[brettbolt]

Tonight while watching a recording of 'Heroes' in HD (OTA) on NBC , my wife and I noticed random 1-3 second skips (both audio and video). Often we missed complete sentences. However, we could go back and watch the same part again and catch what we missed. So it appears to be a playback problem and not a recording or signal reception issue. Both the audio and video are skipped for a few seconds. There is no picture break-up, distorted sound or black screen when this happens. Its just that we periodically are missing a few seconds of content.

While watching Heroes, this happened on average about 2 times every minute. We've noticed this many times in the past on other HD recorded shows.

I called Tech Support and the man said he had not heard of this problem.

Has anyone else experienced this?

 

[Rob Glasser]

Welcome to DBSTalk b_c. Sounds like you saw the video jitter that people are still occasionally seeing. It's a lot better than it used to be but people still do see it from time to time.

I'm going to move this into the 622 forum so it gets more visibility by the 622 community.

 

[ASOT]

I have been getting video only black outs. I can still hear the audio, but the video blacks out. Sometimes it seems like it takes forever to come back.

It seems to happen on live OTA, live Sat channels or recordings. And I think it is only the HD channels. And yes, you are right about it being a playback problem... I noticed the same. You can have a black out... rewind and playback to see what you missed.

I have noticed, and this may be my perception only, that the pic will come back once the scene changes? I was watching a skit on Sat Night Live (OTA) and it blacked out... I quickly changed the channel and then back to SNL. The pic came back for a second and then went black again. It was not until the camera angle or the scene changed that the pic stayed. ??

I have noticed this more since I added a DVDR that is connected inline between the 622 and the TV. The DVDR is connected via component and has the ability to pass through the 622 signal at 1080i when it is off. Not sure if this is just a coincidence or if the DVDR is messing with things.

There was a post awhile back of someone complaining about blackouts, so I am assuming that it is not my DVDR and more of a 622 output thing.

I wish they would fix the problem though, it can be quite frustrating.

Ron

 

[AVJohnnie]

Has anyone else experienced this?

Welcome Aboard!:welcome_s

Yes, I've been seeing it (hearing, actually) since they introduced the problem in the previous L3.63 software release where it was much worse. L3.65 made it better, but it is still not right. For me the problem seems to only afflict the audio portion of recorded content - Live and trick-buffer viewing seems to be okay. Hopefully they will get this resolved in the next update…

I called Tech Support and the man said he had not heard of this problem.

That's the standard CSR response.

 

[brettbolt]

Welcome to DBSTalk b_c. Sounds like you saw the video jitter that people are still occasionally seeing. It's a lot better than it used to be but people still do see it from time to time. ...

Thanks. I don't think its quite the same as the jitter problem described previously. Its not a series of micro-short start/stop gaps -- instead its like watching a video where someone has randomly cut out 1 to 3 second sections. Sometimes you cant even tell you missed something until you realize that the actors dialogue doesn't make sense -- like when he answers a question that you never heard the other guy ask.

I have been getting video only black outs. I can still hear the audio, but the video blacks out. Sometimes it seems like it takes forever to come back. ...

I think I would prefer that to what I'm getting now, because at least the audio is there for you.

The tech support guy at Dish offered to send a replacement, but from what I am hearing here, its a software issue that a replacement unit wouldn't help.

 

[Ron Barry]

Actually b_c. From reading this thread I don't see anyone indicating they are seeing the same issue. Pesonally I have not seen this issue on my box.

More info is needed.

Live, Delayed or Recorded?
Channels you see this on?
OTA, Dish HD, Dish SD?
Do you have specific steps to get this to reproduce?
If this is happening, when you rewind.... Does the missing audio re-appear?

 

[brettbolt]

Actually b_c. From reading this thread I don't see anyone indicating they are seeing the same issue. Pesonally I have not seen this issue on my box.

I thought AVJohnnie was having the same problem, or is he getting video during the missing audio? Also, at least 3 people on another forum are having the same issue as me.

More info is needed.

Live, Delayed or Recorded?
Channels you see this on?
OTA, Dish HD, Dish SD?

As for more providing more info, much of what you ask is already in post #1 above.

Its happening with both delayed and recorded content (but not live). Its OTA HD. I saw it on KCRA channel 3, but that is pretty much the only OTA HD channel I watch so it might be a problem with other channels.

Do you have specific steps to get this to reproduce?
If this is happening, when you rewind.... Does the missing audio re-appear?

From my post #1, "we could go back and watch the same part again and catch what we missed". So both the missing audio and video re-appear.

Specific steps to reproduce:
1) Record an OTA HD show.
2) Watch it until something doesn't make sense. (Missing dialog / incomplete scene)
3) Skip back 10 seconds and see what you missed.

 

[Ron Barry]

So...

1) Only on live content.
2) Only have seen it on OTA (1 channel).
3) Multiple shows. Hereos is mentioned. I watch Hereos and have not seen it, but sometime I watch OTA and sometimes I watch Dish HD.
4) Not sure if AVJohnnie is seeing the same thing since he mentions only audio. In your case it is like it someone is hitting skip forward. I assume you don't see the skip forward icon during these times. I have gotten short audio drops but I usually see video or pixelization along with audio loss. Not the jumping you are describing.

Sorry for not pulling the information out of your thread but I read the replies and guess I got confused.

I am still not convinced AVJohnnie is talking about the same thing. The fact that so far we are talking about one channel makes me thing it might be a stream issue. See if you get it with other channels.

As for the reproduce steps.. thanks.. I do those steps all the time so it must be something unique to the station or your particular receiver. WOnder if anyone in your area watches Heroes and what was there OTA experience on that channel on Monday.

 

[brettbolt]

So...

1) Only on live content.
2) Only have seen it on OTA (1 channel).
3) Multiple shows. Hereos is mentioned. I watch Hereos and have not seen it, but sometime I watch OTA and sometimes I watch Dish HD.
4) Not sure if AVJohnnie is seeing the same thing since he mentions only audio. In your case it is like it someone is hitting skip forward. I assume you don't see the skip forward icon during these times. I have gotten short audio drops but I usually see video or pixelization along with audio loss. Not the jumping you are describing.

No to #1 (Its only on recorded or delayed content). Yes to 2,3,4. And as you guessed, I don't see the skip forward icon.

I am still not convinced AVJohnnie is talking about the same thing. The fact that so far we are talking about one channel makes me thing it might be a stream issue. See if you get it with other channels.

As for the reproduce steps.. thanks.. I do those steps all the time so it must be something unique to the station or your particular receiver. WOnder if anyone in your area watches Heroes and what was there OTA experience on that channel on Monday.

Someone in another forum has seen this problem on KCRA Channel 3 (NBC Sacramento)

As soon as my wife finishes watching TV I'll check other OTA HD channels and report back here.

 

[Ron Barry]

Would be nice if we can narrow it down to a station. Since you can rewind back and replay and get the missing video, that to me rules out that it is missing from the stream. If we see it on other stations then that rules out that it is particular to that one station. I will keep an eye out for it.

 

[Rob Glasser]

I've noticed over the last few days that I am getting some brief audio drop-outs on NBC OTA recordings. I noticed it a bit on Heroes, SNL, and some Late Night w/Conan O'Brien recordings. However, in my case when I skip back the dropout is always in the same spot. I'm only seeing this on NBC shows and only since this last weekend. I'm assuming what I'm seeing is a stream issue and not a 622 issue. I have not noticed it on any other recordings/channels yet.

 

[kmcnamara]

Last night I watched the recording of Monday's Heroes episode and saw quite a bit of skipping but no real audio problems (other than the annoying popping that always occurs when coming back from commercial). This is OTA from NBC5 (KTXA) in Dallas.

 

[AVJohnnie]

I am still not convinced AVJohnnie is talking about the same thing. The fact that so far we are talking about one channel makes me thing it might be a stream issue. See if you get it with other channels.

Just to clarify -

I'm only having audio dropout issues - and only on recorded content - live play back or trick-buffer play back works fine.

The recorded channel source (SD, HD, SAT-Locals, etc.) seem to have no bearing on the audio dropout problem. The dropouts happen on all of the 622's audio outputs (TOS-Link, R/L and RF modulated) and simultaneously.

The issue is happening on both of my 622s.

This started when L3.63 loaded and continues with L3.65, but not as bad as it was with L3.63.

 

[Rovingbar]

I sometimes see issues like b_c. Actually I have two problems, and they are usually on SAT HD Locals. About 80% of our viewing is recorded SAT HD locals. We rarely watch live TV anymore.

1. Audio and video skips several seconds. I can rewind to see what was missed.
2. Brief video distortion (pixelation, box patterns on part of the screen, etc.).

My item 1 is very close to b_c however if I back up too far, the playback will skip in the same place. This makes me think there is a break in the signal.

It seems to be happening less frequently lately. We used to notice it every few shows, now I only notice the skipping about once a week. The distortion shows up about once a day.

 

[brettbolt]

I sometimes see issues like b_c. Actually I have two problems, and they are usually on SAT HD Locals. About 80% of our viewing is recorded SAT HD locals. We rarely watch live TV anymore.

1. Audio and video skips several seconds. I can rewind to see what was missed.
2. Brief video distortion (pixelation, box patterns on part of the screen, etc.).

My item 1 is very close to b_c however if I back up too far, the playback will skip in the same place. This makes me think there is a break in the signal.

It seems to be happening less frequently lately. We used to notice it every few shows, now I only notice the skipping about once a week. The distortion shows up about once a day.

Interesting, both you and kcmcnamara are in the Dallas TX area. Are you seeing it only on NBC5 like him or on other networks too? I'm in California and I'm only getting skipping on NBC (KCRA Sacramento).

I checked ABC and PBS HD and saw no skipping (but I didn't watch for very long). Seems to be just NBC so far. And the only reports (here and on another forum) are Dallas NBC and Sacramento NBC.

I've read that NBC and CBS are 1080i, while ABC and FOX are 720p. Maybe my 622 is having trouble decoding certain types of datastreams?

 

[Rovingbar]

I've read that NBC and CBS are 1080i, while ABC and FOX are 720p. Maybe my 622 is having trouble decoding certain types of datastreams?

It certainly could be something related to the data stream from the local broadcaster. I've been thinking about hooking up our OTA antenna, but just haven't gotten around to it. Anyway, I notice problems on all our local stations, but I don't keep track of which problem shows up on whitch station.

 

[kmcnamara]

OK, so I recorded The Office and My Name is Earl last night and watched it later. Both had a bunch of skips. I tried to rewind and the skips were always in the exact same spot so apparently something stored in the stream is causing the decoder to hiccup. Again, this is NBC5 (KTXA) OTA in Dallas. I don't watch much live broadcast so I don't know if it was there initially or not.

I'm really tired of KTXA. One of the reasons I upgraded from a 942 to a 622 was to get rid of the reboots that OTA KTXA was causing. The 622 isn't rebooting but the skipping is very annoying - not to mention some of the dialog is being lost.

 

[ChuckA]

I have the same problems with KTXA. There are skips in recordings as well as watching live. Seems to be worse here lately.

 

[Steve H]

Is this problem only seen/heard on the 622 or is it happening on the opther VIP receive also? If it's the on the 622 only I would think that the problem is with the buffer/hard drive.

 

[ChuckA]

I only watch a 622 so I can't address the other receivers having the same problem. However, I don't believe it is related to the buffer/HDD. I have had my 622 since Feb. 2006 and this is something that just started recently. I frequently record 3 programs while watching 1 (or even 2 a couple of times) recorded program without normally having this skipping problem.