HR10-250 Poor Picture Quality

jpfive · 10-16-2006, 10:17 PM

A few days ago my picture quality took a turn for the worse. Previously HD looked crisp and I had no problems (especially discovery HD and my nfl ticket HD channels). I now have a very grainy picture on both HD and non-HD channels. It is on both live tv and recorded shows, even those shows recorded prior to the picture turning bad. The reason I make the distinction is that I previously watched those tivoed shows and the picture quality was A+ at the time (now they suck).

I seem to remember reading something about the hdmi interface (which I have been using) on the hr10-250s having some issues. But I hooked up the unit using component cables and the picture quality showed no improvement.

I have it set to 1080i

Why would the picture suddenly turn bad, with no change in equipment hookup?

Any help would be greatly appreciated as I dread the directv tech support call that I will have to make.

Thanks

And Is it 2010 yet, I just want that nfl ticket agreement to expire so that I can end my directv relationship forever!

chris_h · 10-17-2006, 02:07 AM

I have no idea what "input 1s" is. But I do know that composite cables only carry 480i video. Try component cables and make sure your HR10 is set to output 720p or 1080i (up arrow when viewing video to cycle thru the output resolutions you have set up).

TyroneShoes · 10-17-2006, 10:45 PM

It is quite unusual to show a degradation in PQ unless there is a display issue. If you have a way to independently test the display (different source, same source connected to a different display) that would at least rule that out. I would try a quick system restart first (stranger things have been cured this simply).

The HDMI issues are usually related to a failure of the HDMI card and manifest as one color missing, all color missing, or no handshake at all. "Grainy" does not really sound like a HDMI issue, but it could be. The fact that other connections show no difference somewhat rules HDMI out, though, and points to a problem either with the decoder in the STB or the analog signal chain within the display. Playback of programs that once looked OK somewhat confirms that. Try the S or composite outputs too, which may help narrow things down.

kcmurphy88 · 10-17-2006, 11:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TyroneShoes

It is quite unusual to show a degradation in PQ unless there is a display issue. If you have a way to independently test the display (different source, same source connected to a different display) that would at least rule that out. I would try a quick system restart first (stranger things have been cured this simply).

The HDMI issues are usually related to a failure of the HDMI card and manifest as one color missing, all color missing, or no handshake at all. "Grainy" does not really sound like a HDMI issue, but it could be. The fact that other connections show no difference somewhat rules HDMI out, though, and points to a problem either with the decoder in the STB or the analog signal chain within the display. Playback of programs that once looked OK somewhat confirms that. Try the S or composite outputs too, which may help narrow things down.

The fact that it does the same thing with HDMI (digital) and component (analog) completely lets out the HDMI card, and probably rules out the MPEG decoder. Not clear if the DAC that feeds the compnenet out of the decoder is also used in the HDMI path (Dig->ana->dig), but if so, then that could be the problem.

Or it could be some analog circuitry in the TV. Since the TiVo records everything in digital anyway, and known good recordings fail, then the input side of the TiVo is also likely blameless.

As the guy said, probably the TV unless you ca rule that out.

How does SD from the Tivo over S-video look?

Mechanic420 · 10-18-2006, 01:10 AM

I'm projecting my HR10-250 with an InFocus SP7205 for over a year... but I had problems with my HDMI port for the first months until DirecTV replaced my unit.

The first HR10-250 had little red grains on the black parts of the picture, and little blue grains on the white parts of the picture. The lower the resolution got, the bigger the dots got. They appeared randomly all over the screen... like digital static. I only saw this problem with the HDMI output, but not with the Component.

After a lot of hagling with the DirecTV person, they finally sent me out another unit (under warranty). The second unit was just fine, using the same 7.5M cable and projector.

I don't know what caused the problem... but I remember hearing that there is a high defect rate on the HDMI outputs on the HR10-250s.

TyroneShoes · 10-18-2006, 02:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kcmurphy88

...Not clear if the DAC that feeds the compnenet out of the decoder is also used in the HDMI path...

There is no need for the STB DAC in that path, as it remains digital until well after it exits the STB. The typical path for HDMI is MPEG decoder>rescaler>HDMI transmit IC>HDMI cable>HDMI receiver IC (in the display)>DAC (in the display)>analog processing (in the display). The typical path for component is MPEG decoder>rescaler>STB DAC>component cables> analog processing (in the display).

Quote:

Originally Posted by kcmurphy88

The fact that it does the same thing with HDMI (digital) and component (analog)...probably rules out the MPEG decoder...

Not at all. The MPEG decoder always and most definitely feeds both the HDMI and component path directly, not to mention composite and S video. Showing the same problem on all outputs actually rules IN the decoder (keeps it a suspect). It would have to show the problem on only some of the outputs to rule it out.