In one of the recent updates, I suppose it was stated that the issue of video screen resolution automatically changing has been resolved. But after last update, it has gone from bad to worse. The settings never stays at 1080p 60 hz and now, the color space also changes to something else on startup. It does not stay at RGB high (atleast in the navigation screens). The unit keeps forgetting the last audip/video settings. This is frustrating. When can we get a true fix for this issue? Kindly let me know
I have been posting about this problem for over 9 months now. For me, the problem has existed in one form or another for ALL firmware versions since I bought it (1.03.29, 1.03.39, 1.03.43, 1.03.49, 1.04.10, 1.04.17, 1.04.22, 1.04.31, and 1.05.04). There have been numerous posts about this issue but no one from WD has ever acknowleged or mentioned this problem.
When you manually set the resolution and color space, the box should remember those settings the next time that you turn it on. I really do not understand why the box does not remember the video settings. This should be a simple fix and it would solve many problems that people have posted about.
As I said, I have been posting about this for over 9 months so don’t get your hopes up that this will be fixed anytime soon. I think that all we can do is to write to WD customer support about the problem, and hope that enough people complain so that they will put this issue on their list of things to fix.
Truth be told, this appears to be one area where things go backwards instead of forwards… seems to me as if more settings are “forgotten” as firmwares progress forwards.
This is unfair on part of WDTV team to ignore our requests. We are not demanding an exciting feature here. It is just a simple memory fix, which should not be a big challenge even for the newest device engineer who got a job with them… I am going to write to them shortly. Lets see how long they take to get rid of the issue.
The issue is not confined to the WDTV Live box. There are a number of forums reporting similar issues with other brands using Sigma chips. The issue seems to be the hardware handshaking between the Sigma HDMI port and the digital TV HDMI port. My understanding is that the Sigma HDMI port does not remember the handshaking output values. It is the job of the digital TV to acknowledge the handshake and lock into the Sigma generated HDMI signal. Some digital TV’s seem to have a better handshake acknowledgement than others. I would suggest that people experiencing the issue submit a formal written complaint directly to WD and request a formal written answer. Include the brand and model number of your digital TV.
thepanoguy, what you are saying about the Sigma chip and the HDMI handshaking is true, but regardless of that, there is no reason why WD can’t solve this problem.
When auto-negotiation is taking place, what you said about the Sigma chip is probably the reason why the WD box does not set the output resolution and color space correctly. However, when the user MANUALLY sets the resolution/frequency and color space, there is no reason why the box cannot remember these settings and use them the next time that the device is powered on.
When the user has selected Auto, it makes sense for auto-negotiation to take place. However, when the user has manually set the video output, the box should store those settings in memory and use them the next time that the box is powered on. The box should not be trying to auto-negotiate, because the user has already manually set the video output to what he wants it to be. There is no reason for auto-negotiation to take place.
When I go into the WD setup and manually set the resolution/frequency and color space to 1080i 60Hz and RGB Low, it works every time on the first try. This means that if the WD box would remember these settings, it could call this same routine to set the video output the next time that it powers up (just like it does when you manually set it).
Even if for some reason the Sigma chip HAS to auto-negotiate when the device is powered on (for example because of programming that is built in to the chip and cannot be changed) the WD software could just wait until the auto-negotiation has completed, and then set the video output to the values that it saved when you manually set it.
@ Scandy, I agree with you 100%. You should be able to set and forget and the WDTV Live box should remember those settings.
Sigma is very secretive about the technical specifications for their chips. The reason being cable and satellite piracy. I am a hardware guy; I read technical documents. I found a number of Sigma documents on the net which imply they were derived from the Sigma SDK. Those documents imply that the Sigma chips were designed compliant to the professional DVB / ATSC digital broadcast standards.
Manufacturer’s formed alliances and compiled compliance specifications. Unfortunately consumer grade components and chips contain very sloppy manufacturing tolerances. Reading through the complaints on various forums it seems that there are enough tolerances in various digital devices to cause consumer problems.
I have downloaded the GPL content of the WDTV Live box. Unfortunately the Linux kernel component dealing with the Sigma hardware and software functions are not disclosed. I think the only way the issues will be resolved is for WD and Sigma to publicly disclose those sections of the Sigma chip which are not affected by piracy and permit the software hackers to experiment and feedback their findings to WD and Sigma.
Until WD and Sigma decide to disclose the required information, I don’t think the issue will ever be resolved.
I am going to write to them shortly. Lets see how long they take to get rid of the issue. 