Okay, got the 990/7700 combo hooked up this morning and I'm having some problems. When I push the menu button on the front of the pre/pro and or the remote control to set the system up, it doesn't seem to do anything. I'm not getting any OSD either, I'm using component video cables out of the pre/pro only. I've done a system reset which requires you to hold down the "enter" key and the "menu" key at the same time which tells me the menu key does work. Is it possible that when I did the software update that maybe something went wrong? Could really use someones help bad.

The component video cable should give you the OSD as long as your display's component input supports 480i resolution (the resolution at which the 990 generates the OSD). The Sanyo appears to support this resolution - the review at Projector Central mentions viewing 480i sources, at least.

The essential first things to check: make sure your component cable is connected to component monitor output of the 990, and make sure the projector is set to the corresponding input.

Everything is hooked up correctly

This really sucks, why can I not get into the menu to change my settings.

Do you have any video sources connected (component, composite, or s-video)? If so, try flipping through the inputs to see if any show up. I think the default settings for DVD, Video1, and Video2 use their respective component inputs, and composite or s-video inputs would be transcoded to component.

EDIT: Also, I noticed in this review that the Sanyo has two component inputs. Any chance it got switched to the wrong one?

I have tried switching threw the inputs and I get nothing on any of them. As far as the projector goes, nothing has changed on that. All the wiring for the projector is in-wall and basically I just have to plug into the wall with the component video cables from the mon. out on the pre/pro. Just so darn aggrevated because I can't do anything that involes using the menu button.

Hmmm... Lemme run through the things that I would try if I were there, in case any seem useful.

• Double-check all connections to make sure that cables are run to the correct ports on the 990 (including red, blue, and green for the three component connections) and that the connections are tight.
• Toggle between the two component inputs on the projector to be sure nothing's gotten turned around there.
• Try connecting a source to the Video5 input using either composite or s-video (I forget which is the default, so I'd try composite first and s-video if that didn't work). If the 990's switching is working properly and the projector is on the correct component input, you should get that video signal through the 990's monitor output.
• Hook a spare TV up to the composite monitor output of the 990 to get access to the menu OSD for troubleshooting purposes (so that you can properly configure the inputs you're using and start to eliminate - or identify - possible problems). Some people with projectors elect to pick up really cheap TV's for this sort of duty anyway, since it allows them to perform certain basic tasks without putting hours on their projector's bulb.
• Move the component cables from the 990's monitor output to the Denon's component output (again, as a way to help eliminate possible problems).

Obviously some of those would be last resorts, but those are the sorts of things I'd try if I were in your shoes.

Pretty much did all of the following, as soon as I hooked up the component cables directly back to the Denon DVD player, what do you know, I have a picture again. I think something is wrong with the 990. The remote really doesn't work well the the 990 also.

If you hadn't already mentioned using the front panel MENU button, I'd suggest making sure that you press "TNR" on the remote first and that you use the button beneath the "9" on the remote (there's also a button near the navigation pad with a "menu" label, but it's a secondary label and that button accesses tone controls on the 990).

Gonk, just about everything you have suggested has been done. I just finished swaping out my Denon receiver with the 990 pre/pro and everything works beautiful again. I honestly beleive something is wrong with the 990 as far as passing video signals and allowing one to access the menus to setup the system.

Sorry, grimster - that's all I can think of from here. It sounds like time to give Outlaw a call Monday and get them on the case.

Damum, just my luck, not only is the pre/pro bad but once I got the Denon up and going again and went to balance the channels, seems the surround right channel is not working on the 7700. I've swamped cables, switched cables, etc. Outlaw Audio and I are not getting off to a good start.

Make sure you didn't put the switch for that channel on balanced instead of unbalanced (since I'm on a roll of offering possibly obvious advise). And you might send a support e-mail to Outlaw, in case somebody with Outlaw has some suggestions for the 990 this weekend.

I've already sent e-mails to Outlaw tech support. As far as the switches, they were set to 'unbalanced' with the Denon, 'Balanced' with the Outlaw 990, I double checked.

On my setup, I ran an extra video connection from the monitor out on the 990 to a composite input on my LCD display. So the 990 has its own dedicated port on the display. When I try to overlay the 990 menus on the component out, I get very strange results (and can only see the upper left corner of the menu). So it's somewhat of a hassle to have to switch inputs on the monitor to fiddle with the 990, but it's not that bad.

Cheers,

I did get some pics posted though, check them out...

http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=43131

you may have a bad 990 pre. maybe something wiggled loose in transit. not impossible at all.

Okay, is it possible to have a bad 'unbalanced' connection on an amplifier and have a good 'balanced' connection? The reason I'm asking is I hooked the 990 back up to do some more trouble shooting. Here is what I did, I just hooked up 2-channel. I first hooked the left front up as it should be, left 'balanced' out to the left 'balanced' in on the amplifier. I then hooked the front right 'balanced' out of the pre/pro to the 'balanced' left surround in on the amplifier and then hooked the FR speaker wires into the SR speaker input and the SR channel, which did not work earlier today, worked just fine. Is it that I may just have a bad 'unbalaced' connection on the SR channel?

Random theories whose value must be weighed against my need for sleep... Could be a bad unbalanced cable, or the switch on that channel didn't get flipped all the way to unbalanced, or the switch was jostled in shipping.

Well the amp situation has been confirmed by my standards. The "unbalanced" connection on the surround right is in deed bad. Lets just hope Outlaw will make good on the CS and send me a replacement of both the 990/7700, then once I receiver them, send the bad units back.

I wouldn't worry about that, grimster. They'll get you fixed up.

I'm sure they will, I just hate the thought of having to pay to have the 7700 sent back, that could hurt the wallet.

Okay, very good news I guess, the 990 is setup finally. I could have sworn the manual said the OSD would pass threw the component cables. I finally found a composite video cable long enough and ran it from the composite out of the 990 to the composite in on the projector and everything worked fine. Still have a bad 'unbalanced' connection on the amp but the 'balanced' connection on that channel works. Ran the setup and everything sounds amazing. Looking forward to playing with it some more. So, does the OSD work with just components cable hooked to the projector or do I have to have a s-video and/or composite cable run also. Thanks for everyones help.

This is what the manual says and I quote:

"To use the OSD, the units must be connected to your display device using either the COMPOSITE VIDEO OUTPUT or S-VIDEO OUTPUT jacks. You may also view the OSD using the COMPONENT VIDEO OUTPUT, but the picture may blank temporarily when you activate the menu system. If both s-video and composite video signals are input into the Model 990, the OSD can be viewed only through the S-VIDEO OUTPUT jack".

Did I just misunderstand what I read?

Hi Grimster,
I don,t know about the 990's OSD, but on my 1070, the OSD will go through the component monitor output...if and only if the signal is 480i...anything higher and the OSD won't pass...all you need to do to check this...is to select a video source that goes in to your 990 with S-video or composite (not component, unless you can turn off the progressive-scan feature on your source)...select the component input on your display...your 990 will upconvert the signal to component (480i)
et voilà !
The OSD should be there...
and you can eliminate a few cables
Good luck with the minor woes...
remember... time cures all ills...

The 990 and 1070 differ on this one a bit. Both units will transcode composite and s-video inputs to component output (including any OSD menu or information pop-ups generated by the unit on those input signals), so that you can access the OSD menu from the component output. The 990 will do one additional thing, however: on component inputs, it will replace the incoming signal with a black background and display the OSD menu on that background. One kicker with any of these scenarios - both units handle transcoding to component by producing a 480i signal, and the 990's "black screen" OSD menu on component inputs is also produced at 480i. This was actually my first suspicion (back in the second post of this thread), but I didn't pursue it far enough: if your display device won't accept 480i component inputs, it won't be able to display either the transcoded composite and s-video signals or the "black screen" OSD menu.

Here's a test to confirm whether your projector can accept 480i: set your Denon to interlaced (so that it produces a 480i output) and see if you can get a picture on your projector. You can actually leave the video switching through the 990, since it won't change anything about the signal anyway.

If your projector does in fact refuse to display 480i, you may want to consider the small TV monitor that others with projectors have used. That'll let you get into the 990's menus and even preview sources (assuming you run some composite cables from those sources so the composite monitor output has something to work with).

I have a projector as well and to keep from turning it on and off (which is very bad) I have a tiny 5 inch tv that has a composite input and just run a composite cable from the "video monitor output" of the 990. Works great as you usually should not have to access the menu after making your basic settings.

My experience with several Denon/Arcam/Marantz receivers' OSD is as follows:
Component overlay is often flaky, which is why I always use a dedicated S-Video cable to my scaler (because my DVD etc. also run directly to the scaler I do not need the receiver's switching capability).
Just for viewing setup there's no pic quality issue.
Also, I found the pic jumps a few times when the overlay engages and disengages, which I found a nuisance while viewing and just changing volume.
So unless you really want the overlay I'd suggest feeding the pic directly to the TV or through some switch or scaler, not through the processor.

this is exactly my probem and I have even reset my system as well. My tv is a 50" samsung plasma.