AP Wrote:
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> Hi Bob,
> Thank you for your post! I am glad you have
> finally found some time to play with the VanityPRO
Hi, Pavel. The new matrix switcher solved the stability problems with the Vanity Pro. I know you say that the symptoms were strange, but since the new matrix switcher is working fine, my informal diagnosis that the bad matrix switcher did not produce a suitably stable HDMI signal seems reasonable.
Anyway, on to the EDID issues. I have gotten an excellent freeware EDID editor app from ANALOG WAY, at [
www.analogway.com]
In addition, I have gotten an excellent freeware EDID extractor, which can read the EDID from an attached monitor and save it as a bin file.
Those tools, in combination with the EDID abilities of the new matrix switcher, have enabled me to begin debugging my current situation.
My current situation is that:
1) the Apple TV produces linear PCM (8 channel) audio ONLY if it sees the EDID from the Vanity Pro! The Apple TV produces 1080P video in that condition, and 8 channel linear PCM.
2) Setting the Vanity Pro video EDID to a 4K setting does not make a difference, the Apple TV continues to produce 1080P video. So I conclude there's something about the video portion of the Vanity Pro EDID that the Apple TV does not like.
3) What would be great is if you can keep the audio portion of the Vanity Pro EDID but steal the video portion from its output, and memorize that. In that case I could connect the Vanity temporarily to my Vizio TV and steal just the video portion. Then, hopefully, the Apple TV will produce Dolby Vision video at 4k and linear PCM Audio.
The Apple TV will not produce linear PCM in any other situation, looking at any other EDID, which is very sad, since the Apple TV is capable of producing 4k video and also supports Dolby Vision. For example, if I send an EDID from my Vizio TV back to the Apple TV, it will produce 4k video with Dolby Vision, but it will NOT produce linear PCM audio. So I attempted to edit the Vizio EDID, but nothing I was able to do, modifying the Vizio EDID got the Apple TV to produce linear PCM.
But honestly, I'm not hopeful this will work. My tests seem to indicate that the Apple TV does not like to produce linear PCM audio if it's producing a high res (4k and/or Dolby Vision) video output.
4) I have a Blu Ray player and a Mac Studio M1 Ultra. Both of these units will produce linear PCM (8 channel) audio in conjunction with high res (4k) video when looking at the right EDID, including the same EDID that failed with the Apple TV. So it's possible that the problem is the Apple TV. The Apple TV doesn't seem to like to produce linear PCM and high res video at the same time. It's kind of "conditioned" to produce a coded audio format (AC3, AC4, etc.) when it's also producing a high res video. What a pity! If you can get an Apple TV it would be very helpful if you can confirm this conclusion.
I have the tools so if you want to direct me to make any further tests, I'm happy to. The new matrix switch is capable of sending independent EDIDs back to each input. And it can use custom EDIDs from .bin files, so it's very versatile.