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

[Bright77]

Did you go to your BD player-specific thread for help? There's not much we can do because there are just too many combos of devices in the world...

Do you have your HDMI setting on "Standard", "Enhanced", or 8k Enhanced?

4K/8K Signal Format AVR-X3900H

manuals.denon.com

1 - Not on this forum, and my approach isn't going to be to change multiple configurations on every single device to make this AVR function under lesser conditions. (Valid question, though)
2 - I've tried all three in the first round but haven't tried again since this issue reappeared.

I did reply to another member, but after checking, my auto-update is enabled, so I fear that may be the culprit, but it's still insane if it is. So, in theory, only the original shipped firmware is the most stable so far.

 

[Ruediger]

The BD player is 11 years old, HDMI 1.4 (not that it should matter) and a Sony. That can be something on the players end just like the well-known Shield. But that's just speculation.

 

[popej]

IMO it is usually the new software/hardware that brings problems. And it is not that different from my experience with a new 3800. I sent it back after a few days of trying to cope with weird behavior.
Maybe better to wait a year or so, for firmware to mature and prices going down.

 

[Miker 1102]

It's already well established that the Shield doesn't play nice w/a variety of AVRs, not just Denon models. Many posts from folks w/similar issues have them considering alternatives to the Shield. I suggest you do the same.

The shield definitely had a problem with wake up and cec issues but mine was fixed with an update about 16 months ago ..maybe. It would take over inputs, wake the whole sytem up, turn on the tv. I called it the devil box.

 

[RayEarth]

Confirm I purchased x3900H and it does not play well with Shield Pro. The receiver is connected to LG G4.

A few observations

• yes switching to standard bandwidth will "fix" the handshake issue, but obviously you are limited to 420 and no HDR
• If you switch to 422/HDR, you can actually boot the system 2 times exactly. On each ocassion, if you turn on via Shield (CEC turns on the other two machines), the TV will flicker 4 times, then stablize. If you turn on and off, it will do the same. On third time, it will flicker and then the LG tv reports signal lost permanent.
• If you then go to Denon web GUI and test for video, it returns the error "Video TX (Monitor2) ; Copyright protection certification error with Monitor.(HDCP Error)."
• If you cold cycle the TV/AVR/Shield (turn everything off at power source, wait 5 mins, turn back on), you can turn on the machines again twice flickering into stable, but on third cycle it will flicker into signal loss.

This is actually very repeatable. It feels like after two cycles the HDCP / EDID chip gets overwhelmed and remains stuck, until a hard cycle. I guess if you want you could buy a zigbee powerplug and force cold powercycle each night, then each day you use it it will take 20-30 sec to flicker into stable screen, but it could work? A complete hack of course, not a solution.

Each cable used had been diagnosed and confirmed by X3900H itself (TV1 <-> HDMI 6) to be 8K compatible at all bandwidth, so not cable issue.

Have emailed Denon in detail, including attaching a video of the flickering / handshake issue. Will report back if they respond with anything.

Will be buying a HOMATICS Box R 4K Plus to try (BuzzTV G series doesn't allow audio passthrough). Will report back - but expect this to be ok as the newer machines all use HDMI 2.1 / HDCP 2.3.

 

[Burnsy1]

I can't help but wonder if @amirm has come across issues as well while testing, and perhaps has been working with Denon behind the scenes to help them drill down and diagnose.

 

[Marc v E]

I can't help but wonder if @amirm has come across issues as well while testing, and perhaps has been working with Denon behind the scenes to help them drill down and diagnose.

Could be. Good thing then.
We'll just have to wait and see.

 

[RayEarth]

Response from Denon Australia

Thank you for contacting Denon Customer Care. We greatly value you as a Denon customer and appreciate the opportunity to assist you.

We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience you have experienced with the HDMI handshake issue between your Denon AVR-X3900H and NVIDIA Shield TV. We understand how frustrating connectivity issues can be, and we are committed to helping you achieve the best possible experience.

This issue has been reported to our engineering team and has been identified as being related to the Shield TV's HDMI authentication process. Our engineers are currently working on improvements to enhance compatibility and connectivity with the Shield TV in a future firmware update. However, please note that due to the nature of HDMI communication between devices, a complete resolution cannot be guaranteed in all system configurations.

In the meantime, we recommend connecting the NVIDIA Shield TV to the AUX2 HDMI input (HDMI Port 6) on your AVR-X3900H. This input utilizes a different HDMI hardware configuration compared to HDMI Ports 1 through 4, which can help simplify the HDMI authentication process and improve overall stability and connectivity with the Shield TV.

 

[amirm]

I can't help but wonder if @amirm has come across issues as well while testing, and perhaps has been working with Denon behind the scenes to help them drill down and diagnose.

No issues other than laziness and big backlog. Just finished testing it. Will post tomorrow. It had no issues.

 

[EWL5]

No issues other than laziness and big backlog. Just finished testing it. Will post tomorrow. It had no issues.

Can't wait!

 

[RayEarth]

Can confirm that HDMI 6 / Aux 2 input seems to work ok with Shield even with "enhanced"

 

[peng]

No issues other than laziness and big backlog. Just finished testing it. Will post tomorrow. It had no issues.

That's very nice of you, after a presumably grueling trip/flight, catching up with a backlog of dac/hp amp etc., still managed to test something as complicated as an AVR and responding to question of our patiently waiting members especially the owner of the DUT.

 

[ziogref]

Response from Denon Australia

Thank you for contacting Denon Customer Care. We greatly value you as a Denon customer and appreciate the opportunity to assist you.

We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience you have experienced with the HDMI handshake issue between your Denon AVR-X3900H and NVIDIA Shield TV. We understand how frustrating connectivity issues can be, and we are committed to helping you achieve the best possible experience.

This issue has been reported to our engineering team and has been identified as being related to the Shield TV's HDMI authentication process. Our engineers are currently working on improvements to enhance compatibility and connectivity with the Shield TV in a future firmware update. However, please note that due to the nature of HDMI communication between devices, a complete resolution cannot be guaranteed in all system configurations.

In the meantime, we recommend connecting the NVIDIA Shield TV to the AUX2 HDMI input (HDMI Port 6) on your AVR-X3900H. This input utilizes a different HDMI hardware configuration compared to HDMI Ports 1 through 4, which can help simplify the HDMI authentication process and improve overall stability and connectivity with the Shield TV.

Thanks heaps for this (Made an account just to post this). Couldn't get my Shield 2019 pro to output anything to my brand new Denon X3900H. Moved it to AUX 2 and it working flawlessly. UHD, HDR10, Dolby Vision with ATMOS, everything works.

I have an LG OLED CX (2020) as my TV.