2408WFP HDMI Audio Problem -- Beware!

Question

Hi everyone,

I've been a happy owner of the 2408WFP (Rev. A00) and I must say that it is a great monitor. Except for one major problem which I want to address to all you potential 2408WFP consumers and owners...

Something many owners of the 2408WFP (both Rev. A00 & A01) have had trouble with in one form or the other is the HDMI audio portion for the monitor. It works well until the monitor comes out of its powersave state -- the 2408WFP's powersave feature has a synchronization issue with the audio portion of the HDMI. The monitor displays the video portion correctly once out of the powersave state, but the audio portion becomes distorted (for example, the tone of my music becomes ghoulish with a constant static, hissing sound) or becomes entirely mute.

That is until the HDMI connection becomes synchronized again by either (a) reconnecting the HDMI cord, (b) cycling through the video modes, (c) rebooting the connected machine, or (d) turning the monitor off and back on again. Basically, any solution to get the monitor to 'reconnect' (and in turn, synchronize correctly) will work. Until then, the monitor will turn a blind eye to the audio portion and thus the audio will continue to be distorted/muted.

Now, these fixes are rather hackish and frankly, we shouldn't have to put up with it. This seems to be the fault of the monitor as I have seen this problem recur with other notebooks with HDMI (video & audio), game consoles, and media players. When can I expect to see a new firmware to address this problem? Or is it too late in the 2408WFP's cycle to consider it? I would like to hear from the moderators here about this.

I have been researching this problem for a few days now after realizing that the problem was not the fault of my notebook (XPS m1530) nor my speakers. I have found evidence from many other users in Dell's previous community forum (closed earlier this month) and various other sites that the monitor has HDMI audio synchronization issues. Below are some sites where you can see others having the same trouble.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=3883461&postcount=22
http://www.hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1032360327&postcount=630
http://old.dellcommunity.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=dim_monitor&message.id=88773&query.id=125256#M88773
http://old.dellcommunity.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=dim_monitor&message.id=89991&query.id=94780#M89991
http://old.dellcommunity.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=dim_monitor&thread.id=95675

These are just some of the many topics asking about the HDMI audio problem. Unfortunately, Dell is closing their old forums. I'm not sure if they're migrating the posts from there over to here. There are many threads at the old Dell community over this subject.

--

If you are having the same issues, please post in the thread. I am still looking for valid solution. Me having to fidget around with buttons and cords every time I want to use my notebook is not a solution. It is a very temporary fix, so please spare us these "reboot the monitor" comments.

Thank you for reading and I hope Dell finds a true solution in the meantime. Please voice your concerns if you are affected by this problem.

- Kerry J

camera · Answer

Same odd problem here with an A00 rev. Don't know if the A01 brought any changes, but I'm a heavy user of digital Sat receivers and this s.x ! The other major drawback in the "video" arena is that any analog input fails to be represented in the correct 16:9 aspect ratio. Composite, component & s-video inputs stay in the monitors native 16:10 ratio, cycling through the 1:1, ASPECT and FILL setups doesn't bring any solution. Even as a PIP inlay, the signals stay as 16:10 frames. No benefit there in having so many different inputs for plain video signals.

2408wfp part# 0G286H - Oct08 - A00 used on a Macbook

Kerry J · Answer

What puzzles me is the lack of response. Perhaps not many other users put their hardware to sleep or maybe they turn their monitor/hardware off manually.

Anyhow, I have found what I think is the best option so far for those running a Windows computer -- turning the monitor off and back on via software. I am sure other OS' have their alternative. What it does is add a right-click context menu from which you can turn the monitor off. By doing so, your monitor will go into power-save mode, and wagging your mouse would bring it out of the transition instantly with the HDMI Audio resync'd! Check it out over here: http://www.hardwaregeeks.com/board/showthread.php?t=35680 I find this method better than having to physically handle the HDMI cords, reboot the hardware, or worse: having to turn your monitor on and off physically as doing so many times a day for years can wear the little button out.

I hope others having the same problem are willing to reply. The method above helped another user with exactly the same config as mine: XPS m1530 + 2408WFP.

Cheers!

brenboy · Answer

I have the same problem on a Rev A01 2408WFP. I had Dell replace it but the problem is also evident on the replacement Rev A01.

I don't have a valid solution apart from powering off/on with the HDMI cable connected or cycling through the input sources.

Dell support staff seemed to be unaware of the issue and unsure of how to fix it.

sinolog · Answer

I have the same problem, but involving a Sony Blu-Ray player BDP-BX1 connected to the 2408WFP. This was to get a high quality monitor for

viewing movies. I spent weeks with both Sony and Dell, got two replacement monitors, had Sony check out the player, changed HDMI cables,

checked settings, etc etc. Still the same strangled audio. Finally tried turning the monitor off and on during playback, and bingo, good sound.

I have talked with Dell personnel many times and I did figure out that they had a confidential internal report saying that there were problems with

HDMI port on some monitors manufactured before some date late in 2008. But my current monitor was manufactured in 1/09 and still

has the problem. No one at Dell had a clue. I totally agree we shouldn't have to put up with it, especially since the power button on the

monitor is likely to be fairly fragile; the one on my older dell flat panel computer monitor began to fail because I always turned it off, not wanting

leave it in sleep mode. If anyone has made progress on this--for example, disabling the sleep mode?--please post to the forum.

Sinolog

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2408WFP HDMI Audio Problem -- Beware!

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