Author Topic: Splitting Audio / Video Pipes  (Read 3873 times)

jthodges

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Splitting Audio / Video Pipes
« on: April 01, 2009, 01:55:14 am »
I am having trouble properly configuring my a/v pipes, and would really appreciate any suggestions or clarifications.  Here is my setup:
http://i43.tinypic.com/2a65aj6.png

In other words, my MD has video going directly to the TV and audio going to the receiver (through the improperly labeled HDMI input - I'm assuming that doesn't make a difference?), while my DVR has audio going to the receiver and video going through the receiver to the TV.

When I choose Live TV from the DVR, the expected Input Select commands are sent:
Code: [Select]
08      03/31/09 18:50:17.103           Received Message from 10 (Media Plug-in / Living Room/Family Room) to 116 (AVR-886S / Living Room/Family Room), type 1 id 91 Command:Input Select, retry none, parameters: <0xb6d95b90>
08      03/31/09 18:50:17.103             Parameter 71(PK_Command_Input(Component 2)): 713 <0xb6d95b90>
--
08      03/31/09 18:50:17.103           Received Message from 10 (Media Plug-in / Living Room/Family Room) to 114 (PT-52LCX66 Discrete Inputs / Living Room/Family Room), type 1 id 91 Command:Input Select, retry none, parameters: <0xb6d95b90>
08      03/31/09 18:50:17.103             Parameter 71(PK_Command_Input(Component 1)): 712 <0xb6d95b90>

However, when I select a video from the MD, I get something unexpected:
Code: [Select]
08      03/31/09 18:44:36.480           Received Message from 10 (Media Plug-in / Living Room/Family Room) to 116 (AVR-886S / Living Room/Family Room), type 1 id 91 Command:Input Select, retry none, parameters: <0xb6d95b90>
08      03/31/09 18:44:36.480             Parameter 71(PK_Command_Input(HDMI)): 361 <0xb6d95b90>
--
08      03/31/09 18:44:36.481           Received Message from 10 (Media Plug-in / Living Room/Family Room) to 114 (PT-52LCX66 Discrete Inputs / Living Room/Family Room), type 1 id 91 Command:Input Select, retry none, parameters: <0xb6d95b90>
08      03/31/09 18:44:36.481             Parameter 71(PK_Command_Input(HDMI)): 361 <0xb6d95b90>
--
08      03/31/09 18:44:36.481           Received Message from 10 (Media Plug-in / Living Room/Family Room) to 114 (PT-52LCX66 Discrete Inputs / Living Room/Family Room), type 1 id 91 Command:Input Select, retry none, parameters: <0xb6d95b90>
08      03/31/09 18:44:36.481             Parameter 71(PK_Command_Input(Component 1)): 712 <0xb6d95b90>

There is an extra command going to the TV, tuning it to the receiver's input.  If I delete the video pipe from receiver to TV, the issue is resolved, so I have to assume that sending the audio to the receiver is for some reason activating that output video pipe.  Am I doing something wrong here?  Any help is very appreciated!

krys

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Re: Splitting Audio / Video Pipes
« Reply #1 on: April 01, 2009, 04:12:46 pm »
I have mine set up almost the same way.

Live TV- Plays my STB
Audio/ Video goes from STB directly into TV via HDMI

LMCE-
Audio goes from MD into reciever via optical out
Video goes from MD to TV via VGA

For the live TV scenario, under web admin> AV device there is a video and audio pipe set up for my DCT6412 (STB). The audio and video pipes are set to my TV on the HDMI input.

For the LMCE functions under web admin > AV device there is a video pipe set to my TV on its PC input, and an audio pipe set up to my reciever on its video 2 input.

So the result is, when I turn my TV on with the media button, it powers on and switches to PC input and the reciever powers on to video 2 input. When I click the live TV scenario, my TV switches to HMDI input which gets its audio/video signal from the STB (during live TV scenario my reciever is not used).

Hope this helps.
-Krys

jthodges

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Re: Splitting Audio / Video Pipes
« Reply #2 on: April 01, 2009, 10:09:04 pm »
Thanks for the response.  I agree, they are similar configurations.  If I understand yours correctly, this is what your configuration would look like with my setup:
http://i39.tinypic.com/zwgkro.png

The key difference here is that there is not a video pipe from the receiver to the TV.  And in fact, I can approximate that as a workaround with my setup:
http://i44.tinypic.com/10x4njt.png

This fixes the problem with the extra Input Select command.  The reason I'm not using this workaround is I have an xbox with audio and video going through the receiver just like the DVR, which I would like to add next.  That will require the video pipes going through the receiver properly, so I can get LMCE to properly switch inputs on both the TV and receiver.

I don't want to mess up your setup, but if you would like to test it I'd be curious if you get the same behavior as me if you temporarily route the DVR video pipe through your receiver (rather than directly to the TV).  I'm guessing that with that setup you will see an extra Input Select command for the TV when selecting a video from the MD.

What I really want to know though, is whether this is the expected behavior of the a/v pipes and I am just misunderstanding how they are being used, or is this a bug?  In the meantime, I'm going to dig into the media plugin and try to understand the logic that is sending these commands. 

phenigma

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Re: Splitting Audio / Video Pipes
« Reply #3 on: April 01, 2009, 11:50:39 pm »
I'm not extremely familiar with this yet but it sounds like LMCE thinks that the 'HDMI' input on the amplifier is a Video based input and therefor sets the input on the TV to allow that video device to display through the amplifier.  Have you tried connecting the audio from the MD to an audio only input on the receiver.  If I'm following this logically then that may prevent LMCE from setting the TV input to the receiver when you select your MD. 

jthodges

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Re: Splitting Audio / Video Pipes
« Reply #4 on: April 02, 2009, 12:27:12 am »
I updated my device template, removing the HDMI input and adding an Optical input with the same IR code.  Reloaded and retested, but same behavior:

Code: [Select]
08      04/01/09 18:21:58.837           Received Message from 10 (Media Plug-in / Living Room/Family Room) to 116 (AVR-886S / Living Room/Family Room), type 1 id 91 Command:Input Select, retry none, parameters: <0xb6e69b90>
08      04/01/09 18:21:58.837             Parameter 71(PK_Command_Input(Optical)): 932 <0xb6e69b90>
--
08      04/01/09 18:21:58.837           Received Message from 10 (Media Plug-in / Living Room/Family Room) to 114 (PT-52LCX66 Discrete Inputs / Living Room/Family Room), type 1 id 91 Command:Input Select, retry none, parameters: <0xb6e69b90>
08      04/01/09 18:21:58.837             Parameter 71(PK_Command_Input(HDMI)): 361 <0xb6e69b90>
--
08      04/01/09 18:21:58.837           Received Message from 10 (Media Plug-in / Living Room/Family Room) to 114 (PT-52LCX66 Discrete Inputs / Living Room/Family Room), type 1 id 91 Command:Input Select, retry none, parameters: <0xb6e69b90>
08      04/01/09 18:21:58.853             Parameter 71(PK_Command_Input(Component 1)): 712 <0xb6e69b90>

Good point, though.  I was assuming that "HDMI" was just a label and didn't have any videoness attached to it, but this is something I should have tested out before I got to this point.

Any other ideas?  Anybody know if this is just a bug?