If you find yourself encountering issues with the picture (either poor quality or no picture) then the following list of common problems and solutions will help you diagnose the problem.

Firmware – Ensure your devices are on the most up-to-date firmware. Check the manufacturer’s website and use the menu settings on any internet-connectable device, such as sources, sinks, displays, projectors, AVRS, etc etc.

Power – Check that both the MHUB and the receivers are fully powered. The front panel of the MHUB should be illuminated* and the power light on the receiver should be on. If the receiver isn’t powered try an alternate power supply from another receiver that you know works. Alternatively, if you’re using the USB power supplies double check that the USB port you are using is supplying the appropriate current.

Is your transmission distance too long? – If you have a power light but the lock light isn’t illuminated this can indicate an issue with the signal strength. The maximum transmission distance for the mHub 2K range is 50m in best-case scenarios and 100m for the MHUB 4k Range. The transmission distance can be reduced by several factors, most commonly wall plates, patch panels and stranded patch leads can significantly reduce signal strength and potentially reduce the maximum distance the matrix can transmit signal. Whenever possible you should try to use a straight point to point connection to guarantee maximum distance.

Resolution – Check that you are using compatible resolutions between your source devices and displays, in particular you should be looking for situations where a TV is perhaps older than the rest of your displays and doesn’t support the same video formats (for instance it only supports 720p) Try reducing the resolution on your source devices and see if this fixes the issue. Also, if reducing the resolution causes the picture to appear again this can point to an issue with the bandwidth which can be addressed by reducing the transmission distance.

Snow/Sparkly picture – This is most often seen when the MHUB is failing to fully establish a connection with the receiver. Your first step should be to use another working location to verify the integrity of both the receiver and output on the matrix. Once you are happy both the receiver and MHUB output are working you should take a look at all your cables. Check that your RJ45 connectors are properly terminated to 568B standards and try swapping out the HDMI cables for ones from working locations.

* – with the MHUB family of products, If the unit has been idle for 5 minutes the panel may have gone into power-saving mode

The recent release of Panasonic’s new CX/CS HDTVs feature no support for the HDBaseT transmission technology found in HDanywhere’s multiroom matrices (Modular 4×4 and 8×8 / mHub 4K / 100m Pro Extender).

This software incompatibility caused these displays to be unable to display picture from HDanywhere products. Please note that this only affects NEW Panasonic CX/CS range displays.

Yesterday, Panasonic released firmware updates resolving this issue. There is now full compatibility between HDanywhere products and Panasonics entire range of displays.

A Quick tip for updating the TVs on a network: if you select update firmware in the normal way, it will probably say that it’s already up to date. You need to go to apps then select Netflix, and that will force it to check the update server.

If your TV isn’t downloading the update automatically you can manually update it.

For CX you need version 3.206 or higher and for CS you need 3.014 and up.

• Visit Panasonic’s update page for CX series
• Visit Panasonic’s update page for CS series

HDMI 2.0

HDMI technology has different versions or specifications, the newest of which is HDMI 2.0, which has been causing a lot of confusion and questions within the AV distribution world.

The main feature of this HDMI 2.0 specification which is relevant to custom installers, is this:

“The HDMI 2.0 specification defines a new, more efficient signalling method, for speeds above the limits of the earlier HDMI 1.4b specification (10.2Gbps), to allow higher bandwidths (up to 18Gbps) over existing High Speed HDMI Wire Cables.” (HDMI.org) 

What does this mean?

This will allow transmission of higher bandwidth video formats such as 2160p @60Hz 4:4:4 UHD / 4K and 4:2:0 UHD with HDR. It’s worth pointing out that currently there is only ONE HDMI source device in existence (the Sony FMP-X10 4K) that is capable of outputting these resolutions and is HDMI 2.0 licensed. But more HDMI 2.0 licensed source devices will probably begin to appear at the end of 2015.

Will you need new cables or specific HDMI 2.0 cables?

HDMI 2.0 is backwards compatible, so you won’t need new cables (as long as the HDMI cables you’ve been using are high speed, passive and under 5m)

What is HDCP 2.2? 

HDCP 2.2 is the new encryption format for UHD content. It’s designed to create a secure connection between a source and a display. This is so you can’t take the output from a source (a Blu-ray player, say) and plug it into a recording device to make a copy of the content. HDCP doesn’t care what goes across the cable, as long as that cable is secure.

The key point is all devices in a chain need to be HDCP 2.2 compliant or you’ll get an error message.

What is the point of HDMI matrixes with HDCP 2.2 but NOT HDMI 2.0? Should I invest?

The best way to answer that is with another question: ‘what HDCP 2.2 compliant devices are you planning on installing that don’t need HDMI 2.0?’

The big push for compliance is going to come at the end of the year when new UHD Blu-Ray players are released. These will definitely require HDMI 2.0 and won’t work on the HDCP 2.2 matrices that have just hit the market.

Another key point is that HDMI 2.0 will require HDCP 2.2, but HDCP 2.2 does NOT require HDMI 2.0. Hence new HDCP 2.2 compatible matrices hitting the market before HDMI 2.0 + HDCP 2.2 compliant matrices.

 The other big factor is what Sky will do with UHD. The current industry belief is that the new sky box won’t need HDCP 2.2. The logic is that there are not enough HDCP 2.2 compatible TV’s in the UK currently to be able to justify a new Sky box that isn’t compatible.

What TVs are HDMI 2.0?

The vast majority of  TV’s marketed as UHD or 4K that were bought  before 2015 don’t have HDMI 2.0 and don’t have HDCP 2.2. Some manufacturers have produced TVs with one or more HDMI 2.0 ports with HDCP 2.2, these are below:

Samsung UE65HU8500

Samsung UE55HU7500

Sony KD-65X9005B

Panasonic CX600 and CX 650 Series