Hd-a1 not working

[jason1213]

hello i tried to get the firm update i used my cable modem i went to update firm and i clicked check update the screen went black i did not have a movie in player i dont know if i had a conection all i know is i turned unit off when i put movie in player there is no picture my player worked fine before i tried to update it i did read the book it says if u try to update if u have the right firm it will not update when i did it my screen went blank i turned unit off it says in book if u turn unit off when u are updateing firm it will mess with player is that what happened to my player what can i do i have had player for 3 weeks when u are updateing player what does it say on screen

 

[Ilya]

During the update there's an on-screen message, something like "Do not turn off your player during the update".
On the player itself there's a progress indicator showing percentage.
The entire update process may take up to an hour.
Check your video connections and call Toshiba technical support.

 

[gizzer777]

Updating firmware

During the update there's an on-screen message, something like "Do not turn off your player during the update".
On the player itself there's a progress indicator showing percentage.
The entire update process may take up to an hour.
Check your video connections and call Toshiba technical support.

Most computer people know that updating firmware can be a risky business...I always use a UPS and NEVER use anything that updates from the NET...HORROR awaits...been at PC's since 76 and luckily have only had 3 bios flash failures...simply did not take and they went brain dead!

I have a Nuvi GPS and there are reports that using the NET UPDATE firmware can wipeouit your bios! Lucl=kily the also have a downloadable exe file as well.

Advice: even though flash chips can usually be reflashed at least 1000 times...avoid incremental upgrades and reflash only when new features THAT YOU NEED..are in the flash! The new sound formats are currently useless since you cannot decode them properlyt yet! Why bother?

 

[Ilya]

The new sound formats are currently useless since you cannot decode them properlyt yet! Why bother?

You can't be more wrong! Read the 2.0 update thread above. Toshiba players have built-in decoders. And this update enables the 5.1 Dolby TrueHD decoding capability!

 

[gizzer777]

Once again...

You can't be more wrong! Read the 2.0 update thread above. Toshiba players have built-in decoders. And this update enables the 5.1 Dolby TrueHD decoding capability!

Once again...I bow to your knowledge...I will still wait until receivers have the capability and things settle down.

Have you ever heard the diffference between the 5.1 decoders in a DVD PLAYER (Cheap components and processing)vs the decoders in a GOOD processing receiver? My Elite actually has the Analog inputs so it would probably work....

Again...when I am wrong I am wrong!

 

[jason1213]

well i got the 2.o update from the net burned it to a cd i tried the s-video input it worked i got the update when i tried my dvi to hdmi it did not work screen was black i also tried red green blue monster cable it worked i tried my dvi to hdmi cable on my dtv tivo box it worked the cable is a cheap cable why wont my player work with the dvi to hdmi cable anymore i even unpluged tv and dvd player to reset still does not work

 

[Ilya]

Have you ever heard the diffference between the 5.1 decoders in a DVD PLAYER (Cheap components and processing)vs the decoders in a GOOD processing receiver?

It's not the decoders, it's the DACs (Digital to Analog Converters) that make the biggest difference in sound quality.
Of course, expensive AV receivers may have higher quality DACs and pre-amps.
Decoders, on the other hand, are not supposed to make much difference. Dolby TrueHD is a lossless codec and all Dolby TrueHD decoders are supposed to produce exactly the same LPCM as an output. Toshiba players can decode 5.1-channel TrueHD and output it as multi-LPCM over HDMI. On the other hand, these players cannot output unprocessed TrueHD as a bitstream, so even if there was an AV receiver capable of decoding TrueHD in existance, it would not do you any good.

We just went through a 3-page disccussion about this in the following thread. Please check it out: HDMI 1.1 & 1.3--which one?

 

[Ilya]

well i got the 2.o update from the net burned it to a cd i tried the s-video input it worked i got the update when i tried my dvi to hdmi it did not work screen was black i also tried red green blue monster cable it worked i tried my dvi to hdmi cable on my dtv tivo box it worked the cable is a cheap cable why wont my player work with the dvi to hdmi cable anymore i even unpluged tv and dvd player to reset still does not work

Make sure to enable HDMI output with the V.OUTPUT button.
I am using an HDMI-to-DVI cable and it works without any problems.

Hey, it's really difficult to read your posts when you are not using any punctuation!

 

[jason1213]

Thank u. I tried the video output button on the remote and now it works just fine. What movies will work in true hd 5.1 sound?

 

[Ilya]

Thank u. I tried the video output button on the remote and now it works just fine. What movies will work in true hd 5.1 sound?

Glad it worked. Your must have reset your player to factory defaults and HDMI is disabled by default.

I believe it's currently Phantom of the Opera, Training Day, Constantine and The Perfect Storm. More titles with TrueHD coming soon: End of Days, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Fast & The Furious, 2 Fast 2 Furious, 12 Monkeys, The Interpreter, Out of Sight, The Thing, Harry Potter and more.

See here for details on what you need to do to take advantage of Dolby TrueHD.

 

[jason1213]

Thanks Again What Movie ? Should I Buy Training Day, Constantine The Perfect Storm.

 

[Ilya]

So far, I have only tried The Phantom. I did notice a difference, though on my equipment, the difference was not as striking as the difference between Dolby Digital Plus and DTS. (DD+ sounds great too!)
I want to try other TrueHD titles. The Phantom may not be a good example as the audio level is set too low on this disc.

 

[jason1213]

Well I Bought Constantin At Bestbuy. I Just Got Done Wathing It. The Sound And Picture Are Awsome. Ilya If U Want U Can Borrow Movie.

 

[gizzer777]

Not this time...

It's not the decoders, it's the DACs (Digital to Analog Converters) that make the biggest difference in sound quality.
Of course, expensive AV receivers may have higher quality DACs and pre-amps.
Decoders, on the other hand, are not supposed to make much difference. Dolby TrueHD is a lossless codec and all Dolby TrueHD decoders are supposed to produce exactly the same LPCM as an output. Toshiba players can decode 5.1-channel TrueHD and output it as multi-LPCM over HDMI. On the other hand, these players cannot output unprocessed TrueHD as a bitstream, so even if there was an AV receiver capable of decoding TrueHD in existance, it would not do you any good.

We just went through a 3-page disccussion about this in the following thread. Please check it out: HDMI 1.1 & 1.3--which one?

Cannot agree this time...we tried a side by side test with a friends panasonic DVD with a built in DD 5.1 decoder next to my Elite 59i...BIG difference and thru the same DAC (where you are correct)in my Elite 7200tx

You are correct in that DAC's make ALOT of difference!

 

[Ilya]

we tried a side by side test with a friends panasonic DVD with a built in DD 5.1 decoder

What kind of connections did you use between the Panasonic DVD player and your Pioneer Elite 72TX?

 

[gizzer777]

we tried both digital + Analog (to be fair)

What kind of connections did you use between the Panasonic DVD player and your Pioneer Elite 72TX?

Hi Ilya...

We tried the (Monster..Bleh) Optical (with the new style connectors that twist to prevent jitter) and Audioquest coax...and also...analog, using el cheapo rca cables (to really check the Panasonic)....results were equal w/ all connections. The Pioneer Elite decoder blew the Panasonic away , especially in it's ability to separate (completely) the different channels....again, both players were hooked up to the same Pioneer 72tx Elite. For my own listening...I use the Coax daily.

I believe the DACS in My Pioneer Elite are Burr/Brown, but Honestly do not remember.

I think I have learned a lot from you and the rest here and have added valuable knowledge to my own experiences! Listening can be very subjective, and as I am getting older, HF sounds are not what they were used to be! I can still hear subtle differences though!...but then and again...I am on the lookout for them and am not a casual listener.

ie: never really went for the THX "sound" However THX2 DSP seems to be much better and I am able to mix that DSP w/ DD5.1 and DTS (my favorite of the 2) and the results are excellent indeed.
Regards
jeff

 

[Ilya]

We tried the (Monster..Bleh) Optical and Audioquest coax...and also...analog, using el cheapo rca cables

Well, none of these connections are capable of passing uncompressed multi-channel digital sound, so you didn't really have a chance to do a clean comparison of one decoder to another. And that's the point I am trying to make.

You compared two DVD players and found that one sounds better than the other. That's no surprise. There are a lot of things that can affect sound quality (including the quality of chassis, for example ) But you can't really conclude that one decoder is better than another from your experiment. When you used digital connections (optical or coax) you completely bypassed the decoder - these connections are not capable of passing multi-channel PCM, so most likely you were passing unprocessed Dolby Digital or DTS. The player was not doing the decoding. The only case when you did take advantage of the built-in decoder, was the case when you used analog outputs. But in that case you also used built-in DACs and el cheapo cables, so again, you can't make any conclusions about the quality of the decoder.

And by the way, I am not saying that the quality of the decoder in that Panasonic is the same as in your Pioneer. I am just saying that you don't have an easy way of comparing them (unless you are sending uncompressed multi-LPCM over HDMI), and you can't automatically assume that one decoder is better than the other.

 

[gizzer777]

ok

Ok...Yes I was aware or the PCM/Digital situation with the optical and Coax...Figured cheapo RCA analog on each player would give me enough info...guess not.. Whatever it is...I still like my setup!!

Cables have always been an enegma to me...digitally you would think they do not matter since you are passing 0's and 1's...I still use decent connectivity cabels though...NOW SPREAKER CABLES...different story IMHO!

Thanks again
jeff

Well, none of these connections are capable of passing uncompressed multi-channel digital sound, so you didn't really have a chance to do a clean comparison of one decoder to another. And that's the point I am trying to make.

You compared two DVD players and found that one sounds better than the other. That's no surprise. There are a lot of things that can affect sound quality (including the quality of chassis, for example ) But you can't really conclude that one decoder is better than another from your experiment. When you used digital connections (optical or coax) you completely bypassed the decoder - these connections are not capable of passing multi-channel PCM, so most likely you were passing unprocessed Dolby Digital or DTS. The player was not doing the decoding. The only case when you did take advantage of the built-in decoder, was the case when you used analog outputs. But in that case you also used built-in DACs and el cheapo cables, so again, you can't make any conclusions about the quality of the decoder.

And by the way, I am not saying that the quality of the decoder in that Panasonic is the same as in your Pioneer. I am just saying that you don't have an easy way of comparing them (unless you are sending uncompressed multi-LPCM over HDMI), and you can't automatically assume that one decoder is better than the other.