What you'll notice
The decoder's front panel shows it is on and responding, but the TV displays "No signal" or a black screen. Sometimes sound comes through while the picture does not.
Why it happens
An HDMI problem rather than a satellite one: wrong input selected, a failed or marginal cable, an HDCP handshake failure, or a resolution the TV cannot display.
This fault regularly gets misreported as "the decoder is broken" when the satellite side is working perfectly. Everything up to the HDMI socket is fine; the last metre is the problem.
Work through this order
- TV input. Cycle through every HDMI input on the TV. Modern sets have three or four and it is genuinely easy to be on the wrong one after someone used a games console.
- Reseat the cable at both ends. HDMI connectors have no locking mechanism and work loose with the weight of the cable, especially behind a wall-mounted TV.
- Try a different cable. HDMI cables fail more often than people expect, particularly cheap long ones and any cable that has been sharply bent behind furniture.
- Handshake order. Switch both devices fully off, switch the TV on first, then the decoder. HDCP negotiation is order-sensitive and this fixes a real proportion of cases.
- Bypass everything in between. Soundbars, AV receivers and HDMI switches all have to pass the handshake through. Connect the decoder straight to the TV to find out whether the middle box is the problem.
The resolution trap
If the decoder is set to output a resolution the TV cannot accept, you get a black screen — and you cannot see the menu you would need to change it back. There is a front-panel button sequence that resets output to a safe resolution; it differs by model, and knowing it turns a callout into a phone call. Ring us and we will talk you through it.
How we fix it
We work through input selection, cable substitution, handshake order and resolution reset — including the front-panel reset sequence that recovers a decoder set to a resolution its TV cannot show.
Still not working?
If the checks above haven't restored your decoder (explora / hd), this usually needs a technician. Our Decoder Installation & Setup service covers exactly this fault — from R350, quoted upfront.