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snowcat

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HDMI on Contour box not compatible with HDMI on TV

My mother was forced to switch from the traditional Cox main cable box to Contour, and the Contour HDMI connection is apparently not compatible with the HDMI port on her first generation Sharp Aquos HD LCD TV (she just gets a blank screen), forcing her to use the much lower resolution coaxial connection.  Other devices, such as a laptop, DVD player, and Blu-Ray player, work fine with that TV HDMI port, and both the picture and sound on the TV are gorgeous, and worked perfectly with the old cable box, so she's not about to replace the TV.  According to the tech who came out to troubleshoot, the issue is apparently with the overly sensitive HDMI port on the Contour boxes.  Is there another type of box with alternate connections (i.e. DVI, composite, etc.) that Cox can provide at no additional charge?  She's already paying around $200 per month for TV, internet, and phone, and that's without having any movie channels or a DVR; and since it was Cox's choice to force the box change, the problem is on their end.

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Bruce

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An "overly sensitive" port doesn't sound very technical.  Cox has issued me receivers and equipment with faulty ports, so that'd be my first suspicion.  If the replacement box is still "sensitive," there are Contour receivers with outputs for component cables.

I can only suspect "sensitive" to mean an issue with piracy or encryption:  High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP).  Perhaps the Aquos doesn't support the HDCP version Cox uses to protect content.  I haven't tested but I've read an HDMI splitter would bypass HDCP.

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Becky

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Hi Snowcat, I agree with Bruce. I'm not satisfied with the "sensitive HDMI" explanation. You mentioned testing the specific HDMI port on the TV with other devices; did you also test the HDMI cord with a device other than the Contour receiver? It's possible the issue is with that particular HDMI cord. If you commandeer the HDMI cord from your Blu-Ray player and use it to connect the TV and Contour receiver, do you still get the blank screen? Be sure to try every TV HDMI port. If you still see only a blank screen, swapping the box is my next suggestion. We do offer Contour receivers with both HDMI and composite connections; however, I have no way of checking Cox Solutions Store inventory levels. A retail representative would be able to see what receivers are available for you. -Becky, Cox Support Forums Moderator

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snowcat

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The TV only has one HDMI port, so there aren't any others to test.  I did try testing multiple cables, from the original generic HDMI cable that came with the TV all the way up to a high end braided high speed HDMI 2 cord, with the same results.  The tech swapped out the Contour box with another box of the same model and it had the identical issue.  He said he couldn't use a different Contour box with additional connections because the only one he had was the DVR box, and Cox would charge extra for it.  The only thing I haven't tried yet is an HDMI splitter as suggested by Bruce, that may be my next step.  

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