# Tivo Pixelated



## dmap6769 (Sep 20, 2021)

Hi. Been using a Bolt OTA for 3 years now. Replaced my original one about 3 years ago. It's been fine until just recently. We had been away from our home for a couple of months and it worked fine when we left. We just got back and went to watch some old recordings and they were pixelated...I thought maybe we just had bad reception for that particular program but noticed that everything I tried to play back was pixelated...just like it was getting poor reception from the antenna. 

Now, if I watch live TV, it is fine...no issues. If I pause the show and come back...it plays pixelated until I catch up to the live feed. Think it's a HD going out?


----------



## Hickoryw (Dec 6, 2008)

That is strange. The part where when you pause it's pixilated until you catch up to live seems odd. As far as I understand it even when watching "live" you are still actually watching the buffered recording on the hard drive. But I could be wrong.


----------



## dmap6769 (Sep 20, 2021)

Hickoryw said:


> That is strange. The part where when you pause it's pixilated until you catch up to live seems odd. As far as I understand it even when watching "live" you are still actually watching the buffered recording on the hard drive. But I could be wrong.


I had sorta thought that myself...I did correct that it's a Bolt, not a Roamio...not that it matters.

All recordings I have checked are pixelated...and many of them were fine before. So, I can only conclude the HD is bad.


----------



## NorthAlabama (Apr 19, 2012)

two of the major concerns with the bolt are heat (or cooling it), and the 2.5" hard drive (not the 3.5" used in pre-bolt models) - the bolt overheats, and the hard drives fail more frequently.

i'd tackle cooling first to see if that corrects the pixelization (there are multiple threads), and click on the "report" button on your op, then ask your thread be moved to the bolt forums, where you'll get more experienced help.


----------



## Sheffield Steve (Jun 11, 2010)

In my experience, pixelation is caused by (ordered most to least likely):

a) Poor signal 
b) Signal too strong
c) Power supply is failing 

In your case as nothing has changed antenna wise, I would suspect the power supply. (quite common problem)


----------



## dmap6769 (Sep 20, 2021)

Another update. I unplugged the unit and let it sit overnight...plugged it back in and now it seems that the pause feature works again (have tried it off/on for 30 mins and it seems to be working). I had deleted a bunch of old recordings without checking them...the remaining ones I checked seem to pixelate if taken in the last couple of weeks...some of the older ones play okay. So, maybe the power supply was the culprit and not getting a good connection? The antenna signal is strong...always has been.


----------



## Finalrinse (Jan 13, 2005)

My pixelation came from a too strong signal (if signal strength reads 100% it may be much higher). A 6db inline attenuator brought my signal down to 98%, no more pixelation.
Signal strength for your situation may not be relevant because you have no pixelation watching live. I just thought I would throw this information out there.


----------



## ncbill (Sep 1, 2007)

I've seen some pixelation lately in my Roamio...how does one determine if the cable signal is too strong or weak?


----------



## Finalrinse (Jan 13, 2005)

ncbill said:


> I've seen some pixelation lately in my Roamio...how does one determine if the cable signal is too strong or weak?


Go to "Settings and Messages" / "Channel Settings" / "Signal Strength".
Remember, It caps out at 100%, so it could be way above if you see 100%. A good place to start is a 3db attenuator, and add more until you see it drop below 100%.


----------



## ClearToLand (Jul 10, 2001)

NorthAlabama said:


> ...*click on the "report" button on your op, then ask your thread be moved to the bolt forums*, where you'll get more experienced help.


I just 'reported' it. 

IME, you get better / faster results here on TCF by just doing it yourself.


----------



## ClearToLand (Jul 10, 2001)

Sheffield Steve said:


> In my experience, pixelation is caused by (ordered most to least likely):
> 
> a) Poor signal
> b) Signal too strong
> ...


Edited to add / enhance:

Poor / weak signal (need a better antenna, or fewer splitters, or an amplifier****)
Signal too strong (need attenutator(s), or capped splitter(s) used as attenuators)
Power supply is failing (easy, and inexpensive, to replace during troubleshooting)
Hard disk drive is failing (not as easy / inexpensive as the power supply but still doable via many YouTube videos and / or TCF posts if you're not a 'Techie'  )
*NOTE: *** An amplifier will only work properly if the ORIGINAL signal *BEFORE* any splitters is sufficient / acceptable. You can't amplify a poor signal into a good signal; you can only compensate for line and splitter loses.


----------



## ncbill (Sep 1, 2007)

Finalrinse said:


> Go to "Settings and Messages" / "Channel Settings" / "Signal Strength".
> Remember, It caps out at 100%, so it could be way above if you see 100%. A good place to start is a 3db attenuator, and add more until you see it drop below 100%.


No joy...it does not work at all...shows zero signal strength, cannot even change channels.

TE3 on a base Roamio w/ CabkeCard & tuning adapter.


----------



## Finalrinse (Jan 13, 2005)

ncbill said:


> No joy...it does not work at all...shows zero signal strength, cannot even change channels.
> 
> TE3 on a base Roamio w/ CabkeCard & tuning adapter.


I'm on TE3 too, I do not have a tuning adapter, wonder if that is why?


----------



## dmap6769 (Sep 20, 2021)

Thanks for the feedback from everyone and getting this thread into the right forum....

Most recent update for me. Since I unplugged and rebooted the system, it's all working fine again. I'm wondering if I just had a partial connection to the power source or something. At any rate, I'm watching it but it's been fine since I did that (a week ago). Recorded all sorts of football games and such and it has behaved as it should.


----------

