HDMI issues

onekeano

I have a Panasonic TV which is about 9 years old now and has always worked fine.:eek:

I currently have the following attached to it:
+ Horizon UPC box
+ Hard disks for movie archive
+ DVD player and....
+ Mag 254 for streaming

Because there are only 2 HDMI ports on the TV I have been using a splitter to accommodate all 4. Up to yesterday all was fine until I unplugged the Mag 254 and after that none of the HDMI cables worked. Even to get UPC back onto the TV I had to use a scart cable to get regular TV.:(

I'm wondering is it possible that the HMDI ports at the back of the TV would blow (might sound ridiculous but I'm racking my brains here). I've tried changing the HDMI cables (3 in all) from one box to the other but no joy.

Any advice would be very much appreciated,

Roy

andy1249

HDMI is supposed to be like USB in that you are spposed to be able to hotplug.
Hotplugging is where you plug or unplug leads in without turning everything off first.

Just like USB, hotplugging can cause problems and can actually destroy devices.
Unlike USB, there is no " safely remove" feature, and hotplugging can and does fry all the HDMI ports on a regular basis.

Some devices have protection whereby all the HDMI portswill go into a safety mode.
Turn off the TV , completely offnot standby, unplug itfrom the mains, leave it for about 30 minutes , then power up again.
If that doesnt work, then the HDMI inputs are fried from hotplugging, new TV time!

Dont hotplug with the new one.

onekeano

Ouch Andy! This really does sounds like bad news - crap start to 2017!

Never heard of hotplugging before and of course I had been moving HDMis around without turning the TV over for a few years :eek:

Is there anyway that the damage can be repaired? Seems crazy to just bin a TV that's working well (albeit via scart) because of a HDMI port or is that just viable?

Roy

andy1249

Cost of repair depends upon whether the HDMI ports are on a separate circuit board or not.
If they are on a separate board then its just a matter of replacing the part, but at 9 years old that part is going to be very hard to find.

If, and this is most common, the ports are on one big board then the cost of repair will be more than a new TV.

onekeano

Thanks Andy...... not good I'm afraid so off to do my research on a new TV.

Budget is not unlimited so need to compromise on all the mind boggling options :eek:

I'm thinking maybe 49", possibly 55".

- LG / Panasonic / Samsung / Sony - any particular recommendations?
- Is 4k a big deal vs 1080p?
- LED I presume is good?
- Curved vs Flat? What really is the difference or is it just fad?
- Is Wifi Standard these days?

Anything else to pay a lot of attention to? Obviously I'll be looking for at least 3 x HDMI ports so I wont be hotplugging again

Hoping to spend between €500-700........

Thanks for the advice so far

onekeano

actually thinking of this one http://www.did.ie/lg-49-4k-smart-led-tv-49uh661v-prd

any negatives I should be aware of before making the purchase?

Roy

mossym

yes it has 3 hdmi's. so do yourself a favour, buy a proper hdmi switch, a powered one with proper switching, if you are going to hook up all 4 devices you listed, and don't hot plug anymore