Tivo Picture Quality

[jaybird28]

I can't get a picture I'm happy with on my new Humax Tivo Series 2 DVR. It appears grainy. I have a new plasma and my question is this.

I have the cable from the wall going into a basic splitter which then goes to the Humax and the Plasma. Is there a better splitter like a digital splitter that I should purchase to get better quality picture? When the cable was going directly to the plasma, the non HD channels appeared clearer (Less grainy) then now having it hooked to the Tivo. If I record on anything but "Best or High" its really poor quality.

Thanks for any advise!!

[crowfan]

Unfortunately, that's just life with TiVo. It compresses the picture, even on Best quality, and a big-screen, HD plasma will expose the flaws much more than a 25" CRT.

What you can do is make sure you have the best quality signal going to the TV (i.e., have a technician from you cable company come out and test it). You may also want to get an amplifier. Also, make sure you use the S-video cable -- that's the best picture quality you're gonna get.

There is a new, dual tuner HD Series 3 TiVo coming out in the second half of 2006.

Frankly, when I got my 42" HD plasma for Christmas this year, I was surprised at how good the picture quality was with TiVo. I expected it to be much worse.

Still, the benefits of TiVo FAR outweigh the loss in picture quality, at least IMHO.

[jaybird28]

Thank you for responding. I didn't know about the compressing so at least I feel better!!

[jaybird28]

What type of amplifier are you talking about???

[crowfan]

Cable amplifier. You can get them at Radio Shack for like $30-40. I have one that's an amplified splitter, which would obviously replace your basic splitter. Or, they make ones that you put in your house where the cable comes in. That would amplify the cable for your whole house. Usually the cable company would install that, especially if they come to your house and test your signal and see that it's weak. It may help with the PQ a little, but I wouldn't expect a dramatic improvement.

Good luck!

[jjberger2134]

Some people on this forum have praised an eBay seller named "cabletvamps" for selling high quality Electroline amps. I am currently looking for and may install one of these amps. His eBay site is full of useful information. Here is a link to one of his many auctions:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=5849743937&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&rd=1

Please note: I have never done business with cabletvamps, so I cannot either recommend or complain about his products or service. I started looking at his products after a similar thread in this forum got my interest about a month ago.

[jjberger2134]

If you click on the ebay link provided above, be sure to check out the link to the information pages located under the "Need Help" (in orange) about 10% down the page. There is a ton of good educational information.

[elhaugen]

Some people on this forum have praised an eBay seller named "cabletvamps" for selling high quality Electroline amps. I am currently looking for and may install one of these amps. His eBay site is full of useful information. Here is a link to one of his many auctions:

Please note: I have never done business with cabletvamps, so I cannot either recommend or complain about his products or service. I started looking at his products after a similar thread in this forum got my interest about a month ago.

Thanks for the info. I hooked up our 80hr and was completely disappointed. The picture was terrible. Coming out of the TV it was good. I read all the info on cabletvamps web site and ordered a Electroline 4-port standard 1ghz cable tv amplifier from his ebay store. What a difference :) :up: :up: . It greatly improved my tv reception and I can't tell the difference between the tv and TiVo. I am now a super happy TiVo customer and its all due to this forum.