Hi. I just setup my 990 in my almost-finished home theater and got to try it for the first time this weekend. Actually I had to temporarily run cable to this room so I could watch the football games on the "big screen".

Not only were the Patriots a huge disappointment, but I was also troubled by an audio issue. I have my high def cable box (Motorola) connected to the 990 optically (connected into Opt1). The video runs via DVI right from the cable box to the projector processor (DWIN). Any time the video would switch from high def to regular, my audio would blank out for about a half a second. I believe the 990 display showed Dolby Digital while the video was high definition and Dolby Digital ProLogic II while in normal video.

I can handle a little delay when switching to / from commercials, but any time they would switch to a highlight from another game, the highlight would be in normal video and hence have the audio switching cutout.

I experimented with setting the default decoding for this input but it didn't seem to have any effect.

Can this delay be avoided with the 990? Is this something that's standard with all decoders? I have mentioned this to a few friends that have high definition setups (none with Outlaw) and no one knows what I'm talking about. This implies they don't experience the same cutout that I am.

Anyone find a way around this irritation?

Thanks!

Marc

What you are describing suggests to me that either your cable provider or your local network affiliate is switching from Dolby 5.1 to Dolby 2.0 during the broadcast - something that I have not run into with my HD cable service, and would only expect to see at commercial breaks (possibly) or most frequently at a change from a network program to a local program (such as the evening news, which is typically standard def). Any time the signal format changes, there will be a brief delay to allow the receiver or processor to acquire the new signal and verify the format. This is true of any receiver or processor connected via a digital audio cable. The Model 990's acquisition time is actually quite good, being easily a second and a half or more faster than the Model 950's was. The acquisition delay with the 950 used to bother my wife so much that we used the analog audio outputs of the cable box, but it is fast enough with the 990 that she never really notices anymore (it tends to blend in with the audio and video delays generated at the cable box by changing channels, and I don't recall seeing it during HD programs). Have you experimented with some other HD stations and broadcasts? Also, are all of your friends with HD using the digital audio output and the same model of cable box?

I recently experienced a similar effect and thought there was a problem with my LG LST-3410A. I'm running a DVI connection directly to my DLP front projector and the LG's optical digital output through the 990. At the beginning of each recorded segment, the video comes on immediately, but there is a lag of a few seconds before the audio comes through. After reading Gonk's post, I temporarily switched to routing the LG's analog audio output through the 990, and voila, the audio started right along with the video. Its frustrating, because obviously I want to take advantage of using the digital audio. I guess I can start off with analog audio and as soon as things get going, switch to digital. At the present time that's no problem, since the video is bypassing the 990, and I can route the audio to two different video inputs on the 990. It will be a different situation though if I have to use all the available inputs for future additions to the system.

A few seconds? That sounds like an issue with your LG, because the 990's acquisition time has always been well under a second for me. Watch the 990's display as you start playing something or change a channel on the HD tuner - if I remember correctly, the "DIGITAL" indicator will light up as soon as a digital signal is available, and the processing mode and speaker indicators (the labels below each speaker symbol) will kick in as soon as the signal is acquired and audio playback begins. I'm wondering if the digital audio signal takes a little time to come on (as happens with some satellite receivers), even though the analog output kicks in more rapidly.

Thanks gonk,
I've just sent my LG back to the factory for a firmware upgrade to insert nulls into the bitstream it sends out through the firewire interface, so that the VBR is converted to a CBR for HDTV material. I've also enclosed a note mentioning the audio delay. I rechecked last night after reading your last post, and I would estimate the delay at between one and two seconds.