Weird TV annoyance
 

As our old workhouse of a TV died after 10 years service last year we got a replacement. The replacement had a weird quirk that brought up the information bar momentarily every time you changed from an SD channel to an HD one and vice versa, and also when the ad breaks came up.

Eventually I deduced that the TV was bringing up the information bar because it was detecting a change in the source audio e.g.from Stereo to Dolby.

(The TV also brings up the information bar momentarily when the resolution changes but that only happens when playing games console but this isn't relevant in context of Tivo)

I eventually got around this annoyance by switching sound on original VM Tivo from Dolby to Dolby to PCM.

Now I have just got a new V6. And the problem has returned.
The weird thing is that the first day it didn't seem to be there. I hadn't changed it to Dolby to PCM as it seemed it wasn't doing it. But I awoke the box the next day and it appeared.

So I tried my solution from original Tivo...and it doesn't work, the information bar still comes up for a moment. And this time it is evwn more annoying as it comes up when you change channel every time, not just when changing from SD to HD!

Now I know this is a quirk of the TV itself, but this particular model/range doesn't allow the information bar to be switched off entirely, there are no settings that address the information bar at all.

Any ideas? Anyone else had this annoying occurance.

The reason this is so annoying is the information bar is large, black and only a little translucent and it stays on screen for approx 5 seconds. When you are fast forwarding and press play after adverts it remains blocking show.

Re: Weird TV annoyance
 

What model of TV do you have?

Re: Weird TV annoyance
 

Sony WD751.

Re: Weird TV annoyance
 

I am afraid there is no cure. I had this problem myself and as you say it is a quirk with some newer range Sony televisions. i am assuming it says HDMI 1 or something like that. In the end I had to change my television which was a shame as apart from that the Sony was a great tv but it just really bugged me.

From a previous discussion on another forum a helpful poster stated to me

It's caused when the connected device mutes and brings back to the audio stream, or makes some kind of HDCP check. The TV is just displaying the information banner as if it has been put back on the input (which it has in a way). It's not a fault and quite useful really.
As far as I remember, older (2014) Sonys had the option where you could change the info banner style to a reduced type one that just showed HDMI name.
Either way, I don't find it an issue, and it's quite normal for TVs.
If it bothers (it's only on screen for 5 seconds), you can just press BACK on the Sony r/c to clear it.
Maybe changing HDMI audio to PCM on the source device stops it from reloading the audio stream in a trick function, I can't recall Credit MarcoPoloHouse

In my case it did bother me but the changing to pcm trick no longer works as you know. I spoke to Sony about it, they say it is not a fault.

Re: Weird TV annoyance
 

The odd thing is it isn't all of them. My 10 yr old TV was Sony and it didn't do anything whatsoever like that when changing channels or at ad breaks. And according to things I've read some of their other models that are based on different platforms e.g. their Android TVs you can switch information bar off entirely in the settings.

I just wish the PCM Tivo audio setting had the same effect on the V6 as the original VM Tivo as I was perfectly OK with that, I couldn't tell the difference sound wise.

Re: Weird TV annoyance
 

Make sure you only have one format selected in the V6 Video Output Formats setting screen. The TV may be resetting when the V6 switches resolution.

Re: Weird TV annoyance
 

Just saw your edit.

Based on that I have a thought. Given that packaging claims on certain HDMI cables claim compatibility with newer HDMI standards maybe I should try a few different cables.

As it happens I actually used the cable from my old Tivo rather than the one in the box Virgin Media sent. I might as well try it. :)

---------- Post added at 19:26 ---------- Previous post was at 19:15 ----------

I didn't know you can do more than one, I thought you picked one and the Tivo hardware scaled it. The box picked one when it set itself up.

Currently set to 1080p. No other boxes ticked.

That other one, 1080p with the fps, in what scenario would that option be used?

Re: Weird TV annoyance
 

It allows the V6 to pass-through the same frame rate as used in the source instead of converting it to a fixed rate. It's mainly useful with Netflix and recent TVs. Its unlikely to help you, but there's no harm in trying.

Re: Weird TV annoyance
 

The Specification page for the TV says
1080p(30,50,60Hz), 1080/24p
So it's worth a shot. Ta.

Re: Weird TV annoyance
 

Well I tried the HDMI cable that came with the V6. No difference.
And I tried the Video Output settings spiderplant mentioned. No difference.

On the upside I was combing the TV's oen settings so thoroughly I found that Screen Format set to Full wasn't doing all I thought it should and I found Full Pixel hidden where I didn't expect it. So I wasn't imagining it was overscanning, which was another irritation, and have now got the picture displaying correctly (though I mainly only noticed it on the Tivo interface, as it looked more clipped than in VM's promo pics).

So one thing fixed I didn't set out to fix, and another I'm just going to have to live with, because otherwise the TV is great.

Thanks everyone.

Re: Weird TV annoyance
 

Bizarrely I've found a fix, of sorts.

I recalled how the text on the Sound Effects menu mentions it may be affected by Dolby Digital setting. So I thought maybe switching the sound effects ON might suppress the change that is triggering the information banner.

So I changed the Sound Effects from Off to Low and hey presto, it worked. Or it worked for one night. So I decided to try it in combination with my trick that worked on the previous Tivo and I changed it from Dolby Digital to Dolby to PCM.

And it's still working 3 days later. The bloops are a tad annoying (and I'd hate to try them set at a higher volume, Low is loud) but them versus the banner and I'll take the sound effects. The sounds take a fraction of a second whereas the banner takes maybe 5 seconds to disappear.