# Pixelated HD Content?



## chrison600 (Oct 3, 2013)

I've posted this on the weaKnees support forum and thought I'd post it here to see other opinions...

Hi all,

In 2013 I purchased a Roamio Pro from weaKnees upgraded to 4TB. I can't say whether it's exhibited this behavior since new, but it seems to "pixelate" recorded HD content. I have tested the following:

Recorded HD TV programming (Bachelorette): Pixelates
Recorded HD HBO series (Game of Thrones): Pixelates
Recorded HD Movie (Spy, recorded via HBO): Pixelates
Recorded SD Movie (Road House, recorded via HBO): Does not pixelate
Streamed HD Movie (Amazon): Does not pixelate
BluRay Disc: Does not pixelate

The more intense the on screen "action" the worse the pixelation is. For example, Transformers recorded via HBO was almost unwatchable during intense actions scenes, where the slower scenes were ok.

Would I be on base to suspect that the culprit is the hard drives not being fast enough to supply the needed data for intense HD scene display? If it was a memory or other Roamio electronics issue I would think I would see the pixelation in streamed content, and that doesn't seem to be happening.

Thoughts?

Chris


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## dahacker (Jan 14, 2004)

chrison600 said:


> I've posted this on the weaKnees support forum and thought I'd post it here to see other opinions...
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> ...


I'm assuming live TV doesn't pixelate.

If live TV doesn't pixelate, then call weakness and explain your situation with their terrible failing hard drive. If they don't get you a new drive, then explain that in detail for potential new weakness customers here. Then buy a new recommended for Tivo 4TB or larger drive from Amazon or equivalent and install that.


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## UCLABB (May 29, 2012)

chrison600 said:


> I've posted this on the weaKnees support forum and thought I'd post it here to see other opinions...
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> ...


You've had the Pro for three years and don't know if this behavior is new or was there from the get go? That's tough to believe. Streamed content has little to do with the TiVo and certainly Blu-ray has absolutely nothing to do with it.

Just to be clear, does the pixelation happen when viewing live? If it is fine when viewing live, how about the picture when you rewind the live and view the buffer?


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## chrison600 (Oct 3, 2013)

weaKnees support recommended looking at RS Corrected and Uncorrected in TiVo diagnostics. They indicated that the data should be 0 and 0. All of my tuners had non-0 data (higher than 0). weaKnees suggested that this was a signal quality issue. I have scheduled a visit from TWC.

Is this the right path?


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## chrison600 (Oct 3, 2013)

UCLABB said:


> Streamed content has little to do with the TiVo and certainly Blu-ray has absolutely nothing to do with it.


Understood, but I was trying to test to see if there was an issue with something other than the TiVo unit and hard drive vs other hardware. I don't watch live TV normally, but appreciate the recommendation to watch for pixelation on the live feed. Will try to do that.


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## josim (May 22, 2016)

Don't forget the basics. Insure all antenna connections are tight. If you have a T/A be sure you have a splitter before the tivo and T/A.

Please don't be insulted. This is said with good intent.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

chrison600 said:


> weaKnees support recommended looking at RS Corrected and Uncorrected in TiVo diagnostics. They indicated that the data should be 0 and 0. All of my tuners had non-0 data (higher than 0). weaKnees suggested that this was a signal quality issue. I have scheduled a visit from TWC.
> 
> Is this the right path?


Near the RS numbers there are two others: SNR and Strength. Non-zero errors is not the end of the world, unless they are in the thousands after a small time span (or you can see them move). But if TWC wants to check your lines, that's cool. They will probably replace all the connectors (SOP).


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## chrison600 (Oct 3, 2013)

JoeKustra said:


> Non-zero errors is not the end of the world, unless they are in the thousands after a small time span (or you can see them move). But if TWC wants to check your lines, that's cool. They will probably replace all the connectors (SOP).


The RS Corrected readings were in the millions (15,000,000+).

I could see them change as I looked through the diags.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

chrison600 said:


> The RS Corrected readings were in the millions (15,000,000+).
> 
> I could see them change as I looked through the diags.


Bad box or really bad feed. My money is on the box. But after TWC stops by, let us know.


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## chrison600 (Oct 3, 2013)

JoeKustra said:


> Bad box or really bad feed. My money is on the box. But after TWC stops by, let us know.


What do you mean by "bad box"? Bad Roamio? Bad Tuning Adapter?


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

chrison600 said:


> What do you mean by "bad box"? Bad Roamio? Bad Tuning Adapter?


Bad TiVo. My first Roamio had two bad tuners. It was replaced. You might see if your cable modem is also going nuts with errors.


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## chrison600 (Oct 3, 2013)

JoeKustra said:


> Bad TiVo. My first Roamio had two bad tuners. It was replaced. You might see if your cable modem is also going nuts with errors.


I see. I do have a separate cable modem for Internet use. An Arris SB6183. How would I check it and what data should I look at?


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

chrison600 said:


> I see. I do have a separate cable modem for Internet use. An Arris SB6183. How would I check it and what data should I look at?


That an easy one. I have the SB6183 also. Just put 192.168.100.1 into your browser. Give it 10 seconds and you will get the status page. You may need to scroll to see each channel. The corrected and uncorrectables should be low. The product information tab shows how long it has been running. Really really high numbers would be bad, indicating a problem with your drop. Show it to the TWC tech and he will think you are smart also.


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## chrison600 (Oct 3, 2013)

JoeKustra said:


> The corrected and uncorrectables should be low.


Corrected are in the approx 1200 - approx 5300 range. Uncorrected are in the approx 330 - approx 3300 range. The uncorrected 3300 is an outlier. Most are in the 330 - 1100 range.

Run time is 35 days, 18 hours.

Thoughts?

The COAX wires are pretty torn up into the room where the cable modem is, but they are in good shape to the TiVo.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

chrison600 said:


> Corrected are in the approx 1200 - approx 5300 range. Uncorrected are in the approx 330 - approx 3300 range. The uncorrected 3300 is an outlier. Most are in the 330 - 1100 range.
> 
> Run time is 35 days, 18 hours.
> 
> ...


I hope TWC can help you. It sounds like a bad/old drop. Also, I reboot EVERYTHING on the first of the month. And everything is on a UPS.

After 22 days I have 100 corrected errors on one channel. I get 16/4 channels for internet. But since I have a basic Roamio, errors are not counted.


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## chrison600 (Oct 3, 2013)

Update: TWC Tech came out this afternoon. I showed him the diags on the TiVo and the Arris 'net modem. He metered both connections at point of connection to the device.

(Main feed into the house runs into an amplified splitter with three outs, one to phone modem, one to cable modem, one to TiVo. Runs to TiVo and phone modem are in the same cabinet with splitter. Run to cable modem is (was) across the house.) 

Determined that both had issues.

We moved the cable modem into the same closet as the TiVo (direct connection from splitter) and phone modem. Errors fell to 0 and are currently still at 0 (after about an hour).

TiVo still showed/shows errors.

Tech checked at pole and determined that tap is possibly at fault.

Currently I'm on the schedule for "maintenance" to come check the connection at the pole.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

chrison600 said:


> Tech checked at pole and determined that tap is possibly at fault.
> 
> Currently I'm on the schedule for "maintenance" to come check the connection at the pole.


 Fantastic. When you can show the tech you have above average ability they work harder. Good job.


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## chrison600 (Oct 3, 2013)

Update: Maintenance came out this morning. Said they corrected everything they could detect. Asked me to give it a while to propagate.

I just checked the TiVo feed and could not get any HD channels. I power cycled the Tuning Adapter. Now HD channels will tune.

Checked diagnostics on channel 513 (HBO Signature). RS Uncorrected is holding at 0. RS Corrected is incrementing up a few thousand per second.

Is the RS Corrected OK?

Chris


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## RSCHOON (Sep 7, 2013)

After dealing with the Winter update completely breaking everything in the same exact way that you describe and basically not having watchable TV for three months, they finally seemed to have fixed the issues...until this week. It now appears that I am having the same types of issues that you describe again. Was there a TiVo update in the last week or so?

Here is the info on the Winter Update break...fun read.


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## chrison600 (Oct 3, 2013)

Just checked Roamio diags again. For a tuner tuned to FX (Tuner 1) the RS Uncorrected is now in the tens and the RS Corrected is in the millions. Signal strength is at 99-100% on the tuners I looked at.

I have read here that the Roamio is particularly if not unusually sensitive to signal issues. Some have even suggested that putting 1 or 2 splitters inline (with terminators on unused connections) improved their Roamio's performance.

Thoughts?


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

chrison600 said:


> Just checked Roamio diags again. For a tuner tuned to FX (Tuner 1) the RS Uncorrected is now in the tens and the RS Corrected is in the millions. Signal strength is at 99-100% on the tuners I looked at.
> 
> I have read here that the Roamio is particularly if not unusually sensitive to signal issues. Some have even suggested that putting 1 or 2 splitters inline (with terminators on unused connections) improved their Roamio's performance.
> 
> Thoughts?


Only that a signal level of 90 is my normal. My SNR is 36 dB. If you have a signal at 100 on cable I guess it's because the Pro is better. Yes, I would add something to drop the signal to 90 unless it causes a big drop in SNL.

Note that you can set all tuners to the same channel by first selecting the channel then doing a restart. You can then go down the tuner list and the numbers should be very close, if not identical. It's a good way to find a bad tuner.


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## chrison600 (Oct 3, 2013)

My SNR ranges from 39-42. Is that ok?


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

chrison600 said:


> My SNR ranges from 39-42. Is that ok?


I have a basic Roamio. My normal is 35 to 36 dB. Your normal may be different. As for "OK", you're here because things are not so "OK". What's to lose by dropping the signal a few dB anyhow? At least it's one stone you have turned over.

I have two basic Roamio boxes and two basic Premiere boxes. The Premieres have lower numbers across the board. They also work just fine. They even count errors, something missing from the basic Roamio.


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## RSCHOON (Sep 7, 2013)

I am definitely having similar issues to this Winter. My signal strength is in the lie 70's, just now it can't find it at all (after rebooting a bunch to try to clean it up), my SNR is only 26dB, and I have a ton of RS corrected and uncorrected. This is honestly getting ridiculous with TiVo. I consider myself a huge fan, but after this Winter and now this, I'm done. The entire point of TV is to sit down and not have to eff with it, it just works. With this Roamio, I am always needing to screw with it. I know it's the tivo since my regular cable box works just fine...this box is just too sensitive for some reason.

Sent from my SM-P600 using Tapatalk


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## jogo (Dec 27, 2015)

chrison600 said:


> My SNR ranges from 39-42. Is that ok?


If I recall correctly that isn't bad. I used to have all of these issues. Then finally one day they brought a new line that was thicker to the house and boom. Honestly that could solve a lot. And I really am serious. Now almost perfect SNR and such. And I think it sits at 36. I also have a splitter. But be careful. They do amplify noise. From what I've seen, HD signals come in at higher frequencies and that might be your problem.


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## CCourtney (Mar 28, 2006)

chrison,

Have you checked to see if the HBO recordings are still pixelating? 

The RS Corrected means it detected and correct a data error in the stream. RS Uncorrected indicates it detected but couldn't correct. 

If it's correcting all the errors you shouldn't have an 'pixelation' due to data stream. Source content (over compressed data for example) or TiVo decoding could result in pixelation. 

While RS Uncorrected should ideally never increment, 10 in an day wouldn't be something you'd likely notice. Worst case you loose a frame for an uncorrected value, but more likely it might cause a few pixels in a block or macro block to decode bad for that one frame of data. 

That said, as mentioned the tuners are a bit sensitive and you can provide two strong of signal. Using an attenuator (which is effectively what is being done by using a splitter w/ other ports capped) will bring the signal strength down so that it's not too strong.

If you have a 3 way splitter, I'd swap it in for the Amplifier at the feed as a quick check of the signal strength afterwards and check the RS Corrected/Uncorrected rates.


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## chrison600 (Oct 3, 2013)

CCourtney said:


> If you have a 3 way splitter, I'd swap it in for the Amplifier at the feed as a quick check of the signal strength afterwards and check the RS Corrected/Uncorrected rates.


This might be interesting to try.

I've been in contact with WeaKnees support over the past few days. They suggested installing an attenuator on the line between the amplifier and Tuning Adapter. I have done that, in addition to removing a passive splitter installed by the TWC tech (just put in the middle of the connection from Amp to TA.

Currently the chain is like this: Main Feed > Amplified Splitter > 3db Attenuator > Tuning Adapter.

There is still pixelation and pretty high Uncorrected and Corrected stats.

Not sure what I should try next. I also have a 6db attenuator, but wouldn't that be essentially the same as going to a passive splitter (as you've recommended)?

The gain on the amplified splitter is 7db...

Chris


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## RSCHOON (Sep 7, 2013)

Mine has been working ok for the past week now, here is what I did. I unplugged my TiVo completely for about 1/2 hour (tried less than that a few times, to no avail) and then plugged it back in and let it bout. When it came back up it was better, no pixelation. 

This similar thing happens to me now just about every time I get a new update.

Sent from my SM-P600 using Tapatalk


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## abeagler (Sep 21, 2006)

I'm having horrible pixelation issues of late when recording live sports on ESPN HD and ESPN2 HD. UEFA soccer and Wimbledon tennis have been so unwatchable that I've had to switch to the SD feed. Seeing zero RS corrected and uncorrected, SNR is at 36 for these channels, signal strength of 90-91. I haven't noticed serious pixelation on any other channels, though these recordings tend to be longer than most (several hours). I've just watched about an hour of ESPN HD live and saw only very minimal pixelation, nothing near as bad as I saw on the recordings. So, does this mean that the hard drive is likely the issue? I'm running a SMART test right now, but so far it seems to be passing.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

abeagler said:


> I'm having horrible pixelation issues of late when recording live sports on ESPN HD and ESPN2 HD. UEFA soccer and Wimbledon tennis have been so unwatchable that I've had to switch to the SD feed. Seeing zero RS corrected and uncorrected, SNR is at 36 for these channels, signal strength of 90-91. I haven't noticed serious pixelation on any other channels, though these recordings tend to be longer than most (several hours). I've just watched about an hour of ESPN HD live and saw only very minimal pixelation, nothing near as bad as I saw on the recordings. So, does this mean that the hard drive is likely the issue? I'm running a SMART test right now, but so far it seems to be passing.


Those numbers are very normal for a basic Roamio. I have two. The basic Roamio does not count RS Corrected errors.

As for the bad blocking errors, I can't provide help since I've never had your exact issue. I did have problems with my HD feed on CBS, but it was from the cable company. I also had a problem with recordings only, and a new HDD fixed that. The old drive was a used WD10EURX I pulled from a MyBook. A replacement from Amazon also dropped my MBT by 3C.


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## abeagler (Sep 21, 2006)

Thanks. I have an extra hard drive from a MyBook AV that I used to use as extended storage for my old TiVo HD, so I may switch that out and see if it helps.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

abeagler said:


> Thanks. I have an extra hard drive from a MyBook AV that I used to use as extended storage for my old TiVo HD, so I may switch that out and see if it helps.


I said "exact" since I never saw blocking problems when watching TV in real time (as I do a lot). But I would record CBS & NBC late night shows and during playback was when the errors displayed.

The drive I removed had a production date of 11 May 2012. The S/N started with 1U2. The new drive started with 1U4. I have no clue why the MBT dropped.

Save the old drive. You will need to install it before calling tech support.

Changing the drive takes 10 minutes. Reconfiguration takes over an hour.


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## abeagler (Sep 21, 2006)

Okay, the SMART test gave me a Fail 7 error on the Extended test, and the live broadcast still seems largely devoid of pixelation, so all signs seem to be pointing to the HD. As soon as I can transfer some recordings out I'll switch it out with the one from the MyBook.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

abeagler said:


> Okay, the SMART test gave me a Fail 7 error on the Extended test, and the live broadcast still seems largely devoid of pixelation, so all signs seem to be pointing to the HD. As soon as I can transfer some recordings out I'll switch it out with the one from the MyBook.


That's great. If the drive is still in the MyBook, and you may wish to put it back, you need to mark the corners. Those rubber corners are all different and there is no way to figure out where they go.

It's my theory that the buffers used for the tuners are allocated once and never move.


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## abeagler (Sep 21, 2006)

Well, unfortunately that didn't help. After an hour or so of no pixelation I started noticing pixelation issues on live TV before I switched out the hard drive. After I switched out the hard drive I had no pixelation for a while on live TV, but gradually it returned.

Diagnostics still indicate 0 errors, 90% signal strength, and 36dB SNR.

Any suggestions on my next steps? I've checked the connections and everything seems tight. Comcast put an amplifier on our wiring last year when we had a weak broadband internet signal, but the pixelation issues are far more recent.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

abeagler said:


> Well, unfortunately that didn't help. After an hour or so of no pixelation I started noticing pixelation issues on live TV before I switched out the hard drive. After I switched out the hard drive I had no pixelation for a while on live TV, but gradually it returned.
> 
> Diagnostics still indicate 0 errors, 90% signal strength, and 36dB SNR.
> 
> Any suggestions on my next steps? I've checked the connections and everything seems tight. Comcast put an amplifier on our wiring last year when we had a weak broadband internet signal, but the pixelation issues are far more recent.


I'm afraid the Roamio's diagnostics are not going to help.

As for broadband, does your modem have diagnostics? I'm using an ARRIS SB6183 and it has signal levels and SNR. Since my cable was upgraded last year, my modem has about 8 dBmV signal and 40 dB SNR on 16 channels. I do receive a few errors daily, but not enough to worry about.

If you still see the errors on only a few channels, I would check the frequency of those channels. If they are close or the same, I really would call Comcast and ask them to check those channels. You may have to email the local office and hope it gets sent on to the tech people.

I don't have amplifiers on my feed. I do use active splitters on both Roamio, Premiere and TVs. I get 2 clear QAM and 5 analog channel test patterns. The diags on the Premieres still work, and the signal level on my TV agree with the Premiere boxes.

Sorry I can't help more. You have a local problem. Those are hard to fix. I'm lucky to have another TiVo owner on my headend and we can compare notes. He's also way smarter than I am.


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## abeagler (Sep 21, 2006)

Thanks for the thoughts. I'm not sure if my TiVo is still under warranty, but I may try to see if they'll switch it out for another since the HD came up as failing. Other than that, I don't look forward to calling Comcast...


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## abeagler (Sep 21, 2006)

Following the lead of another pixelation thread today I decided to run a broadband speed test. There was no pixelation beforehand, then the pixelation got really, really awful for the 20 or so seconds the speed test was running, and then the picture returned immediately when it was done. So, apparently there's something going on that's causing loss of signal to the TiVo when we place high demands on our broadband bandwidth. I'm recording something right now, but later I'll try to check the channel diagnostics screen during a broadband speed test.

There aren't many potential points to troubleshoot on this - the line from the street connects outside the house, then one line comes into the amplifier, and the output from the amplifier splits to the cable modem and to the living room for the TiVo. So, I'm wondering if I should split the signal before the amplifier, and then use the amplifier solely for the broadband connection?


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

abeagler said:


> Following the lead of another pixelation thread today I decided to run a broadband speed test. There was no pixelation beforehand, then the pixelation got really, really awful for the 20 or so seconds the speed test was running, and then the picture returned immediately when it was done. So, apparently there's something going on that's causing loss of signal to the TiVo when we place high demands on our broadband bandwidth. I'm recording something right now, but later I'll try to check the channel diagnostics screen during a broadband speed test.
> 
> There aren't many potential points to troubleshoot on this - the line from the street connects outside the house, then one line comes into the amplifier, and the output from the amplifier splits to the cable modem and to the living room for the TiVo. So, I'm wondering if I should split the signal before the amplifier, and then use the amplifier solely for the broadband connection?


Too bad you can't get a signal reading from the modem. But your idea has merit. For my feed the drop hits a 1 to 2 splitter. One line feeds just the modem, one line feeds a 1 to 4 splitter for each room with a TV. I use an active splitter for the TiVo boxes, an old Radio Shack unit, that splits the signal to the TV and TiVo since I had clear QAM cable until a few years ago. I still get a pair of digital channels and five analog test patterns.

I does appear there is an interaction, but it might be noise. That's harder to test.


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## abeagler (Sep 21, 2006)

I wouldn't know how to read the broadband modem status page, but here's how it looked this evening. I reset the FEC counters this afternoon, so the corrected/uncorrected counts are for the last several hours:


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

abeagler said:


> I wouldn't know how to read the broadband modem status page, but here's how it looked this evening. I reset the FEC counters this afternoon, so the corrected/uncorrected counts are for the last several hours:


So you have ok signal numbers but a lot of bad packets. Like I said: noise or other rf interference. Your feed is not so good. But if it's your noise, start by turning off things, like the TV. I actually had my modem in a box covered in foil until the cable tech found my (old) Vizio TV was causing my disconnects. My router is 6" above the modem and has two layers of shielding. I get 20 corrected errors per week now.

If it's their noise, you can't fix it.


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## tbdenigman (Aug 26, 2002)

abeagler said:


> Following the lead of another pixelation thread today I decided to run a broadband speed test. There was no pixelation beforehand, then the pixelation got really, really awful for the 20 or so seconds the speed test was running, and then the picture returned immediately when it was done. So, apparently there's something going on that's causing loss of signal to the TiVo when we place high demands on our broadband bandwidth. I'm recording something right now, but later I'll try to check the channel diagnostics screen during a broadband speed test.


I am so glad I found this bit of information today. I've been fighting the pixelation for a while now. From previous research I was leaning towards a bad drive since I only saw the pixelation on recorded shows. But recently I've been seeing it on live TV as well.

After seeing the above, I ran a speed test and got pixelation on the download test, and then even worse when it was doing the upload test. I was shocked to see that my internet use was affecting my TV signal. It would happen when loading different web pages or refreshing pages. My wife and I were having a bit of fun seeing who could make the most pixelation.

Anyway, my connection was like this: Street->Splitter->Leviton 1x8 CATV Module->Tivo. The other side of the splitter went to my cable modem (SB6141). I disconnected all other coax cables from the leviton module that went to other rooms (actually not in use anymore). Placed a terminator on the open connectors, and now my signal is pixel free.

So I guess that means I have some cables running to other parts of the house that are causing issues, but that will be a project for another day.


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## tbdenigman (Aug 26, 2002)

tbdenigman said:


> I disconnected all other coax cables from the leviton module that went to other rooms (actually not in use anymore). Placed a terminator on the open connectors, and now my signal is pixel free.


Nevermind, opened my laptop this morning and everything is back to being pixelated again 

Back to the drawing board


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## abeagler (Sep 21, 2006)

Hmm, that is vexing. I wasn't able to replicate the problem yesterday before I added a splitter before the amplifier; it seems the problem only crops up for me during higher-bitrate broadcasts such as live sports. So, next time I watch some live sports broadcast I'll run a speed test again and see if I can figure out if I've fixed it or not.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

abeagler said:


> Hmm, that is vexing. I wasn't able to replicate the problem yesterday before I added a splitter before the amplifier; it seems the problem only crops up for me during higher-bitrate broadcasts such as live sports. So, next time I watch some live sports broadcast I'll run a speed test again and see if I can figure out if I've fixed it or not.


My CBS and NBC channels have the highest bit rate, about 18Mbps. You can check recordings for the size on your disk. A one hour program should use over 7GB, and some are very close to 8GB. Just right arrow on the show in My Shows, then hit Info. Scroll down. Size is at the end.


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## chrison600 (Oct 3, 2013)

An update and a request for advice:

Just to recap, TWC tech came out and confirmed signal issues. Called to have maintenance visit, who did and claimed to fix everything they saw.

Still had pixelation and RS errors.

Upon recommendation from WeaKnees support, tried a 3db and 6db attenuator on the amplified splitter connection to the TiVo. Still had RS errors.

Upon recommendation from this forum and WeaKnees, removed the amplified splitter and tried a 4 way passive (three connections used, one capped). This is the current configuration. Still have RS errors.

WeaKnees has now recommended having the tech visit again.

Should I call TWC again?

Chris


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

abeagler said:


> Following the lead of another pixelation thread today I decided to run a broadband speed test. There was no pixelation beforehand, then the pixelation got really, really awful for the 20 or so seconds the speed test was running, and then the picture returned immediately when it was done. So, apparently there's something going on that's causing loss of signal to the TiVo when we place high demands on our broadband bandwidth. I'm recording something right now, but later I'll try to check the channel diagnostics screen during a broadband speed test. There aren't many potential points to troubleshoot on this - the line from the street connects outside the house, then one line comes into the amplifier, and the output from the amplifier splits to the cable modem and to the living room for the TiVo. So, I'm wondering if I should split the signal before the amplifier, and then use the amplifier solely for the broadband connection?





JoeKustra said:


> So you have ok signal numbers but a lot of bad packets. Like I said: noise or other rf interference. Your feed is not so good. But if it's your noise, start by turning off things, like the TV. I actually had my modem in a box covered in foil until the cable tech found my (old) Vizio TV was causing my disconnects. My router is 6" above the modem and has two layers of shielding. I get 20 corrected errors per week now. If it's their noise, you can't fix it.





tbdenigman said:


> I am so glad I found this bit of information today. I've been fighting the pixelation for a while now. From previous research I was leaning towards a bad drive since I only saw the pixelation on recorded shows. But recently I've been seeing it on live TV as well. After seeing the above, I ran a speed test and got pixelation on the download test, and then even worse when it was doing the upload test. I was shocked to see that my internet use was affecting my TV signal. It would happen when loading different web pages or refreshing pages. My wife and I were having a bit of fun seeing who could make the most pixelation. Anyway, my connection was like this: Street->Splitter->Leviton 1x8 CATV Module->Tivo. The other side of the splitter went to my cable modem (SB6141). I disconnected all other coax cables from the leviton module that went to other rooms (actually not in use anymore). Placed a terminator on the open connectors, and now my signal is pixel free. So I guess that means I have some cables running to other parts of the house that are causing issues, but that will be a project for another day.


Do you have minis or anything using MoCA on your coax? If so, try changing the moca channel so the frequencies also change. Your anomalies could be harmonics of the moca frequencies messing up the effected channel frequency. An example would be if your moca is at 1.2 GHz, there would be a first order harmonic at 600 MHz, right inside the cable tv band. This could explain why when you download internet (which moca uses for TiVo), your issues get worse.

I saw some of these issues while I was notching out some channels to use my modulator. Not exactly the same, but the same concept nonetheless.

If not, then nevermind!


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## abeagler (Sep 21, 2006)

A follow up on my pixelation issues. I hadn't had a chance to really test whether running a splitter before the amplifier had solved the problem, because we hadn't had any live sports to watch this past week. Then today we watched some of the Tour de France on NBC Sports Network, and that gave me a chance to test it out. I ran broadband speed tests with two configurations:

TV and Broadband connected to amplifier: major pixelation during download, complete loss of picture during upload. Ran it again on the TiVo diagnostics screen and saw that during download the signal strength dropped from about 90% to 83-85%; during upload the signal strength dropped to 22% before being lost entirely. RS uncorrected jumped into the thousands during download, off the charts during upload.

TV split off prior to amplifier, broadband off the amplifier: zero pixelation; signal strength steady at 92%

The one problem is this: during the week that I had the splitter on, I lost my broadband connection about once a day (confirmed via the modem diagnostics). Comcast had put the amplifier in last year because apparently we get a pretty weak signal to our house from the pole across the street. It appears that adding one splitter before the amplifier weakens that signal just a little more, to where sometimes even the amplifier can't salvage it.

So, going to check at the local electronic supply store to see if they maybe have a better splitter in stock that might lose less signal. Almost there in terms of navigating the issue...


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## abeagler (Sep 21, 2006)

Another update: had Comcast out to look at the line. The tech didn't like the signal numbers at the tap, so he replaced the line from the tap to the house. I think he replaced rg6 with rg10, but my knowledge here is pretty weak, so I may not be reporting it accurately. He replaced the connector between the pole line and the line into the house. He didn't like that the amp power and modem connection were on a combined line from the amplifier, so he separated those. 

So far no pixelation, and no longer getting interference when I run the broadband speed test. The modem readings have a higher power level and low correcteds and no uncorrecteds, so hopefully we'll see similar improvements in the signal at the TiVo.


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## RSCHOON (Sep 7, 2013)

I just got really bad signal loss and pixelation again yesterday. Appears that I once again got a TiVo update and every time I do, it screws with my signal. I unplugged the whole box for 45 mins and then rebooted...all back to normal. 

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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

RSCHOON said:


> I just got really bad signal loss and pixelation again yesterday. Appears that I once again got a TiVo update and every time I do, it screws with my signal. I unplugged the whole box for 45 mins and then rebooted...all back to normal.
> 
> Sent from my SM-P600 using Tapatalk


Sorry for your problems. Please observe that it's bad forum manners to double- or triple-post a problem. It can cause major confusion among those trying to discuss your issue. Your problem isn't obviously connected to the topic of any of the existing threads you posted in so it probably should have been posted as a new thread.

You would probably have to give more details such as your TiVo model (s), location, signal source (cable system or antenna) for anyone to be able to help you here.


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## RSCHOON (Sep 7, 2013)

dlfl said:


> Sorry for your problems. Please observe that it's bad forum manners to double- or triple-post a problem. It can cause major confusion among those trying to discuss your issue. Your problem isn't obviously connected to the topic of any of the existing threads you posted in so it probably should have been posted as a new thread.
> 
> You would probably have to give more details such as your TiVo model (s), location, signal source (cable system or antenna) for anyone to be able to help you here.


Perhaps TiVo should look into why there are four different posts surrounding the pixelated crap signal they are delivering and address it. I've had multiple tickets open and we had an entire post that started for the Winter update that broke so many people and was never truly addressed by TiVo.

I posted on other posts regarding pixelated content to let others know how I need to fix my TiVo (by fully unplugging for 30 minutes) after every single update they deliver since the December debacle. I'm not really looking for help on it since I know how to fix it now, but was trying to give info to others on things to try since this happens near monthly to me.

I ran through all the same things these people did, with the cable company coming out, changing splitters, and amps, but in the end it's none of that. I truly believe that there is an issue with the signal strength that tivo can handle that is an issue with their hardware. They won't or can't properly address it, so they kind of ignore it.

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