TiVo : HDMI and flashing screen issue?!

[McToons]

Hi, hoping this section is ok for asking for advice/views/help on my little issue.

I very recently had Virgin TV installed with a nice new TIVO box, but very quickly noticed a bit of an issue. Every now and then (sometimes very frequently) my TV starts to flash black and blue (the same blue type screen that means there's no input on that channel). It can vary in flashing a couple of times before restoring itself or continually flashing for 5mins, this gets very irritating at times as you can imagine. Occasionally during this my TV will also give me a message that is clearly from the TIVO box and not from my TV itself saying that HDMI connection is not available. And twice since having the TIVO during this flashing its actually rebooted itself too!

I've tried different HDMI cables as well as a different HDMI input on the TV, still the same result. My other HDMI devices (Xbox360 and Blu ray) do not exhibit any issues when using the same inputs or cables, just the TIVO box. It's not limited to any particular channel type and happens be it SD or HD. I can't recall if it occurs during recorded playback though.

I have contacted Virgin regarding this and was told I had a weak signal, they sent a technician round who informed me that I in fact had a very strong signal after testing it and proceeded to give me a new TIVO box. But still even with the replacement I'm having the same issue.

I should point out that my TV is a Toshiba so I wouldn't have thought it was a TV or compatibility issue.

Does anyone have any ideas what can be causing this? Able to give me any pointers or have any thoughts at all before I go back to Virgin and ask them to get it sorted out? It's getting very very annoying when it occurs now.

I have resorted to scart a couple of times during this annoying issue when it's a program I've really not wanted to miss (but really what's the point of having the HD if I'm forced to use scart?) or just switched over to my Sky box (but that subscription is ending soon so won't be possible for much longer).

Thanks in advance....

[essjay]

I have seen this fault before, it was a faulty HDMI lead.

[McToons]

Originally Posted by essjay

I have seen this fault before, it was a faulty HDMI lead.

Really? That's pretty interesting considering I've used two different leads with the same result (done to eliminate a faulty HDMI lead issue), seems I've been really unlucky if that's the case. I've got a third somewhat shorter lead kicking around, I'll move the STB and try this other lead for the evening and see what happens.

Thanks for the reply, really hope it is as simple as that....

[mikes12345]

I have a HDMI splitter which splits my signal between my living room and my kitchen. I find that if I have the TV on the living room and then turn the TV on in the kitchen then the living room TV behaves like you mention. The fix for me is to toggle the kitchen TV over to the HDMI input. I think this send a HDCP message to say all is OK and the box then works correctly - both TVs can watch the TIVO - or watch freeview. Not sure how this might help - but it is possible it is a TV issue.

I should add that this was exactly the same with the V+ box before I had TIVO installed.
If you have no luck with the new HDMI cable it might be worth you if possible trying a different TV.

Hope this is useful.