Pixelation Continues

[mikereznm]

Was a consensus reached in past threads on probable cause(s) for the continuing pixelation with the HR20-700? As stated in previous posts I have and continue to have mild to severe pixelation on HD, Local feeds and cable channels such as F/X, A&E, Sci-Fi, etc. on a daily basis. I have talked with D**TV "techs" until I'm blue in the face. All to no avail. I also requested a replacement unit to be shipped and they have obliged after much and sometimes heated discussions. So far I'm 0 for 2, both replacement units arrived dead on arrival, thank goodness I demanded that a service tech install and set up the last one. He expressed suprise that the unit they shipped was a repo and apparently didn't bother to check it out before shipping on to me.
I and the tech have checked out all of the usual suspects, alignment, obstructions, wiring, BBC's (on my 3rd. set) etc., so I am beginning to feel that it's originating at the source ( D**TV) and we're not being told.
Sorry in advance for the long post but I'm really tired of the problem and the fact I'm paying out over a 100.00 a mo. for something that is not worth watching at least 25% of the time.
Then again it might be something "simple" as the tech on the phone explained to me. " Sir, I don't know how else to explain it to you, obviously you don't understand simple instructions". This was after he walked me thru three tries for a simple guide problem that I was trying to resolve and each time he repeated the instructions and I after following his computer guided info. informed him that his instructions were not working on my receiver.
And this is the company that J.D. Power has awarded today as " #1 in customer satisfaction"

[purtman]

I would call back and ask for a supervisor. Also, please let them know what the tech said to you.

[bobcpa]

As has been discussed previously, don't believe this has anything to do with your hardware. I too have experienced pixellation, on both my HR 700 and H20 units.

[Juggernaut]

Same here. I ordered a couple BBC's to see if that will fix the problem.

[Machpelah]

My HR20 began audio drop-outs and pixilation about a month ago on the HD channels only. We need to define this anomaly, so that we can agree/disagree how widespread this problem is:

Problem: On the DirecTV HD feed (not OTA), the audio goes silent for about a second, then the video pixilates about 10-20% of the video picture for about a 1 to 2 seconds. This anomaly will cycle every 10 seconds to 2 minutes.

I have heard this problem may extend to Standard Definition (SD) from DirecTV and Over-the-Air (OTA) feeds, if so the definition above will have to be modified. Your help in defining the problem will go along way in getting DirecTV to acknowledging it as a genuine problem.

[UTVLamented]

My HR20 began audio drop-outs and pixilation about a month ago on the HD channels only. We need to define this anomaly, so that we can agree/disagree how widespread this problem is:

Problem: On the DirecTV HD feed (not OTA), the audio goes silent for about a second, then the video pixilates about 10-20% of the video picture for about a 1 to 2 seconds. This anomaly will cycle every 10 seconds to 2 minutes.

I have heard this problem may extend to Standard Definition (SD) from DirecTV and Over-the-Air (OTA) feeds, if so the definition above will have to be modified. Your help in defining the problem will go along way in getting DirecTV to acknowledging it as a genuine problem.

Mine began latter half of June, after the last software update. It affected HD channels only, and only tuner 1. On July 30, I switched input cables trying to isolate the problem as hardware or something external to the box. Lo and behold, I have not seen the problem at all since the switch. I can think of no logical explanation why simply switching cables would solve the problem.

[clibertynh]

I have been following the many threads and comments on this forum about this issue, and, for the life of me, can't believe it is still being discussed as a "customer problem."

This is an issue that originates outside the customer's local dish/receiver set-up, and it's about time that D* acknowledged it.

I have had this problem in various incarnations on the HD channels (70-79) for months. It's maddening and exasperating -- and basically ruins any TV viewing experience.

It's getting to the point where I am seriously considering ditching D* and calling up my cable provider.

D* needs to own up to this problem and find a resolution!

[jscura]

This problem started for me about a week ago on just ESPNHD and HBOHD. I've been monitoring the internal temp of my unit which runs at 129F normally. The only way I've been able to fix the problem is to keep a fan on it, and the pixelization and intermitted sound loss resolves at about 98F internal temp.

I can recreate this over and over, so I have to assume thats the problem.

[Stuart Sweet]

Welcome, jscura!

Do you have an HR20-700 or HR20-100? Press and hold INFO for 3 seconds and look at the manufacturer number. If you've got a 700 then that number (129) is just the high side of normal. It's hotter that I've heard of for the 100.

[say-what]

With the local mpeg-4 channels, many are received by DirecTV's uplink facilities as OTA signals, then passed on to the Sats. If there is a glitch in the OTA signal, that will often result in an audio drop and/or video distortion - I've monitored this by recording the mpeg-4 and OTA signals for the same station and checking OTA when the issue came up on the mpeg-4. Other than this occasional issue I've seen with my locals, I haven't seen what others are describing.

Could be something unique to your setups - using an A/V switch, bad cabling, dish alignment, multiswitch issue, lnb issue........ could be an issue with the hard drive if you're actually in the buffer when this happens and the signal is recorded on a bad sector. Just some ideas, but I don't think it's anything specific to the HR20 in general.

[jscura]

I have the HR20-700.

I know thats the high end of normal for temperature (129F), and my receiver worked fine at that temp since April. I emailed the sat. company last night, and got a canned response. I'll follow it up with them again today since I've tried everything to lower the temp and I really dont want to keep a fan aimed at it whenever I use it, which is what I have to do for now.

[bamiller3]

I am having the same sort of issue with OTA. I have a hr20-100. I thought it was due to my antenna being mounted inside of my house. I moved it to the outside near my roof. I thought this solved the problem since I now have 100% signal strength for the one OTA channel I need. However, I still experience these drop-outs.

[flippedout]

I am curious if others are still experiencing this issue. It is getting increasingly more annoying and common on all my HD channels. I need to test out SD but I rarely watch SD anymore.

I thought this might be a hardware issue, for example bad sectors on the HDD, but haven't been able to confirm this. Has this stopped for everyone? I would hope I am not the only one still experiencing this.

[tcusta00]

I am curious if others are still experiencing this issue. It is getting increasingly more annoying and common on all my HD channels. I need to test out SD but I rarely watch SD anymore.

I thought this might be a hardware issue, for example bad sectors on the HDD, but haven't been able to confirm this. Has this stopped for everyone? I would hope I am not the only one still experiencing this.

Don't worry (or worry) you're not. I've noticed a lot of post coming out of Baltimore , DC and the Atlanta markets on some other threads.

For me, lately, it's been a lot better but still nto 100%. I'm not happy with it but at least I can watch a show and not miss more than 3 seconds per pixelation, maybe twice per hour.

[rjf]

PROOF THE PIXILATION IS DTVs FAULT:

i did some experimenting and can confirm that in my case, this is NOT a problem with any of my equipment, receivers, cables et al. the problem is with DTVs signal itself.

i hooked up a crappy OTA and recorded the exact same shows 4 times on 2 different receivers -- each receiver recording the same program via OTA and also via DTVs HD local feed (in my case, Los Angeles.) the results were exactly the same on both HR20s -- the DTV feed had pixilation on the EXACT SAME spot at the exact same moment on both HR20s. BUT the both OTA recordings were perfect with no pixilation or distortion of any kind. and it's important to note i didn't even use a good OTA antenna, and still the results were superior to DTVs signal.

this test eliminates ALL other potential causes of the problem, meaning, it's not HDMI cables, it's not an A/V receiver issue, it's not the HR20s, or a ground loop issue, or anything else you can think of to blame it on. it's DTVs signal and nothing else.

it's also worth mentioning that i have a brand new LNB, BBCs and all new wiring going directly from the dish into my HR20s. no multi-switch, no splits in the cables, just 4 wires going direct form my dish to my 2 HR20s. and 2 different installers said there's nothing left for them to fix.

i called DTV this morning with my 'proof' and insisted they at least help me pay for a proper OTA install and they offered me a one time $50 credit toward the install. not much, but i may go ahead with the install if it doesn't cost too much.

EDIT: just adding that the pixilation occured with 2 different Slimline LNBs. one with clear lens covers and one with white lens covers. i hope DTV is looking into fixing this problem.

[Poco Askew]

My HR20 began audio drop-outs and pixilation about a month ago on the HD channels only. We need to define this anomaly, so that we can agree/disagree how widespread this problem is:

Problem: On the DirecTV HD feed (not OTA), the audio goes silent for about a second, then the video pixilates about 10-20% of the video picture for about a 1 to 2 seconds. This anomaly will cycle every 10 seconds to 2 minutes.

I have heard this problem may extend to Standard Definition (SD) from DirecTV and Over-the-Air (OTA) feeds, if so the definition above will have to be modified. Your help in defining the problem will go along way in getting DirecTV to acknowledging it as a genuine problem.

I'm having the EXACT same problem you describe, although it started around the beginning of the new year (1/1/08). No help from DTV so far. I just signed up for their "free for 12 months" protection package. I'll have the guy out here every day until they fix it. I'm paying $100 per month and can't even watch HD.

[Canis Lupus]

What about alignment?


this test eliminates ALL other potential causes of the problem, meaning, it's not HDMI cables, it's not an A/V receiver issue, it's not the HR20s, or a ground loop issue, or anything else you can think of to blame it on. it's DTVs signal and nothing else.

it's also worth mentioning that i have a brand new LNB, BBCs and all new wiring going directly from the dish into my HR20s. no multi-switch, no splits in the cables, just 4 wires going direct form my dish to my 2 HR20s. and 2 different installers said there's nothing left for them to fix.

[Ruffread]

I agree that this is a major problem. On one evening I isolated it to occurring only on transponder 4 channels ( SmithHD,NgcHD,SpdHD,HBOHD). Signal strength was 73. Thinking it may be a low signal strength problem, I switched to CNBC, which was
on transponder 22 with a signal strength of only 60. The picture was clean and free of drops. Other HD channels, including locals, also seemed to be free of the dropouts.

Later that evening, there were no dropouts on any HD channels. Last night, all channels seemed fine. It is intermittent and inconsistent. It does make it difficult to pin down the source or cause. In my own system, I have checked dish alignment, cable connections, voltage to HR20-700, and BBC modules.

What does seem to rectify the dropouts, is doing a reset, with either the remote or RBR. That stops the pixelations and audio drops for a while on that one channel. If I change channels, the new channel will often have drops.

I hope Directv is really working on this problem, even though they appear to not admit it to be a problem.

[tcusta00]

What about alignment?

How will you know? If a tech comes out and aligns you and it still happens, does that necessarily rule it out? Probably not because the tech could have done it incorrectly, right?

It seems like a very unscientific process.

[Canis Lupus]

It seems so, but stranger things have happened with Techs. I'd be looking at my signal strenghts for all SATs and would expect a 90 average across all of them. If it was new HD specifically, I'd be looking at the 103(c).

[tcusta00]

It seems so, but stranger things have happened with Techs. I'd be looking at my signal strenghts for all SATs and would expect a 90 average across all of them. If it was new HD specifically, I'd be looking at the 103(c).

I'm up in the 90s on most and still have intermittent pixelation. The lowest I have is around 82 last time I looked but that still shouldn't cause pixelation... or should it?

[rjf]

What about alignment?

yup, realigned twice. trust me, there's nothing left to do. DTVs signals are bad.


ps - no trees or obstructions blocking my dish. i've got a clear shot at the sky for miles.

[rudeney]

I believe this is an HR2x-specific problem. I haven’t had this happen in a while, but when I first installed my HR20 (Sept. 2006), it was fairly common on the local HD channels. I eliminated it as a problem with the local affiliate by checking OTA, but then I eliminated it as a D* transmission problem by checking my non-DVR H20. The H20 signal was fine, so I figured it was something to do with the HR20. My guess is it’s something going on while the signal is being buffered. But like I said, I haven’t seen this in a along time, at least 9 months.

[Canis Lupus]

OK - you said you had the LNB assembly replaced? Is it a Slimline?

yup, realigned twice. trust me, there's nothing left to do. DTVs signals are bad.


ps - no trees or obstructions blocking my dish. i've got a clear shot at the sky for miles.

[Poco Askew]

I believe this is an HR2x-specific problem. I haven’t had this happen in a while, but when I first installed my HR20 (Sept. 2006), it was fairly common on the local HD channels. I eliminated it as a problem with the local affiliate by checking OTA, but then I eliminated it as a D* transmission problem by checking my non-DVR H20. The H20 signal was fine, so I figured it was something to do with the HR20. My guess is it’s something going on while the signal is being buffered. But like I said, I haven’t seen this in a along time, at least 9 months.

I'm not the OP, but am experiencing the same problem, only my problem started up more recently. What you say makes some sense to me. I don't now if it is true (however this also makes sense to me), but when I talked with DTV I was told audio dropouts shouldn't be common even with the pixilation because the data for it is so much lower. They said you can have a poor signal with lots of pixilation and the audio should still be rock solid. In my case the audio dropouts are even more frequent than the pixilation and not always accompanied by pixilation. I also find it even more annoying since you can't follow conversations, miss punchlines, etc.

[rjf]

OK - you said you had the LNB assembly replaced? Is it a Slimline?

don't recall. short of climbing on the roof, how would i check?

[rjf]

OK - you said you had the LNB assembly replaced? Is it a Slimline?

a supervisor is coming tomorrow. i'll confirm that the LNB is a slimline, though at this point, i'm leaning toward replacing it again. so i'll make sure it is

[rjf]

i've confirmed that the new LNB and the one they replaced were BOTH slimline. the old one had the semi-clear type lens covers, and the new one has the white lens covers. so....... are we convinced it's DTVs signal yet? i certainly am.

a supervisor is coming this morning.

[Poco Askew]

Keep us posted. I'm having the same trouble and am tired of troubleshooting myself and getting the run-around from DTV. I'm also not crazy about spending even more $$ to get a fix for a system that is under warranty and doesn't work.

Good luck!

[flippedout]

Last night I flipped through several HD channels and noticed it occurring but not on the SD channels. For example, LOST was full of them but when I would switch over to SD, nothing. Another interesting tidbit, ever since Discovery HD Theater was launched up on 281, the version on 76 became unwatchable - constant audio drops and freeze frames.

Anyway, I wish DTV would acknowledge this and do something about it as it seems to be much more than a local issue since the majority of my HD channels do this and my signal strengths are consistently in the low 90s.

[josetann]

Just curious, but how much pixelation is considered acceptable? I used to have none at all, way back when everything was mpeg2. I started noticing intermittent glitches around the time I first got the HR20 (and had whatever dish preceded the slimline). However the glitches happened on all the receivers, SD DirecTiVo, HD DirecTiVo, and the HR20. When I moved and had all new equipment installed (slimline dish, cabling, WB68 multi-switch, same receivers though), still had the same intermittent problems, regardless of receiver and if it's SD or HD content. It's not that bad, I'd estimate that I get about one or two glitches per 30 minute show. Is this acceptable?

[drjjr]

Last night I flipped through several HD channels and noticed it occurring but not on the SD channels. For example, LOST was full of them but when I would switch over to SD, nothing. Another interesting tidbit, ever since Discovery HD Theater was launched up on 281, the version on 76 became unwatchable - constant audio drops and freeze frames.

Anyway, I wish DTV would acknowledge this and do something about it as it seems to be much more than a local issue since the majority of my HD channels do this and my signal strengths are consistently in the low 90s.

LOST for me on Houston's MPEG4 HD feed was terrible last night.

[Poco Askew]

Last night I flipped through several HD channels and noticed it occurring but not on the SD channels. For example, LOST was full of them but when I would switch over to SD, nothing. Another interesting tidbit, ever since Discovery HD Theater was launched up on 281, the version on 76 became unwatchable - constant audio drops and freeze frames.

Anyway, I wish DTV would acknowledge this and do something about it as it seems to be much more than a local issue since the majority of my HD channels do this and my signal strengths are consistently in the low 90s.

Same here; No problems at all with SD. Since the new channels rolled out, constant problems with audio dropouts, with pixilation almost as frequent as the audio problems. As I stated above, DTV tells me audio should be bullet proof since the data and compression are so minimal compared to the HD video signal. I have to believe its a flaw in their signal rather than the equipment at our end.

[rjordin]

LOST for me on Houston's MPEG4 HD feed was terrible last night.

Same here! What's the deal. First time I have had this issue!

[rjf]

Just curious, but how much pixelation is considered acceptable?......

personally, i say ZERO.

as a comparison, there are some that are ok with blu ray and hd-dvds having pixilation and other issues. me, no effin way. when blu gets its act together and produces disks that work all the time, without exception, then i'll buy their player. not before. since when is it ordinary for a standard dvd to have issues? almost never. why accept it form hi def or blu? if i go to a movie theater, i expect the print to play without glitches too. this isn't the old days anymore when film burns and messy crops are standard. i expect everything to play right 99.99% of the time, including DTVs HD signals. and my locals pixilate on a daily basis. that's not acceptable to me.

the real question is -- is it acceptable to DTV? cuz they're the one's who have to choose to do something about it.

[Poco Askew]

Just curious, but how much pixelation is considered acceptable?

I could live with the same level of problems I get with their SD programming. Maybe even a little more, but not every show every night every few seconds to every few minutes.

[tcusta00]

I could live with the same level of problems I get with their SD programming. Maybe even a little more, but not every show every night every few seconds to every few minutes.

If it's really that often and on most channels then there's something wrong on your end. I didn't see you mention that a tech actually visited your home to check on alignment, etc., only that you spoke with people at D*.

Another comment confuses me:

"I'm also not crazy about spending even more $$ to get a fix for a system that is under warranty and doesn't work."

You shouldn't have to be spending more money on a service call if you're after the first 30 days of signing up for the PP, which you mentioned earlier that you have signed up for so a service call will be free...

:confused:

[Poco Askew]

If it's really that often and on most channels then there's something wrong on your end. I didn't see you mention that a tech actually visited your home to check on alignment, etc., only that you spoke with people at D*.

Another comment confuses me:

"I'm also not crazy about spending even more $$ to get a fix for a system that is under warranty and doesn't work."

You shouldn't have to be spending more money on a service call if you're after the first 30 days of signing up for the PP, which you mentioned earlier that you have signed up for so a service call will be free...

:confused:

It varies, but Yes it has been happening every night on every HD show for the past couple of months. Sometimes its only several times during the show. Other times it is so frequent you cannot follow the dialog. I was out of town for over a week and just learned about and signed up for the PP yesterday. That's why I have to wait. No tech out yet. I took a shot a aligning the dish and was able to get an average of about 2% more signal on 103c. I've posted the signal levels and troubleshooting in another thread. With one exception I'm getting mid 80s to 100 on sat 103c. The low one is 79.

[tcusta00]

With one exception I'm getting mid 80s to 100 on sat 103c. The low one is 79.

From what I've read this may be your problem.

My pixelation problems are all isolated on my local ABC channel and 103(c) is in the mid to upper 90s without exception. I'd have to conclude that your dish seems to be a poco askew.

sorry, couldn't resist :grin:

[Poco Askew]

From what I've read this may be your problem.

My pixelation problems are all isolated on my local ABC channel and 103(c) is in the mid to upper 90s without exception. I'd have to conclude that your dish seems to be a poco askew.

sorry, couldn't resist :grin:

Harrrr harrrr :lol:
You may be correct. I've tried to improve the signals and spent quite a bit of time on it. This is as good as I can get it and its better than the original installation. I'll either wait the 30 days or pay the $15 and report back if/when it is working correctly. Maybe it will help the next guy (or gal).

[tcusta00]

Harrrr harrrr :lol:
You may be correct. I've tried to improve the signals and spent quite a bit of time on it. This is as good as I can get it and its better than the original installation. I'll either wait the 30 days or pay the $15 and report back if/when it is working correctly. Maybe it will help the next guy (or gal).

Frustrating as hell though... I dealt with comcast for a year about the same issue til i chopped down trees to get D*. It can drive a man insane!

[Nighty]

I had lots of pixelation on Lost last night on the Bay Area HD locals....

[cowboyfan628]

Was a consensus reached in past threads on probable cause(s) for the continuing pixelation with the HR20-700? As stated in previous posts I have and continue to have mild to severe pixelation on HD, Local feeds and cable channels such as F/X, A&E, Sci-Fi, etc. on a daily basis. I have talked with D**TV "techs" until I'm blue in the face. All to no avail. I also requested a replacement unit to be shipped and they have obliged after much and sometimes heated discussions. So far I'm 0 for 2, both replacement units arrived dead on arrival, thank goodness I demanded that a service tech install and set up the last one. He expressed suprise that the unit they shipped was a repo and apparently didn't bother to check it out before shipping on to me.
I and the tech have checked out all of the usual suspects, alignment, obstructions, wiring, BBC's (on my 3rd. set) etc., so I am beginning to feel that it's originating at the source ( D**TV) and we're not being told.
Sorry in advance for the long post but I'm really tired of the problem and the fact I'm paying out over a 100.00 a mo. for something that is not worth watching at least 25% of the time.
Then again it might be something "simple" as the tech on the phone explained to me. " Sir, I don't know how else to explain it to you, obviously you don't understand simple instructions". This was after he walked me thru three tries for a simple guide problem that I was trying to resolve and each time he repeated the instructions and I after following his computer guided info. informed him that his instructions were not working on my receiver.
And this is the company that J.D. Power has awarded today as " #1 in customer satisfaction"
I had a bad lnb. It was replaced and it fixed the pixelation problem.

[rjf]

well, the supervisor came and went and had nothing really of value to add or say. nice guy, as usual. but no real solutions or answers since there were really no options left. he admitted that everything had already been done and tried. at one point he did say that maybe i should just go ahead with an OTA antenna since it would be my clearest reception if i could work through problems inherent with receiving all channels. he wouldn't go as far to say that DTVs signals are faulty (but then, why would he) but he did admit problems existed. in any case, i have another new LNB, and was assured it was the most recent release. but he doubted anything was wrong with the LNB he was removing, which was also brand new and the latest release.

soooooooo......... guess i'm gonna just ride this glitch out and hope DTV fixes their locals. in the meantime, maybe i'll look into a better OTA. i did call DTV and take them up on the $50 they offered. maybe everyone having trouble should demand they get $50 too. might be the best way to make them look at the problem and do something about it. btw- the guy at DVT customer retention said that internally, many of them feel that no OTA on the HR21 was a big blunder.

so i'm guessing some here still aren't convinced, but for me, i'm solidly convinced DTV has a real problem with delivering locals in HD. i hope they fix it soon.

[K4SMX]

.....so i'm guessing some here still aren't convinced, but for me, i'm solidly convinced DTV has a real problem with delivering locals in HD. i hope they fix it soon.
It would seem clear that not every DTV customer in the LA DMA has this problem with HD locals. Sure, some of this is widely reported in many DMA's, but not to the extent you describe.

This means that there's something about your particular installation (to include your HR20's) which is causing this problem. There is a possibility that your reception is receiving interference from light dimmers, nearby computers, or other devices reported in these forums to cause pixelation on HR20-700's only when receiving mpeg4 video signals. If you have -700's and not -100's, you could start going through your panel box throwing circuit breakers to see if there may be some source of interference in your home which is causing this problem the next time it occurs. Definitely make sure there are no light dimmers on the same circuit(s) as your HR20's, and please don't accidentally kill the power on an HR20 unless you have a UPS connected to it.

[rjf]

.....There is a possibility that your reception is receiving interference from light dimmers, nearby computers, or other devices reported in these forums to cause pixelation on HR20-700's only when receiving mpeg4 video signals.....

sounds logical enough, only it also happens if i'm not home or in bed and most everything is turned off and the rcvrs are recording something. i wake up the next day to watch a show and the problem is there.

also, are all HD channels mpeg4? asking cuz this doesn't happen with any other hd channels, only fox and nbc. dont recall if it's ever happened on abc or cbs. if it were a dimmer or something of the like, wouldn't it happen on more channels?

ps- if it's documented that this happens with mpeg4, then that does suggest problems inherent in the encoding. customers shouldn't have to rewire homes just to watch tv. they should fix their encoding.

pps -- it's doubtful it's a dimmer or anything else because that would happen with more consistency. prison break and terminator are always fine. while american idol rarely is. moment of truth can be shady. all are fox shows. tonight show can have the problem, but not conan. and they're only 1 hour apart. personally, i think this debunks electrical issues. and many people here have complained about idol, so that suggests something outside our setups

[K4SMX]

I didn't notice where you previously reported that these problems were specific to Fox and NBC as well as certain shows on those channels. There are many reports of Fox/NBC problems in other DMA's, e.g., Atlanta.

It's not an issue with the wiring in your home. It's an issue with RFI getting into the tuners of the HR20-700's.

[Chris23a]

After 4 months, 4 technicians, 2 supervisors and 2 receivers, my pixilation problem seems to be fixed (knock on wood). Since the new HD channels were introduced, I had the same issues described throughout this thread. For me it only happened on the new HD channels. My locals (NYC) and the old HD channels (70-88) were fine.
I initially thought it was my HR20 receiver giving me the problems but DTV wanted to check everything else first. For some reason they are very hesitant to send new receivers. After everything failed, Directv finally sent me a new HR21-700 a couple of weeks ago. Having thought my pixilation problems were over, same thing. Pixilation on the new receiver. I was very disappointed. I explained to my case representative I was going to give it one more try. She scheduled another supervisor to come over immediately.
He checked the cables, connections and everything was fine. He also changed the dish. I had an AT9 and he changed to the Slimline. He said if it happens again, the only thing he can do is move the dish to another location since it could be a tree problem.
Its been one week now and I have had ZERO pixilation!!! Ive been so used to my HD going out while watching a movie or game that its weird and a relief to watch with no interuption. If you have a sidecar dish and have pixilation problems make sure they change to the Slimline!

[Ruffread]

It would be nice if it were that easy! I have the slimline, and have had the pixelation and audio drops intermittently. Sometimes, the drops make the viewing and listening experience unbearable.

[Poco Askew]

It would be nice if it were that easy! I have the slimline, and have had the pixelation and audio drops intermittently. Sometimes, the drops make the viewing and listening experience unbearable.

Ditto...

[Poco Askew]

I was out of town for a while. Now that I'm back I decided to try a little more troubleshooting. My audio dropouts and pixilation problems seemd to be much better for a while, then they came back. I kept checking signal levels and stability, but that didn't provide any clues. I decided to try and weed-out my cable runs and BBCs. That provided the answer (I think). So far no matter which cable and BBC I connect to tuner 2, I have no problems with HD programming. On the other hand, no matter which cable and BBC I connect to tuner 1, the HD problems begin. Sometimes its only one dropout every few minutes. Other times it happens every few seconds. But no matter what, both tuners on my HR20-700 are fine with SD programming and only tuner 1 has had the problems with HD. In my case, I'm convinced I have a bad DVR. I still have about 2-1/2 weeks before my PP kicks in to get it replaced and see if it fixes my dropouts.

[Poco Askew]

Earl helpped put me in touch with the "right" people at DTV. I received a replacement HR20-700. Bingo! So far I've not had a single audio dropout or pixilation (knock wood). In my case all the trouble almost certainly was the fault of one of the tuners in the DVR.

FWIW, this is my third HR20 in 7 months. The first one was replaced because of a different problem. I'm wondering if this level of failure is typical of HR20's and/or HD DVRs in general (?).

Thanks Earl!