# Sound and video issues



## dthmj (Mar 12, 2002)

I've had my Bolt for a couple of weeks now, and overall I like it. But I've noticed more and more issues with video and sound quality. When playing back a recording the sound will periodically drop out and we'll get bad video, lines and large pixel blocks. The issues are the same when it is rewinded and played again, so I thought it recorded that way. But I never have these issues when watching live TV. 

Any ideas?


----------



## epstewart (Mar 1, 2003)

dthmj said:


> I've had my Bolt for a couple of weeks now, and overall I like it. But I've noticed more and more issues with video and sound quality. When playing back a recording the sound will periodically drop out and we'll get bad video, lines and large pixel blocks. The issues are the same when it is rewinded and played again, so I thought it recorded that way. But I never have these issues when watching live TV.
> 
> Any ideas?


Have you tried restarting the Bolt and seeing if the issues persist on newly made recordings?


----------



## niterider006 (Oct 20, 2015)

dthmj said:


> I've had my Bolt for a couple of weeks now, and overall I like it. But I've noticed more and more issues with video and sound quality. When playing back a recording the sound will periodically drop out and we'll get bad video, lines and large pixel blocks. The issues are the same when it is rewinded and played again, so I thought it recorded that way. But I never have these issues when watching live TV.
> 
> Any ideas?


By chance, can you check your audio settings and let me know if it's on PCM or Dolby?


----------



## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

dthmj said:


> I've had my Bolt for a couple of weeks now, and overall I like it. But I've noticed more and more issues with video and sound quality. When playing back a recording the sound will periodically drop out and we'll get bad video, lines and large pixel blocks. The issues are the same when it is rewinded and played again, so I thought it recorded that way. But I never have these issues when watching live TV.
> 
> Any ideas?


While it's probably your feed, you can set all the tuners to the same channel and compare their signal strength and SNR. They should be the same. If not, you may have one or more bad tuners.


----------



## dthmj (Mar 12, 2002)

JoeKustra said:


> While it's probably your feed, you can set all the tuners to the same channel and compare their signal strength and SNR. They should be the same. If not, you may have one or more bad tuners.


How do I check the signal strength?

And I'll check my audio settings tonight when I get home.


----------



## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

dthmj said:


> How do I check the signal strength?
> 
> And I'll check my audio settings tonight when I get home.


My method: first tune to a channel you think might be worst. Next do a restart from the Help menu. After things get back to TiVo Central, go to Settings & Messages, then to Account & System Info, then TiVo box Diagnostics. You will then see each tuner. Note the channel & frequency, but they all should be the same. The Signal Strength (for an OTA Bolt) is usually 72. For cable its usually 87 or 90. The SNR may vary, but 32 to 37 dB would be nice. That's a different thread. If one or two tuners are way off, you have a bad unit and should call TiVo. It happens.

Since I'm cable, I can't provide opinions on the other numbers. You can view what tuner is on what channel by hitting Info, then down. My basic Roamio has a bug that keeps it from counting RS Corrected errors. Having a lot of errors is not good. A lot would be in the millions. That can happen if you disconnect the rf coax and then connect it. After a restart it should be zero.

Last Tuesday a friend with the same cable company and I both recorded CBS prime time. During that three hour period we both had about seven errors per hour at the same time. I'm using a Roamio and he's using Premieres. So we know it's not the TiVo. He watched it live, I watched the recordings.


----------



## epstewart (Mar 1, 2003)

JoeKustra said:


> My method: first tune to a channel you think might be worst. Next do a restart from the Help menu. After things get back to TiVo Central, go to Settings & Messages, then to Account & System Info, then TiVo box Diagnostics. You will then see each tuner. Note the channel & frequency, but they all should be the same. The Signal Strength (for an OTA Bolt) is usually 72. For cable its usually 87 or 90. The SNR may vary, but 32 to 37 dB would be nice. That's a different thread. If one or two tuners are way off, you have a bad unit and should call TiVo. It happens.
> 
> Since I'm cable, I can't provide opinions on the other numbers. You can view what tuner is on what channel by hitting Info, then down. My basic Roamio has a bug that keeps it from counting RS Corrected errors. Having a lot of errors is not good. A lot would be in the millions. That can happen if you disconnect the rf coax and then connect it. After a restart it should be zero.
> 
> Last Tuesday a friend with the same cable company and I both recorded CBS prime time. During that three hour period we both had about seven errors per hour at the same time. I'm using a Roamio and he's using Premieres. So we know it's not the TiVo. He watched it live, I watched the recordings.


What do "RS" and "RS Corrected" mean?


----------



## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

epstewart said:


> What do "RS" and "RS Corrected" mean?


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reed–Solomon_error_correction

Good material to bore you to death.


----------



## dthmj (Mar 12, 2002)

niterider006 said:


> By chance, can you check your audio settings and let me know if it's on PCM or Dolby?


Dolby.

I checked the signal strength - it's 92% on all tuners, and SNR was 37.

I assume that is good???


----------



## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

dthmj said:


> Dolby.
> 
> I checked the signal strength - it's 92% on all tuners, and SNR was 37.
> 
> I assume that is good???


That's very good. Any errors? It might not be you, but if it external, getting your cable company to fix it will not be fun. I just had a service call, and I had to change my TV due to the interference it was causing. I find the more you know, the better the service. Field techs don't like it when you hand them proof there is a problem.


----------

