Choppy Recordings for Time Warner Cable CBS in Raleigh, NC

[patrickaburrows]

Hi All,

I started having the strangest problem over the past 2 weeks with my recordings on Time Warner Cables CBS broadcasts. All of a sudden all of my recordings of CBS Clear QAM channel (Channel 3) in Raleigh, NC are sort of choppy with some motion blur, as if I can no longer record the full frame rate that is being broadcast. I have two different NextPVR DVR computers, one running Windows XP and the other running Windows 7, and they both are showing the same issues with the playback and watching of live TV for this channel. All other recordings for all other channels are still perfect. Prior to this, I have never seen any issues like this on any of my recorded channels or TV shows. Nothing has changed on either of my DVR computers during this time period. I have even tried setting the BitRate to 13500000 for all possible types of broadcasts (Analog, 720P, and 1080i) in config.xml and still no resolution to this issue.

Anyone have any idea what might be going on, or has anyone else experienced anything similar in the past, especially here in the US with Time Warner Cable Clear QAM broadcasts?

Thanks,

- Patrick Burrows

[sub]

Bitrates etc wont matter. They're only used for analog or HDPVR recordings, since with these the audio/video needs to be encoded.

When it comes to digital channels, like your clear QAM channel, the app just capture a dump of the bits received in the broadcast. ie, it doesn't reencode it, so there is no opportunity for NextPVR to be introducing motion blur etc. Because of this, I'm sure it must be a playback issue you're seeing. Have you tried playing one of these recordings in an external player like VLC?

[patrickaburrows]

Thanks for the quick reply Sub. Actually, I had forgotten that I did play one of them back in VLC Media Player last week and did not have the issue. Any ideas as to what I might be able to do to resolve this? Currently, I have the MPEG2 Video Decoder set to the MainConcept one provided by Hauppauge for my Windows XP box, and set to Microsoft DTV-DVD Video Decoder for my Win7 box. I assume that Clear QAM channel recordings use the MPEG2 Video Decoder setting for playback, correct?

[sub]

Yes, they'll be MPEG2.

There isn't really much I can suggest other than trying different decoder/renderer combinations. The MainConcept decoder is usually ok (though I know it can crash an app sometimes when it receives garbage data from weak signal), as is the Microsoft one. Might also come down to some Video Card settings as well.

[patrickaburrows]

Thanks again Sub. I will try the Cyberlink Video Decoder that is included with the Hoborg's unlocked SAF (and any others that I currently have installed). I know I have SAF unlocked installed on both DVR's, so maybe it will make a difference.

[mikeh49]

I've noticed similar on Charter clear QAM CBS as well; a little skip, especially when moving from a scene with no motion to one with motion. I too use the MS decoder. CBS is 1080i; PBS and NBC are also 1080i and I don't see the same thing there. Fox and ABC at 720p are fine.

I don't know if the Nvidia 9500 video card is a contributor. I'll take a look with my test box with ATI on-board.

Let us know how the Cyberlink decoder turns out.

There was a discussion on here a few years ago about "un-smooth" video on the program "V". which I think was also on CBS. I don't recall how that resolved.

[johnsonx42]

I noticed what seemed like a de-interlacing problem during a few scenes when watching last week's "Revolution" season premiere. It seemed like a bit more than just de-interlacing though, like smearing of the video in a few spots. It was weird. Then of course there were the huge plot holes, implausible character behavior and general b.s. spread throughout the episode, but I don't think that can be blamed on NPVR or the cable company!

[mvallevand]

Here's a link to some quality issues with Lost, V, Revenge etc.

http://forums.nextpvr.com/showthread.php...rt-streams

Martin

[patrickaburrows]

Good news. I switched to the Cyberlink decoder last night on both my Win XP and Win7 DVR boxes and the quality issues are resolved. Either Time Warner or CBS must have changed something with Clear QAM/Digitial broadcast over the past week. Anyway, after comparing the playback switching back and forth between the Cyberlink decoder and the one that was running on each installation, and replaying the same scenes during the playback from multiple types of broadcasts (NFL football and sitcoms), the quality was noticeably improved and no motion blur or frame drop was visible any longer. Thanks again Hoborg!