WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.560 It used to be that trying to hook up something to a TV or monitor was like dumping garbage onto a truck. 00:00:06.560 --> 00:00:10.800 You'd plug in some analog cables, and the TV would just show whatever it was sent. 00:00:10.800 --> 00:00:16.000 If the picture looked off in some way, such as having weird colors or being the wrong size, 00:00:16.000 --> 00:00:21.360 it was up to the user to troubleshoot the problem. But these days, most digital screens and video sources 00:00:21.360 --> 00:00:25.240 will support a standard called Extended Display Identification 00:00:25.240 --> 00:00:31.000 Data, or EDID. The purpose of EDID is to allow devices to talk to each other 00:00:31.000 --> 00:00:36.240 and share information about their own capabilities, so both devices are on the same page. 00:00:36.240 --> 00:00:43.400 The basic way it works is that when two devices are connected by a protocol that supports EDID, such as HDMI or DisplayPort, 00:00:43.400 --> 00:00:46.760 the display will tell the source device its manufacturer, 00:00:46.760 --> 00:00:49.760 model, and supported resolutions and color spaces. 00:00:49.760 --> 00:00:55.720 The source device will then take this information and output a video signal which fits those parameters, which 00:00:55.760 --> 00:00:58.960 is part of how auto settings on something 00:00:58.960 --> 00:01:03.840 like a game console works. Once the source receives the EDID information from your screen, 00:01:03.840 --> 00:01:08.760 it can automagically output the game at the correct resolution and color space, 00:01:08.760 --> 00:01:12.600 and even enable HDR, if appropriate. 00:01:12.600 --> 00:01:16.040 Or at least, that's how it's supposed to work. 00:01:16.040 --> 00:01:19.240 Like many other things in tech, the addition of processing 00:01:19.240 --> 00:01:22.400 to make setup more convenient introduces a number of things 00:01:22.400 --> 00:01:28.520 that can go wrong. One minor annoyance is because EDID data has to be processed 00:01:28.520 --> 00:01:32.720 at every point in the device chain, you might experience longer delays 00:01:32.720 --> 00:01:35.720 if you're routing a source device through a receiver. 00:01:35.720 --> 00:01:40.280 So be prepared for some black screen time when you first turn everything on. 00:01:40.280 --> 00:01:43.560 But larger issues can also arise. 00:01:43.560 --> 00:01:49.720 You see, because modern interfaces like HDMI feature hot plug support, meaning you can plug or unplug it 00:01:49.720 --> 00:01:52.920 while the system's running, the connector has a special pin 00:01:52.960 --> 00:01:58.320 to detect when it's being hot plugged. When a device detects a voltage on the hot plug pin, 00:01:58.320 --> 00:02:03.920 it starts the EDID process. But sometimes devices don't read the hot plug signal 00:02:03.920 --> 00:02:07.680 in the same way as it can be implemented inconsistently. 00:02:07.680 --> 00:02:12.920 So the EDID exchange never happens. And as a result, you get a blank screen. 00:02:12.920 --> 00:02:16.360 As one device in the chain may think it's not connected to anything. 00:02:16.360 --> 00:02:21.000 But even if you're not struggling with your setup completely refusing to work, equipment coming 00:02:21.000 --> 00:02:26.440 with incorrect EDID information coded in is a more common problem than we'd all like. 00:02:26.440 --> 00:02:30.240 A device like an AV receiver might actually be capable 00:02:30.240 --> 00:02:34.960 of accepting a surround sound signal. Yes, EDID works with audio too. 00:02:34.960 --> 00:02:38.280 But thanks to bad EDID information and attached device 00:02:38.280 --> 00:02:42.800 like a set top box or a Blu-ray player might not send it along. 00:02:42.800 --> 00:02:48.120 Since that particular receiver doesn't say, hey, I can support Dolby Digital Plus. 00:02:48.120 --> 00:02:52.440 Frustratingly, this is often a firmware issue caused by programming oversights, 00:02:52.440 --> 00:02:57.640 meaning that a hapless home user can't just easily fix this on their own. 00:02:57.640 --> 00:03:00.760 And actually a similar culprit was behind the recent issue 00:03:00.760 --> 00:03:07.360 in which certain Sony TVs couldn't display a Dolby Vision signal at 4K at 120 Hertz. 00:03:07.360 --> 00:03:11.600 Which of course was disappointing for owners of a gaming PC or an Xbox Series X. 00:03:11.600 --> 00:03:15.280 You see, EDID actually has character limits which appears to keep these displays 00:03:15.280 --> 00:03:19.720 from telling the video source what it supports because they just support so much stuff now. 00:03:19.760 --> 00:03:22.960 Other times devices might receive the correct EDID information 00:03:22.960 --> 00:03:29.080 but not do the correct thing with it. For example, a computer plugged into a display nose 00:03:29.080 --> 00:03:34.480 through the EDID that the display can support a large range of resolutions and a range of refresh rates. 00:03:34.480 --> 00:03:38.480 But instead of picking the native resolution at the highest refresh rate possible, 00:03:38.480 --> 00:03:43.240 it might default to something completely different. Meaning you have to go into the settings yourself 00:03:43.240 --> 00:03:47.400 and adjust everything which kind of defeats the whole point. 00:03:47.400 --> 00:03:51.880 If you're having problems with EDID, there are special EDID emulators that you can program yourself 00:03:51.880 --> 00:03:58.340 to ensure the correct information is being passed along. But of course it's often easier simply to take a minute 00:03:58.340 --> 00:04:02.160 and check that the settings you can adjust are the way you want them. 00:04:02.160 --> 00:04:06.140 It's a little annoying that we haven't figured out how to make EDID work correctly 00:04:06.140 --> 00:04:09.400 without intervention every time. But hey, we also haven't figured out 00:04:09.400 --> 00:04:15.680 how to make self checkouts not totally suck. So here we are. 00:04:15.680 --> 00:04:19.160 So thanks for watching guys, if you liked this video, hit subscribe, give us a thumbs up 00:04:19.160 --> 00:04:23.960 and be sure to hit us up in the comments section with your suggestions for topics that we should cover in the future.