Hi all,

It appears that my Sony XBR 900F suddenly stopped displaying video. Very strange situation. I have a cable box and Blu-Ray player connected to the TV via HDMI cables and nothing comes through with those inputs selected. No video or audio. If I choose to watch a streaming service like Netflix or Disney+ I can login to my account and navigate the screens (and I hear the navigation sound effects) but when I select a program to play, it does not play. Nothing is shown. The TV is connected to a Sonos Arc via HDMI/ARC. I am perplexed. I've made sure the cables are connected, rebooted by cable box, etc. Any help you can provide would be much appreciated!

Chris

Start with a simple direct source test with everything else unplugged.
Take everything out of the loop to figure it out.
It could be a bad TV too.

Unplugging the TV from the wall, waiting 60 seconds, and plugging it back in fixed it. Must have reset the TV.

Found this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FePOlPok_w

Phew! Thanks, YouTube!

I have two Sony TV’s similar to yours. Both running Android TV software. I know it sounds basic and you probably already did this but have you tried disconnecting it completely from power for several minutes and then starting it back up?

I have had a few odd behaviors over the years that have all been resolved this way, knock on wood.

Ha, we were typing at the same time.

Yes, TXJIM! See above. Thanks!

The latest code rev that is currently on them sucks. I have a pair of 900E’s from 2017. A 950G from 2019 and a 940E in my HT. Go to settings, device preferences, about, then scroll down to the Android security patch. It’s probably the April 1, 2021 rev. Kernel version is or should be 5/21/21. Sony needs to update the OS.

You have a solid panel. It’s a FALD LED and Sony makes outstanding LED panels. Excellent blacks. Yours is great for film (especially on disc) and has VRR so good for gaming in 10 bit HDR. The software is buggy. I know it is because it’s running on all my panels and I have 3 different models. Sometimes on boot up, it goes through this full boot up sequence displaying Sony, then all these colored spinning circles, animated graphics type stuff. Then ultimately it’s “on” and you can view content.

My suggestion. Update the OS the next time it’s available. But first disable auto updates. It will notify you when an update to the OS is available. Like a phone, check the web first before you update it. I recommend checking it on the AVS forum. If those guys say G2G, then do it, update it, then take it offline for good. And use an Apple TV, fire stick or whatever that thing is called, IE a stand alone device for “apps”. The panel is solid, it’s the crap Android OS on it that sucks. And IMO the OS on all these panels are trash and they should just be a “dumb” panel. All of them with these got damn apps are computers running a television and they should make them dumb.

For now if it flips out again, just power it down. Let it sit for a few minutes then unplug it. Leave it unplugged for a few minutes, then plug it back in and turn it on.

Thank you for that info, Prefontaine.

I agree that this TV has excellent picture quality in all modes, especially 4K. We've always been very impressed with it. We actually like the OS once we got used to it. But I agree that it's really a computer running a television. Once we started thinking in that mode it became more usable.

Here's the info on my TV:

Version
9

Android security patch level
March 5, 2021

Kernel version
4.9.125
#1 Thu Apr 22 13:32:20 JST 2021

Build
BRAVIA_ATV3_4K_UC-user 9 PTT1.190515.001.S43
67651 release-keys

Thanks for the tip on the OS updates. I'll do that and research them before installing.

While you TV Techs are contributing to this thread I thought I would throw out a problem that sounds similar and see if you can ID.

My 5 year old Toshiba is hooked up to CABLE, FIRESTICK, BLUERAY PLAYER, all by HDMI cable.
I can plug the CABLE box into any of the HDMI inputs and it works fine.
The FIRESTICK and BLURAY both run for about 30-45 min. before the picture goes out, but I still have audio. It does not matter what inputs on the TV that I plug them into,they(firestick,bluray) still react the same.
If I turn off the power then turn it back on, the FIRESTICK and BLURAY work fine, but again the video cuts out after a shorter length of time, maybe 20-30min.

I tried the un-plug the power recommendation for about 1 min. but it still did the same thing. I also switched FIRESTICK modules, replaced the HDMI cables, switched the USB/110v outlet and cord that powers the FIRESTICK.

Suggestions?

quote:

Originally posted by armored:
While you TV Techs are contributing to this thread I thought I would throw out a problem that sounds similar and see if you can ID.

Suggestions?

Your issue is a Networking MTU issue.
A better quality WiFi signal can fix.
This happens when the the packets get fragments because they are too large and streaming is broken.
It can be adjusted but the most practical solution is to improve the WiFi Quality.