"Pixelated," grainy picture

[Sharpie]

I hopefully will be getting HD through Directv's customer retention program in the very near future (if wife is understanding and lets me, *crossing fingers*) but in the mean time I am experiencing a problem with my picture quality. It is sad, but I have to admit that now my local channels being received through cable, have a better quality than those from the satellite. I have noticed a difference for at least a few weeks now and was curious if any viewer who is better technically adept than myself had any suggestions. My RCA receiver is a couple of years old and is just your standard non-HD receiver. The picture quality has the appearance of looking grainy or what I call pixelated. Skin tones definately show this as well as pictures of the sky and water. Not all channels show this but a high majority do. Sometimes, the commercials look better in picture quality than the actual show. I have checked all my connections and they are tight and did not find any kinks or knicks in my cable line. I live in the midwest so snow, ice and rain are common in the winter so I wonder if the weather has "weathered" my dish causing the problem. If anyone has any thoughts on the possible problem let me know. Thanks in advance for your posts.

 

[boba]

Patience, when 7S is launched and put into service you may see a little less compression on locals.

 

[Sharpie]

Patience, when 7S is launched and put into service you may see a little less compression on locals.

I may not have made my original post clear, but my local channels on cable have a better picture quality than those from Directv. Directv does not offer my local channels as of yet. My directv channels are the ones that have the grainy, pixelated look to them. Thanks

 

[bobj2004]

On most cable systems channels 1-80 are analog.

To make the comparision fair. Switch your Sat to the same type of connection to the tv as your cable box.

There you will see that Direct is better.

Some TVs show picture quality different per input.

If this test does show that Direct is now the same or better then this means your TV needs tweaked.

 

[aredknight]

Sharpie,

What kind of signal quality are you getting? Pixilization is a symptom to poor dish allignment (such as shooting through a tree).

If you are getting less than an average of 70% on any or all of your satellite signals, call your installer back, cause he didn't do his job properly. If he refuses to come fix it or tries to charge you, turn him in to Dtv. Sloppy installers give the rest of us that do high quality work a bad name.

 

[Sharpie]

My signal strength is above 90% and I live in a new subdivision so their are no tall obstructions trees, buildings, etc. I had my directv installed over 2 years ago and everything has been good until a month ago. Just tonight, while I was watching ESPN, when they cut back to the commentators after a segment the picture had a very slight hesitation, almost appearing as though it was trying to focus in on the commentators. I am what you would say as a wannabe when it comes to technology especially involving tv's. I have a toshiba 43 inch HD ready tv that I bought about 3 years ago and am really trying to convince the wife into letting me get the $99 customer retention deal involving a HD receiver and programming. I was within two weeks in having dish network install HD dish and receivers until I saw the problems with their 811 receiver on the forums and cancelled the install. My thought is that my dish is just old and weathered from the winters here in the midwest along with my old RCA receiver. Thanks for your input.

 

[ramcm7]

Sharpie,
I am in a similar situation as you, although HD set will be acquired in the near future. Do you have a multi-switch in your setup, and perchance, would that multiswitch be outdoors? I have an older non-powered multiswitch which can get quite bad in the rain and melting snow. If and when you get the $99 deal, be sure to note your need for a new cascadable multiswitch with your package, if you think the switch could be the issue.

 

[Sharpie]

I have no multiswitch in my setup, if any other ideas to what the problem may be please let me know. Thanks.

 

[aredknight]

90% + and no problems in two years of service? You just got your first problem, your receiver is dieing a slow death.

 

[Incaico]

90% + and no problems in two years of service? You just got your first problem, your receiver is dieing a slow death.

Or maybe your RF connector has gotten corroded.

 

[bclarke68]

I have no multiswitch in my setup, if any other ideas to what the problem may be please let me know. Thanks.

Bah, its compresion related, its not as noticeable on a smaller tv or in 4:3 mode.
I have noticed picture quality degrade on both systems over the past 5 years as more and more channels are added.

I have a Pioneer Elite 710 so I doubt its the equipment dieing a slow death.

As a test try hooking a smaller , say 27-32 inch Tv up to the same receiver and same inputs/outputs I bet it looks better.

 

[Downy]

Sharpie -

I have seen these symptoms occur where there was corrosion of the connectors and ground block outside and exposed to the weather. It is likely that indoor connectors were used instead of water tight connectors.

 

[silversurfer]

Come on guys this is a digital signal. You either have it or you don't. You can not degrade the quality of a digital signal. If you are receiving a signal from the satellite and it is staying locked then that is all you can do. You can not improve that signal like you can an analog transmission. This is compression pure and simple....

 

[Jim Kilroy]

Come on guys this is a digital signal. You either have it or you don't. You can not degrade the quality of a digital signal. If you are receiving a signal from the satellite and it is staying locked then that is all you can do. You can not improve that signal like you can an analog transmission. This is compression pure and simple....

Wrong! James S.
Although the picture may be just as good with a 70 signal strength as with a 96 signal strength on a clear day, the signal IS degraded. Where it would take a heavy rain storm to lose the signal at 96, it would only take a cloudy day to lose it at 70.

However, I don't believe that's the problem. If he's getting a good signal strength, but his picture is pixellating, then I believe his external connectors and cable is corroded to the point that the cable is no longer properly passing low voltage to the LNB.

 

[koneman]

tell me more about this D* $99 HD 'customer retention' special?!

 

[Ninjabucket]

I'm having the same problem on a new install. My Xponder's all are +90ish. DTV is sending me a new reciever to see if that is the problem. It has to be one of the following:

1. Bad reciever
2. Bad COAX run (Installer did not run new cables, used the ones there allready)
3. DTV Signal is overcompressed (If this is the case then I am just stuck).

 

[Karl City of Angels]

I'm having the same problem on a new install. My Xponder's all are +90ish. DTV is sending me a new reciever to see if that is the problem. It has to be one of the following:

1. Bad reciever
2. Bad COAX run (Installer did not run new cables, used the ones there allready)
3. DTV Signal is overcompressed (If this is the case then I am just stuck).

Door Number 3 folks. I have DTV and Voom, as an example 613 Fox Sports World looks much better on Voom. Less compression, which results in less pixel movement on the green surface of soccer pitches. But Voom channel line up is very shallow.