Laptop-HDMI-TV connection, video/audio reset issues
I bought a 40PFL6636T/12 about 1½ weeks ago.
The firmware version is the newest one, 014.096.000.
Since the WiFi USB-dongle I spent 60€ on turned out to be a pretty bad choice for a laptop-to-TV connection, I decided to take a step back and start using a HDMI cable to connect the two together as I'd done with my old Philips television(HD-Ready 27", can't remember the model number for the life of me).
So I popped the HDMI cable from my laptop to the TV and bam, it works straight off. Kinda. After some tinkering with resolution/aspect ratio issues, I finally got it all worked out and it looked quite stunning. Video and audio worked in sync and the quality was superb.
Ran some tests with DivX/XviD files with runtimes ranging from 20 minutes to 120 minutes. No problem. Then I tried running HD-quality .mkv files and ran into a small, yet annoying problem. Around the 30 minute mark the television screen suddenly went dark, no video or audio. After two seconds or so video/audio came back and everything resumed normally. This happens only once per viewing around the 30 minute mark.
Since I have the laptop screen "closed" when I'm running stuff on the TV, I thought it might have something to do with power saving settings on the computer. Checked those out, turned pretty much all options off. Still, the same problem continued.
My laptop's native resolution is 1366x768@60Hz, and that's what I've put the TV to display. Could this be an issue of HD-quality material conflicting with the resolution I've set for the TV? All the graphics drivers are up to date, and so is the FW for the TV.
This video/audio flickering doesn't happen when I'm playing my PS3 which is connected to the TV, nor when I'm viewing the same .mkv files straight from the laptop screen.
Not the best of writers, so if the text seems incomprehensible, I aplogize in advance.
If you need clarification on some aspect of the problem, I'd be happy to try and write something more sensible.
Edit #1: Updated the TV to the newest FW available from the Philips website, which apparently wasn't yet available through the TV itself.
Also updated the ATI AMD Radeon HD 6400M drivers.
Tried running a DivX file, the flickering/reset thing happened at around 20 minutes. So from this we can conclude the issue is not with the file format, but
a) In the computer
b) The HDMI cable
c) The television
The television is, I'd say, the least likely culprit though because as said before, this doesn't happen with the PS3 I've got connected.