Which one is defective?

[growler]

Update 2-12-2011

TV: Panasonic TH65PZ850U
AVR: Pioneer Elite SC 05
BD player: Panasonic DMP BD80
DVR: Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8240 HDC

Completed more tests, eliminated certain H.T. components as possible caused of problem. Discovered more about triggering & temporarily fixing the problem.

Summary:

Occasionally the right 1/3 of the TV picture goes completely black! Even less frequently get entire screen of colors & some black rectangular shapes. Very time consuming to recreate problem, complicating troubleshooting. To trigger problem; change channels, open menu of saved TV shows. Fairly certain problem occurs only on 1080i HD stations & never on 720p TV stations. ch 710 is Fox 720p & 712 is NBC 1080i. I can usually trigger problem by going back & forth between these two. I can see problem on 712 & 710 is OK & back to 712 with problem etc. To temporarily fix problem I no longer need to power off anything as stated before. Merely continuing to change channels will always ‘fix’ problem. It may take 10-15 channel changes but always works. To create problem may take 5 - 25 minutes of continually changing channels. A month or 2 b4 I noticed problem, Cox changed the DVR guide software for all models of DVRs they offer. (Passport Echo version 3.1.0825) For 1.5 years everything had worked just fine.
Spent time on the phone with tech support from Cox, Panasonic, Pioneer b4 all tests completed & each denied their component was causing the problem. Problem NEVER occurs watching DVDs/BDs or watching TV shows live or previously recorded. Must change channel or go to a DVR menu to (occasionally) trigger problem.

3 HDMI cables; BD-AVR, DVR-AVR & AVR-TV. 24AWG, CL-2 rated from monoprice.com & 8-10 feet long.

Here are my pertinent troubleshooting steps followed by “P” (problem remains) or “NP” (Cannot recreate the problem)

Switch HDMI cable BD-AVR with DVR-AVR : P
Replace HDMI cable DVR-AVR with new one : P
Switch HDMI cable AVR-TV with BD-AVR : P
Switch AVR HDMI connection input BD & TV : P
Switch TV inputs HDMI-1 & HDMI-2 : P
Hooked 2nd SDTV to DVR via 75 Ohm Coax : NP
Hooked 2nd, borrowed HDTV via HDMI (instead of my TV) : P !!!
Replaced DVR SA Explorer 8300HD with NEW SA Expl. 8240 HDC: P !!!
Connect TV direct to DVR HDMI : NP !!!

I think I have proven it is not the TV or DVR or HDMI cables.
It is either the AVR despite Pioneer’s claim that the input swap exonerated it or else it is the Cox software change regardless of what DVR I use. I suspect it has to do with a error in switching from a 720p to a 1080i signal. I do not know if the AVR processes 720 & 1080 differently or merely passes on the signal to let the TV sort out the resolution & upscale. With my channel 710/712 back & forth changes I have never seen the problem with the 710 (Fox 720p) & only with the 712 (NBC 1080i) I had tried to see if the other few 720p channels were also immune from the problem but since the act of changing channels ‘fixes’ the problem I could not get good data.

Comments?

Thanks,

Steve

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