Is your Live / Plus / Hub picking the wrong resolution in AUTO?

If your Live / Live + / Hub is picking the wrong resolution when set to AUTO, try the below.

Note, I’m not talking about the issues where you pick one resolution, and some time later the Live changes itself (but the reason is still the same.)

For example, my brand new LG 55LX6500 3DTV is always set to 720p by the Live, Live+, and Live Hub.  I was certain this was a flaw in WDTV’s firmware.

But it’s not.

If you have a WDTV Live HUB, go to the end of the message for a way to do this WITHOUT a computer hooked up to an HDMI port.

If you have access to a Windows PC that has an HDMI or DVI connection, connect it to your TV.

Go download and install this program:

http://www.entechtaiwan.com/util/moninfo.shtm

It will tell you what the TV is telling the WDTV to do.

Here’s what that program reports from my LG TV:

CE video identifiers (VICs) - timing/formats supported
    1920 x 1080p at 60Hz - HDTV (16:9, 1:1)
    1920 x 1080p at 30Hz - HDTV (16:9, 1:1)
    1920 x 1080p at 24Hz - HDTV (16:9, 1:1)
    1920 x 1080i at 60Hz - HDTV (16:9, 1:1)
    1280 x 720p at 60Hz - HDTV (16:9, 1:1) [Native]
     720 x 480p at 60Hz - EDTV (16:9, 32:27)
     720 x 480p at 60Hz - EDTV (4:3, 8:9)
    NB: NTSC refresh rate = (Hz*1000)/1001

Note the line that says NATIVE next to it.    The LG is telling the WDTV that its “Native” panel resolution is only 1280x720.    That’s wrong.  It’s 1920x1080.  

The “Native Resolution” of a panel is the physical resolution of the LCD in terms of pixels.   It has nothing to do with the actual VIDEO FORMAT.    So, a 720p TV can still receive a 1080p signal, but the TV would have to Down-scale the video to display it on a 720 panel.

Similarly, if the panel Native Resolution is 1080p, and the device is only sending 720p, then the TV has to UPSCALE it.

If the WDTV is sending at the NATIVE resolution; the TV has no need to upscale or downscale; that’s all handled by the WDTV which is doing it anyway.

So, if everything matches, you’re going to have less picture distortion.

But in this example case, the Native resolution is WRONG.   It SHOULD be reported as 1920x1080.

So, give it a try.   It’d be helpful to post results if you’re bitten by this issue so that people searching might find your model # and see what’s going on.

***** For WDTV Live HUB users, there’s an undocumented procedure to produce this data. *****

I learned this from a WD engineer trying to fix why MY LG was not working correctly.   I just cleared it with WD to post it here.

Insert a supported USB Thumb Drive in the front USB slot.   It’s better if you do NOT have one in the back; that way there will not be any guesswork where the file is going to go.

Navigate to the ABOUT MOCHI screen in the Setup menu.

When on the screen, press the following key sequence on your remote.

DOWN - DOWN - DOWN - DOWN - RIGHT - DOWN - DOWN

Count to 5, then leave the menu, and eject the USB drive.

Take it to your computer.   You should find a new file on the root directory called

save-edid.bin

You can open that file in the program mentioned above to get the data.

2 Likes

I don’t have the ability to get the info from my television, but the WDTV Live Plus does not auto negotiate correctly with it. When I first connected it, there was no image at all on the HDMI, I had to connect a composite cable in order to get to any config screens.  Once the firmware updated twice, it would default to 720p/50Hz every time it powers on, I had to reset it to 1080p/60Hz.

I have never had any problem connecting any other device to this TV, and I have connected many things to one of the 3 HDMI ports it has, all have worked perfectly without a hitch.  Until this WDTV.  Hopefully, the new one I will get won’t be as problematic.

Yes as many are noticing this resolution thing with the WDTV live and live plus I just want to comment, that this WAS NOT a problem with the wdtv gen 1 which I still have. I will verify again today that the gen 1 does set the resolution automaticallly to fit the video being played.

gguerra wrote:

Yes as many are noticing this resolution thing with the WDTV live and live plus I just want to comment, that this WAS NOT a problem with the wdtv gen 1 which I still have. I will verify again today that the gen 1 does set the resolution automaticallly to fit the video being played.

What happens when you play a file with a variable picture size or a variable frame rate?  What resolution and rate does it choose? And what happens mid-stream when it changes?

Of course the other question I have is… if the Gen1 already does it, then why was everyone asking B-Rad for the autores plugin to get ported back to the Gen1?  The reason b-Rad gave, was that there wasn’t a compatible Gen1 version of ffmpeg.  If the box already does it, why would people have asked B-Rad to add it and why would he have worried that he couldn’t add it?

Well I recently got a new TV (an LG) and to tell you the truth I haven’t fully tested the “Auto” resolution with the gen 1 on the new TV. My older TV is a Sony and if I’m not mistaken the gen 1 worked correctly with the older TV. Again I am at work and will try the gen 1 on my new tv (The LG) to see what happens. I am very curious now. Will get back to you

Guys, this has nothing to do with the original topic.

This is WRT to the LIVE / + / HUB ONLY, and then only if you can provide EDID DATA for future searchers to find.

Thanks a lot Tony … you have solved my problem (not that it helps you :wink: )

My Panasonic G20 50" reports the following:

CE video identifiers (VICs) - timing/formats supported
    1920 x 1080p at 50Hz - HDTV (16:9, 1:1) [Native]
    1920 x 1080p at 60Hz - HDTV (16:9, 1:1) [Native]
    1920 x 1080i at 50Hz - HDTV (16:9, 1:1)
    1920 x 1080i at 60Hz - HDTV (16:9, 1:1)
    1920 x 1080p at 24Hz - HDTV (16:9, 1:1)
    1280 x 720p at 50Hz - HDTV (16:9, 1:1)
    1280 x 720p at 60Hz - HDTV (16:9, 1:1)
     720 x 576p at 50Hz - EDTV (16:9, 64:45)
     720 x 480p at 60Hz - EDTV (16:9, 32:27)
     720 x 576p at 50Hz - EDTV (4:3, 16:15)
     720 x 480p at 60Hz - EDTV (4:3, 8:9)
     720 x 576i at 50Hz - Doublescan (16:9, 64:45)
     720 x 480i at 60Hz - Doublescan (16:9, 32:27)
     720 x 576i at 50Hz - Doublescan (4:3, 16:15)
     720 x 480i at 60Hz - Doublescan (4:3, 8:9)
     640 x 480p at 60Hz - Default (4:3, 1:1)
    NB: NTSC refresh rate = (Hz*1000)/1001
  • but nevertheless defaults to 720x50p after powercycling. What?

Well, I have never user the Auto setting (due to the reported problems) but tried it now, and Heureka, it chooses 1080px50 after power cycling! Great! That indicates, that the “default” setting chosen after powercycling (if not set to Auto) is always set (safely?) to 720x50. Definitely a bug, but unrelated to this topic.

I haven’t confirmed yet, that Auto works when turning on the Live when TV is off, I’ll update this post when i know (my TV does not power completely down before after half an hour or so).

Edit: It works flawlessly, chooses 1080px50 every time. I will keep the Auto setting for now.

Cocovanna

i’ve been noticing that it seems my WD TV Live is changing resolutions on its own. I have it set to 1080p (60hz) and sometimes it ends up on 720p (60hz). HOw the heck did it change itself??

vice86 wrote:

i’ve been noticing that it seems my WD TV Live is changing resolutions on its own. I have it set to 1080p (60hz) and sometimes it ends up on 720p (60hz). HOw the heck did it change itself??

When I switch on or boot the WD TV Live, it always starts with 720p. But soon after, when the menus appear, it switches back to 1080p, as it should do.

Maybe many people only see the first resolution and don’t realize that it corrects this a few seconds later?

I have a Sony Bravia and must admit, I never had any HDMI problems.

vice86 wrote:

i’ve been noticing that it seems my WD TV Live is changing resolutions on its own. I have it set to 1080p (60hz) and sometimes it ends up on 720p (60hz). HOw the heck did it change itself??

My WD box has been doing that ever since I bought it (four months ago). Even though I have set it at 1080i, about 50% of the time it comes up set at 720p (which my TV does not support). It has acted this way with every firmware that I have tried (1.03.39, 1.03.43, 1.03.49, and 1.04.10).

For some reason, the WD box does NOT remember the video/resolution or colorspace values once it is powered off/on…so no matter how many times you set it manually, if hdmi auto negotiation doesn’t work, you are out of luck. This same problem has been reported numerous times in this forum.

It seems in regards to this and the Netflix issue, WDs implementation of HDMI is fubar.  I don’t care that they claim they are adhereing to the specs and everybody else isn’t, to MY viewpoint, everybody else works and WD doesn’t.  That makes it a WD problem.

cew0719 wrote:

I don’t care that they claim they are adhereing to the specs and everybody else isn’t, to MY viewpoint, everybody else works and WD doesn’t.  That makes it a WD problem.

So, the TV tells the WDTV to use the wrong resolution during the EDID handshake, and that’s _ not _ the TV’s fault?? :smileyvery-happy:

Excellent logic there. :dizzy_face:

What would you have the WDTV do when set to Auto, other than use the resolution the TV tells it to?

cew0719 wrote:

It seems in regards to this and the Netflix issue, WDs implementation of HDMI is fubar.  I don’t care that they claim they are adhereing to the specs and everybody else isn’t, to MY viewpoint, everybody else works and WD doesn’t.  That makes it a WD problem.

AI don’t see how this opinion applies at all to this thread.

Intresting.  I have an lg 550pk and I got back something simular to the OP. My tv had 1080/24/30/60p modes but the native marking was next to 720/60p.  I am running through my onkyo 608 reciver so it is a little different but this was the result.

Timing characteristics
  Horizontal scan range… 31-100kHz
  Vertical scan range… 48-75Hz
  Video bandwidth… 170MHz
  CVT standard… Not supported
  GTF standard… Not supported
  Additional descriptors… None
  Preferred timing… Yes
  Native/preferred timing… 1920x1080p at 60Hz (16:9)
    Modeline… “1920x1080” 148.500 1920 2008 2052 2200 1080 1084 1089 1125 +hsync +vsync
  Detailed timing #1… 1360x768p at 60Hz (16:9)
    Modeline… “1360x768” 85.500 1360 1424 1536 1792 768 771 777 795 +hsync +vsync

Standard timings supported
     720 x  400p at  70Hz - IBM VGA
     640 x  480p at  60Hz - IBM VGA
     640 x  480p at  72Hz - VESA
     640 x  480p at  75Hz - VESA
     800 x  600p at  56Hz - VESA
     800 x  600p at  60Hz - VESA
     800 x  600p at  72Hz - VESA
     800 x  600p at  75Hz - VESA
    1024 x  768p at  60Hz - VESA
    1024 x  768p at  70Hz - VESA
    1024 x  768p at  75Hz - VESA
    1280 x 1024p at  75Hz - VESA
     640 x  480p at  60Hz - VESA STD
     800 x  600p at  60Hz - VESA STD
    1024 x  768p at  60Hz - VESA STD
    1280 x 1024p at  60Hz - VESA STD
    1600 x 1200p at  60Hz - VESA STD

EIA/CEA-861 Information
  Revision number… 3
  IT underscan… Supported
  Basic audio… Supported
  YCbCr 4:4:4… Supported
  YCbCr 4:2:2… Supported
  Native formats… 1
  Detailed timing #1… 1280x720p at 60Hz (16:9)
    Modeline… “1280x720” 74.250 1280 1390 1430 1650 720 725 730 750 +hsync +vsync
  Detailed timing #2… 1920x1080i at 60Hz (16:9)
    Modeline… “1920x1080” 74.250 1920 2008 2052 2200 1080 1084 1094 1124 interlace +hsync +vsync
  Detailed timing #3… 720x480p at 60Hz (16:9)
    Modeline… “720x480” 27.000 720 736 798 858 480 489 495 525 -hsync -vsync

CE video identifiers (VICs) - timing/formats supported
    1280 x  720p at  60Hz - HDTV (16:9, 1:1) [Native]
    1920 x 1080i at  60Hz - HDTV (16:9, 1:1)
     720 x  480p at  60Hz - EDTV (16:9, 32:27)
     720 x  480p at  60Hz - EDTV (4:3, 8:9)
    1920 x 1080p at  24Hz - HDTV (16:9, 1:1)
    1920 x 1080p at  30Hz - HDTV (16:9, 1:1)
    1920 x 1080p at  60Hz - HDTV (16:9, 1:1)
     720 x  480i at  60Hz - Doublescan (4:3, 8:9)
    1440 x  480p at  60Hz - DVD (16:9, 16:27)
    1440 x  480p at  60Hz - DVD (4:3, 4:9)
    2880 x  480i at  60Hz - Console (4:3, 2:9-20:9)
    2880 x  480p at  60Hz - Console (16:9, 8:27)
    2880 x  480p at  60Hz - Console (4:3, 2:9)
    NB: NTSC refresh rate = (Hz*1000)/1001

I wonder why it has listed both 1080  and 720 listed as native resolutions.  I hooked it up directly to my lg tv and had both Native/preferred timing at1920x1080p at 60Hz (16:9) but under CE video identifiers (VICs) - timing/formats supported 1280 x  720p at  60Hz - HDTV (16:9, 1:1) was listed as native.  any ideas?

oh one more thing. when my TX 608 is set to auto it selects 1080p.

Why does EVERY OTHER DEVICE I’VE CONNECTED to this TV, to EVERY HDMI port, work correctly EXCEPT the WDTV Live Plus?  How come everything else can choose the correct settings EXCEPT the WDTV Live Plus?  I’ve connected Xbox360, Roku, Sony Blu-ray, Philips DVD, my laptop… everything works without hassle except the WDTV Live Plus.

So yes, it is very logical to then assume that there is something wrong with the WDTV Live Plus.

1 Like

Until you post your EDID DATA, which is the purpose of this whole thread, yours is only an opinion.

I bought a WD TV Live Plus two days ago and it has been working beautifully aside from this issue. I too have an LG 60PK550 and the TV Live Plus only chooses 720p in “auto” mode, so I’ve been manually switching between 1080p24 and 1080p60 depending on content (although it’s harder to gauge the frame rate of some Netflix Watch Instantly content). I would hate to have to take this thing back over such a minor issue. If it is in fact a TV defect, might I suggest a “quick resolution switch” item in the “option” popup menu as a stopgap measure (or perhaps a mode where the refresh rate changes automatically but the resolution can be chosen manually)? Exiting out of Netflix (or regular video playback) and navigating to the resolution menu is already becoming a nuisance.

I’m sure this has also been discussed at length on this forum but I noticed that using digital HDMI audio out causes the device reset consistently when using Netflix. I only have a 2.1 speaker set up, so this isn’t much of an issue but I imagine that it’s rather inconvenient for users that have invested in surround sound.

Thanks!

Again, if MANY OTHER DEVICES have no trouble picking the correct resolution, and ONLY the WDTV Live Plus has a problem, it is not just my opinion.  I do not have the means to extract the EID data.

OK, I’ve run the moninfo program and this is the only information it gives me.  It seems 1080p is the native resolution being reported by my TV.  So again, why is WDTV Live Plus messing it up?

Monitor
  Model name… VOJ320F1A
  Windows description… Generic PnP Monitor
  Manufacturer… Vizio
  Plug and Play ID… VIZ0050
  Serial number… UPDQBK1101392
  Manufacture date… 2009, ISO week 11
  -------------------------
  EDID revision… 1.3
  Input signal type… Digital
  Color bit depth… Undefined
  Display type… RGB color
  Screen size… 700 x 390 mm (31.5 in)
  Power management… Not supported
  Extension blocs… 1 (Reserved - 0x00)
  -------------------------
  DDC/CI… n/a

Color characteristics
  Default color space… Non-sRGB
  Display gamma… 2.20
  Red chromaticity… Rx 0.638 - Ry 0.334
  Green chromaticity… Gx 0.291 - Gy 0.607
  Blue chromaticity… Bx 0.145 - By 0.062
  White point (default)… Wx 0.279 - Wy 0.292
  Additional descriptors… None

Timing characteristics
  Horizontal scan range… 31-70kHz
  Vertical scan range… 50-77Hz
  Video bandwidth… 150MHz
  CVT standard… Not supported
  GTF standard… Not supported
  Additional descriptors… None
  Preferred timing… Yes
  Native/preferred timing… 1920x1080p at 60Hz
    Modeline… “1920x1080” 148.500 1920 2008 2052 2200 1080 1085 1090 1125 +hsync +vsync

Standard timings supported
     720 x  400p at  70Hz - IBM VGA
     640 x  480p at  60Hz - IBM VGA
     640 x  480p at  72Hz - VESA
     640 x  480p at  75Hz - VESA
     800 x  600p at  56Hz - VESA
     800 x  600p at  60Hz - VESA
     800 x  600p at  72Hz - VESA
     800 x  600p at  75Hz - VESA
    1024 x  768p at  60Hz - VESA
    1024 x  768p at  70Hz - VESA
    1024 x  768p at  75Hz - VESA

Report information
  Date generated… 12/26/2010
  Software revision… 2.55.0.868
  Data source… Registry-Active
  Operating system… 6.1.7600.2