Harmonic Encoder Improvements? (Feedback Need it)

[Sean Mota]

There is certainly a lot of different of opinions in regard to PQ but the motion artifacts are very disturbing in the HD channels. Also whenever there is cut frames from one to another, there are also artifacts in the picture. This is more visible in HDnews. Take a look when they cut between the weather map and the "Now your financial.. news.."

Also the new programming promotion airing on HDnews have some very visible motion artifacts. This I saw this morning before leaving home.

 

[bradley]

There appear to be DD 5.1 issues on some HD channels:

251-TMCHD: 2.0 ONLY
242-SHOHDW: 2.0 ONLY
241-SHOWHD: 2.0 ONLY
222-MAXHDW: 2.0 ONLY
202-HBOHW: 2.0 ONLY

On the above HD channels (C)enter as well as (LS)urrond & (RS)urround are missing.

All other HD channels performing correctly.

Tech support notified; they were not aware.

 

[flipper2001]

There appear to be DD 5.1 issues on some HD channels:

251-TMCHD: 2.0 ONLY
242-SHOHDW: 2.0 ONLY
241-SHOWHD: 2.0 ONLY
222-MAXHDW: 2.0 ONLY
202-HBOHW: 2.0 ONLY

On the above HD channels (C)enter as well as (LS)urrond & (RS)urround are missing.

All other HD channels performing correctly.

Tech support notified; they were not aware.

Actually I noticed this 2 days ago and first went crazy tyrying to figure it out till I was certain it wasnt my equipment. I called CSR and (you know what is going to come next), They said they dont have equipment there (with HD or DD51) to check this so they said to unplug my box and reset it.. They also tried to pull, "that is the way it's coming off their sat" .. Wrongo. because on D* showhd was correct.

Amazingly 20 mins later when the programming guide got back it still didnt work.

But it was a great efficient waste of 30 mins.

 

[mkwillia]

There is a lot of pixelation on Voom now. The picture isn't as crisp as before. The sound problem that was noted is true. Hopefully, Voom will address these problems soon. Besides that GO VOOM!

 

[Walter L.]

Anybody watched the Phil Collins concert last night? There were occasional audio break-ups.

 

[d151b]

Anybody watched the Phil Collins concert last night? There were occasional audio break-ups.

did anybody watch the phil collins concert last night???? lol, good one!

 

[thxdan]

After they turn back on the 5.1 on the channels noted earlier, maybe they can turn 5.1 OFF whenever they broadcast a mono or stereo program on one of the Voom Originals. It is freakin dumb to have the announcers voices on HDN or all the dialogue in a movie also coming out of the back speakers. Plus, when a movie is in Dolby Surround 2.0 (like a lot of the 80s and 90s movies they show), it messes that up too. Just my rant -- and it's been like this since I got Voom in December.

Historically, the only channels that do 5.1 right on Voom are the non-Voom channels. The movie nets, Discovery & Universal HD never mess this up. (TNT-HD's a little flakey though.)

 

[Tvlman]

Can't really tell any difference. At first channels went black after tuning to them. Panic-stricken I cursed James Dolan for shutting down VOOM then read the message about tuning back and forth and realized VOOM was still operating. Each channel may need to be tuned back and forth until it comes in. Then I rebooted. Now they are coming in fine.

Since I still carry DirecTV (because of the DVR) I turned to Discovery HD Theater and watched Sunrise switching back and forth between D* & VOOM. (Not split screen but toggeling back and forth from input 4 to input 5. )The VOOM picture seemed to have more detail in the shadows of the picture that was discernable. Also it seemed a little clearer. Haven't made this test before so I can't say it was because of the MPEG4 or what.

So everything looks and sounds fine to me at this point.

 

[MichaelG]

"Clearly" there is a difference in PQ. Example on Monsters HD, the flying saucer movie intro bit was tack sharp until a few days ago. Lots of noise in the graphics now. Checked on both of my monitors .... looks worse on my DLP than on the RPTV.

 

[Sean Mota]

I have been told that some work has been done. I came home watch a little and then had to go out so I haven't had the opportunity to evaluate. Please continue to post your responses as they are very important.

 

[dash2004]

Pictures look darker now. More pixelation and false contouring on Starz tonight (Hidalgo). Major pixelations on TNT (NBA). SD PQ seems improved.

 

[ram1220]

I've watched Voom for the last 3 hours tonight. So far I noticed all channels except for Starz HD appear to be soft/blurry. They are definitely not as clear as they should be. An example is the show on Discovery HD right now at 9:45pm central. Jaguar:Year of the Cat. I've seen this show before and it was crystal clear. Tonight it looks soft like a bad DVD.
I also tried watching "Something's Gotta Give" on HBO HD. I turned it off because it looked soft and washed out. Looked just like SD on E. Well not quite that bad but you get the idea.

 

[Supercrosser]

I consider it worse. I wanted to do a comparison between 2 monitors and on my always used Sony 51'' WS projection all the channels have more noticable refreshing and noise. On Playboy-HD the pixalation seems to be worse but I noticed right away on the SD channels, most were showing the slow refresh of background/static content that stands out most obvious to those of us used to good PQ.
I decided to hook the receiver up to my Dell 21 inch FP-WS via the DVI cable just to do a PQ comparison and as you might expect, the noise became more pronounced.

Just my 2 cents worth....

 

[johnalan]

On MONSTERS tonight, I saw pixelation (blocking) during scenes with lightning flashing while they were showing "Invaders From Mars" (86 version). I also watched the same movie the last time it was shown and did not see the artifacts.
Maybe they are still optimizing things, but at the moment it is a small, but noticeable step backwards.
<sigh>

 

[gws]

Just did a side-by-side (split screen) comparison of the Food Network from Voom and from my C-band, 4DTV system. The 4DTV picture was still sharper, but the difference did not seem as much as I remember when I first made the comparison when we first got Voom a couple of months ago. Also, it took my wife a lot longer to decide which was the better picture. When we made the comparison before, she instantly said the 4DTV picture was better.

 

[riffjim4069]

IMO, the PQ on the HD channels appear to be more consistent across the board; looks pretty good (no skeeters) during low-motion frames, but artifacts galore during high-motion frames. The new encoders are probably making a difference, but the bit rate has probably been turned down to make room for new channels. I didn't evaluate any SD channel.

 

[speedyray]

I am willing to wait on my bitching about PQ till everything gets calibrated and such.

However I would like to report something strange. On my music channels, no matter what I do I can not get the info screens to display. It is always black with the call voom message - but I can ear the music just fine.

 

[marty2112]

I am willing to wait on my bitching about PQ till everything gets calibrated and such.

However I would like to report something strange. On my music channels, no matter what I do I can not get the info screens to display. It is always black with the call voom message - but I can ear the music just fine.

Does anyone else have this problem? I will look into it and make sure that all is well in the encoders.

With all the insanity going on, I am happy to see a thread like this.

And Yes, we are still working on the filters and fine tuning.

Thanks for everyones support.

 

[riffjim4069]

I see the 'blank screen' problem with the music channels...however, I flipped the channel down/up and the picture popped up after a few seconds. Ok...did something just change? I'm only seeing minor inconsistent problems on some channels:

853 Classic Country: sometimes picture and no audio - sometimes the picture will take 5-6 seconds to tune - sometimes audio and no picture. Flipping the channel up/down corrects the problem.

Audio locks immediately on all channels. Picture locks after 2-3 on some channels, but it takes 5-6 seconds to lock on others.

 

[marty2112]

I see the 'blank screen' problem with the music channels...however, I flipped the channel down/up and the picture popped up after a few seconds. Ok...did something just change? I'm only seeing minor inconsistent problems on some channels:

853 Classic Country: sometimes picture and no audio - sometimes the picture will take 5-6 seconds to tune - sometimes audio and no picture. Flipping the channel up/down corrects the problem.

Audio locks immediately on all channels. Picture locks after 2-3 on some channels, but it takes 5-6 seconds to lock on others.

Good info. I will be at work in a hour or so. I will check into this. Thanks again.