mchaney9900,

Many of the symptoms you describe are consistent with some DVR boxes. The likely culprit is HDCP technology, which blocks the picture from being sent in the event it detects that what it's hooked up to isn't a panel. For whatever reason, the box detects a change, and then reconnects. If you turn off the box and turn it back on, and it works, then it's most likely the cause.

I'm not trying to pass the buck. That connection could be happening from either end, and I don't have a definitive technical explanation beyond why you're seeing what you're seeing. But sometimes, a box swap has resulted in a fix.

--HDTech