TIVO major Tiling on a few channels

[vidrine]

For the last couple months my TIVO HD started tiling on a few channels. 6 or 7 only. I'm speaking MAJOR tiling, making the channels completely unviewable.

I have Charter. The came out and made repairs on connections, which they thought was the problem. Tivo's channel strength indicator on those channels were in the lower 70s range. After cable repairs the strength junped to 95-100, but the tiling persisted.

They replaced the cable card, but that didn't do any good. Oddly enough, after Tech support sent a new initialize "hit" to the cards, the problem went away for about 10 minutes, but it came back.

This is ONLY on 6 or 7 channels. These channels are clear on the cable box of another TV. The channels are in the 101-140 range (if that indicates anything.)

1) Now I have excellent cable strength
2) Have a new cable card

Any suggestions?

[bkdtv]

(1) Do you have a SDV adapter?

(2) When you tune to a channel with tiling, do you see frequently incrementing RS Uncorrected errors under Messages & Settings -> System Information -> DVR Diagnostics?

[dlfl]

(1) Do you have a SDV adapter?

(2) When you tune to a channel with tiling, do you see frequently incrementing RS Uncorrected errors under Messages & Settings -> System Information -> DVR Diagnostics?
Suppose you have quality problems on a channel but your RS Uncorrected errors are zero. Two questions:

1. Does this absolutely prove the problem is in the delivered signal, or are there possible problems that could still be due to the TiVo?

2. Do CATV providers accept the fact that this indicates a problem with their signal? (I suspect they would push back on this.)

[gastrof]

Someone said lowering some setting on a Series 3 could solve pixelizing problems. I think it was used by people who had FiOS, but I wonder if the same problem could affect people with other types of service.

EDIT:
Here's the link, for whatever good it might do...
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=375011

[bkdtv]

Someone said lowering some setting on a Series 3 could solve pixelizing problems. I think it was used by people who had FiOS, but I wonder if the same problem could affect people with other types of service.

EDIT:
Here's the link, for whatever good it might do...
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=375011

That thread is now obsolete. The FIOS issue above related to signal errors (RS Uncorrected errors). Millions of signals errors (RS Uncorrected errors) cause audio dropouts and pixelization. TiVo addressed the most common causes of signal errors in 11.0d, such that they are no longer a problem.

If you aren't seeing RS Uncorrected errors, then there aren't any signal errors to cause pixelization.

Suppose you have quality problems on a channel but your RS Uncorrected errors are zero. Two questions:

1. Does this absolutely prove the problem is in the delivered signal, or are there possible problems that could still be due to the TiVo?On non-SDV channels, A/V problems in the absence of [millions of] RS Uncorrected errors indicates one of the following:

The original picture signal is the problem, due to either overcompression or a cable headend hardware/equipment problem. This would affects both the TiVo and cable company box.


You have a failing internal or external drive. Failures with external drives are most common. In this case, disconnecting the external hard drive eliminates the problem.

SDV channels are an exception, because it's been shown that there can be A/V problems on SDV channels due to a two-way communication / authorization issue that has nothing to do with signal errors. If you only see problems on SDV channels, then that would tend to rule out drive failure.

2. Do CATV providers accept the fact that this indicates a problem with their signal? (I suspect they would push back on this.)Some providers apply more compression than others. Some channels like HBO and HGTV use more compression than others, so they'll exhibit artifacts during fast movement and scene transitions. Blocking and pixelization during fast movement, lighting effects, and scene transitions are usually related to overcompression.

What channel do you see this on? And what is the recording duration and recording size, as indicated by TiVo Desktop or your web browser?

[dlfl]

.........
If you aren't seeing RS Uncorrected errors, then there aren't any signal errors to cause pixelization.

On non-SDV channels, A/V problems in the absence of [millions of] RS Uncorrected errors indicates one of the following:

The original picture signal is the problem, due to either overcompression or a cable headend hardware/equipment problem. This would affects both the TiVo and cable company box.


You have a failing internal or external drive. Failures with external drives are most common. In this case, disconnecting the external hard drive eliminates the problem.

SDV channels are an exception, because it's been shown that there can be A/V problems on SDV channels due to a two-way communication / authorization issue that has nothing to do with signal errors. If you only see problems on SDV channels, then that would tend to rule out drive failure.

Some channels like HBO and HGTV use more compression than others, so they'll exhibit artifacts during fast movement and scene transitions. Some providers apply more compression than others. Blocking and pixelization during fast movement, lighting effects, and scene transitions are related to overcompression........
Thanks bkdtv,

What kind of A/V problems does the SDV two-way com/auth issue cause? Can you briefly describe the mechanism that causes the problem?

All my channels are solid most of the time -- I don't have frequent pixellation problems. What I have on a few channels are occasional very short breakups, or freezes and very short audio dropouts (similar to the dropout that always occurs a second or two after tuning a channel). Sometimes the A and V glitches are simultaneous -- other times just one or the other. The worst this gets is maybe 10 glitches per hour.

I'm going to have to do the "unplug the TA USB test" to determine which of my channels are SDV, so I don't know if the A/V glitches are only on SDV yet.