PS3 HDMI (handshake) problem (vizio TV)

[Bob Fiala]

I read countless threads about this, most if not all from many years ago, but nothing I've read/tried has solved my problem. My problem started yesterday 9/16/2016.

 

1. THE EQUIPMENT.

a. a older but previously problem free 80GB PS3 fat (long ago upgraded to 500GB hard drive without issue).

b. a previously problem free Vizio 65" HD smart TV. Model D650i-B2.

c. an HDMI cable which always worked in the past (and since a 2nd "presumed good" HDMI cable I had lying around).

 

2. THE PROBLEM. After maybe a month of two of non-use my (always worked perfectly) PS3/Vizio TV combo developed a strange and severe problem.

a. The PS3 will boot to and display the XMB in 1080p no problem.

b. The PS3 will load and display certain games in 1080p no problem (Sports Champions, Super Stardust HD).

c. The PS3 will load but WON'T DISPLAY (either partially or at all) certain games, most notably Rock Band 3 and Rock Band Blitz, but also Zombie Apoclyapse (although I have a large library of games, I only play a few anymore and don't see what good a laundry list of working/non-working games would do).

d. The exact symptoms of the failure seems to change just about every time I try it but common elements are no signal, black screen, pixaleted noise, pixelation over picture, and every once in a while a few (rare) seconds of clear video. These "failures" occur while the TV automatically switches from one output resolution to another every few seconds, seemingly randomly, with common landing points being 720p and 1080p, not that oddball numbers like 1920x720 or 2160x84 don't pop up occasionally. I can only assume it's trying to find the proper resolution while at the same time continually passing it by).

e. Also, there is no sound during the display failure, but I think that solving the video/handshake issue will take care of that, so I'm not worried about this in and of itself (sound does work on the games that do work). 

 

3. THE "SOLUTIONS" that have failed to help.

a. Resetting the PS3/resetting the video settings/trying many different display configurations (just about everything short of completely formatting the hard drive).

b. Resetting the TV to factory defaults/hard reset (this seemed to do some good).

c. Different HDMI cable.

d. Powering of and unplugging everything.

e. ...and a bunch of other stuff. If it's the first thing one should try, then I've tried it. If it's touted as a solution on every forum, then I've tried it. If anyone suggests holding down the power button on the PS3 until the 2nd beep, I'll know you didn't bother to read this far.

 

This equipment is used only be myself and is generally well cared for. There was no outside intervention that occurred to damage either the TV or console (wasn't dropped or abused by kids), except for possibly a neighborhood power failure. If caused by a power surge/failure, no other electronics in the home were damaged and the TV/PS3 is connected to a power strip/surge protector, although probably not a very good one.

 

I'm somewhat tech savvy, but have run out of ideas. I don't know too much about how HDMI or handshaking works so I'm just resorting to what others have tried as I run out of "common sense" solutions. The "solution" that seemed to do the most good was the hard reset of the TV. The rendered the XBM screen (at 1080p) 100% reliable, whereas before it would show up sometimes and sometimes not (at which point I briefly used a composite cable). This leads me to believe the fault lies somewhere between the TV and the PS3 (70/30). I don't know what else to do. HELP ME.

 

*** INSTANT EDIT. Since starting this post and in anticipation of the most obvious advice, I went one step further. I connected the PS3 to a different 1080p HD TV that it had also been previously paired with (years ago) without issue. It does the exact same thing with this TV as the other one. So I guess maybe it's the PS3 HDMI port/board after all. Assuming that's correct (which it may or may not be) what makes certain games unable to display properly while others with similar output (and the XMB) can?

 

I have some pics, but I don't think they will do much good. Just confirmation of what I've stated so not bothering to post them.

[Bob Fiala]

Never mind. Seems the HDMI output on my PS3 was failing. Eventually 1080p/i resolutions started to drop out too, I went with a component cable instead and still have 1080i through component, though no 1080p, but 1080i is still pretty damn good even on a really big screen.