Is your Live / Plus / Hub picking the wrong resolution in AUTO? [ Edited ]

[TonyPh12345]

If your Live / Live + / Hub is picking the wrong resolution when set to AUTO, try the below.

Note, I'm not talking about the issues where you pick one resolution, and some time later the Live changes itself (but the reason is still the same.)

For example, my brand new LG 55LX6500 3DTV is always set to 720p by the Live, Live+, and Live Hub.  I was certain this was a flaw in WDTV's firmware.

But it's not.

If you have a WDTV Live HUB, go to the end of the message for a way to do this WITHOUT a computer hooked up to an HDMI port.

If you have access to a Windows PC that has an HDMI or DVI connection, connect it to your TV.

Go download and install this program:

http://www.entechtaiwan.com/util/moninfo.shtm

It will tell you what the TV is telling the WDTV to do.

Here's what that program reports from my LG TV:

CE video identifiers (VICs) - timing/formats supported
    1920 x 1080p at  60Hz - HDTV (16:9, 1:1)
    1920 x 1080p at  30Hz - HDTV (16:9, 1:1)
    1920 x 1080p at  24Hz - HDTV (16:9, 1:1)
    1920 x 1080i at  60Hz - HDTV (16:9, 1:1)
    1280 x  720p at  60Hz - HDTV (16:9, 1:1) [Native]
     720 x  480p at  60Hz - EDTV (16:9, 32:27)
     720 x  480p at  60Hz - EDTV (4:3, 8:9)
    NB: NTSC refresh rate = (Hz*1000)/1001

Note the line that says NATIVE next to it.    The LG is telling the WDTV that its "Native" panel resolution is only 1280x720.    That's wrong.  It's 1920x1080.  

The "Native Resolution" of a panel is the physical resolution of the LCD in terms of pixels.   It has nothing to do with the actual VIDEO FORMAT.    So, a 720p TV can still receive a 1080p signal, but the TV would have to Down-scale the video to display it on a 720 panel.

Similarly, if the panel Native Resolution is 1080p, and the device is only sending 720p, then the TV has to UPSCALE it.

If the WDTV is sending at the NATIVE resolution; the TV has no need to upscale or downscale; that's all handled by the WDTV which is doing it anyway.

So, if everything matches, you're going to have less picture distortion.

But in this example case, the Native resolution is WRONG.   It SHOULD be reported as 1920x1080.

So, give it a try.   It'd be helpful to post results if you're bitten by this issue so that people searching might find your model # and see what's going on.

***** For WDTV Live HUB users, there's an undocumented procedure to produce this data. *****

I learned this from a WD engineer trying to fix why MY LG was not working correctly.   I just cleared it with WD to post it here.

Insert a supported USB Thumb Drive in the front USB slot.   It's better if you do NOT have one in the back; that way there will not be any guesswork where the file is going to go.

Navigate to the ABOUT MOCHI screen in the Setup menu.

When on the screen, press the following key sequence on your remote.

DOWN - DOWN - DOWN - DOWN - RIGHT - DOWN - DOWN

Count to 5, then leave the menu, and eject the USB drive.

Take it to your computer.   You should find a new file on the root directory called

save-edid.bin

You can open that file in the program mentioned above to get the data.

[cew0719]

I don't have the ability to get the info from my television, but the WDTV Live Plus does not auto negotiate correctly with it. When I first connected it, there was no image at all on the HDMI, I had to connect a composite cable in order to get to any config screens.  Once the firmware updated twice, it would default to 720p/50Hz every time it powers on, I had to reset it to 1080p/60Hz.

I have never had any problem connecting any other device to this TV, and I have connected many things to one of the 3 HDMI ports it has, all have worked perfectly without a hitch.  Until this WDTV.  Hopefully, the new one I will get won't be as problematic.

[gguerra]

Yes as many are noticing this resolution thing with the WDTV live and live plus I just want to comment, that this WAS NOT a problem with the wdtv gen 1 which I still have. I will verify again today that the gen 1 does set the resolution automaticallly to fit the video being played.

[RoofingGuy]

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gguerra wrote:

Yes as many are noticing this resolution thing with the WDTV live and live plus I just want to comment, that this WAS NOT a problem with the wdtv gen 1 which I still have. I will verify again today that the gen 1 does set the resolution automaticallly to fit the video being played.

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What happens when you play a file with a variable picture size or a variable frame rate?  What resolution and rate does it choose? And what happens mid-stream when it changes?

Of course the other question I have is... if the Gen1 already does it, then why was everyone asking B-Rad for the autores plugin to get ported back to the Gen1?  The reason b-Rad gave, was that there wasn't a compatible Gen1 version of ffmpeg.  If the box already does it, why would people have asked B-Rad to add it and why would he have worried that he couldn't add it?

[gguerra]

Well I recently got a new TV (an LG) and to tell you the truth I haven't fully tested the "Auto" resolution with the gen 1 on the new TV. My older TV is a Sony and if I'm not mistaken the gen 1 worked correctly with the older TV. Again I am at work and will try the gen 1 on my new tv (The LG) to see what happens. I am very curious now. Will get back to you

[TonyPh12345]

Guys, this has nothing to do with the original topic.

This is WRT to the LIVE / + / HUB ONLY, and then only if you can provide EDID DATA for future searchers to find.

[Cocovanna]

Thanks a lot Tony ... you have solved my problem (not that it helps you ;-) )

My Panasonic G20 50" reports the following:

CE video identifiers (VICs) - timing/formats supported
    1920 x 1080p at  50Hz - HDTV (16:9, 1:1) [Native]
    1920 x 1080p at  60Hz - HDTV (16:9, 1:1) [Native]
    1920 x 1080i at  50Hz - HDTV (16:9, 1:1)
    1920 x 1080i at  60Hz - HDTV (16:9, 1:1)
    1920 x 1080p at  24Hz - HDTV (16:9, 1:1)
    1280 x  720p at  50Hz - HDTV (16:9, 1:1)
    1280 x  720p at  60Hz - HDTV (16:9, 1:1)
     720 x  576p at  50Hz - EDTV (16:9, 64:45)
     720 x  480p at  60Hz - EDTV (16:9, 32:27)
     720 x  576p at  50Hz - EDTV (4:3, 16:15)
     720 x  480p at  60Hz - EDTV (4:3, 8:9)
     720 x  576i at  50Hz - Doublescan (16:9, 64:45)
     720 x  480i at  60Hz - Doublescan (16:9, 32:27)
     720 x  576i at  50Hz - Doublescan (4:3, 16:15)
     720 x  480i at  60Hz - Doublescan (4:3, 8:9)
     640 x  480p at  60Hz - Default (4:3, 1:1)
    NB: NTSC refresh rate = (Hz*1000)/1001

- but nevertheless defaults to 720x50p after powercycling. What?

Well, I have never user the Auto setting (due to the reported problems) but tried it now, and Heureka, it chooses 1080px50 after power cycling! Great! That indicates, that the "default" setting chosen after powercycling (if not set to Auto) is always set (safely?) to 720x50. Definitely a bug, but unrelated to this topic.

I haven't confirmed yet, that Auto works when turning on the Live when TV is off, I'll update this post when i know (my TV does not power completely down before after half an hour or so).

Edit: It works flawlessly, chooses 1080px50 every time. I will keep the Auto setting for now.

Cocovanna

[vice86]

i've been noticing that it seems my WD TV Live is changing resolutions on its own. I have it set to 1080p (60hz) and sometimes it ends up on 720p (60hz). HOw the heck did it change itself??

[RonDouglas]

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vice86 wrote:

i've been noticing that it seems my WD TV Live is changing resolutions on its own. I have it set to 1080p (60hz) and sometimes it ends up on 720p (60hz). HOw the heck did it change itself??

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When I switch on or boot the WD TV Live, it always starts with 720p. But soon after, when the menus appear, it switches back to 1080p, as it should do.

Maybe many people only see the first resolution and don't realize that it corrects this a few seconds later?

I have a Sony Bravia and must admit, I never had any HDMI problems.

[Scandy]

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vice86 wrote:

i've been noticing that it seems my WD TV Live is changing resolutions on its own. I have it set to 1080p (60hz) and sometimes it ends up on 720p (60hz). HOw the heck did it change itself??

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My WD box has been doing that ever since I bought it (four months ago). Even though I have set it at 1080i, about 50% of the time it comes up set at 720p (which my TV does not support). It has acted this way with every firmware that I have tried (1.03.39, 1.03.43, 1.03.49, and 1.04.10).

For some reason, the WD box does NOT remember the video/resolution or colorspace values once it is powered off/on...so no matter how many times you set it manually, if hdmi auto negotiation doesn't work, you are out of luck. This same problem has been reported numerous times in this forum.