be interesting to know how many other people have a similar problem.
 
I think this has been noted before by HDR users previously - I would suggest it is a design fault with the HDR that the scart pin 8 for "status and aspect ratio" is activated when the unit comes out of standby - regardless of weather it is for recording or watching.

On the other hand it might be deliberately designed like that - as I think pin 8 was used on older set top boxes that are receivers only to signal to a VCR to record - and they forgot it could record!

I guess you get a blank screen as somewhere - probably in software on the digital video side of things someone has thought to turn off the video when recording - but not popped their head round the bench of the tech doing the scart design or the aspect ratio switching!

I've not done it but you could pop a multimeter on pin 8 of the scart socket to see if it is the pin. Should be <2V for off, 6V (ish) for 16:9 and 10v (ish) for 4:3 (IIRC from a misspent youth and Videocrypt!)

So difficult to say if it could be fixed in software - or might need a hardware mod depending upon design - although I guess it will be pretty low on the list to look at!
 
If you've got a spare SCART lead lying around you could try opening it up and cutting the wire to pin 8. Only problem then is that the TV might not auto-switch when you want it too.

Thinking about this a bit more, I think the problem is in the way Sony TVs handle pin 8. When I got my Sony TV I still had my 9200, which used SCART. I had issues with this combination that I hadn't had with 3 other (non-Sony) TVs that I'd used the 9200 with. One issue was 16:9/4:3 switching (which, as noted by adrenalize, is also controlled by pin 8) and IIRC I also had a problem with auto-switching.

I'm sure I posted about it on hummy.org (RIP) but obviously can't go an check now :(

EDIT: Just looked at the manual for my Sony TV (KDL-40EX603, so not the same as yours) and the two SCART sockets are different. AV1 is bi-directional, but AV2 is input only. This means that they are wired differently. You could try using AV2 instead of AV1 (if yours has two SCARTs). I didn't try that as the TV is wall-mounted so the SCARTs are hard to get at, plus I got my HDR-FoxT2 shortly after the TV.
 
In my view, the fact that the SCART switching signal is asserted if the HDR is in standby and then starts a timer recording is clearly a design fault, and one that I sincerely hope can be fixed with a software update. It should only switch the TV over to the input that it is connected to when you want to view its output, i.e. when you use the Humax remote to bring the box out of standby. As to whether switching the TV on and off will make any difference, this depends on the TV. Some will only switch over to the SCART input if the switching signal on that input was asserted after it was switched on, others will switch even if the signal was asserted when the TV was switched off.
 
My TV has a menu option to disable Scart auto switching, which I use to stop certain boxes from taking over when they come out of standby to record.
 
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