Bug in HDMI 2.1 Chipset May Cause Black Screen on Your Xbox Series X Console or NVIDIA GPU

Purgatory · 28 Oct 2020 at 03:35

Bug in HDMI 2.1 Chipset May Cause Black Screen on Your Xbox Series X Console or NVIDIA GPU

https://www.techpowerup.com/273852/...n-on-your-xbox-series-x-console-or-nvidia-gpu

SDK^ · 28 Oct 2020 at 06:20

Purgatory said:
Bug in HDMI 2.1 Chipset May Cause Black Screen on Your Xbox Series X Console or NVIDIA GPU

https://www.techpowerup.com/273852/...n-on-your-xbox-series-x-console-or-nvidia-gpu

I watched a video on this a couple of days ago and the black screen issue through HDMI 2.1 only occurs when running a pass through some HDMI 2.1 ‘compliant’ amps.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/forums/posts/34118906

Pretty sure this affects a very small number of users.

mmj_uk · 28 Oct 2020 at 09:59

As I understand it the consoles are not directly affected but rather the latest Receivers are unable to pass-through 4K/120fps or 8K due to some incompatibility in how their chipset operates.

spaceman · 28 Oct 2020 at 11:29

I watched a video on this yesterday, luckily i don't use an AV receiver. Assuming my TV is HDMI 2.1 (uncompressed) like the XBSX i should be fine.

V F · 28 Oct 2020 at 15:18

So it was nothing but headlines once again?

rare · 30 Oct 2020 at 17:45

V F said:
So it was nothing but headlines once again?

Well no, the headlines are correct to a point, but the problem is with current 2.1 AV Amps. The consoles and TV’s are fine. But put a 2.1 amp in between them and you’ve got a problem.

This is annoying especially as the consoles no longer have any separate audio out. There’s always earc though...if it works.

ciggybumly · 31 Oct 2020 at 08:59

What would be the capabilities of a hdmi 2.0 amp/receiver? I take it would show a passthrough picture but at only 4k 60hz?

Chaos666 · 31 Oct 2020 at 12:52

SDK^ said:
I watched a video on this a couple of days ago and the black screen issue through HDMI 2.1 only occurs when running a pass through some HDMI 2.1 ‘compliant’ amps.
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/forums/posts/34118906
Pretty sure this affects a very small number of users.

I agree.. most people play consoles just on the tv or with headphones...

rare · 1 Nov 2020 at 00:38

ciggybumly said:
What would be the capabilities of a hdmi 2.0 amp/receiver? I take it would show a passthrough picture but at only 4k 60hz?

Yeah exactly, 4K 60hz max.

Grim5 · 1 Nov 2020 at 02:50

This only affects avr using Panasonic hdmi2.1 connectors. Might happen on Panasonic tv too

rare · 1 Nov 2020 at 20:52

Grim5 said:
This only affects avr using Panasonic hdmi2.1 connectors. Might happen on Panasonic tv too

Confusingly the chip comes from Panasonic Solutions which I believe is a separate company to Panasonic.

mmj_uk · 20 Nov 2020 at 21:05

There might be some legs to this impacting PS5? according to Vincent Teoh at HDTVTest PS5 is currently limited to 32Gb/s HDMI 2.1 which means it can only do 4K/120fps at 4:2:2 chroma (not full RGB) and according to a teardown PS5 uses the Panasonic MN864739 (actually Nuvoton technology) HDMI 2.1 chip. I don't know the exact chip the bugged receivers use but I know they were Nuvoton Panasonic chips.

HDTVTest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpA4HfikU4w
Teardown: https://www.4gamer.net/games/990/G999027/20201116053

A description of the bug:

The cause of the problems, it’s alleged, is a known bug in the Panasonic Solutions HDMI chips the AVRs use (Panasonic Solutions is now under the ownership of Nuvoton Technology). The bug apparently affects the way HDMI 2.1’s Fixed Rate Link (FRL) feature works - and unfortunately, early investigations suggest that the problem cannot be fixed by a mere firmware update.

The bug was said to be a signalling issue but perhaps it's a 40Gb/s issue? if the PS5 is limited to 32Gb/s then maybe that is why it wasn't affected by the issue with receivers. Why would Sony limit HDMI bandwidth at the expense of image quality if the hardware is capable?

chrcoluk · 23 Nov 2020 at 12:11

this might be related to the instant on bug I have, someone else with the same bug fixed it with a hdmi 2.0 cable, this fix I havent tested yet. I do have a capture device passing through the signal.

if they struggle to fix this issue, it serves them right for removing optical out, some times telemetry can lead to awful things happening like features with not many users as a % been removed.