Hdmi connector causes picture freeze

Question

The connector from our panasonic bluray was originally HDMI. We experienced picture freeze requiring rebooting the TV. We have swapped out cables from a Monster to a Rocketfish with a higher rating and now we have ''speckles'' as well a picture freeze. We are now running with component cables and seem to be fine. However.. the optical audio cable running from the LG to our AVR no longer works so we're back to RCA's. Tried calling LG service and chat neither was available.Thanks for any help