Today, I connected my DirecTV receiver to my new Sony Bravia TV. The TV has four HDMI inputs; one is labeled HDMI ARC, one is labeled HDMI MHL, and the other two are labeled just HDMI. The HDMI MHL jack is located on the side of the TV and the other three are located on the back, so I took the easy route and plugged into the HDMI MHL jack. I got a picture and sound, but both blink off for a fraction of a second every few seconds. I tried moving the HDMI cable to the others; one does the same thing as the HDMI MHL, another just blinks on occasionally and is mostly snow, and the last, the HDMI ARC, seems to work okay.

My questions are:

Shouldn't the HDMI output from the DirecTV box work the same no matter which HDMI input on the TV I use?
Do my symptoms indicate a problem with the TV? I only have another week to return it to Best Buy.
The HDMI cable is plain jane; do the fancy ones work any better?
What else should I try?

Thanks.

 

AFAIK, the HDMI ports should all be the same. Generic cables are just fine, provided that they are properly constructed. What does your manual say about the different HDMI ports? The chip that runs the HDMI ports is a common part that goes bad -expecially for Vizio. Isn't Vizio a child of Sony (or is it RCA)?

I think that I would cart it back to BB and have them worry about it.

 

The ARC connections have a audio link that can direct the audio output from your TV back over the HDMI cable to any sound system that's connected.
The MHL is a Mobile High-Definition Link that allows a smart-phone or other similar source to connect to the TV.
But I see nHo particular reason that your DirecTV signal through the HDMI cable should not work properly on all four inputs.
It sounds like there might be some sort of HDMI handshake problem.
You might try a different (doesn't have to be better) HDMI cable to see if that makes a difference.
If not, then you may have a TV problem.

 

Along the lines of what crutschow said, have you gone into the HDMI setup menu. I am sure Sony has a good tech help line also.

Also, inexpensive HDMI cables are as good the super wazoo HDMI cables.