Denon 3900h - setup issues - is this just borked?

[Insearchofthedream]

Over the coming weeks would be good to hear from others as they start to get the 3900.

Is it just the shield that it is struggling with, or is it a wider high bitrate issue?

4k 60hz with dolby vision - we know the shield can't do it with the 3900. Do other media players handle it better?

 

[Ruediger]

Not surprising. As I said before, the 3900 would not be the only AVR that doesn't play nice w/the Shield.

Which other models are known?

From the 4k60 AVRs I had it with a Yamaha RX-A880 and that was OK. Just CEC havoc occasionally.

 

[EWL5]

Which other models are known?

From the 4k60 AVRs I had it with a Yamaha RX-A880 and that was OK. Just CEC havoc occasionally.

RZ30:

https://www.avsforum.com/posts/64380945/

RZ50:

https://www.avsforum.com/posts/64062090/

https://www.avsforum.com/posts/64383037/

RZ70:

https://www.avsforum.com/posts/64374590/

 

[BookshelfBob]

Which other models are known?

From the 4k60 AVRs I had it with a Yamaha RX-A880 and that was OK. Just CEC havoc occasionally.

Your Yamaha does not have HDMI* 2.1 ports....

Not running on the same standard. Are there any known receiver with 2.1 ports that plays well with older HDMI protocols?

Edit - better way to put it, works well with older nvidia products. Not clear it's the HDMI standard from this thread. Maybe just Nvidias implementation

 

[Ruediger]

Well, I sold my oldest Nvidia GPUs from the 1x years recently, can't test old chips from them.

But I have something worse, Intel i7-7700k boxes with Kodi and MadVR. They do 4k60 and HDR10 on HDMI 2.0.

Did not try those with my Denon X3800H yet, but will do that.

 

[Tre2023]

I was considering the X3900H for a few of its new features but seems some firmware updates may be needed to sort a few things out.

I am currently using my Nvidia Shield TV Pro connected to one of three HDMI 2.1 port on a Yamaha RX-V6A set to 8K Enhanced. The RX-V6A HDMI OUT port is connected to the HDMI #2(eARC) port of an LG C1 TV using an HDMI Ultra Certified Cable.

While everything is working fine now, it took many firmware updates and a board replacement to address a chip limitation to get the Yamaha working properly. Thankfully, lengthy negotiations for audio and video output using various devices connected to the receiver are no longer an issue.

I am curious if any with the Nvidia Shield connected to the X3900H have tried changing the Shield’s Dolby Vision setting to Low Latency mode to see if it will work. Though, if HDR10 also isn’t currently working it may not matter.

 

[Miker 1102]

Update from me - from input on another forum, tried setting the shield to 1080p with no HDR.

Everything worked.

Then (on another hunch) reduced the HDMI video output on the Denon 3900h to 'standard' (it's a new thing on the Denon - standard restricts you to basic 4k with no HDR).

This lets the shield run at 4k 60hz, but with no HDR.

Again - all stable. Can switch inputs no problem, everything seems to work & stay working reliably. No video on off cycling, no sound but no video, no weird corruption on the Denon LCD display.

Switching the HDMI video output mode to either of enhanced or 8k enhanced on the output connected to the shield gives immediate on/off cycling, or black screens.

At this point all cables have been switched out (no change), CEC enabled / disabled across the full chain (no change). Direct connection between the shield & the TV - everything works fine. Taking the Denon 3900 out & replacing with my 12 year old Denon 4200 - everything works fine.

So - as long as you don't care about HDR - you can set the video output mode for the individual HDMI connector for the Shield to be 'standard' & it works.

That sucks - hearing similar issues now from multiple people with the 3900h, my gut feeling is that there is a firmware issue affecting all of them - I think the brand new HDMI implementation in this unit is either faulty in some significant way, or suffering from early firmware. Multiple reports of failure with the shield when using high bit rate (10 bit / dolby vision) & other DV fails.

Either way, mine being replaced by the retailer tomorrow - will feed back here if any change.

Did you report the bug to Denon? It it really crappy to hear this as I just bought one and I use the shiled to stream.

 

[Insearchofthedream]

I am curious if any with the Nvidia Shield connected to the X3900H have tried changing the Shield’s Dolby Vision setting to Low Latency mode to see if it will work. Though, if HDR10 also isn’t currently working it may not matter.

Yes - tried a ton of troubleshooting steps, including developer mode//low latency DV mode.

The only thing that made any difference was setting the Denon 3900h output mode to standard, which restricts you to 4k 60hz (max) with no HDR, no dolby vision.

Did you report the bug to Denon? It it really crappy to hear this as I just bought one and I use the shiled to stream.

I have emailed a detailed report to Denon - no response as yet.

It's very early days for the denon 3900h - I have seen this issue with the shield, but cannot test other devices, so not clear as to if this is a 'shield+denon 3900' issue, or a wider 'high bandwidth/DV + denon 3900h' issue.

If it's just the shield, that sucks - but if it's many devices, then more chance IMHO of a firmware fix from Denon (if that is possible).

To sum up - running at 4k 60hz across all sources it's working, sounds great, but no HDR10, no Dolby Vision.

I'm trying to be balanced as I do like the AVR & will be keeping it - missing the HDR only affects (for me) about the 10% of netflix I watch that has it.

Not the end of the world & I hope that within a few months there will be a firmware fix.

 

[bigjohns97]

This is a bit of an odd issue as the enhanced option for that HDMI port should work and once you set HDMI to bypass for that port it should just work including HDR. It seems like they must be using a new HDMI board or a different EDID when selecting enhanced on these new models.

To your questions about the shield it is a bit long in the tooth and I have found great success in moving to the Ugoos amb6+ running coreelec for movies and then using tv apps for all streaming, but I also have a newer TV which supports eARC.

I had an apple tv for a bit but it's no good for movies and streaming is okay, youtube v9.2 works but yttv ESPN HDR doesn't so that is a deal breaker.

Again the best streaming experience I have found is using the apps on the TV, they support YT HDR, YTTV (all HDR) plus everything from all the streaming companies.

 

[Insearchofthedream]

Bypass mode for the shield output - no difference. Confirmed it's active (no denon overlays when on shield), but shifting into 'enhanced' or '8k enhanced' still gives the same blink on / off / on / off behaviour as before.

TV is modern enough, has HDMI 2.1 connectors, supports eARC, DV, HDR10 etc - and works perfect when connected direct to the shield, or even with my 12 year old Denon 4200w. It's just since I got the denon 3900h it's problematic.

Waiting for a reply from denon tech support.

 

[BookshelfBob]

Bypass mode for the shield output - no difference. Confirmed it's active (no denon overlays when on shield), but shifting into 'enhanced' or '8k enhanced' still gives the same blink on / off / on / off behaviour as before.

TV is modern enough, has HDMI 2.1 connectors, supports eARC, DV, HDR10 etc - and works perfect when connected direct to the shield, or even with my 12 year old Denon 4200w. It's just since I got the denon 3900h it's problematic.

Waiting for a reply from denon tech support.

Ok, so we have one device working well on 2.1 hdmi ports with the shield....But it's a TV

Still looking for a receiver that works though

 

[tearfalls]

@tearfalls, does everything work correctly without the Shield in the chain? PS5 playing HDR?

​

In my case, the PS5 is the biggest headache. I went into the Denon’s CI menu and set the HDMI bandwidth to "No Limit," which completely fixed the handshakes for my Nvidia Shield and Xbox Series X.

The PS5 still struggles, though. It successfully negotiates 4K/120Hz with HDR, VRR, and ALLM, but the screen flickers black every minute or so—a classic sign of signal attenuation and buffer drops.

It is incredibly frustrating because this exact hardware and copper cable chain worked flawlessly on my Onkyo TX-NR7100. The Denon board is just brutally unforgiving. As a last resort before returning the X3900H, I’ve ordered active fiber optic HDMI cables to eliminate any copper bandwidth loss. I'll report back if that finally stabilizes the PS5 handshake!

 

[furtisfusta]

I'm having the exact same problem with my 3900H and Nvidia Shield. at first i thought it was my HDMI cable but i've tried multiple cables and fiddled with many settings and nothing seems to work. Seems to be a common problem for more than a few people

What really sucks, my shield is my main way of consuming media and it was working flawlessly with my older Onkyo receiver. hope someone finds a fix or Denon rolls out a firmware update soon!

 

[Miker 1102]

This is a bit of an odd issue as the enhanced option for that HDMI port should work and once you set HDMI to bypass for that port it should just work including HDR. It seems like they must be using a new HDMI board or a different EDID when selecting enhanced on these new models.

To your questions about the shield it is a bit long in the tooth and I have found great success in moving to the Ugoos amb6+ running coreelec for movies and then using tv apps for all streaming, but I also have a newer TV which supports eARC.

I had an apple tv for a bit but it's no good for movies and streaming is okay, youtube v9.2 works but yttv ESPN HDR doesn't so that is a deal breaker.

Again the best streaming experience I have found is using the apps on the TV, they support YT HDR, YTTV (all HDR) plus everything from all the streaming companies.

I have found the shield still trumps the other devices. I still use an htpc, though, for movies.

 

[davidc]

On Facebook there is a very active Denon group I would suggest joining. BTW, there is an absolutely awesome app for your phone or laptop as a remote control. I was blown away about how good it is. It's worth every penny. https://www.facebook.com/groups/165330024238964/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/avrmaestro/

 

[Laika2]

So my 12 year old Denon avrx 4200w has been triggering the protection mode more & more often - finally refusing to stay on for more than 10 minutes at a time (overheating) - it's done well, but time to replace.

I've had a shiny new Denon AVX 3900h delivered yesterday & really struggling with it.

Initial setup went ok, but using it? Nightmare.

I only have a nVidia Shield (used for most watching duties), and a FreeSat box for very occasional TV duties - both connected by good quality 8k ultra certified HDMI cables.

TV is a LG Cx oled panel - again connected with a 8k ultra certified HDMI cable.

Everything was working fine on the 4200, running at 4k 60 with HDR10 / dolby vision on the shield / standard HDR on the freesat.

On the 3900h - if I power everything off at the wall plug - it works ok. So long as I don't select any HDR options on the shield.

But only after a fresh power off!

If I select any HDR output options on the shield, I just get a 1 second on / 1 second off cycle for about 10 seconds, then lose video output - only fixable by another full power cycle.

If I switch off the shield using the remote - it all looks like it has switched off, but turning back on just gives me sound & no video signal.

Full power recycle gets it back working (sometimes).

TV is set correctly for high bandwidth HDMI, in the denon setup I've forced all inputs / outputs to HDMI (not auto).

Done 2 factory resets, 2 sets of HDMI cables.

This is my 4th AVR over the years, I think I understand how to connect & get set up - this is mental.

Broken unit / misconfigured somehow?

Check your PMs.

 

[Insearchofthedream]

Denon support unable to add anything further - other than 'it should work'.

I have another high bandwidth android TV box coming this week, so will be able to determine if it's just the shield that's an issue / or something wider.

 

[furtisfusta]

Denon support unable to add anything further - other than 'it should work'.

I have another high bandwidth android TV box coming this week, so will be able to determine if it's just the shield that's an issue / or something wider.

Curious which android tv box you purchased. I might have to do the same.

 

[Insearchofthedream]

I bought the buzz tv g series (certified). New box for 2026, latest amlogic processor s905x5m, 4gb ram, 64GB storage, wifi 6, AI upscaling, properly google certified Google TV 14. Has gigabit ethernet & toslink outputs - I won't be using those.

The remote for it looks to be pretty good too & not a flimsy horrible thing.

I see some weakness in the audio passthrough (so no TrueHD, no DTS-HD MA) - but it's a technicality for me as I don't download huge remuxes & won't see those audio formats regardless.

From what I can see it has all the latest HDR options, HDMI 2.1, the youtube HDR codecs, and works with the full versions of netflix in 4k etc.

Will be weaker for gaming than the shield (but I never did that), I need Netflix, Youtube, Kodi (for local download library) - so fingers crossed will be a good fit.

If it works nicely with the denon 3900h, I'm pretty sure it meets my needs.

Feedback once it's up & running.

 

[tearfalls]

Weekend Update: Not all Denon HDMI 2.1 ports are created equal.

Even though Denon markets all six HDMI inputs on the X3900H as identical 8K/40Gbps ports, my weekend A/B testing proves there is a distinct internal hardware division. Ports 1-3 appear to be routed directly to the primary video processor, while Ports 4-6 seem to run through a secondary internal switch.

Here is exactly how it breaks down with the consoles:

• PS5 Pro on HDMI 4: Even using a certified active fiber optic cable, the connection falls into a bandwidth limit cycle, dropping to a black screen every 40-50 seconds.
• Xbox Series X on HDMI 3: Flawless connection, despite pushing a higher 40Gbps FRL bandwidth.

Out of curiosity, I swapped their inputs to test the internal routing tolerances.

• PS5 Pro moved to HDMI 3: Works absolutely flawlessly. zero drops.
• Xbox Series X moved to HDMI 4: Surprisingly, it also works flawlessly.

The Takeaway: The Xbox Series X’s uncompressed 40Gbps signal is robust enough to survive whatever microscopic timing jitter or signal attenuation is introduced by Denon's secondary switch block (Ports 4-6). The PS5 Pro’s 32Gbps signal, however, relies heavily on 4:2:2 chroma compression to achieve 4K/120Hz. That heavily compressed signal is incredibly fragile—the tiny bit of internal routing jitter on Port 4 is enough to completely crash the FRL handshake with my Samsung TV.

If you are running a PS5 or PS5 Pro through one of these newer Denon receivers, absolutely restrict it to the primary block (HDMI 1, 2, or 3). Reserve Ports 4-6 for the Xbox or less sensitive devices!