Home audio & video: Cable guy say it's my TV! I don't think so. Your 2 cents?
Cable guy say it's my TV! I don't think so. Your 2 cents?
by buckodgr8 - 8/19/08 12:09 PMI'm experiencing a lot of pixelation. It's been happening for a long time, but the Olympics are really bringing it out.
To clarify, the actual presentation of the problem is tiny little boxes in fields of fast motion and sometimes slow pans. I only notice it on HD channels.
My setup: Time Warner Cable (Los Angeles) fed into my Tivo HD which travels via HDMI to my Samsung HP-T5064. I have a Philips DVP5982 Up-Converting dvd player hooked up to the tv with hdmi as well.
The cable technicians (three came by this morning) tell me that, because my tv is only a 720p set (though it can accept 1080i), it can not keep up with the HD cable signal they send out. They say that the problem is normal and there's nothing that can be done aside from me buying a 1080p set.
Here's why this doesn't make sense to me: When I play a dvd, up-converted to 720p, the picture is crystal clear. Not a hint of pixelation even during the fastest motion. And furthermore, I have the Tivo HD set to send all HD signals to the TV as 720p. As far as I can tell that means that the cable and the dvd player should be sending the same amount of information. What am I missing?
Could the Tivo be the issue? The dvr diagnostics say that, on NBCHD, I've got a signal strength of 68 and a SNR of 32.
Thanks in advance!
Try this. . .
by Coryphaeus - 8/19/08 5:45 PM In reply to: Cable guy say it's my TV! I don't think so. Your 2 cents? by buckodgr8Connect the TV directly to the cable box and see what happens. The TV will downconvert the 1080 signal to 720. (-P or -I will not be a factor.) Just like the HD TiVO will do.
Problem still there?
Upconverting 420 DVDs to 720 (adding content) is not the same as downconverting 1080 to 720. You will be reducing content. Does the Time Warner box have an output option of 720 or 1080?
re:
by buckodgr8 - 8/20/08 1:46 AM In reply to: Try this. . . by CoryphaeusFirst of all, thanks for thinking about this!
Secondly, there is no cable box. The Tivo HD uses a multi-stream cablecard to decode the signal. The tivo gives me several different output options. Native, or fixed at 1080 or at 720, or hybrids of those. I just went in and set it to "Hybrid" which it says will pass the 1080 and the 720 right through and only bother to convert the 480i signals up to 480p. After a few minutes of watching I dare say it looks a little worse... Maybe that's not true, but I definitely still noticed the same problem.
I'm at a loss. Thanks again for any other ideas.
You know the tv is good at 720p;
by ahtoi - 8/20/08 9:34 AM In reply to: Cable guy say it's my TV! I don't think so. Your 2 cents? by buckodgr8So set the tivo at 720p and see what happen. My guess is that the tivo is not doing its thing.
720
by buckodgr8 - 8/20/08 12:53 PM In reply to: You know the tv is good at 720p; by ahtoiI had the Tivo set to send out in 720 originally. I won't say that the tivo is perfect but I don't think it's the problem. Any other ideas how I can test it out?
Thanks!
How to fix your picture
by brennan80 - 8/20/08 12:15 PM In reply to: Cable guy say it's my TV! I don't think so. Your 2 cents? by buckodgr8I bought a brand new Panasonic 1080p 50 plasma and had the same issue with the Time Warner picture being pixelated. They tried to tell me it was my brand new TV. We went through it over the phone=nothing, new box=nothing. I was so bummed thinking it was my new tv. I checked out Directtv and am now extatic. They have a great deal right now with their premiere package + NFL ticket. So happy about it. The picture is perfect!!! and they have 3x the HD channels. Time Warner can't compete. Honestly, no more cable ever for me. The idea that your 720p signal can't take in theirs is rediculous since all broadcast content is 720p, or less. Nobody broadcasts in 1080p and won't for years to come. I only got the 1080p because I got a great deal at the same price as the 720p and use it for Blu Rays. the instant my TV was plugged in I was extatic.
BOOOO time warner
by buckodgr8 - 8/20/08 12:58 PM In reply to: How to fix your picture by brennan80At least here in LA Time Warner cable is terrible. And I mean cable service and customer service and any other way they could be letting us down. The track record is the main reason I automatically suspect them over other possibilities such as the Tivo. I've resisted moving to satellite because of having to buy new equipment and having to sign a contract. AT&T Uverse just became available - maybe I need to look into that.
Cheers!
It is always the Cable companies fault.
by bigtom4prez - 8/21/08 7:37 AM In reply to: Cable guy say it's my TV! I don't think so. Your 2 cents? by buckodgr8This is a known issue with HD compression. Basically, the cable companies do not have enough bandwidth for HD so they compress it. The pixelization is notice during high speed or high detail scenes.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1008271
If you look a Blu-ray, a normal movie is putting out close to 30Mbps constantly. There is no way cable companies can broadcast all the HD channels at that bit rate.
Thanks.
by buckodgr8 - 8/21/08 12:22 PM In reply to: It is always the Cable companies fault. by bigtom4prezThat was a fantastic link. And it makes a ton of sense. Time Warner here was Comcast two years ago. I think it's safe to say that it's the compression and there's nothing I can do but switch.
Still a little unclear though - does the compression also affect non-HD channels? I was watching some non-HD Discovery last night and noticed some of the same pixelation problem there.
The problem is the signal strength is not up to par.
by mwooge - 8/23/08 5:55 AM In reply to: I tend to agree with what ScooterH says. by ahtoi> The problem is the signal strength is not up to par.
I had this low-signal problem with stnadard cable, and fixed it with a cable amplifier from Radio Shack.
My problem was too many splitters.
Signal strength
by theearlof - 8/25/08 6:33 AM In reply to: The problem is the signal strength is not up to par. by mwoogeWhich Raido Shack amp did you get.
I have a similar problem from time to time (working right now) with the high number premium chanels either pixlating or not coming through at all. I am pretty sure it is due to the number of splitter I am using.
Earl
Assuming if the TV is ok, then ...
by ahtoi - 8/25/08 3:06 PM In reply to: The problem is the signal strength is not up to par. by mwoogethe faults belong to the cable company period. This is not like the telephone company where everything inside the house is the home owner's responsibility.
not here (nashville tn)
by mementh - 8/26/08 10:26 PM In reply to: Assuming if the TV is ok, then ... by ahtoi(NOTE: I am a call center rep @ the nashville comcast office on this forum for my own entertainment and not representing comcast)
Here in nashville we follow the telco's rule for whats inside and outside.
The inside wireing starts about one foot (of the cable) outside of the box thats on the side of your home (or apt) and that means all wireing or splitters or ampliphyers(bad spelling) are "yours".
Boxes/Cards are rented.
We charge to go out to replace wireing/splitters/ampliphyers(bad spelling). And we charge to SEND the tech to replace a box.
But as a person on the phones WE do not charge, its left up to the tech if there is a charge.
If there is a charge there is a traditional "insurance" (we call it service protection plan) thats available for the customer. (the cost over a full year is less then the cost of one trip)
Anything Before "inside" starts does not have a charge for replacing/working on. (unless its willfull damage, but thats up to someone else (not the tech i belive) to state)
We get alot of issues where construction teams did not do a full call before you dig and hit a line. Or someone across the street is digging a flowerbed and digs the cable up.
We generally get a tech out first available appt and run a temp line till we can scedual a new buried one.
The overheads don't have as much a problem, but they do get hit and pulled down occasionaly.
Hope this helped clear things up man. Check with your local cable company though to find out what the rules are for your area.
it's the data stream's fault
by jcrobso - 8/22/08 1:50 PM In reply to: It is always the Cable companies fault. by bigtom4prezThe data stream is supplied to you by the cable company. Thus it's a cable problem, getting them to do anything about is not easy. John
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