NZ Freeview HD playback quality issues

[lost@c]

I have a 2200 and my logs show "locked=1, present=1, strength=4, quality=20 (took 109ms to check)." I have no pixilation issues like you describe. My nova and my HVR 4000 have quite different S and Q numbers but seem to work well

[Asher]

thanks lost@c,
that seems to indicate that signal quality might not be the underlying issue. :confused:
Your setup is very similar to mine!
Win7Ultimate x64, ASUS M3A78-EM, AMD 64 X2 5200+ (2.7GHz), PALIT 9500GT, Patriot 2x2Gb DDR2-800, Hauppage HVR-2200 (PCIe) [OEM], Primary display: 42" LG LCD via HDMI, secondary display: 4.3" touch screen via VGA

What codecs/settings are you using?
I have the video going straight to the TV via HDMI, and the audio get downmixed to 2.0 and fed to a little stereo via the rear audio jacks.
[Excuse: I can't get the audio to reliably be sent to the coax out (S/PDIF).. it keeps defaulting back to the optical]

I'll try and grab some more screenshots to show the 'impressionist water colour' and other spectacular rendering failures that I get on TV1 and TV2...

[griffy]

I have noticed in the past that with a low signal TVNZ Mux sometimes doesn't even pickup on a scan, also never had a problem with TV3 Mux with a low signal. Codec for playback will have no effect, the signal is recorded bad before playback.

[sub]

thanks lost@c,
that seems to indicate that signal quality might not be the underlying issue. :confused:
Your setup is very similar to mine!

Looking at your screenshot, I'm pretty sure your problem is signal. That is exactly what dropped or corrupt packets look like.

[Asher]

Sub has spoken!

I just got a great TV2 recording, and the recording log seems to indicate a signal strength of -4.. so it looks like I may have a fluctuating borderline signal. .. even though I can see the mast... :-(
I sense a trip to DSE coming up.

>> locked=1, present=1, strength=-4, quality=25 (took 125ms to check)

[psycik]

Sub has spoken!

I just got a great TV2 recording, and the recording log seems to indicate a signal strength of -4.. so it looks like I may have a fluctuating borderline signal. .. even though I can see the mast... :-(
I sense a trip to DSE coming up.

>> locked=1, present=1, strength=-4, quality=25 (took 125ms to check)

There's another crowd Ive used before over DSE for amplified splitters, as the DSE one are just belling lee connectors whereas i bought one with F-Type (the threaded connection) and some F-Type to Belling Lee leads.

Leads were just pudneys though...

[sub]

so it looks like I may have a fluctuating borderline signal. .. even though I can see the mast... :-(

If you can see it, then it may be case of the antenna isnt pointing the right direction, or you've got an old VHF antenna that doesnt do well with UHF.

[psycik]

If you can see it, then it may be case of the antenna isnt pointing the right direction, or you've got an old VHF antenna that doesnt do well with UHF.

He has an STB that is working fine, so I'd assume the aerial is correctly mounted and correctly cabled. Most likely a crappy split/splitting device.

[Asher]

Brand new UHF aerial professionally installed 11 months ago. Splitter installed by the same guy at the same time.. screw-on connectors and stuff.

There's only one 'long' cable run from the mast to the splitter. The splitter is mounted in the wall, with ~10cm cables to a wall plate on each side of the wall.
HTPC on one side, STB on the other. I've tried swapping them over, no effect.

Signal change from +4 to -4 seems odd, I doubt it's atmospheric conditions, as the problem has been around for months, and I have my first 'good' tv2 recording 3 days ago.

[sub]

Sorry - I dont know. Its still looks like its signal related some how. The tuner on your HVR-2200 may not be as good as the tuner in your set top box, and signal is too marginal for the 2200. Given you can see the transmitter, you should be able to get a good signal. The reverse might be true - signal too strong. I'm no expert in this stuff though.