Pixellation on only some QAM channels North America

[Scanjo]

I have Hauppauge HVR-2250 tuners installed in both my computer and my wife's. Both are running Win7. I am getting bad pixellation on some channels but others are perfectly clear. AMC, Lifetime, A&E, HGTV, FOOD, Disney Jr, SYFY, and History to name a few that have issues. Maybe that helps you find info in the logs...

I thought for the longest time that it was a problem with the cable provider (Mediacom) but then I realized one day that the same channel had NO pixellation on my wife's computer. Now the REALLY strange thing about this is that I set up my computer, and then copied files to her's so I could save setup time. I am at a loss as to why her's would work and mine not. They should be virtually the same setup except for scheduled recordings and different preferences in the OS.

Log files are attached. I'd love to hear any ideas for possible solutions.

[mvallevand]

Could be a problem with the incoming cable strength so see if reducing splitters helps. QAM channel frequencies will have different characteristics.

Martin

[BrettB]

Could be a problem with the incoming cable strength so see if reducing splitters helps. QAM channel frequencies will have different characteristics.

It could also be a hardware issue with the Hauppauge HVR-2250 in your computer.

[sub]

Do you see it playing a recording? if so, can you supply a short sample recording?

[Scanjo]

Could be a problem with the incoming cable strength so see if reducing splitters helps. QAM channel frequencies will have different characteristics.

Martin

I thought about that but I doubt it. I also have cable internet and it is more sensitive to splitters than TV signal (according to Mediacom) and my internet is fine. I can't remove any more splitters at this point anyway.

[Scanjo]

Do you see it playing a recording? if so, can you supply a short sample recording?

It's not consistent, but yes it records when it acts up. I'll try to find a channel being ornery and send a clip.

[Scanjo]

It could also be a hardware issue with the Hauppauge HVR-2250 in your computer.

Can you elaborate on what might be going on, or do you mean the tuner could be failing? Hmmm... It's a dual tuner card. I could try changing the priority on the tuners and see if that makes a difference. Anything else you have to add?

[Scanjo]

Do you see it playing a recording? if so, can you supply a short sample recording?

I zipped the sample and all support files as I didn't know what you might want to look at. It's a very short sample but very easy to see the effect.

Even though it's a small clip, it still exceeds the forum limit. Here's a link to get it from my site.

http://www.iowajohnsons.com/temp/Sample.zip

[sub]

Does it show the pixilation in another player too?

[Scanjo]

Are there other players than NPVR???

No. So far I have dealt with the bad picture and sound, and if it's unwatchable, I go find the episode online.

Do you have a suggestion for a player to try?

It just seems so strange that my system does this, but the wife's does not and we're right next to each other running off the same splitter.

I noticed one other symptom while getting the clip. As soon as I had it ready to go I was trying to post it here and my system was very sluggish. I had to stop the recording service and restart it to get normal use back. Related? Don't know for sure but seems suspicious.