DMP-BDT350, BDT300 Blu-ray 3D Player with Onkyo/Integra receiver or preamp/processor

[MrBoylan]

Hey, gang,

Just got the Panasonic DMP-BDT350 Blu-ray 3D player in for review, along with the 50-inch VT25 3D TV. Image quality is exceptionally good in 2D and 3D but I'm having an issue with the sound. One of the major advantages of the BDT300 and BDT350 over other Blu-ray 3D players are their dual HDMI outputs. These are designed so that you can pass the Blu-ray 3D (HDMI 1.4) signal to your 3D TV, while passing the audio to an HDMI 1.3-compatible receiver or preamp/processor. All great in theory, but my experience so far has been that I get no sound over HDMI (the sub output) when the HDMI 1.4 output is active and in use.

I suspect this is more of an Onkyo/Integra problem, as it is not the first HDMI-relater problem I've had on this otherwise excellent preamp. But getting Onkyo to acknowledge a problem, deliver a fix has been like pulling teeth in my experience. Yeah, I could just upgrade to an HDMI 1.4-compatible receiver or pre/pro, but this thing is less than 3 years old and was the top of the line pre/pro in 2007/early 2008.

So if any of you faithful forum readers or lurkers have a Panasonic Blu-ray 3D player, please post ehre your experience using the HDMI sub output for audio while using the main output for video, directly to the TV.

Thanks,

-Chris

[mikebego]

Have been searching for a solution but none found...

[MrBoylan]

Have been searching for a solution but none found...

Yes, actually, I probably should have posted earlier. You can work around this issue with Onkyo and Integra receivers and preamp/processors by disabling the HDMI output on the receiver temporarily, while you are watching 3D content. You can do this from the remote by holding the "Display" button for 6 seconds. You'll see the front display of the receiver say HDMI Output OFF once it has been disabled.

The tricky part is if you want to incorporate that into a universal remote, like a Harmony. In order to get an extended button push into a Harmony activity, you need to open a case with Logitech's Level 2 harmony support folks. I did that and was able to incorporate the HDMI output ON and OFF into activities.

Integra also tells me that this has been fixed with firmware upgrades (at least they say they cannot reproduce the problem with my preamp with a more recent firmware release on it), but those are things that must be done at the service center for Onkyo and Integra receivers.

Hope that helps.

-CB