I've installed a 9.2 inch LCD panel in the passenger sunvisor of my H2. The unit is connected the my Z2 as the "Rear Display".

During DVD playback (whether in Mirror or DVD mode) the image on the sunvisor panel will occasionally go black for a second or two then pop back on. The image on the Z2 itself plays flawlessly and does not exhibit these black-outs.

One thing I've noticed today is that the black-outs are not random...they always occur at the same spot during playback. In other words, if a black-out occurs during a building explosion in a movie and I rewind the scene and play it again the black-out happens at the exact same spot in the film.

I'm going to continue work on troubleshooting this problem tomorrow, but thought I'd post tonight to see if anyone had input that may aid my efforts.

I'm leaning toward it being a 'power draw issue.' The panel's power and ground are jumpered directly off the Z2's power and ground. I'm thinking that perhaps the panel is not receiving the power necessary to handle some portions of the video image...or something...dunno.

Some things that may be worth mentioning are:

1. The problem occurs whether the vehicle is in motion, or setting still...engine running or engine off.

2. The 'blue' background that is displayed on the sunvisor when no input is detected NEVER blacks out.

I figured that sorta ruled out loose wiring or DVD jitter.

Any contructive input you guys can give me would be GREATLY appreciated.

Thanks!

Okay tested my 'power draw' theory this afternoon...I connected the sunvisor LCD directly the battery terminals with a pair of jumper cables.

No luck. The screen still blacks-out intermittently during DVD playback (while the Z2 displays the video just fine.).

As mentioned in my earlier post the black-outs are not random and my testing today confirms that the external LCD will go black (for a second) when there is a flash or explosion in the video being watched...any scene where the image has a high volume of bright white (ie. camera flashes, explosions, space battle scenes with a lot of laser effects...basically anything that my son likes to watch while on a trip).

I was able to test two alternate panels as well; first, I had another panel (exactly the same as the unit that I installed), the spare unit exhibited the same problem when connected, so the unit itself is not defective.

Secondly, I tested a flat-panel from my house (15" Sharp, Aquos powered by AC). This unit also flashed briefly at the same scenes, however it was able to recover quicker than the sunvisor display (only black for a fraction of a second...where the sunvisor unit takes about a full second to resume display.)

So...I've ruled out:

1. DVD jitter

2. Power/ground-issue

3. Defective unit

I'm at a loss for what I'm missing...

Is there any way to adjust the signal properties of the Rear Display out on the Z2? It almost seems like these bright scenes are just a bit outside the external LCDs scanning range or something.

I'm drawing at straws at this point...

You probably need a video amplifier like this.

http://www.directedvideo.com/va700.asp

But I'm not connecting 'multiple' displays to the Z2.

I have one 9.2 inch display connected directly to the AVIC's 'Rear Display' out. I would think the signal coming from the AVIC would be plenty strong to support video on a single display.

I also do not suspect the length of the composite cable would be contributing to signal loss since it is a rather short run...from the AVIC, up the passenger-side A-pillar, and into the sunvisor. The cable that came with the LCD makes the run perfectly and I had no need to extend it.

Seems logical that if you are only connecting one display that it should be fine, right? I've had this issue in other cars, the video signal just isn't strong enough. I always make it a point to install a video amp when connecting an external monitor. I am not saying 100% this is your problem, but if you have exhausted all other ideas, this may be it.

Let me know what the resolution ultimately ends up being.

You know what...I'll give it a try. I'll post back with my results.

Thanks.

i too have the same error but tracked mine to my iphone every time it would pull a message or right before it rang my 7" rear view monitor would go out. i have just been dealing with it though. i might try a video amp next time i take my car apart.

Okay...after a little research I ordered an amp. I went with an XO Vision AMP-7X.

I'll be putting the unit in tomorrow and will post results afterwards.

Hopefully this will resolve the issue 'cause it was a real pain in the ass to rebuild that damn sunvisor.

The amp resolved the issue.

Thank you very much Xartni!

Glad it resolved the issue.