Awful PQ, but 6yr+ Old Box

[scottfrans]

My father has a 32" Sony WEGA. He also has a Series2 TiVO box. He has had DirecTV for at least 6 years now, and still uses the same receiver. The picture quality for DirecTV is awful. So much distortion in the picture, very noticable when completely black, the color is very dim, and there is no clarity to the picture. DirecTV has refused to offer a replacement box or to even come out and check out the problem. They say the only solution is for us to purchase another box. My father wants to keep DirecTV because he loves the programming.

What do you think my options are? Will replacing the box make a difference in the picture quality, or is there a deeper issue than this? DVDs look fantastic, there is no distortion, so I know it is not just a TV error. Our cable box through rca cables are also an improvement over DirecTV's picture. Any suggestions?

 

[uboatcmdr]

My father has a 32" Sony WEGA. He also has a Series2 TiVO box. He has had DirecTV for at least 6 years now, and still uses the same receiver. The picture quality for DirecTV is awful. So much distortion in the picture, very noticable when completely black, the color is very dim, and there is no clarity to the picture. DirecTV has refused to offer a replacement box or to even come out and check out the problem. They say the only solution is for us to purchase another box. My father wants to keep DirecTV because he loves the programming.

What do you think my options are? Will replacing the box make a difference in the picture quality, or is there a deeper issue than this? DVDs look fantastic, there is no distortion, so I know it is not just a TV error. Our cable box through rca cables are also an improvement over DirecTV's picture. Any suggestions?

What connections are you using for the D* reciever? If you are just using coax then try replacing it or try connecting through RCA or S-video (if the receiver has it). Otherwise I would suggest calling D* again and ask for the customer retention dept. Tell them your picture quality is really bad with the old receiver and ask what kind of deal they might give you on a new Tivo unit.

 

[scottfrans]

Pq

I have him setup with a S-video to Tivo, S-Video to TV.

It's also my understanding that if he gets a DirecTV Tivo box that it will work ONLY with DirecTV and not with his cable box? We cannot get local programming through DirecTV in our area, so it is important that we can record both DirecTV and cable through a Tivo box. My father does not want to pay for Tivo service twice.

Thanks for the help!

EDIT: Also, should the DirecTV receiver upgrade be enough to fix the PQ issues? I shouldn't have to pay for a dish upgrade as well I hope. I am EXTREMELY annoyed that new DirecTV customers can receiver a three room system for next to nothing and DirecTV will not even asses my quality issues or offer a reasonable/similar deal.

 

[Scott Corbett]

Is the TiVo a satellite receiver or a standalone TiVo?

 

[scottfrans]

pq

it is a standalone tivo

 

[Scott Corbett]

What D* receiver do you have? Is it connected directly to the TV? Have you tried the composite output?

I think that you can get a D* SD TiVo for about fifty dollars. Course it will not record locals.

Are the locals broadcasting digital? If so, the HR10-250 will record them. Course that's about $850 and already on the verge of being obsolete.

Had you tried borrowing a D* receiver from a friend?

 

[Hogarth]

Also, note the standalone TiVo has to re-encode the video and will always make things look suboptimal.

 

[boba]

You may also look into a service contract from Directv if you expect service to be included in your programming costs. A six year old car is not expected to perform like a new car, a six year old satellite receiver will not perform like a new receiver either.

 

[ShadowEKU]

Okay ill try to help... no one is seeing the real issues as far as i can tell..

the receiver age is probably not the issue...

The fact that you are running Svid to the TIVO then to the TV is probably what is going to degrade the signal....

Stand Alone Tivos have 4 quility levels.... the highest (which also takes up an absolute ton of space) is going to be the closest to what is coming from the sat receiver...

under defaults it records in basic which adds lots of artifacts and makes the picture look like crap (this setting is ideal for a 13" tv... imagine much bigger)

if it were just recording standard analog then it would look better... but with the Sat signal it is already compressed once....

Try this... hook the receiver directly into the tv.... without the tivo or anything in between.... if this fixes your PQ issue then you know its the Tivo thats causing your malcontent...If it doesnt help or fix the issue i would call D* and ask them for a new basic receiver again... if they want to make you pay go to retention if they still want to make you pay call VE and get robert to sell you one cheap.

Basicly here is what happens normally...

Program made->Transmitted to D*->D* encodes digitally and compresses (some loss of PQ) -> D* transmits it to the sat and down to the dish/receivers->receiver decodes the signal and outputs it to the tv

Note only 1 real loss of PQ

Now take the SA Tivo

Program made->Transmitted to d*->D* encoded and transmitted (loss1)->Receiver decodes it and outputs to tivo -> Tivo Re-encodes it at best resolution (some loss) -> tivo outputs to TV... so even watching live its encoded twice and compressed...

if you are watching recorded at basic setting it increases the loss at the tivo end and sometimes the PQ looks like crap...


This is why Satellite DVR's are so popular... there is no extra encoding it just grabs the whole data stream from the dish and stores it.

And 100 for a new machine and an extra 5 dollars a month is soooo worth it...