# New Bolt recordings have unwatchable pixelation. Live\Stream TV 100% OK



## nrnoble (Aug 25, 2004)

Friday I received and installed a Bolt and Tivo mini. It is replacing a perfectly running Premiere.

Looking for insight and suggestions.

*Short version:*


Recorded TV or delayed TV unwatchable
Live TV and streaming Apps are OK.
This unit is not refurbished or modified. New directly from Tivo.
Signal strength on Bolt at 95% or above.

*Details:*
The Bolt is experiencing unwatchable pixalation when watching recorded TV or delayed lived TV. However live TV and streaming are working. Example, I can stream HBO, HULU, and Netflix on the Bolt without seeing any problems. I can watch TV live without pixelation, but if I pause the TV for 30 seconds and then watch delayed live TV, the video images are unrecognizable. All Bolt recordings are unwatchable\unrecognizable\freezing\etc.

The Bolt is running in parallel with my 5 year old Premier that never had any problems. Signal strength on both Bolt and Premiere are at 95% or above. I can't ever remember seeing a single pixelation problem with Premier.

I have high speed internet (xfinity) at 100mbs download (90mbps typical). No problems with internet.

TiVo Mini has the same problems as Bolt, except that Live TV has far more pixalation problems. Since the Bolt is doing all the work, I am assuming the Bolt is the source of problem. No problems using streaming application such HBO, Hulu, youtube, Netflix, etc.


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## kpeters59 (Jun 19, 2007)

Sounds like a bad Bolt...sorry to hear that.

Call TiVo tomorrow?

-KP


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## JCN (Feb 4, 2016)

I have the same problem with some recordings. I thought it might have something to do with my external HD. Now I think maybe not.


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## mattyro7878 (Nov 27, 2014)

What do you mean "running in parallel" with the Premiere? Are you splitting a signal to the two boxes? If so , how are you splitting? Has the Premiere been affected?


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## jfpga (Sep 28, 2003)

i had this problem for a couple of months, simple fix for me was just making sure the coaxial cable going into the Bolt was properly seated all the way in.


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## nrnoble (Aug 25, 2004)

mattyro7878 said:


> What do you mean "running in parallel" with the Premiere? Are you splitting a signal to the two boxes? If so , how are you splitting? Has the Premiere been affected?


It just means they are both running next to each other.

It was split using a split installed and tested by a xfinity tech a couple of years ago. I had two Tivo running without any problems with steady signal strength of 95 on the Tivos with snr of 37.


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## nrnoble (Aug 25, 2004)

I called tivo and they are claiming that the snr of 37 is too high and that anything over 35 is bad. *Can anyone verify that snr of 37 will cause serious recording problems? *


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## mattyro7878 (Nov 27, 2014)

nrnoble said:


> It just means they are both running next to each other.
> 
> It was split using a split installed and tested by a xfinity tech a couple of years ago. I had two Tivo running without any problems with steady signal strength of 95 on the Tivos with snr of 37.


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## T-Shee (Sep 22, 2006)

nrnoble said:


> I called tivo and they are claiming that the snr of 37 is too high and that anything over 35 is bad. *Can anyone verify that snr of 37 will cause serious recording problems? *


No problem with an SNR of 37 here.

It's very likely that your coax is flakey or the splitter (if you have one in the line) is bad, and yes, splitters do go bad, esp. the cheap ones provided by your cable company. So buy a high quality splitter if you use one (typical for Tuning Adapter setups). It might be good idea to replace the coax cables behind/after the splitter with RG6 (or even RG11's) if you can. (RG11's are fairly stiff, somewhat inflexible, and may not be suitable for in-cabinet installations.)

I improved my signal dramatically (cleaner, not stronger) with a new splitter and RG11's after it. Error rates dropped to ZERO on the BOLT+ and the cable modem. It's possible to have a good signal (95%) and SNR (37) and still have interference introduced by bad cables and/or bad splitter, which could result in the extreme pixelation your seeing.


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## sfhub (Jan 6, 2007)

SNR is a measure of the quality of your signal (higher is better) I don't see how a high SNR can be a bad thing unless you are also having a lot of noise so you jacked up the signal to compensate, but then your signal strength would be high.


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## nrnoble (Aug 25, 2004)

This has been resolved, and it was nothing wrong the bolt. I can't explain the cause of the problem other than I simply moved the Bolt about two feet. Same connection, not changing anything else, and there was no more pixelation.

Tivo support has a tough job and really only can resolve basic issues or when people overlook something basic. What bothered me was they were looking find "Anything" to get me off the phone. They weren't looking point me in the right direction, just get to move on to the next caller ASAP. Well, that is what this forum is for, help from people with experience and skills.


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## V7Goose (May 28, 2005)

nrnoble said:


> This has been resolved, and it was nothing wrong the bolt. I can't explain the cause of the problem other than I simply moved the Bolt about two feet. Same connection, not changing anything else, and there was no more pixelation.


You have a bad cable or loose connection, and unless you find it, it could come back at any time. The physical location of the TiVo made no difference, but by moving it, you simply tugged on the cables in a different way, and that TEMPORARILY made a bad connection slightly better.

Many of us (me included) have a tendency to just use our fingers to tighten coax connectors, thus making is easy to make any changes in the future without needing to dig out a wrench. But frankly, this is a very bad practice, and it leads to about 90% of all these types of problems. If you are not going to use a wrench to snug up the connectors, you are better off with the push-on types, since they are designed to provide some spring pressure to secure the connection.


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## Nak (Aug 18, 2010)

V7Goose said:


> You have a bad cable or loose connection, and unless you find it, it could come back at any time. The physical location of the TiVo made no difference, but by moving it, you simply tugged on the cables in a different way, and that TEMPORARILY made a bad connection slightly better.
> 
> Many of us (me included) have a tendency to just use our fingers to tighten coax connectors, thus making is easy to make any changes in the future without needing to dig out a wrench. But frankly, this is a very bad practice, and it leads to about 90% of all these types of problems.


Not only that, but you need to check the cable ends and make sure that some of the center conductor is sticking out past the end of the connector. I've seen a lot of cables that the center conductor is recessed. That will work, sometimes. But you can get random pixelation. The shorter it is, the worse the pixelation.


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## DeltaOne (Sep 29, 2013)

V7Goose said:


> You have a bad cable or loose connection, and unless you find it, it could come back at any time. The physical location of the TiVo made no difference, but by moving it, you simply tugged on the cables in a different way, and that TEMPORARILY made a bad connection slightly better.


Twice in the last five years I've solved pixilation problems by disconnecting and reconnecting each and every cable connection in my house. Never would have believed it if I didn't see it with my own eyes.


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## scandia101 (Oct 20, 2007)

I had this problem on just one comcast channel on my 6 month old Bolt. Five days of recordings on that channel were all pixelated but all other recordings were ok. Live tv on that channel looked fine, then I hit the replay button and it was pixelated until I ff'd to live again. I did a soft reboot and the problem was gone.


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## aspexil (Oct 16, 2015)

We are OTA and this happens to us on only one channel (the local Fox broadcast) and only during Hells Kitchen or Master Chef shows. Do not know why. We have reverted to watching VOD on Sling TV for those two. But we tune into that channel any other time of day/night and it is pixelation free. Weirdest thing.


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## Nak (Aug 18, 2010)

scandia101 said:


> I had this problem on just one comcast channel on my 6 month old Bolt. Five days of recordings on that channel were all pixelated but all other recordings were ok. Live tv on that channel looked fine, then I hit the replay button and it was pixelated until I ff'd to live again. I did a soft reboot and the problem was gone.


I'd still check your cables. I've had one channel pixelated while all the others are fine, and it turned out to be the cable. Check that all your cable connectors wave some of the center electrode sticking out past the end of the connecter. If they don't, you can get weird random pixelation like you describe. Also, tighten all your connectors with a wrench if you have some experience and knowledge on how to use a wrench. Just enough pressure to turn the connector till it stops; don't try and "torque" it.


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## scandia101 (Oct 20, 2007)

Nak said:


> I'd still check your cables. I've had one channel pixelated while all the others are fine, and it turned out to be the cable. Check that all your cable connectors wave some of the center electrode sticking out past the end of the connecter. If they don't, you can get weird random pixelation like you describe. Also, tighten all your connectors with a wrench.


Thanks , but no.


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## tivowiz (Aug 3, 2002)

I have a hard time wrapping my head around why recording & buffered watching would be pixelated, but live would be clear with no issues?


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## alexb (Jan 4, 2003)

I had bad pixelation on and off for years with both media center and TiVo. Wouk did come and go. Sometimes it wouldn’t happen for weeks or months and sometimes every day, was worse in summer. Now is fixed.

It was traced to two issues. First was the drop from pole to house had a singke strand of shielding wrapped around the core (I.e mis cabled years ago).

Second was ingress of other signals. I live a mile from a lake, seems it is common in summer for marine radio interference to ingress through ANY part of the cable infrastructure. Comcast replaced my pole level interconnects to remove the snap connectors plus the replaced old cable in various parts of the neighbourhood.

I had the supervisor around my house figuring this all out. He had also seen equipment in houses do something similar - put RF noise in the house that affects cable (motors on fridges etc.)

FWIW


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## shwru980r (Jun 22, 2008)

Nak said:


> I'd still check your cables. I've had one channel pixelated while all the others are fine, and it turned out to be the cable. Check that all your cable connectors wave some of the center electrode sticking out past the end of the connecter. If they don't, you can get weird random pixelation like you describe. Also, tighten all your connectors with a wrench.


I wouldn't tighten anything with a wrench that is connected to the Bolt, because the tork could break the connection to the mainboard of the Bolt. Any kind of excess pressure on the connection outlets of any kind home theatre component could cause failure of the component. I've seen people recommending angled adaptors for the connections on the rear of electronic components to avoid pressure when the component is pushed back against a wall.


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## Nak (Aug 18, 2010)

shwru980r said:


> I wouldn't tighten anything with a wrench that is connected to the Bolt, because the tork could break the connection to the mainboard of the Bolt. Any kind of excess pressure on the connection outlets of any kind home theatre component could cause failure of the component. I've seen people recommending angled adaptors for the connections on the rear of electronic components to avoid pressure when the component is pushed back against a wall.


Certainly you could apply enough excess pressure with a wrench to break the mainboard. I'd think that most people would know not to apply excess pressure, but you are probably right that in this day and age way too many people have no idea how to use a wrench. Probably most people don't. So yeah, I'll edit my post to read "if you have some experience and knowledge on how to use a wrench." Thanks, I tend to assume most people are proficient with tools, when in fact most people are not.


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## nrnoble (Aug 25, 2004)

tivowiz said:


> I have a hard time wrapping my head around why recording & buffered watching would be pixelated, but live would be clear with no issues?


I have not figured that one out either.


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## shamilian (Mar 27, 2003)

tivowiz said:


> I have a hard time wrapping my head around why recording & buffered watching would be pixelated, but live would be clear with no issues?


sound like the disk write/read is the problem.

live playback may go directly to the decoder vs being written and then read from the disk.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

shamilian said:


> sound like the disk write/read is the problem.
> live playback may go directly to the decoder vs being written and then read from the disk.


That's easy to test. Just hit Pause for a minute. Release Pause and you will be watching a recording.


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## tvmaster2 (Sep 9, 2006)

tivowiz said:


> I have a hard time wrapping my head around why recording & buffered watching would be pixelated, but live would be clear with no issues?


yes, that is the disconnect for me as well.


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## tvmaster2 (Sep 9, 2006)

shamilian said:


> sound like the disk write/read is the problem.
> 
> live playback may go directly to the decoder vs being written and then read from the disk.


yup, that would be my reckoning as well - it's the only thing that makes sense - bad drive.


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## Mike500 (Jun 29, 2004)

I worked dbs satellite installs for many years. I've seen many bad installed by minimally paid installers, both in cable TV and satellite. Crimps of the cable and scrapes off of the covering and errant "whiskers" made by small aluminum shield wires often degrade the signal. Check the cables and connectors all the way to the service entrance, if possible.

The quality of the connectors also matters. The best are high quality connectors like the original Snap-N-Seal ones. But these can also be installed incorrectly. Often, the connector is incorrectly installed. The center dielectric is sometimes not fully inserted fully into the connector's barrel.


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

You realize this thread is nearly a year old?


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

jrtroo said:


> You realize this thread is nearly a year old?


I wish that XenForo would change the color of posts over a year old. I was thinking of a moldy purple color.


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## tvmaster2 (Sep 9, 2006)

jrtroo said:


> You realize this thread is nearly a year old?


because the information is tainted after how long? Info is info. Hopefully the original poster still gets automated responses, hence, an answer. Which I assume YOU don't have?


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## tvmaster2 (Sep 9, 2006)

Mike500 said:


> I worked dbs satellite installs for many years. I've seen many bad installed by minimally paid installers, both in cable TV and satellite. Crimps of the cable and scrapes off of the covering and errant "whiskers" made by small aluminum shield wires often degrade the signal. Check the cables and connectors all the way to the service entrance, if possible.
> 
> The quality of the connectors also matters. The best are high quality connectors like the original Snap-N-Seal ones. But these can also be installed incorrectly. Often, the connector is incorrectly installed. The center dielectric is sometimes not fully inserted fully into the connector's barrel.


OK, I'll have yet another go and look at those a little closer, but if all checks out, it's gotta be a drive problem...


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## Mike500 (Jun 29, 2004)

Cable companies know of bad installs and overcome them by amplifiers and high strength signals.

For OTA, where signals can be very weak, the quality of the cable, it careful placement, and the connectors really matter.

The move back to copper center conductors by some videophiles has its drawbacks. Stretching by a less than careful installer can change the impedance characteristics of the line and cause a degraded signal.

Almost all cable companies use copper plated steel conductors to minimize the effect of "stretch." Copper is advantage of dbs satellite only due to satellite's use of switching voltages,

For cable only, where voltages and resistance doesn't matter, the signal travels over the outer copper plating. It's called the "skin effect."


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## tvmaster2 (Sep 9, 2006)

Mike500 said:


> Cable companies know of bad installs and overcome them by amplifiers and high strength signals.
> 
> For OTA, where signals can be very weak, the quality of the cable, it careful placement, and the connectors really matter.
> 
> ...


Well done sir, looks like either a faulty coax or cat5 cable, likely the coax which was supplied with the tuning adapter, new, in an unopened box. thanks!


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## Mike500 (Jun 29, 2004)

tvmaster2 said:


> Well done sir, looks like either a faulty coax or cat5 cable, likely the coax which was supplied with the tuning adapter, new, in an unopened box. thanks!


You're very welcome. Glad to help.


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## tvmaster2 (Sep 9, 2006)

Mike500 said:


> You're very welcome. Glad to help.


but it's REALLY fussy on what it accepts for a cable, and if you just slightly touch or move the coax, pixelation comes and goes. Maybe it's the coax jack on the TiVo itself.


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## Mike500 (Jun 29, 2004)

tvmaster2 said:


> but it's REALLY fussy on what it accepts for a cable, and if you just slightly touch or move the coax, pixelation comes and goes. Maybe it's the coax jack on the TiVo itself.


That, or a bad F connector. I'd replace the connector first.


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## bruce1942 (Nov 18, 2004)

All of a sudden My 12 month old Tivo Bolt on time Warner Cable produced pixelated images and distorted sound on all recorded channels EXCEPT Public Broadcasting. Delaying and viewing live TV was pixelated. Live TV, Amazon Prime and Netflix were fine. A real head scratcher. Tried simultaneously recording same 4 shows in different orders to see if it was one or more tuners - no joy. Finally went back to basics and did a soft reset. Problem gone.

PS Thanks to the community for all the suggestions. Big help.


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## Larry Flint (Jan 16, 2019)

*Do a system reboot if you haven't already*
Found this old thread when I had same problem - fixed by rebooting Bolt.
Old recordings were fine.
Bolt live TV and streaming worked perfect
Mini HD live channels unusable - streaming fine, SD channels fine (Bruce 1942 maybe that's why your PBS worked?)
New recording on bolt unwatchable in HD - SD channels ok
Checked cables - not the problem (no surprise)
Finally rebooted - best to do this through Bolt settings vs pulling the power and plugging it back in.
Back in business on both Bolt and mini.


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