Q: HDMI Handshake problems every 20 - 30 minutes - Color Inversion Issue

I am sorry.. I guess I found the problem and maybe a solution but posting it here results in a delete of the admins

Yes, of course

Try the following

If you cut down all your Internet traffic during watching - even close your emailprogram, I can reduce the problem to appear only once in a few hours. If Ever. I tested it about a few days and whenever I take the full bandwith (16k) the problems comes after max. 10 min. Also I use a highspeed hdmi (v1.4) cable.
So here my conclusions. Apple TV gets disturbed by wlan. Just plugin in the cable is not enough cause wlan is still active in background
Maybe blocking threads... However I guess the problem is bad programming what makes the missing fix by apple even more worse

If we would we able to shut down the wlan card "somehow" and use ethernet, the problem may be solved

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p.s. the original post I made was much longer but it violates http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3743

I have the same TV (Sony Bravia KDL 40-BX400) and the same exact problem with inverted colors. It happens every 20-30 minutes. Anybody know what the deal is?

Are you serious? Because we all are here, and we certainly don't need a pseudo soft/hardware engineer to tell us bollocks about what we should do to get this thing to work.

Ok,

I don't understand how or why, but i just thought out of desperation I would try disabling my WLAN as I have tried every other suggested fix.

This is the first time I have been able to watch a movie on my ATV2.

I did have just 1 inversion, which happened when i paused the movie, but nothing else for the 2 and a bit hours of the film.

Prior to disabling the WLAN on my router, (which is around 3 metres across the room from my ATV2), the fil inverted twice in the first 8 minutes and I've never managed to last more than 30 minutes without at least 1 occurance.


As I said, I don't understand why, and I guess it could be coincidence, but today disabling the WLAN on my router worked. My ATV is gigabit wired anyway, but disabling the WLAN is not a feasable option long term with laptops and blackberries in the household.

Apple, surely software disabling the airport on the ATV2 when a cable connection is detected isn't too hard ?????

Would cut down on heat and power consumption too I guess (although I accept thats minmal)


I'll post again with further results in the next few days.

The same problem with Phillips TV. It works better with the HDMI input on the side. With the rear HDMI inputs it's worse (every few minutes).

My last reply in this topic was about a week ago. Although I placed three support calls with Apple and submitted a feedback form to Apple. Apple has not been able to respond in any type of reasonable matter to this issue. They cannot provide a fix time. Meanwhile I am getting more and more frustrated with Apple...

This made me think....why not call Philips (as I have a recently bought Philips TV, May this year, and Apple simply does not appear to care at all) to inform them about this problem. In the mean time I have learned what customer service is all about. Philips is actually answering calls and listening. Over the past week I have had regular calls with Philips engineers. Brief summary: Philips told me that they only heard about this issue through a couple customer calls, including mine, and Apple never contacted them about this). However, Philips engineers told me they were interested to learn more about this issue. In the past couple of days I have had multiple calls running through all kind of settings, only resulting Philips engineers to conclude the issue is most likely with the Apple TV2 box. The good thing about Philips customer support is they take real interest in the issue at hand. Next week they will send one of their engineers to my home and do a thorough investigation including all kinds of measuring devices. Although we all know this will not solve the issue, and most likely only confirm, at least we learn that there is one company that actually listens to a customer phone call. Kudos to Philips

Through this response, in the over 30 page issue topic, I would like to ask Apple to take this issue serious and start showing interest in your customers. Have a look at Philips customer support...they immediately answer your call...do not put you on hold for over 30 minutes and take interest in the problem the customer is facing. Philips is calling me back, setting up meetings to learn more about an issue a customer is facing. All Apple does...is put you on hold.

My conclusion form Apple TV2 is....it is still a Steve Jobs hobby!

please post the feedback from the philips engineers who will be visiting your flat. this will be very helpful to all the philips tv owners on this thread, for which there are many. thanks.s

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chill1977,

Ok,

I don't understand how or why, but i just thought out of desperation I would try disabling my WLAN as I have tried every other suggested fix.

This is the first time I have been able to watch a movie on my ATV2.

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Strange, I have just turned off my wifi, ( lol, auto-spelling has just suggested substituting wife for wifi, that completely changes the nature of this post !).



Anyway, I have turned off the wifi, powered up the TV and apple TV and left it displaying "not connected to the network" at the main menu. Colour inversion within ten minutes.

Message was edited by: greenlotus7

Shame it didn't work for you, as I said it's not a viable fix for me either really, but it does seem to reduce the problem for me at least it makes it tolerable to watch a movie.

Still not enjoyable or hassle free as I would expect form Apple.

Just posting my results here in the faint hope that apple may read it.

Hi,

i already mentioned some weeks ago in these thread that i have the same problem with a Philips TV in Germany.

But I don't know if someone already posted the information, that ATV2 doesn't only switch to inverted screen after some time, it also switches back from inverted screen to regular screen afterwards.

I have absolutely no appreciation for the fact, that Apple doesn't event gives the information that they are working on this issue.

Hi,

I don't think the problem is related to WiFi, at least not in my case, as disconnecting from the network (or disabling internet access on my network) didn't make it occur less frequently.

I do, however, have some good news, as Apple Support in Germany gave me a 20€ rebate after complaining about the uselessness of the product at this state and gave me assurance that I could always return the product or wait for a fix.

Try and get some money back from Apple Support as well, money always talks

After my first complaint about this (early October) Apple sent me a replacement Apple TV. This had the same issue. I was hoping for a timely firmware fix but since this has not materialized I just returned my second Apple TV. I will buy a new one once it is confirmed that the issue is solved.

The most pragmatic and quickest "fix" for me was to disconnect-reconnect the HDMI cable once the issue occured. But as a 20 year Apple user I have not come across such a sloppy implementation before by this company. It is a shame, this is in principle a great product. Seems like design becomes more important than quality and communication.

I have similar problems with Apple TV 2.
I use a Philips 40PFL9704 with the original HDMI cable from Apple.