HDMI Port Not Working on Panasonic Plasma HDTV

Hardware and technical stuff
1

Hey guys, I’ve run into an odd problem with our 46 inch TC-P46S30 Panny Plasma TV. For some reason, one of the HDMI ports isn’t taking a signal. There are three, two on the back and on on the side. HDM1 and 2 are on the back, while 3 is on the side. 1 and 3 work fine, but 2 doesn’t seem to take any signal from any device I try. I’ve looked through the settings and the manual, and am contacting Panasonic support as well, but I thought I’d hit y’all up and see if y’all had any advice or suggestions.

Thanks!

2

Unplug it for 15 minutes or so and then give it a crack?

3

Have you only tried one cord? If so, I’d recommend trying a cord that you absolutely know works.

4

That sounds neat, I’ll give it a whirl.

I did, I have the PS3 plugged into HDMI 1, which works great. Plugged into HDMI 2, TV says it has no signal. Plug it back into HDMI 1 again, works like a champ.

5

Have you tried using a drill on the TV?

6

They can break. I had a lightning strike near my house that took them out many years ago.

7

individual HDMI ports can break?

8

I had a problem with an oldish TV sporadically taking a signal from various devices.

Finally, I got a DHCP stripper (they sell them as “hdmi splitters”), and since then I’ve had no problems connecting whatever I want.

Alternatively you could just get an HDMI splitter for your HDMI port 3. Monoprice sells some. It’s a bit of a pain to need to hit an extra button thought. It should come with a tiny remote too.

9

Yeah, that was my next step, just a pain is all.

10

<pedant>I think you probably mean a HDCP stripper, not a DHCP stripper.</pedant>

11

Had it happen on one of my plasmas too back when costco still had the lifetime returns. . I now have a hdmi -switching receiver, so only ever use hdmi 1 now.

12

Which one do you use?

13

HDMI switches should all do the same thing at this point right? So, my recommendation is to just grab a highly rated one on Amazon with a remote control so you don’t have to get off your ass (and can program your Harmony or whatever). Like this one? http://smile.amazon.com/Kinivo-301BN-Premium-wireless-adapter/dp/B0049S6ZUS/

Or am I missing something, guys?

14

I’d rather do that than pay for the entire TV to be repaired for one HDMI port, but I was just asking if there was any way to test or fix an HDMI port on a TV.

15

Oh, shit, sorry, totally misunderstood.

You can take your TV apart and most likely you will never figure out what little capacitor (probably it’s that) is broken. If you have the best luck the port will have become loose where it’s soldered onto the board, and you could repair the solder and have it work again. It would certainly be easier to do this than find a broken component (or figure out it’s on an IC that you cannot fix, ever)

If you aren’t comfortable working on your own TV, you might be able to find a repair shop who can do what I described, but they will certainly charge more than the $15-30 you’ll pay for an HDMI switch.

The chances your problem isn’t hardware-related at this point I think are nil.

Edit: I don’t know about plasma tech, but CRTs back in the day would have caps in them that could easily kill you, long after disconnected from power. If plasma has similarly sized caps (doubtful, honestly) then I would not recommend cracking open your TV for any reason.

16

Did you try a factory reset on the TV?

17

I’ve not tried a factory reset, no. Kinda don’t want to either. :/

18

I think any last hope of it being a software problem will probably be uncovered with a factory reset. Did you do extensive color tuning? Might be worth getting that switch if you did. :/

19

Yeah, I like how I’ve tweaked the settings and don’t wanna lose that. I GUESS I could write everything down but bleh.

20

Well, if you talk to Panny tech support, they will likely tell you to perform a factory reset anyway.

Or you could follow the suggestion of getting an HDMI switcher. Or better still, an AV receiver with a bunch of HDMI inputs. And a set of 5.1 surround speakers! Yeah!