Panasonic BD-80: Picture and sound out of sync when playing dvd

[The_Norwegian]

Hello,

I'm new here...

I have a Panasonic BD-80 connected via hdmi to my Sony kdl-40w5500 tv. When playing bd disks the sound is in sync with the picture. However, when I play dvds (I upscale dvds to 1080p) the sound is slightly out of sync with the picture. It's difficult to tell but it seems the sound is slightly ahead of the picture.

I've googled the issue to no avail. I see reports of lip sync problems with the BD-80 but only when the sound is through a separate AV system. I have both picture and sound via hdmi directly to tv (no AV system involved).

I have latest version of firmware both in tv and bd player.

Any ideas and help would be most welcome!

[MrBoylan]

I haven't heard of that issue, but it's more likely to be the TV at fault here than the player as the TV is doing most of the video processing that can slow down the screen refresh speed. There are a few things you can try. The problem is caused by the audio and video processors not being in sync, in other words, it takes a little longer to process the video than it does the audio (or vice versa). So if you switch around where the audio and video are being processed, or disable some of the processing, then things might change. Here are my suggestions - all of these will either switch processing from player to TV or vice versa, or will disable video processing in the TV so that it can "catch up" with the audio. Try them in this order, watch some content after you make the change to see if it has any effect. Reverse the change if it has no effect:

1. The first, and simplest change is to go into the digital audio set-up screen on the BD80, and switch both options from bitstream to PCM. This will do the audio decoding in the player.
2. Try the "Game" mode setting in the Sony's picture menu. The Game mode generally disables all video processing so that the TV is more responsive (faster to refresh the screen). You can still adjust things like contrast and brightness, but you will lose the heavy video processing in the TV
3. Disable any motion interpolation processing on the TV (on the Sony, this is called "Motion Flow" - set it to OFF).
4. Experiment with the "Film" setting in the TV's video settings menu (Auto 1, Auto 2 or OFF) - Auto 2 is going to give you the most accurate film motion, but try all three settings and see which you prefer for film-based DVD content.
5. Just for experimentation purposes, eliminate the Blu-ray player's DVD upconversion processing by temporarily setting the output resolution on the player to 480p. This will output the DVD at 480p and will rely on the TV to do the upconversion processing and scaling.
6. If none of the above helps, then try connecting the audio and video separately to the TV. HDMI for video, stereo left/right (white/red) RCA cables for audio. To do this, you MUST use the HDMI 1 input on your TV, and you'll need a cable that has stereo RCA (white/red) on one end to 3.5mm stereo headphone style jack on the other end, in order to plug into the HDMI 1 analog audio input jack on the back of your TV.

I have a feeling that one of the above settings is going to improve things, but if not, then really I can't think of anything else to try. If you're attached to that TV and player, then your only option would be to get an actual audio receiver which includes a lip synch adjustment on it and use external speakers for sound. This is a good idea for a number of reasons (not the least of which that most TV speakers sound like crap).

Good luck and let us know if any of these settings help or change the lip sync issues.

-CB

[The_Norwegian]

Hi,

Thanks for the answer. I'll try the things you suggest.

A note on your point 6 though: I've already tried to do this. Hdmi from player to hdmi 1 in tv, stereo RCA to jack from player to analog input jack on tv. My problem then is I don't get any sound at all (and yes I've set "hdmi audio out" to "off" in the player). If I remove the hdmi cable I hear the sound (but get no picture, surprise, surprise!), but once I insert the hdmi I get the picture back but no sound. So for some reason (even if the tv manual suggests this approach if you have any equipment with DVI) the tv doesn't seem to allow for sound and picture to come from two different inputs at the same time.

But I'll try your point 1 to 4 in order and report back.

[The_Norwegian]

None of the points 1 to 5 seemed to make any difference, and I cant get point 6 to produce any sound at all.

But anyway I appreciate the help!

[MrBoylan]

None of the points 1 to 5 seemed to make any difference, and I cant get point 6 to produce any sound at all.

But anyway I appreciate the help!

Sounds like it's time for a new player or a new TV (or a receiver with adjustable lip sync delays)!

[MrBoylan]

A note on your point 6 though: I've already tried to do this. Hdmi from player to hdmi 1 in tv, stereo RCA to jack from player to analog input jack on tv. My problem then is I don't get any sound at all (and yes I've set "hdmi audio out" to "off" in the player). If I remove the hdmi cable I hear the sound (but get no picture, surprise, surprise!), but once I insert the hdmi I get the picture back but no sound. So for some reason (even if the tv manual suggests this approach if you have any equipment with DVI) the tv doesn't seem to allow for sound and picture to come from two different inputs at the same time.

Weird. After you disabled the HDMI audio output on the player in the player's menu, did you then power cycle the TV (off, then back on)? If not, then the EDID handshake was already done, and, as far as the TV was concerned, it was getting audio from the player, even if that audio was blank. Try it again with a power cycle to the TV after you turn off the HDMI audio output just to make sure. Again, I'm not sure this is really going to solve your problem, but it's worth a shot.

It is strange that it only affects DVDs, as no one has really reported this kind of problem with the BD80 that I've seen, and I never noticed it during out review. And if the TV were at fault, then turning off all the video processing (specifically that motionflow stuff), should have made a difference.

Your other option is to hook up the player to the TV using component video and analog audio, in addition to HDMI. Use the HDMI input on the TV for Blu-rays and use the component video/analog audio input for DVDs. You will get 480i output from the player this way, which means you'll be using the TV's scaling and de-interlacing, but the trade-off in picture quality might be worth it if the audio is really annoying right now. I was going to suggest this as one of the list, but I thought you had enough to try.

Also, this pushes all the video processing to the TV again, so you may still have the same issue. Worth a shot though if you have a component video and analog audio cable around to test with.

Anyway... good luck and I hope you're able to find some kind of workaround!

-Chris

[The_Norwegian]

Weird. After you disabled the HDMI audio output on the player in the player's menu, did you then power cycle the TV (off, then back on)? If not, then the EDID handshake was already done, and, as far as the TV was concerned, it was getting audio from the player, even if that audio was blank. Try it again with a power cycle to the TV after you turn off the HDMI audio output just to make sure. Again, I'm not sure this is really going to solve your problem, but it's worth a shot.

Well, I've tried turning off both tv and player after setting hdmi audio output to "off". Still no sound. When I turn on the player the tv automatically turns on, then the sound comes on after a litte while but once the picture comes on, the sound goes silent. So regardless what it says in the tv manual the tv doesn't seem to accept picture and sound from two various inputs.

I "converted" to blu ray and flatscreen only this spring. I used to have a dvd player and CRT televison connected by SCART (no sync problems then). When I once made the plunge I chose tv and player that were reasonably priced, yet had received good reviews. Picture-wise I'm very happy indeed, but the sync annoys me a little. We're after all talking 2010 and the latest of technology here..

[The_Norwegian]

[*]If none of the above helps, then try connecting the audio and video separately to the TV. HDMI for video, stereo left/right (white/red) RCA cables for audio. To do this, you MUST use the HDMI 1 input on your TV, and you'll need a cable that has stereo RCA (white/red) on one end to 3.5mm stereo headphone style jack on the other end, in order to plug into the HDMI 1 analog audio input jack on the back of your TV.[/LIST]-CB

I contacted Sony Support. Was told that this sound input was meant for use with PC only. So that explains why I couldn't get it to work.

[MrBoylan]

Yeah technically that's what the separate audio inputs are for - connection of a computer with a DVI output (which doesn't include sound) using a DVI to HDMI adapter cable, to the TV. But I see no reason why you shouldn't be able to use it with an HDMI output device as long as there is no audio in the signal. I'm surprised Sony doesn't give you the option in the TV's set-up menu as to which audio to use for the HDMI input. Seems like it just does auto-switching based on what it thinks you want to do.

I noticed that you said that the TV turns itself on or off depending on power to the player, which means you have VIERA Link and Bravia Link turnwed on (HDMI-CEC). It's possible that doing this is interfering with the TV's ability to accept that analog audio based on meta data in the HDMI connection. If you trn off HDMI audio output, disable BraviaLink from the TV and VIERA Link from the player, then it's possible it would accept the analog input. But even if it did, it doesn't necessarily mean you will get the synch issue solved.

Did you ever try the component video/analog audio connection? Again, the only drawback to this approach is that it passes upconversion from the player (which is pretty good at upconversion) to the TV (which may be less so).

But it's a trade off. If this solves your synch issue, then it might be worth a trade-off in picture quality. At least Blu-rays work!

-CB

[The_Norwegian]

Yeah technically that's what the separate audio inputs are for - connection of a computer with a DVI output (which doesn't include sound) using a DVI to HDMI adapter cable, to the TV. But I see no reason why you shouldn't be able to use it with an HDMI output device as long as there is no audio in the signal. I'm surprised Sony doesn't give you the option in the TV's set-up menu as to which audio to use for the HDMI input. Seems like it just does auto-switching based on what it thinks you want to do.

I noticed that you said that the TV turns itself on or off depending on power to the player, which means you have VIERA Link and Bravia Link turnwed on (HDMI-CEC). It's possible that doing this is interfering with the TV's ability to accept that analog audio based on meta data in the HDMI connection. If you trn off HDMI audio output, disable BraviaLink from the TV and VIERA Link from the player, then it's possible it would accept the analog input. But even if it did, it doesn't necessarily mean you will get the synch issue solved.

Did you ever try the component video/analog audio connection? Again, the only drawback to this approach is that it passes upconversion from the player (which is pretty good at upconversion) to the TV (which may be less so).

But it's a trade off. If this solves your synch issue, then it might be worth a trade-off in picture quality. At least Blu-rays work!

-CB

Yes, Sony Support said there was no option in the tv's menu to adjust. The sound would come automatically... but then only with a PC connected, I gather. I tried turning off Bravia and Viera Link, and even turned off both tv and player afterwards to make sure both would start up with these features disabled. Still no sound.

My next move will be to test the player on a friend's tv. If the error is still there the player must be faulty. If not, I'll need to get the tv serviced....