06-05-2016 16:52
As per the title, the update has caused the box to stop outputting 1920x1200. Changing manually between 720/16:9 in the settings does nothing and it will only display at 640x480.
I'm guessing it is something to do with the fact I am using an HDMI to DVI converter to watch on a monitor, but it worked fine until this update broke it. Is there a way to roll back to the last firmware version, I would prefer to do that as the layout in this update is crap anyway.
06-05-2016 19:41
06-05-2016 20:01 - edited 06-05-2016 20:03
Hi, it's a Dell 2707WFP; I've got two of them and tried the box on both in the desperate hope it might work on the other one, but no dice. They are pretty ancient by today's standards, perhaps it's something to do with the new Now TV update not recognising the EDID or something.
It's a bit odd that you can manually choose 1080p output on the NowTV box, it acts as if it is changing the resolution but still only outputs as 640x480. It does indeed seem like the internal resolution on the box has actually changed but it is scaled down to 480p on output regardless.
06-05-2016 20:27
@Anonymous User wrote:Hi, it's a Dell 2707WFP; I've got two of them and tried the box on both in the desperate hope it might work on the other one, but no dice.
Oh the mysteries of DVI along with its EDID protocols!
Out of interest, is there any particular reason why you are using the 'lower spec' NOW TV 'white' box and not the 'black' box which offers more EDID options?
06-05-2016 20:36 - edited 06-05-2016 20:37
The reason I'm using the white box is because it has an analogue audio output; the black box only does audio over HDMI and I have no HDMI connection, also I didn't particularly like the GUI layout on the black box but I guess that's no longer avoidable! I had no idea the black box had more EDID compatibility, though I suppose it would due to being newer?
To be honest I think it'd be better if the Now TV box completely ignored EDID, it already has the failsafe 'does this resolution look correct' confirmation box so it's not likely to lock you into an incompatible resolution by accident.
06-05-2016 20:45 - edited 06-05-2016 20:46
@Anonymous User wrote:To be honest I think it'd be better if the Now TV box completely ignored EDID, it already has the failsafe 'does this resolution look correct' confirmation box so it's not likely to lock you into an incompatible resolution by accident.
Well no device fitted with an HDMI output can ignore 'HDMI' EDID codes because it a mandatory requirment of the HDMI specification. Technically however they can ignore 'DVI' EDID codes. Hence (maybe) your issue!
06-05-2016 20:59 - edited 06-05-2016 21:05
Ah, I see what you mean
Thanks for the explanation, that seems a very likely scenario - I just hope more people report this issue so they have an incentive to fix it because, take it from me, watching 640x480 stretched to 1920x1200 looks absolutely awful!
Weird that it will do 720p fine when booting up, I suppose it checks the EDID after for some reason.
cheers
06-05-2016 21:07
For the sake of interest. It would be interesting to know if you have better luck with a 'black' NOW TV box. If you can't afford to buy one (for experimenting with) there might be some people on this forum who would be willing to post one of their spare boxes out to you
06-05-2016 22:10
I do have a black box in the living room but it's in use at the moment, I'll give it a go when I get a chance and post back with the result.
07-05-2016 13:29 - edited 07-05-2016 13:31
So it turns out my white box is now dead, well the HDMI output is at least. I tried to wake it up this morning by pressing a button on the remote and... nothing. Tried resetting it, still nothing. After doing a long reset there is still no video output, but the white led is flashing so I assume it has reached the setup screen.
I tried plugging it into a TV and resetting it again but there's no video output whatsoever, it seems that somehow the update has killed it. I also noticed it gets burning hot on the top now, although I'm not sure if it did this before. I also tried the black box and it has the same problem with my monitor so I guess the new software simply has this bug built into it.
This sucks, I don't want to buy another white box if the 480p problem doesn't get fixed, and I assume it won't as the black box doesn't work either. I wish tech companies didn't update stuff for the sake of updating; it was completely fine before and now I am stuck with no solution and a broken box. Not happy.
07-05-2016 13:35 - edited 07-05-2016 13:37
@Anonymous User wrote:This sucks, I don't want to buy another white box if the 480p problem doesn't get fixed, and I assume it won't as the black box doesn't work either.
So what was the maximum resolution your DVI connected screen was able to display using the 'black' box. And did you select both of the black boxes HDMI video output resolutions?