J
Jeffrey Kain
Guest
Original poster
Hi everyone --
I'm new to Voom. I had my system installed on Monday, and so far I am very
pleased with how things are going. This list is a good resource, despite
the higher-than-average amount of noise, flames, and grudge-carrying members.
First, I hope that Voom and/or Installs Inc. increases the amount of
training they give to their installers. My installer did a great job with
the exterior work, but he had some serious gaps in his knowledge of HDTV
and the Voom box. He insisted that a coax connection from the receiver to
the TV would give me a great hi-def picture (seriously). I gave him a
little bit of instruction, but he said that he never had to worry about the
component cables or DVI on any of his other installations, which makes me
fearful that many other less-informed users have received sub-standard Voom
installations.
Now that nearly everything is hooked up, the picture quality of the Voom HD
and SD content is really, really good. It was everything I was hoping it
would be. The SD picture quality is so much nicer than my analog cable
channels, especially when blown up to 55", but it's even noticeable on my
smaller 27" analog/SD set in the bedroom.
My installer said I was also one of the first in the area to get the new
boxes with upgraded software (v6.0.0). I haven't had any problems with the
receiver at all in the few days I've had it all hooked up, so I'm hopeful
that the problems reported here early-on are just bad memories for the
early adopters...
First, I have some questions:
1. Some of the channels have a lot of "sparkles" (to use the term used in
previous messages in this forum). This is most noticeable on CNN Headline
News (it's quite awful on this channel), TNT, and The Weather Channel,
although I can see them around text on VH-1, The History Channel, and a few
other channels. I called Voom customer service about the problem before I
discovered this forum, and while they were very and knowledgeable, we
couldn't resolve the problem. So, they scheduled a service install with a
technician. Now that I've read about this problem in other posts here, I'm
wondering if there is anything a technician could do.
What's the definitive word on the "sparkles" on certain channels?
2. I didn't notice this until today, so I don't know if this is a new
problem or if it has existed since installation, but the difference in
volume when changing channels is pretty extreme. It's not a little
difference -- it's a BIG difference. Is anyone else noticing this
(especially lately)? I'm hoping it's a temporary problem. Example -- the
volume on MSNBC for me is very low compared to the others. Or maybe it's
just MSNBC that is very quiet?
Now, some TiVO tips:
1. Recording Locals
Unfortunately, there's no way to get TiVO to record by program name or
Season Pass using a single input from the Voom receiver, despite what
Voom's web site and TiVO's web site may imply. There's no reason that TiVO
couldn't do it, they just don't support it in their software. You can
record by time and channel (like a VCR), but that's not a great solution.
The solution I'm going to go with is to set TiVO's TV source as "satellite
plus cable", and subscribe to the basic "locals only" package for
$12.95/month from Comcast. I'll still get the $15/month bundle discount for
my cable modem so net/net it's cheaper than not subscribing to cable TV at
all, and I'll be able to record locals by name/season pass until the Voom
DVR is available.
2. TiVO and SD Picture Quality
I just discovered this tonight, and it's great. The first thing I noticed
after my installation about the picture quality of SD channels on the big
55" screen is that all the channels looked really soft -- as if someone had
smeared a thin layer of Crisco over my screen. It was still better than
analog cable, but not a whole lot better.
While browsing the archives, I found out about the "native mode" setting on
the receiver. You would think that this setting would only affect the
hi-def output of the box, but it ALSO slightly affects the S-Video and
Composite outputs. Once I set the Voom receiver to native mode, all the SD
channels sharpened up, and they look great (sparkles notwithstanding). And
for some reason, I get a 1080i signal even when on ESPN (but not on my
local ABC digital which is 720P natively... dang - time for a new TV that
can do 720P and 1080i...<g>).
This is really similar to what I saw with my Motorola DCT5100 cable box and
its 4:3 Override setting -- if 4:3 override was set to 1080i or 480P, the
digital SD channels all looked smeary and soft through the S-Video or
Composite outputs going into the TiVO; setting it to 480i yielded a crisp,
clear picture.
Apologies for the length of this initial post, but hopefully someone else
out there will find the tips useful. I'd be grateful for any advice on how
to deal with the sparkles and the volume issue.
Jeff
------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
Yahoo! Domains - Claim yours for only $14.70
http://us.click.yahoo.com/Z1wmxD/DREIAA/yQLSAA/EyMolB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/VOOM/
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
VOOM-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
I'm new to Voom. I had my system installed on Monday, and so far I am very
pleased with how things are going. This list is a good resource, despite
the higher-than-average amount of noise, flames, and grudge-carrying members.
First, I hope that Voom and/or Installs Inc. increases the amount of
training they give to their installers. My installer did a great job with
the exterior work, but he had some serious gaps in his knowledge of HDTV
and the Voom box. He insisted that a coax connection from the receiver to
the TV would give me a great hi-def picture (seriously). I gave him a
little bit of instruction, but he said that he never had to worry about the
component cables or DVI on any of his other installations, which makes me
fearful that many other less-informed users have received sub-standard Voom
installations.
Now that nearly everything is hooked up, the picture quality of the Voom HD
and SD content is really, really good. It was everything I was hoping it
would be. The SD picture quality is so much nicer than my analog cable
channels, especially when blown up to 55", but it's even noticeable on my
smaller 27" analog/SD set in the bedroom.
My installer said I was also one of the first in the area to get the new
boxes with upgraded software (v6.0.0). I haven't had any problems with the
receiver at all in the few days I've had it all hooked up, so I'm hopeful
that the problems reported here early-on are just bad memories for the
early adopters...
First, I have some questions:
1. Some of the channels have a lot of "sparkles" (to use the term used in
previous messages in this forum). This is most noticeable on CNN Headline
News (it's quite awful on this channel), TNT, and The Weather Channel,
although I can see them around text on VH-1, The History Channel, and a few
other channels. I called Voom customer service about the problem before I
discovered this forum, and while they were very and knowledgeable, we
couldn't resolve the problem. So, they scheduled a service install with a
technician. Now that I've read about this problem in other posts here, I'm
wondering if there is anything a technician could do.
What's the definitive word on the "sparkles" on certain channels?
2. I didn't notice this until today, so I don't know if this is a new
problem or if it has existed since installation, but the difference in
volume when changing channels is pretty extreme. It's not a little
difference -- it's a BIG difference. Is anyone else noticing this
(especially lately)? I'm hoping it's a temporary problem. Example -- the
volume on MSNBC for me is very low compared to the others. Or maybe it's
just MSNBC that is very quiet?
Now, some TiVO tips:
1. Recording Locals
Unfortunately, there's no way to get TiVO to record by program name or
Season Pass using a single input from the Voom receiver, despite what
Voom's web site and TiVO's web site may imply. There's no reason that TiVO
couldn't do it, they just don't support it in their software. You can
record by time and channel (like a VCR), but that's not a great solution.
The solution I'm going to go with is to set TiVO's TV source as "satellite
plus cable", and subscribe to the basic "locals only" package for
$12.95/month from Comcast. I'll still get the $15/month bundle discount for
my cable modem so net/net it's cheaper than not subscribing to cable TV at
all, and I'll be able to record locals by name/season pass until the Voom
DVR is available.
2. TiVO and SD Picture Quality
I just discovered this tonight, and it's great. The first thing I noticed
after my installation about the picture quality of SD channels on the big
55" screen is that all the channels looked really soft -- as if someone had
smeared a thin layer of Crisco over my screen. It was still better than
analog cable, but not a whole lot better.
While browsing the archives, I found out about the "native mode" setting on
the receiver. You would think that this setting would only affect the
hi-def output of the box, but it ALSO slightly affects the S-Video and
Composite outputs. Once I set the Voom receiver to native mode, all the SD
channels sharpened up, and they look great (sparkles notwithstanding). And
for some reason, I get a 1080i signal even when on ESPN (but not on my
local ABC digital which is 720P natively... dang - time for a new TV that
can do 720P and 1080i...<g>).
This is really similar to what I saw with my Motorola DCT5100 cable box and
its 4:3 Override setting -- if 4:3 override was set to 1080i or 480P, the
digital SD channels all looked smeary and soft through the S-Video or
Composite outputs going into the TiVO; setting it to 480i yielded a crisp,
clear picture.
Apologies for the length of this initial post, but hopefully someone else
out there will find the tips useful. I'd be grateful for any advice on how
to deal with the sparkles and the volume issue.
Jeff
------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
Yahoo! Domains - Claim yours for only $14.70
http://us.click.yahoo.com/Z1wmxD/DREIAA/yQLSAA/EyMolB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/VOOM/
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
VOOM-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
