4K playback issue with LG TV[Resolved N2 Hardware Failure]

N2 connected directly to tv, HDMI is 3m/10ft long.
The harsh sound comes from the tv speakers it seems, though they are not even set to play sound (audio is set to go through my old analog receiver).

Do you have a HDMI 2.0 cable which is shorter than 1m/3ft to test? The length could be problematic, however, given the Club3D 3m/10ft cable is certified, it should be okay I guess… At least return the Club3D cable and look for another option like the monoprice. Is it possible to move the N2 closer to your TV so you don’t have to use a 3m/10ft cable?

I ordered monoprice cables from amazon but it would take a couple of weeks to arrive. They are 3m too though.
The shop only has 1m or 3m Club3D cables, 1m is too short :s I guess for testing purposes I can get one of those.

White sparks = failing HDMI connection

That suggests a hardware issue - either your HDMI cables are not capable of carrying the bandwidth of video that is being sent, or are too long, or aren’t fully connected - it’s amazing how a cable not fully pushed into a socket can be ‘marginal’.

It is remotely possible that there is a hardware fault - but it’s not the most obvious first cause.

I disconnected and reconnected the cable so many times by now that not fully connected doesn’t seem possible. Length: I thought 3m isn’t that long but I’d try replacing it to a 1m one and try, it is a bit too short though but worth trying I guess. Maybe the monoprice ones will be a revelation but need to wait on those.

The whole thing about HDMI cables is a weird one as all of my cables are ancient, at least 10 years old and I have no issues playing anything it seems.

Yep - no reason why a 10 year old cable won’t work at 2160p60 4:2:2 12-bit if electrically it’s capable of carrying that signal. It’s basic physics.

That doesn’t mean all 10 year old cables will - and those that were value engineered to ‘just about work’ at the lower bandwidth modes used by HDMI 1.4b and below are unlikely to work reliably at the higher bandwidth modes introduced by HDMI 2.0.

NB - there is one 2160p50/60 mode on HDMI 2.0 that is low bandwidth and was introduced to the spec to allow HDMI 1.4b hardware to carry 2160p50/60 content - which is the 4:2:0 mode.

I’ve always suspected that like you say, the quality of cable is important but as long as all pins are wired then why wouldn’t an older cable work. The version on the socket is way more important obviously.

It’s not just having the pins wired that’s important.

HDMI signals are very high data rate - Gigabits per second. This means that the inherent low-pass filtering caused by the internal resistance and capacitance of a cable has a major impact on performance. If your cable can’t carry higher frequencies (because of the inherent filtering) then higher bandwidth HDMI signals will cease to be reliably decoded by HDMI receiver hardware. The thinner the cable of each HDMI pin-to-pin connection, and the longer the cable, the higher the resistance will be, and the lower the cut-off frequency of the low-pass filter that is naturally created in the cable. This means that higher bandwidth HDMI modes won’t successfully pass.

The same with poor connections at each end. If you have an almost-but-not-quite fully connected HDMI connector - you will get a higher-than-normal resistance connection (say where only a small percent of the connectors actually touch each other) This will also cause filtering - and higher frequency HDMI modes to fall off the digital cliff.

Everything else being equal (which it obviously isn’t) - thicker cables (i.e. those with thicker conductors) may perform better than thinner cables. (I’m not saying all thick cables are better than all thin cables - and certainly don’t pay over-the-odds for ‘HiFi Grade’ HDMI cables - just basically electrically capable is all you need)

Again - basic physics.

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Got a 1m/3ft cable today from same brand (quick recap: local selection poor, monoprice on it’s way from amazon, will take a while).
Now 4K HDR and SDR video work (no black screen) but still riddled with white sparkles, screeching audio from the tv is gone (issue that appeared with the 3m premium high speed cable and was not in the ultra high speed one).

The Monoprice 3m/10ft cables arrived. No real change. 4K HDR/SDR video plays with white distortion and static audio noise from the TV.

Have you tried every input on your display? (Just to rule out a mechanical issue)

yes I have tried all 4. tried to reset the deep color setting on the port too.

Any suggestions, guys?

sounds stupid but do you have the latest firmware for the tv?
i also have an lg oled (c7v or something like that).
i also had problems with some hdmi cables.
the best ones are club3d, those where the first ones which were really (official) hdmi 2.0 certificated.
if you have problems with those, then its either a broken cable or something else, but for sure not a problem with the performance the cable can deliver (well, i would not buy a 3m one but a 1m must work in all 4k resolutions).

i will try that file(s) too, but i have a marantz sr 7011 between tv and odroid n2

edit: no problems in playing that file with 2m club3d hdmi 2.0 cables

TV is on latest firmware.

Club3D are the first cables I tried. 3m Ultra High Speed and 1m+3m Premium High Speed.

I don’t think that file caused it. I tested the device with the Ultra High Speed cable when I got the N2 ecause my old cables where rubbish and would not handle 4K properly. Then for a long while I didn’t watch any 4K, till I tested that file. Since then I got more Club3D and recently Monoprice cables. Neither made things better

I guess no one has any solution to suggest anymore. I think the hdmi port on the N2 isn’t working properly, given every cable I tried would not fix 4K to the tv.

I took the N2 today to test it on relatives tv (some lower end Samsung 4K HDR tv). Black screen resulting in signal loss with every 4K (HDR and SDR) sample I tried. Tried with certified 1M 3DClub cable and 3m Monoprice cable.
I can only conclude the issue is with the device itself.
I guess given the 1 month warranty that I would need to buy something else.
Unless someone have any idea or whether it could be an OS or CE issue, I guess this should go back to the N2 thread.

Well… if you tried it with Laptop->HDMI Cable->TV and that worked, and N2->HDMI Cable->TV did not, then it must be a problem with the N2 and/or CE.
As nobody else has this issue with CE, i would say its a N2 problem.
Any chance to try another N2 maybe from a friend or so?

Thanks for your response.
I tried:

  1. USB to N2 and HDMI from N2 directly tv (to eliminate network issues) = 4K not working properly
    https://imgbox.com/aQjwqKzN + screeching audio coming from the TV speakers on LG B6, no signal at all on a Samsung UE55KU7000U set. HDMIs are all certified premium high speed from recommended brands (1m Club3D and 3m Monoprice).

  2. Same USB directly plugged to the tv (without HDMI) = fine.

I think the board’s HDMI socket is somehow not working properly. I sometimes experience random signal loses even with no playback at all (i.e just sitting in the kodi menus). Moving the cable a bit fixes it.

I thought to try a fresh CE install, but no one suggested that at all.

Sadly, I don’t know anyone who has that box. People here usually get the Xiaomi MI box, NV Shield or AppleTV.