Pixelation effect on OTA?

1627 Views 9 Replies 4 Participants Last post by richsadams, Aug 24, 2007

MirclMax

Discussion Starter · Aug 24, 2007

I'm getting close to pulling the trigger and getting a THD ... but I had a quick question .. I know you can do OTA without cablecards .. and that the problems don't pop in until the CC's are installed .. but ..

My question is.. once the CC's are in, do the OTAs still work flawlessly, or are they then affected by the same problem?

And if I can bug people for an opinion .. Ranking between 0% and 100% .. how confident are you that the current problems can be resolved via software updates (rather than faulty hardware). (A response of 100% would be indicating that you are completely sure that TiVo *could* eventually fix the problems with updates).

Thanks. And sorry for yet another thread on this sort of thing.

MirclMax

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richsadams

· #2 · Aug 24, 2007

MirclMax said:
I'm getting close to pulling the trigger and getting a THD ... but I had a quick question .. I know you can do OTA without cablecards .. and that the problems don't pop in until the CC's are installed .. but ..

My question is.. once the CC's are in, do the OTAs still work flawlessly, or are they then affected by the same problem?

And if I can bug people for an opinion .. Ranking between 0% and 100% .. how confident are you that the current problems can be resolved via software updates (rather than faulty hardware). (A response of 100% would be indicating that you are completely sure that TiVo *could* eventually fix the problems with updates).

Thanks. And sorry for yet another thread on this sort of thing.

MirclMax

Can't speak to the TiVo HD OTA question from experience...we're waiting for TiVo to iron things like that out before we replace our S2's. Based on that Ive been keeping a close watch on the umpteen threads that are discussing these issues in one way or another and it doesnt appear that cable cards have any effect on OTA processingand frankly Im not sure how they could.

As far as an opinion about TiVo getting the macroblocking issues resolved? I'm 100% confident that they will. Having used TiVo for a little more than six years now, everything that's come along has been resolved. Some things haven't been addressed as quickly as I would have liked at times, but they have been taken care of.

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bkdtv

· #3 · Aug 24, 2007

MirclMax said:
My question is.. once the CC's are in, do the OTAs still work flawlessly, or are they then affected by the same problem?

They are affected by the same problem if your cable company uses Scientific Atlanta CableCards.

If your cable provider uses Motorola CableCards, then there are no issues with OTA.

Just be sure that you have an appropriate antenna. Every HDTV receiver will suffer from occasional pixelization on OTA channels if you use a multipath-magnet like one of those round, omnidirectional antennas. Reception conditions do vary by location, but for the most part, you will not see pixelization on OTA locals if you use the right antenna.

Tivo has posted that they are now testing a fix for the Scientific Atlanta issue now, for release in a few weeks.

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MirclMax

Discussion Starter · #4 · Aug 24, 2007

bkdtv said:
They are affected by the same problem if your cable company uses Scientific Atlanta CableCards.

richsadams said:
it doesnt appear that cable cards have any effect on OTA processingand frankly Im not sure how they could

Nice, 2 responses.. and two completely different answers

bkdtv said:
Reception conditions do vary by location, but for the most part, you will not see pixelization on OTA locals if you use the right antenna.

Obviously, a poor signal will produce problems, but that's not TiVo's fault.. Since I have you here .. do you suggest any particular antenna? (Small Multidirectional)

richsadams said:
As far as an opinion about TiVo getting the macroblocking issues resolved? I'm 100% confident that they will. Having used TiVo for a little more than six years now, everything that's come along has been resolved. Some things haven't been addressed as quickly as I would have liked at times, but they have been taken care of.

Looks like you're answering a slightly different question than I'm asking. I too am not exactly new to Tivo (I even owned an HDR112) .. so I have faith that they will *try* to fix things rather than just ignore everyone. The problem comes in if they actually have a hardware problem that CAN'T be fixed by a software update. My question was more along the lines of .. Do people feel confident that the issues that are out there are non-hardware related that can indeed (eventually) be fixed.

Thanks all for your input

-MirclMax

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Teeps

· #5 · Aug 24, 2007

MirclMax said:
My question is.. once the CC's are in, do the OTAs still work flawlessly

Yes

MirclMax said:
, or are they then affected by the same problem?

No. However OTA is subject to environmental conditions.

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richsadams

· #6 · Aug 24, 2007

bkdtv said:
They are affected by the same problem if your cable company uses Scientific Atlanta CableCards.

If your cable provider uses Motorola CableCards, then there are no issues with OTA.

I'm confused. If the OP is not seeing any (or "normal" macroblocking) with OTA, how would cable cards of any brand change OTA processing?

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richsadams

· #7 · Aug 24, 2007

MirclMax said:
Looks like you're answering a slightly different question than I'm asking. I too am not exactly new to Tivo (I even owned an HDR112) .. so I have faith that they will *try* to fix things rather than just ignore everyone. The problem comes in if they actually have a hardware problem that CAN'T be fixed by a software update. My question was more along the lines of .. Do people feel confident that the issues that are out there are non-hardware related that can indeed (eventually) be fixed.

Thanks all for your input

-MirclMax

I do not believe and AFAIK there is no evidence that the macroblocking issue on TiVo HD's is a hardware problem (other than SA cards not playing nice with TiVo at the moment). I also believe that if it were a hardware problem that it would be fixed as well.

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richsadams

· #8 · Aug 24, 2007

MirclMax said:
Obviously, a poor signal will produce problems, but that's not TiVo's fault.. Since I have you here .. do you suggest any particular antenna? (Small Multidirectional)

We've used the Terk Technology HDTVi VHF/UHF HDTV Indoor Antenna and it works quite well. We're only 11 miles from the antenna farm.

Antennaweb.org is a good place to start your research using data based on your exact location.

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bkdtv

· #9 · Aug 24, 2007

MirclMax said:
Nice, 2 responses.. and two completely different answers

My previous response was correct with regard to the TivoHD. Rich's answer was a logical deduction -- it's what you would expect. It's what makes sense. It's also true of the Tivo Series3. But it's not true for the TivoHD.

Whenever you've got a CableCard unit in your TivoHD, the VIXS OpenCable receiver is -- as far as I can tell -- always in use. When Motorola CableCards are used, there is no affect on OTA. However, when a Scientific Atlanta CableCard is used, the VIXS OpenCable receiver causes pixelization on everything, regardless of source.

It's worth noting that the Motorola CableCards also caused intermittent pixelization with OTA signals up until Tivo released a a software update 8 days ago. That update eliminated the pixelization with both cable and OTA signals when using Motorola CableCards. TivoPony posted earlier this week that a similar update was now in testing for Scientific Atlanta CableCard users.

Obviously, a poor signal will produce problems, but that's not TiVo's fault.. Since I have you here .. do you suggest any particular antenna? (Small Multidirectional)

I recommend a 4-way or 8-way bow-tie. I use the Channel Master 4221 ($25). The Channel Master 4228 ($50) is even better, but it was overkill for my location.

There are more WAF-friendly antennas that don't perform as well, but that may be 'good enough' for your location. I like the Channel Master antennas above because the the signal seems very resistant to inclement weather. With some past antennas I've had, I would see picture breakup with heavy rain and/or winds.

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richsadams

· #10 · Aug 24, 2007

bkdtv said:
My previous response was correct with regard to the TivoHD. Rich's answer was a logical deduction -- it's what you would expect. It's what makes sense. It's also true of the Tivo Series3. But it's not true for the TivoHD.

Whenever you've got a CableCard unit in your TivoHD, the VIXS OpenCable decoder is -- as far as I can tell -- always in use. When Motorola CableCards are used, there is no affect on OTA. However, when a Scientific Atlanta CableCard is used, the VIXS OpenCable receiver causes pixelization on everything, regardless of source.

It's worth noting that the Motorola CableCards also caused intermittent pixelization with OTA signals up until Tivo released a a software update 8 days ago. That update eliminated the pixelization with both cable and OTA signals when using Motorola CableCard.

That's interesting info. :up:

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