InfiniTV Picture Quality

[EmirOfGroofunkistan]

Hey, I've been getting my infinitv usb up to speed over the last few weeks. There's one thing left that bugs me and I can't figure out why it's happening. I'm getting pixelation which jumbles up the sound and video (see attached screen shot). Any thoughts? bad cable card? Ceton issue? Has anyone seen this before? thanks!

[richard1980]

Looks like signal strength to me.

[STC]

pixelation-nation.
What are your signal strengths / db values on your tuners?

[erkotz]

pixelation-nation.
What are your signal strengths / db values on your tuners?

Agreed that this looks like a signal strength issue

[EmirOfGroofunkistan]

My signal levels are reporting -5.1, -4.4, -4.9, -4.6 dBmV ... is that a normal level? What are my options if not? Thanks!

[Scallica]

My signal levels are reporting -5.1, -4.4, -4.9, -4.6 dBmV ... is that a normal level? What are my options if not? Thanks!

Your signal strength is ok. Please post your "Signal to Noise Level" as well. I would suggest investing in a Motorola signal booster anyway. They are about $30 on ebay.

[EmirOfGroofunkistan]

signal to noise level is between 37.3 and 37.9 dB

[STC]

Do you use TA's?
Does this happen on particular channels / times, if so get the strength and sn levels when it's happening.
Can you test with another COAX feed in the house?

[EmirOfGroofunkistan]

No, I have no TA's. It seems to happen more on sports than other things, but it happens on normal shows too. It's a bit hard to get the strength and sn levels when it's happening because it's a "blip" that lasts for about 5 seconds, but I'll see what I can do. I might be able to test another COAX feed w/o too much trouble, but it might take me a bit to do that.

[erkotz]

Were you tuned to a problematic channel when you posted the signal levels and SNR? They are per-frequency.

[EmirOfGroofunkistan]

yes, I'm pretty sure I've seen it on ESPN2, but I'll pay closer attention now that I know this. When I find out more details I'll post them (but I'm at work at the moment). Thanks again

[EmirOfGroofunkistan]

I'm seeing it on a broadcast HD channel (fox) with -3.1 to -3.5 dBmV and 36.8-37.3 SNR levels ... I tried replacing the coax cable but that didn't help. I can't try a different outlet because I don't have a cable long enough. I think I'm going to make an appt with comcast to have someone come out and see what they can do. we'll see

[Scallica]

I suggest investing in a long coax cable and (temporarily) connecting the InfiniTV directly to the main feed of your residence. Then, take another signal reading and see if the pixelation appears.

[EmirOfGroofunkistan]

connecting directly to the main feed helped, but I still saw pixelation. It was less frequent and not as bad. The signal levels were about 2.1 dbmv and SNR remained the same at 36.8 or so.

[makryger]

Signals can be very finicky... sometimes the things you think would produce less pixelation produce more, and vice versa. It often may come down to trial and error, switching out certain cable components to get the best signal. For me, personally, the motorola signal booster helped a lot, but only when I removed the high-quality two way splitter from monoprice. At a different home, the signal was perfect when I used the cheap comcast splitter, but sucked when I used a wider bandwidth splitter.

You do have to be a bit careful with the cable company- when they see the HTPC and Cablecard device, they may just say "your signal levels are fine, this is a device we didn't provide for you, and our HD STB gives an uncorrupted signal, so there is nothing we can do for you." And then you just wasted an afternoon of your life.

[adam1991]

yeah, but the GOOD cable companies never do that.

Count WOW as one of the good guys.

[erkotz]

connecting directly to the main feed helped, but I still saw pixelation. It was less frequent and not as bad. The signal levels were about 2.1 dbmv and SNR remained the same at 36.8 or so.

If you want to open a support ticket with us, we can look at other information to see if we are still seeing RF errors. It's possible for bursty noise to cause issues, while you still have good SNR.
Also FYI, I saw a similar issue once caused by a Seagate HD which was holding up throughput every 30 seconds or so.

[EmirOfGroofunkistan]

thanks, I did just open a support ticket last week. I'd also like Comcast to come out to see if we can get better signal levels - there is one splitter that they put in in the basement. I'll keep in mind what makryger said when they come out.

This is my live tv buffer drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822145475

Also, just recently I've noticed when three things are set to record, sometimes WMC tells me it couldn't record one show because there is no tv signal!? I've seen that twice now.

[kevindar]

same problem. except it happens very frequently, and only on my HD channels. cable provider is cox. they came by and placed a signal booster. now I am getting signal strenght of 1.3 db, and snr of 35, and still same amount of pixelation. quite annoying. Opened a ticket with ceton.

[erkotz]

I've seen this caused by:
-Signal issues (most common)
-Network issues (in the case of using Network Tuners or Extenders
-HDD issues
-Too slow CPU (and now HW decoding)

Keep in mind the signal strength is channel-specific, so you need to be looking at those numbers when tuned to the channel in question. Also, if you have "bursty" noise for some reason, those numbers may not take that into account.