Account Status Changed - Picture Quality not so good

[plink30]

Hi,

I recently acquired a Tivo and have been setting it up the last couple of evenings.
When I first connected it, it showed Account Status: 3 Account in Good Standing.

As it had the previous owners settings etc. on it I did a complete erase and went through the guided set up. Now it is showing Account Status 8: Closed, contact Tivo.

Can anyone tell me the implications of this? I intend getting a subscription but first want to see what you get without one.

Also, the picture quality is much worse since going through the Tivo. It is very noticeable especially when switching between AUX and TIVO. Any suggestions?

Many thanks

[Tivo_noob]

Probably the account has to be reactivated and you won't get anything without the subscription, in fact TiVo without is pretty much useless.

As for the picture quality, what is it connected to? Have you changed the scart settings inside Tivo?

[plink30]

Tivo_noob - Thanks for your reply.

I connected it as per the Tivo manual but I haven't changed any scart settings inside Tivo, as a matter of fact I wasn't aware that you could!

To be perfectly honest I get very nervous changing settings in case I screw it up and can't get back. But I will have a look.

[chrisd]

Acct status 8 means you need to subscribe to tivo, as the previous owner has cancelled their direct debit.

my picture image is also degraded when running through the tivo. you get used to it though, so unless it's REALLY bad i wouldn't worry about it.

[rwtomkins]

In my experience the picture degradation that TiVo introduces is hardly noticeable with a CRT TV but quite severe with an LCD screen. If you've got LCD (or indeed plasma) and you can't put up with it, you can adjust the TiVo to give you Mode 0 Recording or get someone to do it for you. I used TiVo Heaven with excellent results.

[AMc]

It's possible (though I've never done it) that Clear and Delete everything & Guided Setup has set your Tivo SCART input back to composite.
You need to go into the Messages & set up, SCART settings and change it to "RGB and PAL".
IIRC you may need to restart the recorder to make the changes take.

[mikerr]

Also note that some LCDs give a better picture with composite than RGB, so its worth toggling that setting and judging for yourself. (Its in setup/recorder & phone/scart settings BTW)

I think using composite serves to smooth the mpeg artifacts that are quite on some broadcast channels due to the tv companies using too low bitrates...

[6022tivo]

Also check settings, preferences, tivo recording quality is set to best.

If not the 30 min buffer will always be in a lower quality.