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Brrrrriiiiip, what and where

35K views 252 replies 99 participants last post by  hasan 
#1 ·
This can be very annoying while you're trying to watch a program. They can vary from every once and awhile to being every few seconds during a show.

Thanks to BattleScott here is a sample: http://www.dbstalk.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=18074&d=1239640597

And to Ken S :

What is happening is the DirecTV MPEG-4 encoder is "dumping" and having to reset as it is transcoding the MPEG-2 to MPEG-4 at the uplink center.

This seems to happen to HD locals more than national channels.
If your locals are doing this, you can tune into the OTA feed and sometimes see it there too, but other times not see it. This doesn't mean the station isn't the cause/source. Their feed may have corrupted bits that don't affect the playback of the MPEG-2 stream, but these cause the MPEG-4 encoder to reset.
Sometimes it is the DirecTV encoder, which I've seen when several local stations are all doing this at the same time.

So this is the "what and where" but what can you do about it?

If it's with a local station, I found the best [quickest] thing to do is to call/email the station engineering about it. If they're responsive [some are and some haven't been], they will look into their end and work with the Network Broadcast Center at DirecTV.

If they're not responsive or this is with a national channel, then you will need to contact DirecTV, but you can't get directly to the broadcast center.
This means the CSR can "log a report" which will get the the center, but these don't seem to be acted on until there are many reports [which I really can't blame them with all the channels they're working with]. If they "can see it at the time" then they'll work on it, but since this problem comes and goes, they can monitor the feed and not see it [since it isn't happening at the time].

The next step I took was to email ellen.filipiak@directv.com and explain the problem I was having and the steps I'd done. I would recommend not emailing first, but calling and having it get logged a few times. Let their system try to resolve it, before escalating it to this level.

It took me a few email replies and phone calls, but I did have someone interested in resolving "my problem". One of the first steps was to have a service call to make sure there wasn't anything in my system that might be causing it. There wasn't and I knew it, but they needed to start somewhere and know it wasn't on my end. They asked me to have some recordings so I could show them exactly what it was when the came. They looked all over my system, watched the recordings and then called the broadcast center. The engineer had them hand the phone to me and explained what the problem was.

"The problem" wasn't fixed overnight, but my locals have been much improved and between a few emails to station and the broadcast center engineers, have seen the improvements from both the stations and at the DirecTV uplink.
 
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#77 ·
veryoldschool said:
It helps to have the station engineering on "speed dial".
This morning [and a bit last night] my NBC station had a lot of briipps. I emailed them 2 hours ago asking if they were aware of it.
I haven't heard back from them, but just realized I also haven't heard the sound for a while either. :)
Three hours after this, I get this email:

I have a call into Direct Tv and they are checking their end. Thanks for the heads up. I will let you know if they find anything
Dan

"Point being" if you take the time to let the station know of "your problem", you can get them to look into it from both their end and DirecTV's, as they don't have to go through what a "normal customer" does to get to the broadcast center at DirecTV.

National channels aren't this easy.
 
#78 ·
richiephx said:
Just curious but, does anyone know of E* customers are having a similar problem?
my father has dish and i never see this issue with him. after 10 years with dish i never saw an issue this bad.when i switched to directv i was happy with many things but the brrriippp issue was something i noticed immediately and hate it. for what ever reason we are still going through it.
 
#79 ·
rey_1178 said:
my father has dish and i never see this issue with him. after 10 years with dish i never saw an issue this bad.when i switched to directv i was happy with many things but the brrriippp issue was something i noticed immediately and hate it. for what ever reason we are still going through it.
Since it's due to the MPEG-4, one might ask if your father has MPEG-4 feeds from Dish.
 
#80 ·
Interesting ..... I had only 1 single Brrip on House about 60 minutes in just before a commercial.

Frank5575 said:
Have not seen the Brrrrp in a long time I used to always see this on FOX 29 out of Buffalo, NY mostly during 24, House, Terminator, and Dollhouse. This has been on recorded programs on an HR20-700. I've been recording Hell's Kitchen for weeks now with the occasional Brrrp but nothing to complain about. Well I recorded the 2 hour HOUSE premiere and it was back in a BIG WAY. From the start of the recording it was UNWATCHABLE. I really hope this gets cleared up before 24 premieres...
 
#83 ·
Oh.. I know what the "brrrrrrp" is. Not my first time with the experience. The freeze up, I am not sure about myself. But, the "brrrrrrp" does continue. Three new season shows last night, Survivor, CSI and Mentalist all had the "brrrrrrp" going on during the show. Even video was pixelating at times.
 
#85 ·
rey_1178 said:
we really shouldn't experience this at all
I don't think that anybody here would disagree.

My emails continue with my local NBC and maybe I shouldn't find this funny [but I do] that even their employees are adding in that they're having the problem while watching other local stations.
"This time" it sure looks to be on the DirecTV end.
 
#90 ·
Phoenix CBS has been the worst. Some shows are almost unwatchable.
 
#95 ·
TBlazer07 said:
Just out of curiousity did your DVR just get upgraded to the new software?

Yes VOS, I KNOW it can't be the software. :)
:lol:
Even without the brriipps, my local PBS can have it's own problems.
I've been recording Ken Burns too, but haven't yet watched them.

Seems like two customers in the same DMA, might suggest it's their PBS/local uplink as the cause.
 
#96 ·
My point remains that several people are suddenly reporting having this issue for the first time after the recent update and some are reporting it getting worse after the update. The "getting worse" I can ignore but the "fist time" I can't. I know I NEVER had it even once until some of the recent CE's which eventually became the current NR.

But of course I am hallucinating BECAUSE IT CAN'T BE THE SOFTWARE!
It's just coincidence! (he says with his fingers crossed)

veryoldschool said:
:lol:
Even without the brriipps, my local PBS can have it's own problems.
I've been recording Ken Burns too, but haven't yet watched them.

Seems like two customers in the same DMA, might suggest it's their PBS/local uplink as the cause.
 
#97 ·
TBlazer07 said:
My point remains that several people are suddenly reporting having this issue for the first time after the recent update and some are reporting it getting worse after the update. The "getting worse" I can ignore but the "fist time" I can't. I know I NEVER had it even once until some of the recent CE's which eventually became the current NR.

But of course I am hallucinating BECAUSE IT CAN'T BE THE SOFTWARE!
It's just coincidence! (he says with his fingers crossed)
You can run whatever scenario you want.
There has yet to be any "proof" that this is related to receiver software.
Keep blaming the wrong thing and you'll never get it resolved.
It could be software updates on the uplink as even here there seems as if they've changed their manifestations to some degree.

Maybe I should simply ask you if you've EVER had this problem corrected yourself?

Since I have, I do believe in the steps I've posted in this thread.
 
#98 ·
No proof whatsoever, just anecdotal evidence. You keep going back to locals. Fugetabout locals already (besides, ever try calling engineering at the NYC flagship networks)? Get past the locals. Ignore them for the moment.

I never had a single glitch on FX, Bravo, Discovery and countless others for years (not weeks or days, but YEARS) until recent software. While other people were constantly complaining about it I NEVER saw it. Nothing has changed here in 6 months, only the software. Never had a single brrip until the last 4-5 months. I must say though that after the last 2 CE's it seems to have lessened a bit but we might just be getting used to it.

What I really can't understand is why you can't even acknowledge the possibility, as small as it may be, that there just might be other things at play? The issue you discuss obviously is ONE THING but there might be something else that even you may not be aware of that hasn't been discovered (or maybe has but isn't being discussed with you). You can't have such tunnel vision in this world. "As far as you know", sure, but "no other possibilty" ...... c'mon now. There must be some things that even you don't know about that go on in the world of technology.

Just sayin' :)

veryoldschool said:
You can run whatever scenario you want.
There has yet to be any "proof" that this is related to receiver software.
Keep blaming the wrong thing and you'll never get it resolved.
It could be software updates on the uplink as even here there seems as if they've changed their manifestations to some degree.

Maybe I should simply ask you if you've EVER had this problem corrected yourself?

Since I have, I do believe in the steps I've posted in this thread.
 
#100 ·
TBlazer07 said:
No proof whatsoever, just anecdotal evidence. You keep going back to locals. Fugetabout locals already (besides, ever try calling engineering at the NYC flagship networks)? Get past the locals. Ignore them for the moment.

I never had a single glitch on FX, Bravo, Discovery and countless others for years (not weeks or days, but YEARS) until recent software. While other people were constantly complaining about it I NEVER saw it. Nothing has changed here in 6 months, only the software. Never had a single brrip until the last 4-5 months. I must say though that after the last 2 CE's it seems to have lessened a bit but we might just be getting used to it.

What I really can't understand is why you can't even acknowledge the possibility, as small as it may be, that there just might be other things at play? The issue you discuss obviously is ONE THING but there might be something else that even you may not be aware of that hasn't been discovered (or maybe has but isn't being discussed with you). You can't have such tunnel vision in this world. "As far as you know", sure, but "no other possibilty" ...... c'mon now. There must be some things that even you don't know about that go on in the world of technology.

Just sayin' :)
Some parts of technology are "my thing". This comes very close to one of them.
Do I know EVERY possible thing that could be the cause? No.
Do I understand what are the causes?
Yes, after lengthy discussions with: DirecTV engineering, Local Station engineers and others here that it's their profession also.
Unless you've got any real proof to suggest anything else, please stop "misleading" those that post problems with your "idea" that it's related to any version of software on the receivers. You're doing everyone a disservice.

If the problem is with locals contact your local station. If they're unresponsive or it's with national channels:
contact ellen.filipiak@directv.com

You seem to have the position that for this to be true I must prove every possible condition, while to be false, you're still "suggesting" only one thing [incorrectly to date].

Have you resolved any of yours?
Or are you simply waiting for some magic fix to fall in your lap?

If no one makes the effort to notify anyone, how can they know to try to fix it?
 
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