[RESOLVED] Samsung television doesn't like HDMI connections

I have a Samsung 630 LCD television with a connection problem. The main feed is Cox Cable through a HD/DVR box connected to “component 1” using five coax cables and a dvd/vhs player connected to "aux 1” using three cables, which works fine.

The Cox guy said that I should hook it up with the HDMI for better quality, but that’s where the hookup problem occurs. When I hook anything to HDMI-1 and then go to the television’s input selection, HDMI-1 is missing from the list of selections. Unkook it from HDMI-1 and hook it into HDMI-2, and HDMI-1 is back in the list of selections, but HDMI-2 has disappeared.

This is not that big a deal, since I’m not upset with the quality of the picture I’m getting with the five cables, but I thought I’d see if you folks could shed any light.

What manufacturer of HDMI cable are you using? If you are using one from a reputable manufacturer, it should be OK, but if it is a brand X cable, it might be faulty. In any case, you can try a different cable to see if that might be the problem. If the HDMI ports disappear from the menu selections when you plug something in to them, and reappear when that device is unplugged, that indicates that the TV thinks that there is no usable signal on the port. You might also check to see if there is a setting on the cable box that you need to change to get the output to go to the HDMI port.

Or the disappear part could be a change of color that you're having trouble seeing.

Tried several different brands of HDMI cable, bought at Best Buy and Staples; gold connectors. I don't think it's a color issue, because there are no gaps in the list; spacing is uniform with no gap where the "missing" HDMI number should be. This happens, I should add, with both the cable box and the dvd player.

That sounds like it might be a mainboard issue with the TV then, since it is not recognizing any HDMI input source. You could try the following: Unplug (do not just turn off) the TV overnight, then plug it back in and see if it recognizes an HDMI source.

All good suggestions, but no joy. I unplugged the television overnight, but issue remains. That leaves, perhaps, a defect in the television; corrected, probably, only by buying a new television. Not worth that since the picture quality is perfectly adequate for these elderly eyes even after having cataracts removed. (Which, bye the way, is like having a brand new pair of eyeballs. Awesome.)