# Worth upgrading from Roamio to Bolt if you get a 4k TV?



## mrdazzo7 (Jan 8, 2006)

So I got a 4k TV on sale and I'm fairly happy with it but I want to get the most of out if, which I think means I have to upgrade to the Bolt...I know it passes through 4k netflix, youtube, etc which is cool. Does it do a better job of displaying regular TV content (maybe upscaled?) than the roamio? I know regular TV isn't 4k but ever since I got this TV it looks absolutely awful. I've played with all the settings on teh TV and one the Tivo, and I'm wondering if many the Roamio just cant support the kind of output on these new TVs. My sister got the exact same TV and when I wtch TV at her house (regular cable box), I'm blown away by it compared to what mine looks like .My only answer is that it's the box. 

Since the Bolt is only $99, it's almost too good to pass up. I'm just wondering if I'll see the difference i'm looking for across the board.


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## sender_name (Feb 12, 2005)

I don't notice any difference on the "upscaling"... no 1080p broadcast is going to upscale to 4k. I have FiOS and we have 2 4k channels and they look great when it's carrying content, which right now is usually football games. If you are going to use the Tivo as a streaming device for the apps then you would notice the 4K. I had a samsung LNT4665 46" HDTV (1080p) and I upgraded to a TCL Model: 55R613 which is a 4K HDR 55" and the difference even on 1080p TV is astonishing. If you've been sitting on an HDTV that's 10 year old like I was you can't believe the difference...It's too bad you don't have a friend you could do a test with one way or another...But the base picture will look better on a newer, higher quality tv. Did you notice a difference with your present Tivo? Does the tv have built in streaming apps? They will pretty much always look better than an external device. If all the onboard apps are 4k and you don't have 4k programming being broadcast that you want to record you might not even need to upgrade. 1. What is your present tivo setup... 2. what tv did you get?


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## ej42137 (Feb 16, 2014)

Unless you get 4k over cable (which you do not) there is no particular advantage to a Bolt over a Roamio. Your TV will stream a whole lot better than you TiVo ever will, and the upscaler on a TiVo isn't any better and has probably fallen behind what your TV will do. I have both a Roamio and a Bolt connected to a 4k 82" Samsung, and the picture is exactly the same.


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## mrdazzo7 (Jan 8, 2006)

But why does my TV running through the TIVO look like crap compared to my sister's TV running throug a cable box? none of the content is 4k.


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## astrohip (Jan 7, 2003)

mrdazzo7 said:


> But why does my TV running through the TIVO look like crap compared to my sister's TV running throug a cable box? none of the content is 4k.


Which TVs do each of you have?

I have Comcast HD feeding a high-end Sony 4K TV, and the picture is superb. One of the reasons I picked that TV was its reputation for upscaling.

FWIW, the apps on the TV are 100x better than the TiVo (Netflix, Amazon, etc).


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## mrdazzo7 (Jan 8, 2006)

We both have the Samsung 7000 4K HDR. both running on the same cable company.


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## Fant (Sep 1, 2016)

I have FiOS here with a bolt and 4k ... The two FiOS channels that are 4k look great ... Normal 1080i/720p looks good too. I doubt you will get cable channels to look much betterm. Use built in tv apps for highest quality streaming.

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6013 using Tapatalk


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## mrdazzo7 (Jan 8, 2006)

I'm not sure what I'm saying is being understood lol.
I'm comparing apples to apples - same exact TV running through same cable company, but one is through a roamio and one through standard cable box. If I put both on a regular TV channel, my sister's looks significantly better than mine. Even watching a brand new HD movie on HBO on my TV looks kind of like crap. Hers looks excellent.

Same content, same provider. Just the box is different so that's why I'm wondering if that impacts anything. I'm not expecting my TV to magically convert regular TV into stunning 4k quality, but I'm not understanding why it looks a lot crappier than a similar set up somewhere else. I don't even think my old TV looked that bad.

But yeah, when I watch netflix or prime it looks great (even not in 4k). I can't figure out what the deal is. Wish I could _show _ what I see lol


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## UCLABB (May 29, 2012)

Is your TV configured exactly the same? I haven’t bought a new tv in a long time, but my plasma has different picture setting that a user can fiddle with.


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## DigitalDawn (Apr 26, 2009)

What is your TiVo output set to? Try passthrough.


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## lujan (May 24, 2010)

DigitalDawn said:


> What is your TiVo output set to? Try passthrough.


I don't ever recall there being a "passthrough" option on the Bolt video settings?


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

It's not mentioned in the manual. It's not mentioned in the Roamio manual either, but it exists. This is the Roamio:







Note: You can not select pass through only and pass though only applies to streaming content.


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## lujan (May 24, 2010)

JoeKustra said:


> It's not mentioned in the manual. It's not mentioned in the Roamio manual either, but it exists. This is the Roamio:
> View attachment 45088
> 
> Note: You can not select pass through only and pass though only applies to streaming content.


Oh ok, I've changed my settings to this in the past on the Bolt but it made matters worse for me where I would get "no signal" all the time so I changed it back to "Auto".


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## DVR_Dave (Apr 19, 2017)

mrdazzo7 said:


> Same content, same provider. Just the box is different ...


Also different house, different coax, may also be different cable node, etc.

Could be bad coax, bad splitter, bad HDMI cable, etc.


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## Mikeguy (Jul 28, 2005)

Try different cables? They can go bad.


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## sender_name (Feb 12, 2005)

I would first screw the coax right into the back of the TV and look at a local channel...That will give you your unadulterated baseline (Assuming your settings are correct for your picture) I would then check the picture settings for the HDMI Input your tivo is on. There could be many things different...


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## My Cape is a Recliner (Oct 5, 2019)

mrdazzo7 said:


> I'm not sure what I'm saying is being understood lol.
> I'm comparing apples to apples - same exact TV running through same cable company, but one is through a roamio and one through standard cable box. If I put both on a regular TV channel, my sister's looks significantly better than mine. Even watching a brand new HD movie on HBO on my TV looks kind of like crap. Hers looks excellent.
> 
> Same content, same provider. Just the box is different so that's why I'm wondering if that impacts anything. I'm not expecting my TV to magically convert regular TV into stunning 4k quality, but I'm not understanding why it looks a lot crappier than a similar set up somewhere else. I don't even think my old TV looked that bad.
> ...


We get what you are saying, but the problem is that's the one thing that doesn't matter.
Your sister is not getting 4k through her cable box.

The only way to get 4k content is through:
The three channels directv offers
the two channels fios has (If you have the same cable and its not a specific channel its not this).
blu ray discs - I'll give you enough credit that you know you're not watching a blu ray disc
or streaming apps that offer 4k. - You can get any apps on a smart tv that you can get on TiVo (and TiVo only has a very limited amount of apps).

If nots one of these, its not about getting 4k. So now we need to figure out what resolution you are getting and what should you be.
You might want to make sure you are running at least a cat5e internet cable, and have an internet bandwidth to support 4k. Are you hard wired, or wireless? You could upgrade your coax cable to rg6 just to know you are good.
If this is through another component such as a game system or splitter to where you are using HDMI cables, you will need to get HDMI 2.0 cables to get 4k60.
You might want to go through your tv settings, make sure you have your updates. Not just that the tv says you are current, but go to the website's support page, and owners manual, and check that you have the current update listed.
You could call your sister, and have her go through all of her settings as you go through yours. I would first take note of what is different, then try changing them if you find anything different.

You didn't say, so what is your entertainment setup, (in in-depth detail).
Does your tv have 4k, or does it have 4k60 /4k uhd /4k ultra (60fps, not all do).

Even if we help with everything we can come up with, you may still be in a older place with older coax cable that needs upgrading. You may have a weaker signal because you are farther from the box, and hurting it even more with a splitter.


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## ej42137 (Feb 16, 2014)

DigitalDawn said:


> What is your TiVo output set to? Try passthrough.





lujan said:


> I don't ever recall there being a "passthrough" option on the Bolt video settings?





JoeKustra said:


> It's not mentioned in the manual. It's not mentioned in the Roamio manual either, but it exists. This is the Roamio:
> View attachment 45088
> 
> Note: You can not select pass through only and pass though only applies to streaming content.


That "pass-through" won't help; it just means for 1080p 24/25fps signals *only* it will pass them through without scaling. What people usually mean by pass-through in this context is to make all selections so that TiVo will pass through everything it gets unchanged so that the TV will handle the scaling.

I used to prefer TiVo's scaler and selected 1080p and 1080p pass-through so that TiVo would do the work. But TV scalers have advanced; now I usually make all video resolution selection and let TiVo take it easy.

This is certainly a matter of individual preference.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

ej42137 said:


> That "pass-through" won't help; it just means for 1080p 24/25fps signals *only* it will pass them through without scaling. This is certainly a matter of individual preference.


If you don't check the pass-through boxes, then 24/25fps streaming content will be converted by the TiVo to 60fps. That may cause a poor quality picture. Like you said, what makes you happy.


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## Willy92 (Oct 12, 2018)

After I did it, no, it's not worth it, for the Tivo, since no Cable TV broadcasts are in 4K(I have cable, don't know about OTA). And I did my reciever and DVD, too. Those 2 were worth it. I already had an Ultra 4K Roku.


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