Humax Not Working With New LG TV

I have recently purchased a new LG 4K Nano Cell TV in the hope of using it with my Humax Fox HDR T2 box.

However, while the TV works on the antenna input, there appears to be no signal on the HDMI input for the Humax box.

The picture begins to play for about half a second when first turned on, before going to a green screen.

The Humax box works fine on an older TV, and I have tried using different HDMI cables.

I have tried two different TV sets of the same model, but neither have worked.

Any advice appreciated.

I think you've done some useful troubleshooting there. Thanks for posting that info.

Where the screen is going green then it suggests that there's a technical problem in the handshake between the T2 and LG TV. This is one of the quirks of HDMI. Everything with the physical connections can be perfect, but it's a sort of permission thing called HDCP where the TV doesn't have the recorder "on the guest list", so to speak.

There have been a few cases with the Fox HDR T2 where there's no sound to some 4K TVs. It sounds as if things have progressed further to the point where the entire signal is muted.

In order to move forward in the short term, you need a working connection between the recorder and the TV so that you can try a few settings changes. Along with the HDMI output, the Fox HDR T2 has SCART, composite video + stereo audio (yellow, red, white RCAs) and an RF loop through. The composite + stereo audio might be the simplest connection. For the purposes of testing settings, it doesn't matter that this won't give full HD resolution.

Once you have a working connection to the TV, your first job is to make sure the Humax is running on the latest firmware for the recorder. The option for a software update is in the Settings menu under the Installation sub menu. You will need a live internet connection for this, so that may involve borrowing or purchasing a long enough Ethernet cable, or using some other method, to connect the Humax to your internet router.

After the update, switch off both the TV and the Humax at the wall socket - unplug if necessary - allow 20 seconds, then re-supply mains power to both. Switch on the TV and then the recorder. Try the HDMI connection once more. If still no joy, go back to the AV connection and try the next step.

Next, try changing the Humax resolution to 1080i by pressing the V-Format button. 576i and 1080i are the two resolutions used by broadcast TV. The other two resolutions are synthesised by the box, so we should avoid those. Try the 1080i setting and put the T2 on to a HD channel. Try switching to HDMI again. If this still doesn't work, switch all to standby and try the HDMI in to one of the other HDMI sockets on the TV except the one marked ARC.

There's not really a lot more that can be done just with the TV and recorder beyond this point. Any other solution is going to involve some additional hardware called a HDMI EDID Emulator to spoof the TV in to thinking that the Humax is some other more-acceptable HDMI source device. (see this link which explains what they do)

You'll find emulators at all sorts of prices from £25 up to £250 or more. The sort you're interested in are those with a little rotary selector that allows several different options to be tried. Here's an example with a list detailing the resolutions and audio formats it supports.

I have to be honest and say that the EDID emulator isn't 100% guaranteed as a solution, but I think it's your best shot at getting the two devices to talk before you consider the cost of upgrading to a newer Freesat recorder.

If this or any other reply was helpful to you, then please do the decent thing and click the T-H-A-N-K-S button. It appears when you hover the mouse pointer near the Quote Multi-quote buttons. This is the proper way to show your thanks for the time and help someone gave you.

Thanks for your reply.

Have tried the software update, but doesn't seem to have worked. Will look into getting an emulator.

Spoke to Humax helpline today who said only solution is to buy a newer Humax box (what a surprise).

We seem to have reached a bit of a watershed moment for Freesat.

The first public signs of a bit of a wobble was the loss of 4HD and the catch-up service All4 from the platform in Q1 of 2018. Then in Q3 last year it was announced that Humax would no longer be producing any new generation boxes for the service. Their current range continues, of course.

Manufacturer Arris has been appointed as the company responsible for production the third generation (G3) boxes. You can read more here: https://www.digitaltveurope.com/2018/09/13/freesat-turns-to-arris-for-third-generation-set-top/

You can call me cynical if you wish, but to me the wording of the announcement rings some alarm bells. Talk of "controlling the entire supply chain" and "entering the dynamic retail space in the UK" just smells too much of marketing spin to cover up the decline of the whole stand-alone linear-TV PVR market as consumers switch to on-demand streaming.

Arris is to make Freesat boxes that include UHD-resolution streaming service support. They'll also support UHD-resolution broadcasts, but AFAIK, there have been no concrete plans to start satellite transmissions of any channels that will provide linear TV at UHD. The closest they've got is announcing the protection system that will provide conditional access security, and that's not the same thing.

I'm not expert on Freesat, so take all of this and the above with a pinch of salt, but IMO the picture quality of Freesat is ahead of Freeview from what I've seen. Also, if Freeview isn't an option, or you're only going to get the limited channel range from a Freeview Lite transmitter because of geography, then Freesat does offer a viable alternative.

The downsides of the platform though are the need to run separate cabling - some singles, some as twin-shotgun - to all the Freesat capable devices in a house, and the requirement for a Freesat receiver or recorder to accompany each TV; it adds significantly to the cost of providing a way of watching TV on several screens around the house.

As it stands at the moment, the Humax G2 boxes are the most up-to-date available in the UK. The Arris G3 boxes are available in continental Europe, but I don't know if the EPG we use for UK TV guide would be supported if you bought a G3 box from say Germany. They haven't yet landed here in full UK spec.

I do wonder what the future holds for Freesat in the UK. I can imagine that in Europe, particularly in countries where rural population densities or mountainous terrain makes it difficult to receive TV via a roof aerial, then some form of equivalent to Freesat would be almost essential to receive live TV transmissions. That would then mean from an advertiser's point of view, Satellite TV is the place to be.

We don't really have the same issues in the UK. Something like 96% of the population here can get some form of Freeview reception, even if it's only the core Lite service. Just under 18% of UK homes watch via Freeview. Freesat has a much smaller percentage share of the market. It's around 1%.

In conclusion, I wonder if now is the right time to be spending money on new Freesat equipment? The next 12-18 months could prove pivotal. Either the G3 boxes will arrive or the entire service will fold. This could be the time to either buy an emulator for the existing gear or look for a used later-generation Humax as a stopgap.

If this or any other reply was helpful to you, then please do the decent thing and click the T-H-A-N-K-S button. It appears when you hover the mouse pointer near the Quote Multi-quote buttons. This is the proper way to show your thanks for the time and help someone gave you.

quick update. i bought a new humax freeview recorder and its working fine. thanks for the replies