# Simultaneous Composite A/V and HDMI, on a Roamio PRO?



## Pete_L_P (Mar 14, 2008)

Anyone tested composite video and audio on a Roamio PRO, while simultaneously using HDMI ? 

Mine doesn't seem to be doing that, but debugging is very difficult in my setup. I have a huge rat's nest of wires and very, very poor access. (A rack with rear access would be SO much nicer)

Pete


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## Devx (Jun 1, 2006)

The Roamio Plus/Pro continue the Tivo trend of having all outputs active simultaneously.


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## Pete_L_P (Mar 14, 2008)

Devx said:


> The Roamio Plus/Pro continue the Tivo trend of having all outputs active simultaneously.


Thanks very much for the reply. Have you tested this yourself? Or if not, can you point me to your source for this info?


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

I have tested it, works fine.

The Basic model also has a composite output, which is always active, but it requires a breakout cable because it's a mini 3.5mm port.


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## Pete_L_P (Mar 14, 2008)

Dan203 said:


> I have tested it, works fine.
> 
> The Basic model also has a composite output, which is always active, but it requires a breakout cable because it's a mini 3.5mm port.


Thanks Dan

Which model or models did you test it on?


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

Pete_L_P, yes it does work. I have Roamio Pro with HDMI going to TV and component going to Slingbox 350.

The 1 catch to be aware of is *some* TVs don't keep HDCP handshake alive when in "standby" mode, and hence when TV is off the TiVo output will have an overlay indicating as such which can be cleared for a few seconds but then comes back.
My TV falls in that category and obviously having that annoying overlay on the component output is not desired. To fix that problem I ended up getting an *active* HDMI splitter which sits between TiVo and TV. This works because as far as the TiVo is concerned the HDMI/HDCP connection is always on and so won't throw up the stupid overlay.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

Pete_L_P said:


> Thanks Dan
> 
> Which model or models did you test it on?


I tried it on a Pro and my Mini which has the same 3.5mm port as the Basic.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

moyekj said:


> Pete_L_P, yes it does work. I have Roamio Pro with HDMI going to TV and component going to Slingbox 350.
> 
> The 1 catch to be aware of is *some* TVs don't keep HDCP handshake alive when in "standby" mode, and hence when TV is off the TiVo output will have an overlay indicating as such which can be cleared for a few seconds but then comes back.
> My TV falls in that category and obviously having that annoying overlay on the component output is not desired. To fix that problem I ended up getting an *active* HDMI splitter which sits between TiVo and TV. This works because as far as the TiVo is concerned the HDMI/HDCP connection is always on and so won't throw up the stupid overlay.


I don't think this applies to composite though, only component. But it's been a few years since I ran into this problem so maybe they've added the overlay to composite as well?


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

Dan203 said:


> I don't think this applies to composite though, only component. But it's been a few years since I ran into this problem so maybe they've added the overlay to composite as well?


 Not sure either. But OP stated his interest is in Roamio Pro, so component would be what he cares about.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

He said composite. But people get those mixed up all the time, so who knows.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

Yeah it does. The Red/White/Yellow composite ports are right next to the Red/Blue/Green component ports. See...










Edit: Doh! Ninja delete


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

I forgot Roamio Pro has both component & composite outputs.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

The Basic does not have component. Only HDMI and the 3.5mm composite breakout port. (not sure why they didn't do both breakout ports like the Mini)


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## Pete_L_P (Mar 14, 2008)

Dan203 said:


> I don't think this applies to composite though, only component. But it's been a few years since I ran into this problem so maybe they've added the overlay to composite as well?


I also had the overlay on composite out on my previous Tivos related to the handshake.

It always showed on the composite out when the tivo's hdmi was connected to a TV that was powered down. But if the Tivo's HDMI cable was connected to an HDMI switch which was switched such as to NOT connect the tivo to ANY other HDMI device then the problem would go away.

So my solution was to keep it switched that way whenever I powered down the HDMI TV. Since the sole purpose of that HDMI switch was to supply that HDMI TV, there was no problem in keeping it switched away from Tivo when that TV was turned off.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

Well then it should work exactly like your last TiVo then.


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## Pete_L_P (Mar 14, 2008)

Dan203 said:


> He said composite. But people get those mixed up all the time, so who knows.


I am only interested in COMPOSITE out simultaneously with HDMI. (Not component) Mine doesn't seem to be working. But I do appreciate the feedback everyone, and especially hearing, Dan, that you have tried it on your pro, which does eliminate a lot of variables.

Thanks


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

I tried mine a while ago, it's possible a recent update broke something. I'll try again later tonight and verify.


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## Pete_L_P (Mar 14, 2008)

Dan203 said:


> I tried mine a while ago, it's possible a recent update broke something. I'll try again later tonight and verify.


Very kind. Thx


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

Yep, still works for me.


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## Pete_L_P (Mar 14, 2008)

Thanks Dan


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## gib123 (Dec 10, 2013)

I am researching the same issue as I am trying to connect 2 TV's to my Roamio Plus. One via HDMI and one via Component. The HDMI output works fine but I don't get any signal on the Component side.

I found this seemingly official response from a Tivo support person:

"because the TiVo Requires an HDMI handshake from the TV trying to send recieve the TiVo through a third party device would not allow the TiVo the ability to display picture."

http://forums.tivo.com/pe/action/forums/displaythread?rootPostID=11156626&nextElementId=11146222

That seems to imply this won't work or am I missing something?


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## Devx (Jun 1, 2006)

gib123 said:


> I am researching the same issue as I am trying to connect 2 TV's to my Roamio Plus. One via HDMI and one via Component. The HDMI output works fine but I don't get any signal on the Component side.
> 
> I found this seemingly official response from a Tivo support person:
> 
> ...


Should work. Not familiar with anything on the component side that would prevent content from being displayed. The only way I can make sense of that comment from TiVo support is if HDMI is connected to an intermediary device that doesn't support HDCP. This wouldn't apply to an analog component connection.

Do you get a signal from component on the other TV assuming it has inputs?


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

I tried Composite on mine and it worked. For Component you may need to disable the 1080p modes. I don't think Component is capable of 1080p/60 or 1080p/24 so that could be what's causing the problem. You probably have to drop down to 1080i or 720p for it to work properly.


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

Component works with 1080p/60 for me. Some TVs/devices don't support it but the TiVo does output it correctly.


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## traveler100 (Aug 23, 2008)

From responses above I understand the Roamio basic simultaneously outputs both HDMI and Composite signals.

My problem is I just upgraded from an old series II Tivo to the Roamio basic DVR and went backwards in terms of functional use. My old set up allowed me to send Tivo recordings via coaxial to our old TV in the Kitchen which kept my wife happy when cooking. The new HD box took that feature away. Has anyone tried taking the Roamio composite output signal back to a coaxial connection via a RF modulator allowing an older set with only Coax input to view the DVR?
PS: We tried upgrading to a flat screen but her food prep area had viewing angles made the flat screen image not viewable.


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## wkearney99 (Dec 5, 2003)

traveler100 said:


> From responses above I understand the Roamio basic simultaneously outputs both HDMI and Composite signals.
> 
> My problem is I just upgraded from an old series II Tivo to the Roamio basic DVR and went backwards in terms of functional use. My old set up allowed me to send Tivo recordings via coaxial to our old TV in the Kitchen which kept my wife happy when cooking. The new HD box took that feature away. Has anyone tried taking the Roamio composite output signal back to a coaxial connection via a RF modulator allowing an older set with only Coax input to view the DVR?
> PS: We tried upgrading to a flat screen but her food prep area had viewing angles made the flat screen image not viewable.


Get a better flat screen there, one with a wider viewing angle. None are likely to be quite as viewable as an old-school CRT but some of the plasmas come very close.

If it's composite (the yellow plug) then you should be able to use any old RF modulator to put it on an RF channel. Channel Master (and others) used to make RF modulators that would let you select which channel to use (besides 3 or 4) along with supporting MTS stereo.


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## traveler100 (Aug 23, 2008)

Thanks for the quick response. I'll try the RF modulator I see eBay has several. I may try a TV upgrade again. Our problem is location and size. The 12"crt is perfect size for her food prep area as she is viewing within 2feet at angles greater than 60 degrees. Maybe a LED model would work better. 

Seems every time we try to advance on the tech scale we lose functionality or it doesn't work at all. We both kept laughing when we replaced the CRT with the LCD as it was totally worthless in our application.


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## traveler100 (Aug 23, 2008)

Received the RF Modulator and composite breakout cable today hooked them up to the Kitchen TV will still using the HDMI output to the FR Flat screen and got no composite signal out of the TIVO. Rewired the Roamio composite output to a known good input connected through a VCR feed no signal from the Roamio.
Hmmmm....Called TIVO support, official response:

"Roamio does not support dual HDMI and Composite outputs simultaneously, it's one or the other"

Whaaaat.....everybody on this forum says they're using both outputs.

So I go through tech supports system checks and we confirm that my brand new Roamio out of the box has a defect composite output. They had me power down disconnect the HDMI cable leaving only the Composite output connected power back up and still no output.

I guess my concern at this point is TiVo says that the Roamio box looks for a handshake with the HDMI and based on this handshake response or lack of it turns on the composite output. I know TiVo is pushing Mini's with a monthly fee and that could be their reason for the response I got.

My question has anyone else had this issue or did I just get a bad TiVo box?


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## traveler100 (Aug 23, 2008)

Update
Turns out two TiVo Tech Support agents have no idea how the Roamio composite output signal really works. Also turns out my new Roamio box is ok, all I had to do is swap the breakout cable's yellow RCA plug with the white RCA plug and my Composite output worked fine as well as my HDMI output.

Apparently, even though TiVo tech's say any breakout cable will work on the Roamio what they didn't say is that you just ignore plug colors as Tivo put the yellow video signal on the 3.5mm plug's tip rather than on the 2nd ring. All breakout cable are not configured the same, but prior cable mfg's never put the video on the tip. TiVo must have done this to sell $14.99 breakout cables. So my cables yellow is connected to the Tivo left audio and it's white is connected to the Tivo yellow video connector.

Everything is right with the world now.


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## wkearney99 (Dec 5, 2003)

traveler100 said:


> Apparently, even though TiVo tech's say any breakout cable will work on the Roamio what they didn't say is that you just ignore plug colors as Tivo put the yellow video signal on the 3.5mm plug's tip rather than on the 2nd ring. All breakout cable are not configured the same, but prior cable mfg's never put the video on the tip. TiVo must have done this to sell $14.99 breakout cables. So my cables yellow is connected to the Tivo left audio and it's white is connected to the Tivo yellow video connector.


Good to know, thanks. I've been considering rigging up an RF modulator on a composite output, if just to avoid seeing snow and hearing REALLY LOUD static when switching through inputs on one of our TVs. Practically wakes the dead when that happens. I love that new TVs tend to have the ability to disable inputs, but not all will do that for the tuner.


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## Carmen Fiduccia (May 19, 2017)

I've been using the video out to mirror my Roamio Pro for a year. It just worked with no hassle.


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