# ESPN channles are pixelated



## philandcarolpayn (Dec 1, 2015)

Recent addition of a TIVO Bolt to replace my Time Warner cable box. After many TW technician visits, we got the service working so that the channels look great, except for the ESPN channels. They are massively pixelated. 

Is anyone having or had this issue and is there a solution?

FYI - Using the TW Cable Card and their Cable Card Tuner.


----------



## joewom (Dec 10, 2013)

philandcarolpayn said:


> Recent addition of a TIVO Bolt to replace my Time Warner cable box. After many TW technician visits, we got the service working so that the channels look great, except for the ESPN channels. They are massively pixelated.
> 
> Is anyone having or had this issue and is there a solution?
> 
> FYI - Using the TW Cable Card and their Cable Card Tuner.


Could be a number of reasons. But most are signal problem. Usually not a strong enough one.


----------



## philandcarolpayn (Dec 1, 2015)

the twc tech stated that the ESPN channels are broadcast through QAM and that their DVRs have a decoder. Doesn't make sense to me, really frustrated!

Any other BOLT users not getting the ESPN channels? 

Help!


----------



## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

The Bolt has a QAM tuner too, so the tech is an idiot. Dollars to donuts it's a signal issue. Tune ESPN on one of the live TV tuners, then go to the diagnostics screen and look at the signal strength for that tuner. I bet it's below 80%.

Edit: Do you use a tuning adapter? If so are you using the pass through port on it to get the signal to the TiVo? If so then you should try putting a 2 way splitter before the TA and running one leg to the TiVo and the other to the TA instead of using the pass through port. The pass through port on those TAs is terrible and can cause a significant signal loss.


----------



## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

philandcarolpayn said:


> the twc tech stated that the ESPN channels are broadcast through QAM and that their DVRs have a decoder. Doesn't make sense to me, really frustrated!
> 
> Any other BOLT users not getting the ESPN channels?
> 
> Help!


Simple tuner test. Select ESPN. Then go to Help, restart & reset and do a restart. When it's finished all tuners will be on ESPN.

Go to Settings & Messages, then Account & System info, then TiVo box Diagnostics. Scroll through each page noting the Signal % and SNR. All should be equal. If no, call TiVo. If yes, it's your feed.


----------



## johndoedoes (Oct 10, 2015)

I have a different issue with ESPN. I have ESPN-U and the sound is the only thing working. 

No picture comes up. Is this a TiVO issue or FiOS issue?


----------



## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

Could it be outputting a resolution your TV doesn't support? You should set your TiVo to only have one resolution checked. Pick either 720p or 1080p depending on the resolution of your TV. (you can also check 1080p/24 pass through if your TV supports that) There is no reason for it to use native resolution unless you're just sure that the scaler in your TV is better then the one in the TiVo.


----------

