Re handshaking, my Scientific Atlanta cable box's HDMI connection to my Panasonic 42" plasma TV has never shown any problems. Cable service is Cox. With only one HDMI device there seemed no point to putting the 990 in the video line (two HDMI-DVI cables needed) though I did try it at first and saw no problems. But my stuff is 720p so I don't know if there would be problems with 1080.