Bizarre results from upscaling DVD player!

[jim.holder]

Hello. New to this forum. I've been using various releases of Adobe Premiere for many years to produce videos, switched from tape to VCD and then full menu driven DVD about three years ago. I recently purchased a Samsung LE32R88BD 1080i LCD TV and have been quite happily playing DVDs via an old Panasonic basic DVD player with a SCART hookup. I've now replaced the player with a TEAC DRH300DAB unit that upscales DVD and uses an HDMI link. After several false starts, everything works to my satisfaction with one exception (all false starts were due to my not doing exactly what the manuals said!). The exception is bizarre; all my home produced DVDs (+R and -R) and all 'freebies (the ones that fall out of your Sunday newspaper), all of these perform perfectly. All recently shop purchased top of the range releases don't play. Specifically the audio of the root menu can be heard (perfectly, no distortion) but apart from the occasional flash of scrambled pixels there is no video. The disc is stuck in root. Is there a fundamental difference between the two types of disc? I've tried the usual cable swap, HDMI 1 and 2 swap, TV on and the DVD player on and vice versa but to no avail. I've got Teac, Samsung and the retailer all thinking very hard but I thought I'd explore the talent of this forum while they have a think.

[Krispy Kritter]

I would first try a different video output. This will help narrow down the problem. If the problem continues, I would suspect the player is at fault. If the problem stops, then you likely have a setup issue, either with the player or the TV.

On a side note, you are testing play back using region 2 discs, right? I would suspect that you are, otherwise you would likely be getting a region error, but stranger things have happened. If they aren't region 2 discs, then you need to ensure you have the DVD player video output set correctly (in your case PAL, not NTSC or AUTO).

[jim.holder]

Krispy. Thanks for this. Should have mentioned that all discs play acceptably when player/TV are scart linked. Have applied Region crack to player to allow all regions. If I have an iffy HDMI cable is it possible that the shop boughts are outputting a different signal to the home mades and this 'signa/command' isn't being carried? - you can tell I'm getting desperate.

[RabidDog]

Duh.. bit obvious, but why not try a different Hdmi lead? ALso if you have an understanding retailer why not try a different upscaling player. DO you have to switch upscaling on? are you feeding your TV a progressive signal and not interlaced?

[jim.holder]

RabidDog. Thanks. I am 26 miles from my original retailer and even further away from anyone with some spare hdmi leads to hand. I was trying to eliminate everything else before packimg the car and going out again - plus the fact that I can't afford a lot of speculative shopping. However, I reversed the hdmi lead and got the system working perfectly - until I moved the stand! Clearly a cable fault (or a unit connection fault). I went back to Richer Sounds this morning. They swapped my unit for a new one and gave me a higher quality hdmi lead, great service from a cheerful knowledgable bunch of people. Back home all is now sweetness and light (and sound).

The teac unit is doing everything I expected and I, at least, can see one heck of a picture improvement with the upscaling feature.

Thanks to all for your interest.

[RabidDog]

Reading back on your post .. it seems simple to me Now it was the Copyright portion of the HDMI lead that wasnt working, or you had a HDMI 1.1 lead when you really needed a HDMI1.3 lead or you needed a lead with full HDCP over HDMI.. All copyright issues. I will look at richer sounds when I am in the market for my 1920p LCD, there are loads in London. HDMI leads sound like the missing profit link for a lot of retailers, anything from £25+ to £100+