Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread

[Mark Strube]

I had the Pioneer HD box, hooked thru component cables. I switched to the HD DVR box, also hooked thru component cables, the same ones... however now the HD channels are noticeably softer! They don't have that vibrant unbelievably sharp look that they used to! The box is in 1080i only mode, just like the Pioneer box, and I've made sure it's in HD mode (using the CH+ VOL- trick). Why is this?

I also notice tiny little lines going thru the picture when the grey bars are in the picture... and sometimes on certain colors in the picture itself. They're not too noticeable, but they weren't there with the other box.

[summerfun]

You might want to check and make sure all your connections are very tight. A loose connection can cause poor PQ.

On a side note, I had both the old Pioneer HD box and the new SA HD DVR box hooked up side by side when it first came out. There was a slight reduction in PQ from the new DVR. I switched the cables and the component inputs on the TV set to make sure they were not the reason, but still had lower PQ on the DVR.

I think the SA DVR box is just not as good as the Pioneer HD box was in reproducing the best PQ. That being said, when you don't watch them side by side, you really don't notice the difference and it is much better to have a DVR than not.

If your PQ is more than just a little less, then you may have a different issue. If it is just a sharpness issue, you can adjust that on you TV set. I believe that each and every input device, DVD, STB, whatever needs to be set up individually. This box may just need a little different setup.

[Mark Strube]

Ok thanks for the reply. Of course if anyone else knows any other reasons for this, feel free to reply!! I did turn the sharpness up more, and that does help a bit. Too bad about the slightly reduced quality. Hopefully when they activate the DVI it'll look better.

[mhz40]

Originally posted by Bigdog
Any idea when that might happen? Will that glitch fix "live" shows as well or just recorded ones?

It should fix everything... the two issues are apparently related.  No idea on a release date.

[Bigdog]

Thanks hopefully it will be soon, altho I'm still waiting for them to replace the hardline they said they were going to do last month as well.

Do you know why you can't record a show off "OnDemand" channels?  I tried to record one off HBO OnDemand and it said it was not a recordable channel.

[Andrew Grall]

Is the new update supposed to enable the DVI too?

[summerfun]

Originally posted by Bigdog
Do you know why you can't record a show off "OnDemand" channels?  I tried to record one off HBO OnDemand and it said it was not a recordable channel.

I doubt you will every have that feature. You could not do it with the SD DVR either. I don't think they want you to have recordings of their programs.

[Joel S]

Originally posted by summerfun

I think the SA DVR box is just not as good as the Pioneer HD box was in reproducing the best PQ. That being said, when you don't watch them side by side, you really don't notice the difference and it is much better to have a DVR than not.
 

I noticed something a bit odd last night while watching the baswball game on 506.  The Fox Milwaukee WITI - DT bug in the lower right hand corner was partly cut off, as I think it always has been.  However, when I hit the "guide" button and look at the picture display in upper corner I can see the entire FOX 6 bug and more of the overall picture.  When viewing full screen I cannot see the bottom portion that says "WITI-DT" but can see it fully when viewing via the program guide.  What's up with that???

I'm curious, how much of the picture is cut off on the HD DVR (which I have) compared to the Pioneer HD STB?  Maybe you could compare some time and let us know.

I can view a regular analog cable feed side by side next to the HD DVR feed and noticed that the HD DVR picture on all channels when compared to regular analog was stretched a bit vertically and horizontally when compared to the analog feed (watching something like Fox News with a scroll on the bottom shows this obviously).  Basically the regular stretch mode on the DH DVR seems a bit too zoomed.  This may make the DVR picture look less crisp.

Anyone else notice this or think that something is wrong?

[borghe]

the fox6 bug is not completely in the image. This is after viewing the actual mpeg on my computer. the bottom part of it is cut off.. it looks very weird. if you have overscan, even more of it will be cut off. again, this is after viewing the actual MPEG sent OTA.

[Joel S]

Well that is somewhat good to know that OTA is the same or similar.  I still find it strange that when viewing the picture via the guide that I can see the whole image and then of course more of the picture overall.  The image just doesn't seem to fill the screen properly.

I also noticed similar issue with analog channels becasue via a cable line feed directly into the TV I was able to view more of the picture.  That's why I think it has a lot to do with the HD DVR output as oppossed to my TV having overscan issues.

Thanks for the feedback.  I'm curious if anyone else takes a close look at this.  I kind of wish I never noticed it becasue now it really bugs me.

[summerfun]

I have a fixed pixel LCD, so no overscan here and the bug is most defiantly cut off in the bottom corner on my HD DVR. I have not looked at it with my Pioneer HD box, I will make it a point to look next time.

I might guess that it is normal looking in the menu guide because the view window in the guide is not 16:9.

[Mark Strube]

I had my box recording CSI last night... a lot of pixelization and momentary audio dropouts on playback (at least every minute or two). I don't know if it was doing that live, I only watched the playback. I don't get that issue with recordings on HBO HD or inHD or HDNet... anyone else have the same issues? I know these boxes are buggy... just curious.

[borghe]

no problems on CSI OTA.

might have been the box.

[Mark Strube]

Originally posted by borghe
no problems on CSI OTA.

might have been the box.

Or TWC's signal... trying to figure this out. It's not a big deal but it gets a bit annoying when it's every minute or so.

[shimmer11]

I have noticed that when I am recording an HD program, more droupouts are occuring while I am viewing another HD/analog program.  

Andy:bang: