# Audio/Video sync issues back?



## n3ntj (Dec 18, 2006)

Last night watching MythBusters on Discovery HD, I noticed the return of the audio/video sync issues. I know this problem was bad back in October for a few weeks, but it went away and I thought it had been fixed.

Back in October, I found this problem on all new HD channels supplied from D10 (MPEG-4), but none of our local HD channels (MPEG-4) or the older national HD channels (MPEG-2). The problem has come back apparently. No idea if its an encoding/decoding problem, an IRD (namely HR20/HR21) problem, software problems, or what. I changed channels (from Discovery HD to an SD) and went back a few times to see if it was cleared up, but to no avail.


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

If you hit pause while watching and wait a second or so, do the sync issues fix themselves?


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## liverpool (Jan 29, 2007)

I had that last night for the first time watching Cnnhd. A channel change then back fixed it.


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## bdwill (Jun 26, 2007)

n3ntj said:


> Last night watching MythBusters on Discovery HD, I noticed the return of the audio/video sync issues. I know this problem was bad back in October for a few weeks, but it went away and I thought it had been fixed.
> 
> Back in October, I found this problem on all new HD channels supplied from D10 (MPEG-4), but none of our local HD channels (MPEG-4) or the older national HD channels (MPEG-2). The problem has come back apparently. No idea if its an encoding/decoding problem, an IRD (namely HR20/HR21) problem, software problems, or what. I changed channels (from Discovery HD to an SD) and went back a few times to see if it was cleared up, but to no avail.


I was watching Mythbusters last night as well and noticed the audio/video sync issue as well. I tried changing channels but did not try pausing and starting.


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## SlimyPizza (Oct 14, 2006)

This (video/audio sync problem) is a very annoying issue that crops up unexpectedly and all too often. I too saw this recently on Myth Busters and other channels. I always try the stop/go back/rew fix but it doesn't always remedy the problem. Changing the channel is neither a sure fire fix nor is clearing the buffer really acceptable. I hope this gets permanently fixed. That sync works for the majority of the channels the majority of the time tells me this is a solvable problem.


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## allenn (Nov 19, 2005)

The Weather Channel HD the audio is always out of sync with the video. I have not found a fix other than change to SD channel. I have tried pausing the program; changing channels; and changing my TV to 1080i which is not native for my Samsung DLP. Nothing works. Hope there is a fix!


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## SFNSXguy (Apr 17, 2006)

SlimyPizza said:


> This (video/audio sync problem) is a very annoying issue that crops up unexpectedly and all too often. I too saw this recently on Myth Busters and other channels. I always try the stop/go back/rew fix but it doesn't always remedy the problem. Changing the channel is neither a sure fire fix nor is clearing the buffer really acceptable. I hope this gets permanently fixed. That sync works for the majority of the channels the majority of the time tells me this is a solvable problem.


You're right... most of the time none of the published "fixes" does the job. This is a truly horrible problem and D* needs to get serious about doing something about it.

Come on, some pay over $100/mo for this defective service (including me).... it's not right.

As a long time user (see signature) I can honestly say that until about two years ago D* was a responsive, user-friendly company -- this is no longer true (tried finding a CSR that knows anything?). Seems like a user revolt of some sort (calling all the media with complaints -- Better Business Bureau, Consumer Affairs, etc.) may be the only answer. Too bad really. We should all have seen this coming when we were asked to do the software de-bugging on the HR20s.


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## Draconis2941 (Aug 30, 2006)

Add my hat to this ring too. I saw it too also on mythbusters. It was doing it on Bionic Woman too, but not as bad. Or maybe I'd adjusted to it and didn't notice so much anymore. The pause and wait trick didn't work, neither did the stop restart, or any other trick. It was bad enough on mythbusters that my wifer noticed right away, and she never notices things like that.


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## darman (Sep 24, 2007)

The NHL network was bad last night as well. Although during the games you can't tell, but on commercials there was an obvious sync issue.


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## Splendor (Apr 17, 2007)

SPEED HD was terrible last night. It looked like a dubbed Kung Fu movie. I tried the paue/play trick and a reset from the menu and it was still doing it. I really hope D* gets this fixed. I can't watch the HD channels when they're this out of sync.


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## jwd45244 (Aug 18, 2006)

SFNSXguy said:


> You're right... most of the time none of the published "fixes" does the job. This is a truly horrible problem and D* needs to get serious about doing something about it.
> 
> Come on, some pay over $100/mo for this defective service (including me).... it's not right.
> 
> As a long time user (see signature) I can honestly say that until about two years ago D* was a responsive, user-friendly company -- this is no longer true (tried finding a CSR that knows anything?). Seems like a user revolt of some sort (calling all the media with complaints -- Better Business Bureau, Consumer Affairs, etc.) may be the only answer. Too bad really. We should all have seen this coming when we were asked to do the software de-bugging on the HR20s.


Are you sure that DirecTV is the cause of the problem? They may well be. It is interesting to note that it is intermittent and typically only some channels.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

Draconis2941 said:


> Add my hat to this ring too. I saw it too also on mythbusters. It was doing it on Bionic Woman too, but not as bad. Or maybe I'd adjusted to it and didn't notice so much anymore. The pause and wait trick didn't work, neither did the stop restart, or any other trick. It was bad enough on mythbusters that my wifer noticed right away, and she never notices things like that.


Same thing here with Mythbusters recording. Almost reset my DVR, but didn't and my next recording was fine along with live TV.


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## cygnusloop (Jan 26, 2007)

This is also something I have noticed in the last few weeks. I have seen it intermittently over the last 10 or so months, but that was always easily fixable with a quick pause, or jumpback.

It has definitely gotten worse in the last few weeks, and, for me, the old remedies are much less effective than they used to be. I have seen it on both MPEG2 and MPEG4. There have certainly been some network and/or encoding issues involved, but, IMHO, it has been too widespread recently to be non-HR20 related. Something has changed.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

cygnusloop said:


> This is also something I have noticed in the last few weeks. I have seen it intermittently over the last 10 or so months, but that was always easily fixable with a quick pause, or jumpback.
> 
> It has definitely gotten worse in the last few weeks, and, for me, the old remedies are much less effective than they used to be. I have seen it on both MPEG2 and MPEG4. There have certainly been some network and/or encoding issues involved, but, IMHO, it has been too widespread recently to be non-HR20 related. Something has changed.


FWIW: I haven't had problems for a long time & last night's was with a HR21.


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## rondeth (Nov 8, 2007)

Been a long-time DTV customer, just upgraded from an HR10-250 two days ago to a HR21 box. I immediately noticed this on two separate occasions already, both on SD channels (one recorded instance, one live instance). 

Immediately tried to 'whack' it back in sync by pausing (etc), nothing worked. Had to delete the program; I don't know about you guys, but I really can't stand to watch out-of-sync audio. Hookup is via HDMI, no other audio equipment in the mix.


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## Kansas Zephyr (Jun 30, 2007)

I had the Mythbusters sync issue, too.

I was watching via DVR, not live. None of the "tricks" worked.


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## Splendor (Apr 17, 2007)

rondeth said:


> Hookup is via HDMI, no other audio equipment in the mix.


Same here. HDMI straight to the TV.


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## n3ntj (Dec 18, 2006)

Changing the channel, nor trying any trickplay did NOT fix the audio/video sync issues. I hope D* can address this issue whether it is a software, encoding/decoding, or hardware issue.


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## wanzong (Jan 18, 2007)

I also noticed this on Mythbusters. I tried a few things to try to get it into sync, but couldn't figure anything out that worked. Then I watched Bionic Woman, and I realized that if I hit pause and then pause again it would sync backup. But if I hit pause and then play, it would stay out of sync. I didn't experiment with this a lot to see if that always worked, but it did at least 3 or 4 times.


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## flipptyfloppity (Aug 20, 2007)

Trick play tricks did not fix the problem I was experiencing. I still have the Mythbusters recordings right now, and they're completely messed up no matter how you fiddle the buttons. I can reboot, I changed channels a lot. It was happening on both of my PVRs.


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## methodtical15 (Jan 9, 2007)

add me to the list, been having problems ever since the update on most of the channels including mythbusters tonight, D* better get on this A.S.A.P!


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## gulfwarvet (Mar 7, 2007)

i guess add me to the list, my sat HD locals (all) is having this problem as well for the rest of HD channels. this is on both HR20-100 (0x1BE) & HR20-700 (0x1BE), connected with HDMI to the ONKYO receiver. pause & TP does not correct the problem.


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## Carl Spock (Sep 3, 2004)

Audio/video sync issues have never gone away.

There is absolutely nothing in the entire HDTV chain that syncs the audio and video together. Nothing. And there are many buffers for both the audio and video before it gets to the front of whatever display your watching your TV on. Buffers in the TV itself, your DVR, the satellite, the uplink, the transmission lines to the uplink and the broadcaster. All have buffers that can get the audio and video out of sync and there is literally nothing you can do about making sure the audio and video sync after they get out of their respective buffers along the way.

The best solution is some HT receivers have delays built into them to slow down the audio, which generally preceeds the video when things get out of sync, to match things up again. My Yamaha receiver can delay the audio up to 160 ms. I have to manually adjust it, and the adjustment is buried deep in the receiver's set-up menu, but at least I can compensate for sync problems.


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## wrz0170 (Oct 29, 2007)

Mythbusters here too..... we didn't try any of the possible fixes because it was a recording.


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## smimi10 (May 22, 2006)

Add me to the list here, too. Discovery HD is where I noticed it, but that's the channel I watch the most, too.


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## Splendor (Apr 17, 2007)

ggergm said:


> Audio/video sync issues have never gone away.
> 
> There is absolutely nothing in the entire HDTV chain that syncs the audio and video together. Nothing. And there are many buffers for both the audio and video before it gets to the front of whatever display your watching your TV on. Buffers in the TV itself, your DVR, the satellite, the uplink, the transmission lines to the uplink and the broadcaster. All have buffers that can get the audio and video out of sync and there is literally nothing you can do about making sure the audio and video sync after they get out of their respective buffers along the way.
> 
> The best solution is some HT receivers have delays built into them to slow down the audio, which generally preceeds the video when things get out of sync, to match things up again. My Yamaha receiver can delay the audio up to 160 ms. I have to manually adjust it, and the adjustment is buried deep in the receiver's set-up menu, but at least I can compensate for sync problems.


WTF? How could they have not added an audio/video sync to the HDTV broadcast standard?


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## ljp416jmp (Jan 25, 2005)

I agree, the Weather Channel HD is always out of sync....will try the double pause trick...but in the meantime, you can watch Alexandra Steele do her soft porn bit along with the other Weather Channel babes.


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## Carl Spock (Sep 3, 2004)

Splendor said:


> WTF? How could they have not added an audio/video sync to the HDTV broadcast standard?


It was sort of hard to require the two to sync back in the early days of HDTV when there was no standard.

Back in the 1990s, the FCC's stance was let the marketplace battle it out. I remember an early Sharp HD tuner that had to handle a couple of dozen different input resolutions and scan rates because the FCC wouldn't standardize anything. It was an open battleground. Zenith's AC-3 5.1 surround system became the sound system only by default (yes, Dolby didn't develop 5.1 - Zenith did). Again, if I remember right, it had competitors although the market wasn't nearly as fractured as the video side. As various broadcasters started adopting 4:3 scan rates of 480i and 480p, and 16:9 rates of 720p and 1080i, these became the norm. But they aren't the standard. My memory also says there was a group pushing for a high resolution 4:3 picture using 720i. They didn't get very far.

For more revealing info on audio sync, read texasbrit's two outstanding posts in this thread: linky


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## Bobby42 (Apr 18, 2007)

I also had bad audio sync problems on this weeks Mythbusters in HD episode. I watched it after it was completely recorded, and nothing I did helped sync the audio better.

I've only seen audio sync problems on MPEG4 channels, both hd locals and the new HD channels like Discovery HD.

I understand HD has audio sync problems in general, but I've not experienced the same level of problems with other available HD sources. I get audio sync problems over HDMI and component on my HR20.

To me, this is either an issue with the receiver or the feed.


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## JasonK94Z (Jul 16, 2007)

So has anyone called DirecTV about this? If so, what are they saying?


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## saleen351 (Mar 28, 2006)

+1 myth busters
HR20


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## marksrader (Sep 14, 2006)

Yes Mythbusters problem too... pause, change channel, back-up... nothing ever cleared it. :bad_nono:


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## Carl Spock (Sep 3, 2004)

Since the biggest problem was this one episode of Mythbusters, couldn't the problem just as likely have occurred back at the Discovery Channel? Maybe it was out of sync from the get-go.


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## RoundRockJohn (Apr 24, 2007)

I was having the same problem with my HR20-700, it was almost unwatchable. Nothing I did fixed it.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

ggergm said:


> Since the biggest problem was this one episode of Mythbusters, couldn't the problem just as likely have occurred back at the Discovery Channel? Maybe it was out of sync from the get-go.


Now why would you think that? :lol: 
[the only occurrence I've had in many many months].


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## flipptyfloppity (Aug 20, 2007)

ggergm said:


> Audio/video sync issues have never gone away.
> 
> There is absolutely nothing in the entire HDTV chain that syncs the audio and video together. Nothing. And there are many buffers for both the audio and video before it gets to the front of whatever display your watching your TV on. Buffers in the TV itself, your DVR, the satellite, the uplink, the transmission lines to the uplink and the broadcaster. All have buffers that can get the audio and video out of sync and there is literally nothing you can do about making sure the audio and video sync after they get out of their respective buffers along the way.
> 
> The best solution is some HT receivers have delays built into them to slow down the audio, which generally preceeds the video when things get out of sync, to match things up again. My Yamaha receiver can delay the audio up to 160 ms. I have to manually adjust it, and the adjustment is buried deep in the receiver's set-up menu, but at least I can compensate for sync problems.


You are talking about a different problem.

You're talking about processing errors in the system, not DTV sending it out of sync.

My system is fine, I can watch many different HD sources and they're all in sync. It's only a few channels on DirecTV that are out of sync. So the problem is on DirecTV's end.

In the shortest possible terms, if the audio/video sync on one D* channel is (say) 30ms, it shouldn't be 530ms on another. If it is, there is something wrong either at D* or upstream and it is their job to correct it.


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## Carl Spock (Sep 3, 2004)

Certainly I want D* to give me programming as in sync as is possible. I want them to correct any problems they can in there own house

_- but -_

how have you determined that this problem with Mythbusters didn't originate with the Discovery Channel? It actually makes the most sense to me. If you told me all of that night's Discovery Channel programs were out of sync I might be more likely to put the blame at D* door step. But just one program? What special switch did D* throw for just that one program that resulted in it being out of sync?

I'm being facetious but doesn't it make the most sense that when they played the tape at the Discovery Network (OK, I know were probably talking about hard drive space here, not tape), it was out of sync initially. The program is the thing that changes hourly, not D* broadcast.

Does anybody remember - were the commercials this hour in sync? That would tell us something.

What we need is a control. Somebody should pop for HDTV service by D*, E* and their local cable company. That way if a show is out of sync, the status of the other services could be compared.

Who volunteers to do this? 

As for it being D* job to correct problems up stream, I don't think so. Can you imagine the job monitoring all the thousand or so channels they rebroadcast 24/7, and in real time, correct for any mistakes they see? I'm sure it's hard enough to keep things going without adding more errors.


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## Guitar Hero (Dec 13, 2005)

OK, I didn't have a problem yesterday, or on the 8th like most of you, but I sure do have a audio sync problem right now. It's really bad! 

No fix, so far. Changing channels, turning off Dolby, then back on again, turning off the receiver, nada. Anybody else have a problem tonight? 

The problem starts off slow, then progressively gets worse. Right now, I say I have a good one-and-a-half second audio sync problem. I've never seen it this bad before. 

Got a fix that works? Reset? What?


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## Bobby42 (Apr 18, 2007)

ggergm said:


> Certainly I want D* to give me programming as in sync as is possible. I want them to correct any problems they can in there own house
> 
> _- but -_
> 
> ...


So I should just accept that for $70+ a month, I get out-of-sync audio? I don't think so.

I pay DirectTV, not Discovery. DirectTV resells the feed from Discovery. I complain to DirectTV, they work with Discovery to fix the issue. That's how it should work.

They don't need to monitor all the channels like you say, but they should be responsive to customers who tell them about issues.


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## Carl Spock (Sep 3, 2004)

I don't disagree. I never said DirecTV shouldn't be responsive and pass along your concerns. 

We all want DirecTV to be address our concerns. My point was it simply might not be theirs to directly fix.


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## LanMan (Nov 10, 2003)

Quick Question for the people with the audio sync problems - Are you hooked up via HDMI? 

I am switching from Dish to Directv tomorrow morning and I am concerned with having audio sync issues. I had a TON of them a year ago with Dish and they finally fixed 99% of them.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

ggergm said:


> Since the biggest problem was this one episode of Mythbusters, couldn't the problem just as likely have occurred back at the Discovery Channel? Maybe it was out of sync from the get-go.


Just to stir the pot a bit:
When I watched Mythbusters last week, I had the problem [and posted it here]. It was the first time I've had it in a very long time.
Now I have two HD DVRs, connected to the same TV. Yesterday, I watched the same show on the other DVR just to "prove" it was on the provider end.
I watched most of the show and NEVER had the problem. Now I'm


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## Carl Spock (Sep 3, 2004)

LOL.

Thanks, oh, just thanks for that!

Maybe the machine itself is at fault. Does your other DVR still show the problem, veryoldschool?

We do know these puppies have buffers in them. Anything is possible.

It's just very weird that everyone's machine would have the same problem with the same show.

That is, except your one. Bizarre.

Next time, keep your experimenting to yourself, will ya?  :HappyGree


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## cygnusloop (Jan 26, 2007)

veryoldschool said:


> Just to stir the pot a bit:
> When I watched Mythbusters last week, I had the problem [and posted it here]. It was the first time I've had it in a very long time.
> Now I have two HD DVRs, connected to the same TV. Yesterday, I watched the same show on the other DVR just to "prove" it was on the provider end.
> I watched most of the show and NEVER had the problem. Now I'm


VOS, this really fits better with my experience. I really think something is going on with the HR20-700. There could be some subtleties in the signal that effect some DVR's and not others. It seems to me, that when the problem is at the source (which it certainly is sometimes), that nothing that you could do with the DVR would change anything. But, if you can do a "tapdance" on the remote, and eventually get it to sync back up, or at least see a change in the behavior by messing with the DVR transport controls, then something is going on in the DVR that is causing the issues.

NBC prime time (SAT MPEG4) programs have probably been the worst offenders, for me. When I start the program, the audio is way out of sync. It used to be a single quick pause and play would fix the issue every time, and it would be fine for the rest of the program. Lately, it takes several pause/plays, maybe a jumpback or two, and eventually I get lucky. Then, after FFing through a commercial, sometimes (not all the time) I have to do it again.

While this seems to happen more frequently with MPEG4 for me, it has also been happening lately with MPEG2, which never used to be the case. This is certainly not universal, but it is most definitely much more frequent than it used to be. It seems to me that the increase in chatter on the boards lately about this issue would also indicate that something has changed with the DVR itself.

I am also


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

Since I just love to stir the pot:
1) this has been the first time I've seen the problem in a very long time.
2) the "trick play" has "cured" it before, but had no affect this time.
3) the DVR with the problem was an HR21
4) then DVR that didn't have it was an HR20
5) both recorded the show at the same time
6) since "this" occurrence, neither have had the problem.

Can I add any more to the  ? :lol:


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## superfan1 (Sep 12, 2007)

Noticed sync problems on HD NET yesterday when fliping around notied it on MeatLoaf concert but the next program on HD NET seemed fine... Have notied it a few times on mostly HD channels.. 

FOX BIS and Discovery also...


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## L2BENGTREK (May 31, 2006)

I've experienced alot of sync problems on the Starz HD channels. Hit or miss whether I can get it to correct or not...very frustrating.

I was watching Star Wars the other night and it was messing up too....seems to me that was one of the HD HBO's, I don't remember.


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## n3ntj (Dec 18, 2006)

More video/audio sync issues last night watching the NBC football game. First time I've noticed this problem on local HD channels.. before it was only on channels from D10. I paused, and played and even changed channels and went back, to no avail. Not sure if this local channel sync issue is NBC or D*.


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## rapjrhb (Sep 26, 2007)

cygnusloop said:


> NBC prime time (SAT MPEG4) programs have probably been the worst offenders, for me. When I start the program, the audio is way out of sync. It used to be a single quick pause and play would fix the issue every time, and it would be fine for the rest of the program. Lately, it takes several pause/plays, maybe a jumpback or two, and eventually I get lucky. Then, after FFing through a commercial, sometimes (not all the time) I have to do it again.


This description by cygnusloop best describes what I have been seeing. When I have issues with audio sync on NBC primetime (most recently on The Office last week), I am generally able to improve the situation by pausing or jumpback, etc.

I also had problems with Mythbusters last week but nothing I did made any difference at all.


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## robd54 (Aug 3, 2007)

I just had my install on Saturday, and am noticing this audio sync issue as well. Discovery HD is unwatchable, FX HD was slightly off, and a couple movie channels were a littl off. I love having all these channels, but this doesn't put me off to a great start.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

robd54 said:


> I just had my install on Saturday, and am noticing this audio sync issue as well. Discovery HD is unwatchable, FX HD was slightly off, and a couple movie channels were a littl off. I love having all these channels, but this doesn't put me off to a great start.


Try a menu reset by going into the setup menu/reset/restart recorder
This usually clears it up.


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## Posterchild (Oct 10, 2007)

Noticed this problem today watching The Big Lebowski on an HD movie channel. Also using HR-20 with HDMI.


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## robd54 (Aug 3, 2007)

veryoldschool said:


> Try a menu reset by going into the setup menu/reset/restart recorder
> This usually clears it up.


I know this thread is for the HR20, but I notice the same issues on my H20. Is there anything that can be done or is that just D* problem w/the feed. Both TV's are set to native (1 uses optical to reciever and HDMI to TV, other uses HDMI for both audio/video direct to TV).

Thanks!


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

robd54 said:


> I know this thread is for the HR20, but I notice the same issues on my H20. Is there anything that can be done or is that just D* problem w/the feed. Both TV's are set to native (1 uses optical to reciever and HDMI to TV, other uses HDMI for both audio/video direct to TV).
> 
> Thanks!


If a reset doesn't do anything for you [the non DVRs can use the red button reset under the card access door much more], then "most likely" it's on the D* side. I've needed to call them so they can contact the uplink center to reset the equipment.


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## johntewart (May 20, 2007)

The lip sync issue may be attributable to your HDTV. An HDTV equipped with HDMI v. 1.3a ports may or may not support the HDMI spec 1.3 which was released in June 2006. This release increased the bandwidth of the the link and it incorporated an automatic audio/video synching capability that allows devices to perform this synchronization automatically with accuracy. Did the manufacturer of your HDTV include HDMI 1.3a ports that comply with the specification? Check the specs carefully if certain HDMI features are critical for your needs. Caveat emptor.


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## n3ntj (Dec 18, 2006)

johntewart said:


> The lip sync issue may be attributable to your HDTV. An HDTV equipped with HDMI v. 1.3a ports may or may not support the HDMI spec 1.3 which was released in June 2006. This release increased the bandwidth of the the link and it incorporated an automatic audio/video synching capability that allows devices to perform this synchronization automatically with accuracy. Did the manufacturer of your HDTV include HDMI 1.3a ports that comply with the specification? Check the specs carefully if certain HDMI features are critical for your needs. Caveat emptor.


I've had the HR20 and my Panny 42" plasma for a year and no audio/video sync issues until mid October and again recently.... if it was a hardware issue, why would I just start to get this audio/video problem and only get it on some channels?? Your reasoning may only make sense if I've had this problem all along.

Since it seems to be really be an issue on the new HDs, maybe something related to D10 or an encoder/decoder problem on D*'s end??


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## hasan (Sep 22, 2006)

SFNSXguy said:


> You're right... most of the time none of the published "fixes" does the job. This is a truly horrible problem and D* needs to get serious about doing something about it.
> 
> Come on, some pay over $100/mo for this defective service (including me).... it's not right.
> 
> As a long time user (see signature) I can honestly say that until about two years ago D* was a responsive, user-friendly company -- this is no longer true (tried finding a CSR that knows anything?). Seems like a user revolt of some sort (calling all the media with complaints -- Better Business Bureau, Consumer Affairs, etc.) may be the only answer. Too bad really. We should all have seen this coming when we were asked to do the software de-bugging on the HR20s.


We were *not* asked to do any debugging. We were *permitted* to do so, if we wanted to. Many of us find the opportunity a gold mine. I've been doing it since day 1 of the program, and am very enthused by the response to feedback, inclusion of new features and general stability of the box in the last six months.

Lately, there are "reversion bugs" that have surfaced. Things that had worked well for a long time for me (like not having audio drops or pixellation), have now resurfaced. With all the code changes (fixes and new features), and the massive introduction of new mpeg-4 HD channels, some of this is to be expected.

We seem to be on a rapid development up-slope at the moment, so I would expect we will see more of these kinds of problems, rather than less for some period of time. It's the price of rapid development. I, for one, prefer this approach, rather than waiting six months for a code update. Each to his own.


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## johntewart (May 20, 2007)

n3ntj said:


> I've had the HR20 and my Panny 42" plasma for a year and no audio/video sync issues until mid October and again recently.... if it was a hardware issue, why would I just start to get this audio/video problem and only get it on some channels?? Your reasoning may only make sense if I've had this problem all along.
> 
> Since it seems to be really be an issue on the new HDs, maybe something related to D10 or an encoder/decoder problem on D*'s end??


Your point is well taken. It would seem that the resolution to this synchronization issue lies with D*.


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## Joe Larrea (Aug 30, 2007)

I read somewhere that this might be a problem if the HDMI type being sent versus what the tv/audio system can handle. If I remember correctly, the HR20 sends HDMI audio in 2.0 format. In order for audio to be in sync the receiving system (tv or audio) needs to be able to receive 2.0. Otherwise, audio can drop and can become out of sync.

Again, I'm going from memory so don't be too harsh if I got something wrong.


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## Firefighter (Nov 15, 2003)

My audio is way off on all my channels now.


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## Splendor (Apr 17, 2007)

Still happening for me too.


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## hasan (Sep 22, 2006)

I'm seeing minor, but obvious lip-sync issues from a recording I made earlier this morning from MSNBC. I usually don't see much of a problem on this particular program, but it is there, and it is obvious. It is particularly disconcerting on a talking heads show like Morning Joe.


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## L2BENGTREK (May 31, 2006)

A couple of posts here have me wondering.....how many of us posting to this thread are using component? Everyone here using HDMI?

I swore I've seen it on my other TV...that's using component hook-up, but it's only a 27 inch so it's harder to tell!


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## dreadlk (Sep 18, 2007)

I use component and suffered the same Mythbusters audio lag and also last night the "Climb Everest" series on Discovery Ch. also had bad audio lag. I tried every trick in the book but nothing worked, i ended up just watching the SD version.


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## L2BENGTREK (May 31, 2006)

dreadlk said:


> I use component and suffered the same Mythbusters audio lag and also last night the "Climb Everest" series on Discovery Ch. also had bad audio lag. I tried every trick in the book but nothing worked, i ended up just watching the SD version.


If there are a bunch of component users here as well as HDMI, I'd say it looks like a broadcast problem....can somebody with some "divine" influence inform D* of our widespread problem and see what they say?

It's really strange, it seems that I only get bad sync problems on the new STARZ HD feeds....maybe a couple others, but it's real bad on STARZ. Anyone else?


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## rapjrhb (Sep 26, 2007)

L2BENGTREK said:


> A couple of posts here have me wondering.....how many of us posting to this thread are using component? Everyone here using HDMI?
> 
> I swore I've seen it on my other TV...that's using component hook-up, but it's only a 27 inch so it's harder to tell!


I'm using component.


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## allenzt (Sep 13, 2007)

L2BENGTREK said:


> A couple of posts here have me wondering.....how many of us posting to this thread are using component? Everyone here using HDMI?
> 
> I swore I've seen it on my other TV...that's using component hook-up, but it's only a 27 inch so it's harder to tell!


I'm using component with HR21 and have synch problem with HD channels. Also had synch problem with HR10-250 on HD channels.


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## TK6411 (Oct 6, 2007)

I'm also using component and had the same issue with audio/video synch on both HMDI and component. I noticed the audio synch was real bad on Everest on Discovery HD last night. Nothing fixed the synch issue.


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## robd54 (Aug 3, 2007)

I've noticed the problems on all my TV's, not sure if any were worse then others. Below are my setups:

TV1/HR20: HDMI to TV, optical to reciever
TV2/H20: HDMI to TV
TV3/H20: Comp. and red/white to TV

Mostly watch TV1, so that's where I've seen the most, along with TV2 next. TV3 is watched the least (bedroom)


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## swarles_barkley (Sep 24, 2007)

Might as well also add to the data:

I was seeing synch issues on FXHD Monday afternoon (11/12) during "Fever Pitch." Audio lagged behind the video. Channel change did not fix it, but did not try to pause or reset the box. Food Network HD and USAHD had no synch issues during that time.

Called DirecTV and they said it was FX's fault and that they would notify FX for me.

My setup: video -> component, audio -> toslink (both)--> A/V receiver


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## sr6376 (Sep 18, 2007)

L2BENGTREK said:


> If there are a bunch of component users here as well as HDMI, I'd say it looks like a broadcast problem....can somebody with some "divine" influence inform D* of our widespread problem and see what they say?
> 
> It's really strange, it seems that I only get bad sync problems on the new STARZ HD feeds....maybe a couple others, but it's real bad on STARZ. Anyone else?


Well, I use component cables and see the issue on many of the HD broadcasts over D*. Some channels much worse than others, and really weird in that if I change the channel and come back, the issue can be either worse or still there but atleast not as bad.


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## sr6376 (Sep 18, 2007)

swarles_barkley said:


> Might as well also add to the data:
> 
> I was seeing synch issues on FXHD Monday afternoon (11/12) during "Fever Pitch." Audio lagged behind the video. Channel change did not fix it, but did not try to pause or reset the box. Food Network HD and USAHD had no synch issues during that time.
> 
> ...


If that is the case, has anyone over on the Dish forums been complaining about the same issue? I have a feeling not, but maybe I am wrong.

D* had better start recognizing that they have a problem, rather than just fluffing callers off saying that it is a source problem and not theirs!


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## dukefan (Dec 5, 2006)

I think this a DTV problem... the more people that call in and let them know (politely), the better...


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## n3ntj (Dec 18, 2006)

I know Satelliteracer has an inside at D* (although it appears to be in the sports sub area). Maybe he can alert someone at D* about this problem and it can be fixed, whoever's end the problem is on?


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## dukefan (Dec 5, 2006)

If anyone wants conclusive evidence... I'm watching CNN (SD) on a DSR708 and Lou Dobbs is out of sync between the audio and video... 

It's not even an HR20.


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## dreadlk (Sep 18, 2007)

Reading this thread it looks like every Mpeg4 HD channel is out of sync.
I am going to check them out tonight and see if they are all having sync problems.

BTW I rarely had this problem until I did the last update.


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## luckydob (Oct 2, 2006)

Mythbusters is terrible AGAIN tonight. I would prefer the 6 month window for software updates if it would mean a stable platform. The HR20-100 has been nothing short of a nightmare since I received it.


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## Carl Spock (Sep 3, 2004)

I experienced the buffers in my HR20-700 this morning.

Right now I have on an excellent John Fogerty concert I recorded off of MHD. My system is hooked up using HDMI but I send the DVR's analog output throughout my house. I've had it hooked up this way for years using a different TV tuner (the HR20 is only about 45 days old).

In my office I can still hear the TV as well as the whole house feed. While the audio and video sync'd up perfectly on the screen, the sound going to the house preceeded the main room by about half a second. It was very disconcerting. I had to turn one of the two down.

Now that I've heard the problem, I guess it's been there, on and off, since I changed TV tuners. I thought I heard something wrong before. I just wasn't sure.

We know the HR20 has buffers built into it. It's just unusual to hear and see them so directly. Since the analog out comes out first, I have to assume both the digital audio and video can be delayed at least by as much as half a second coming out of the HR20. I am fortunate that I rarely experience a problem.


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## John127 (Oct 15, 2007)

Just to weigh in, using component, and I have the sync issue sometimes. Discovery HD has been unwatchable lately. If I switch channels and come back, the lag is different - sometimes better, sometimes worse. 

This is definitely not a problem on our end.


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## mchaney (Aug 17, 2006)

Mythbusters was awful! And not correctable. I can, however, "entice" the lip sync issue every time on my HR20-100. I just press the slip forward 30 seconds button 5 times and if I see it going too far, press the skip back button 2-3 times. This seems to get the lip sync off by more than a second *every* time! Press pause and then play, and I'm back to normal. This never happened until I got 1BE.

Mike


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## allenn (Nov 19, 2005)

luckydob said:


> Mythbusters is terrible AGAIN tonight.


And I thought the audio sync was bad for the Weather Channel, until I recorded the two hour Mythbusters Supersize program. What is causing the audio to be out of sync and it sounds like crap?


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## Carl Spock (Sep 3, 2004)

Read through this thread for the answer.

You'll soon discover that there is nothing in the HDTV standard that will guarantee the video and audio will be in sync.

As to where the problem is occuring, that's still up for debate.


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## dreadlk (Sep 18, 2007)

Yep Mythbusters was terrible again. It's back to recordings MB in SD mode for me
BTW I checked a few MPG4 HD channels last night and most of them seem to have very slight delays but none as bad as Discovery Ch HD


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## MattWarner (Feb 11, 2007)

I just moved my Mythbusters and Dirty Jobs series links back to the SD version of Discovery for this exact problem. Most other HD channels are fine, so it makes me wonder if something might be up at Discovery's end. Either way, I will wait until this problem is resolved before moving my links back to the HD channel.

-Matt


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## allenzt (Sep 13, 2007)

Every HD channel has the synch problem to some extent on my brand new HR21, via component and optical audio. I'm thinking about cancelling HD all together. I'd rather watch SD in synch.


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## drcurtis (Sep 3, 2007)

Just adding to help make it clear that this issue is much worse since last week and since my wife is particularly sensitive to lip sync issues it's driving us crazy.

I have it on all 3 televisions at home, and my tv's at my office.

This has always been a bit of a problem with HDNet, and was a real problem with my old Samsung DLP. In fact, Samsung brought a new model to me several years ago because of that very issue, since the video processing was just too slow on the old model. Right now, besides Discovery, I'm seeing a lot of problems with Talledega Nights every time it is on Starz.

It's also bad that I'm a big Mythbusters fan--at least I know we are all experiencing the same problem.


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## Carl Spock (Sep 3, 2004)

allenzt, you could also buy a digital delay from Kramer . The audio generally preceeds the video so this box would take care of that. The adjustment would be a manual one but in some thread around here I mentioned in the early years of color TV a person had to adjust the saturation and hue for each show to get the flesh tones just right. Until this sync problem is solved, something like this is about the only reliable answer when using optical or coaxial audio. Unfortunately, it's not a cheap solution.

HDMI folks are just plain screwed. Maybe that's another reason I don't notice the problem.


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## allenzt (Sep 13, 2007)

ggerm, thanks I'll probably just cancel HD until the problem is fixed. It's really unwatchable. It's seems like with the digital delay from Kramer, you would be constantly making manual adjustments, because the delay continuously varies.


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## m4p (Apr 12, 2007)

I previously had not experienced sync problems, but since the latest HR20 software update, I am now experiencing some shows being out of sync. I was watching something on a local channel that was out of sync. So I tuned to my TV's OTA tuner to the same show and it was in sync. So it has to be something with Directv or the HR20 I would think.


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## n3ntj (Dec 18, 2006)

I watched the 9pm Mythbusters last night (2 hour episode) and the video/audio sync was definitely there. Then, a repeat was shown at 11pm and the audio/video sync was noticeably better, but still off a tad. Weird.


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## dreadlk (Sep 18, 2007)

allenzt said:


> Every HD channel has the synch problem to some extent on my brand new HR21, via component and optical audio. I'm thinking about cancelling HD all together. I'd rather watch SD in synch.


I agree, I tested several MP4 HD Channels and most of them had very slight delays. I could live with the delays on 80% of them but man is discovery channel bad, I think it's about 2 seconds off :lol:

The problem is most likely being caused by the Codec that they are using to encode the channel or the one thats in the receiver to decode it. This was a common problem a few years ago with Windows Mpeg4 players but has become very rare with todays software. BTW this was not there before the last update, I am amazed that the cutting edge guys did not notice it.


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## cody21 (Sep 26, 2007)

CNNHD has been horrible all week... Wonder what's going on? Should we be contacting CNN or D* about these very annoying Sync issues?


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## flipptyfloppity (Aug 20, 2007)

To those (and you know who you are) who are trying to pawn this off as a limitation of HDMI or such not preserving sync end to end, this is a canard.

Yes, home systems can vary. But once you get your home system adjusted to be in sync, it should always be in sync. If it goes in and out of sync, it is a problem with the source material, not with your amp, TV and cabling.

These systems of preserving sync in the home only keep your home system from messing it up more. They are not there to correct 750ms of lag on the DirecTV end, and it's unclear if the right information is even present in the signal to autocorrect for an out of sync source, only present it in the same level of sync it was delivered with.


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## luckydob (Oct 2, 2006)

If I delay the audio any more than what it already is it'll be 2-3 seconds off. The video is actually about a second ahead of the audio on my system. You got a device that will delay my video??


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## Carl Spock (Sep 3, 2004)

^ Now that's unusual, the video being ahead of the audio and by that much. Normally it's the other way around.

Is it on all stations? What outputs are you using on your HR20? 

I don't know of a box to fix this one.


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## Carl Spock (Sep 3, 2004)

I was watching CNN-HD this morning. They do have problems. Their feed out of Atlanta was almost on, maybe only a tenth of a second off. Manageable. But they also had an anchor in Las Vegas and he was way off, at least half a second.

I don't watch CNN that often so this isn't a problem but if I did, I'd switch back to SD for this network. It is just the news, after all.


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## L2BENGTREK (May 31, 2006)

drcurtis said:


> Right now, besides Discovery, I'm seeing a lot of problems with Talledega Nights every time it is on Starz.


Now I know it's a broadcast issue.....My previous posts talk about having trouble with STARZ, and that's what was on almost every time I tuned to it....Talledega Nights! It was out of sync bad!


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## ChrisR (Sep 23, 2006)

Add me to the list; I signed on to D* a month ago and had absolutely no problems with audio/video being out of sync on the new HD channels, but I was DEFINITELY having problems with Dish Network channels being out of sync. For me, this seems to have come up just within the past week or so; Fox Business HD has been out of sync for several days (it wasn't when it launched), as was a recording of Star Wars off Cinemax, so it's affecting a variety of channels.


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## Ken S (Feb 13, 2007)

It was the worst I've ever seen today while watching some recorded programs on an HR20. This was way past the usual "martial arts movie". I'd say a good two seconds between mouth movement and sound.

Tried all the usual fixes with no luck.

Show was in HD and recorded off a LiL.


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## Splendor (Apr 17, 2007)

I called and reported it...they said they'd forward my concern on. *holding breath*


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## dreadlk (Sep 18, 2007)

To add even more misery, last night I set the recorder for CNNHD to record the Democratic Debate. I start watching it about 30 minutes later and after almost 2 hours the recording cuts Arrrgggghhhh. It had not recorded the last 20 or 30 minutes of the debate  CNN showed it again but I was not going to stay up till 3am to get back to where I left off, so I ended up setting up another padded recording and crossing my fingers that it works out.


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## ChrisR (Sep 23, 2006)

Splendor said:


> I called and reported it...they said they'd forward my concern on. *holding breath*


For what it's worth, I did send them an e-mail, so I hope it gets forwarded on to the proper department. In the short month I've had their service, I will give D* kuddos for being prompt, timely and detailed in responding to emails. Mostly been related to general customer service in the past so we'll see if this one holds true.


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## ChrisR (Sep 23, 2006)

FWIW, here is the email I received from a D* albiet from a customer service rep and not their tech dept; not sure how they thought I had a standard def tv but the email explains itself: 

Thank you for writing. I see that you are one of our new customers and I would like to take this opportunity to welcome you to the DIRECTV family! I understand that you have been experiencing lip sync problems on your HD programs. I apologize for the inconvenience this may have been causing you and I would be more than glad to address your concern.

This problem is rare on Standard-Def TVs. If it does occur, everyone sees same effect, it is not dependent on TV or receiver. It’s the way show was produced or, it’s how the show was sent to DIRECTV for broadcast. Problem is more common on High-Def TVs. It is an industry-wide problem. This occurs on satellite TV, over-the-air TV, and cable TV because of Dolby technology. Currently, there’s nothing in Dolby standards to automatically synchronize audio to video. If the problem is occurring on your High-Def TV you can try pressing on the Channel Up then Down buttons. With Dolby, drifting can occur over time. Channel Up/Down will sometimes helps synchronize audio to video.

I hope this is helpful to you. If you have further concerns, feel free to write us back. Our e-mail team is here 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to answer your questions if you ever need to contact us. Feel free to reply to this e-mail with your concerns and we will do our best to assist you.


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## Sing1gniS (Jan 14, 2007)

Big Ten Network is off by about 3 to 4 seconds.


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## allenn (Nov 19, 2005)

ChrisR said:


> FWIW, here is the email I received from a D* ........If the problem is occurring on your High-Def TV you can try pressing on the Channel Up then Down buttons. With Dolby, drifting can occur over time. Channel Up/Down will sometimes helps synchronize audio to video..............


Thanks D* for nothing. What a crock of crap! Why or how did D* resolve this on the HR10's?


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## Carl Spock (Sep 3, 2004)

allenn, it was solved by good engineering. Good engineering will solve this problem, too. 

Life was easier when we had just a few HD stations. Everyone could concentrate on getting those right. Initially the video and audio wasn't in sync all the time but with work, the bugs were eliminated and you saw pictures and sound in sync.

The biggest problem right now is so much high-def is being rolled out at once. There are definitely teething pains and we all are experiencing them, admittedly some of us worse than others. Given time, these, too, will go away.

As corporate form letters go, it wasn't too shabby. I wish they had stated what D* is doing to solve the problem in house. I can't believe all of these new satellite channels aren't at least part of the difficulty. For example, why now has HDNet shown some problems? I haven't experienced them but others in this thread have. If anybody should be trusted to send out a rock solid HD signal, it's HDNet. And if the receivers weren't at least part of the problem, then how come either pausing and then hitting play immediately or changing channels sometimes gets things back in sync?

I also don't agree with the note blaming this on Dolby. In essence they are right but their specific facts are wrong. Yes, there is nothing in the HDTV standard to synchronize audio and video but this isn't Dolby's fault. Zenith invented and promoted AC-3, the 5.1 digital audio standard adopted by the FCC. Dolby is just a standards/marketing company. I am sure they are part of the current discussions in the industry to set standards for audio and video sync but the real blame here lies with the FCC. They let our system for HDTV be totally decided by the marketplace. When the video and audio sides of HDTV are developed by two totally different companies not in cahoots with each other, this kind of problem can exist. Back in the late 1990s, when the FCC finally ruled that AC-3 would be the official HDTV sound system, they should have also insisted that a sync standard be established, too. They didn't. Now we suffer.


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## luckydob (Oct 2, 2006)

I don't care what the issue is or how it arrived. I pay for HD. I expect HD. If D* cannot give me correct HD, then I will complain. BTW today's Sunday Ticket is horribly out of sync....at least on 720.


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## Carl Spock (Sep 3, 2004)

No one is saying your shouldn't complain. Go for it. I hope you get satisfaction.


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## allenn (Nov 19, 2005)

ggergm said:


> allenn, it was solved by good engineering. Good engineering will solve this problem, too........


I guess practice makes perfect.


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## luckydob (Oct 2, 2006)

They should practice more. Tonights How I Met Your Mother was off by 4-5 seconds. Unwatchable. Is D* more concerned with DOD and remote booking than getting their HD to actually work? It's now bordering on rediculous and obscene. Hello D*...is anybody out there?


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## omj (Jun 28, 2007)

Christ people. Do some of you work for Directv or what? This issue has been going on for months.  It will stop for a few days then it comes back. I am paying extra for a service and even had to sign an agreement to keep the service. Well, the service is having problems. Why should I have to keep the service when I have to hit 15 GD buttons to make it work right? After working all day the last thing I want to do is spend a half hour hitting forward, back, pause, play, then restarting just to watch TV and it's still F'd up. They are going to continue to give us audio issues if people don't complain to them. I have been receiving 5 dollars off my account for several months because of these issues. I think it's time I make another call about it this evening. I am going to inform them of how much I am paying for the service, how long I have to keep it per their contract.


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## L2BENGTREK (May 31, 2006)

omj said:


> Christ people. Do some of you work for Directv or what? This issue has been going on for months. It will stop for a few days then it comes back. I am paying extra for a service and even had to sign an agreement to keep the service. Well, the service is having problems. Why should I have to keep the service when I have to hit 15 GD buttons to make it work right? After working all day the last thing I want to do is spend a half hour hitting forward, back, pause, play, then restarting just to watch TV and it's still F'd up. They are going to continue to give us audio issues if people don't complain to them. I have been receiving 5 dollars off my account for several months because of these issues. I think it's time I make another call about it this evening. I am going to inform them of how much I am paying for the service, how long I have to keep it per their contract.


.....But you're not bitter !rolling

You do have a point though!


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## Splendor (Apr 17, 2007)

This sucks! Fix it!


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## omj (Jun 28, 2007)

Sorry, it just gets me fired up. Customer service in all business anymore stinks. How great would it be if a company said something like "since we have been experiencing problems continually with our quality of product we are going to give you a free month of HD service" without you having to constantly call them. When I pay for something I want it right. I know some of you will give me the usual response of "Get Cable" but this goes beyond just switching services.


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## dreadlk (Sep 18, 2007)

I can live with the Lypsync issue for a few months, I just know not to record the HD versions of shows. My problem is that there is absolutely no one from Directv saying "Yes we know of the problem and it should be fixed by xxxx date", instead we end up in this debate where some people say "Oh theres no problem" and others are *****ing that there is. 

Just for the record, anyone running a HR20-100 with the 1BE firmware and says that they don't have a lypsync problem, you need to get your eye's checked. I looked at three HR20-100 setups since this issue started and in every case the owner said "I don't notice any problem". I then recorded a MPeg4 HD show and played it back and asked them to look carefully. I get a sort of twisted face look and then they say "ohhh yeah I see it now" . 
A few days later I get a call from one of my friends, "Why did you ever show me that! Now I keep noticing it and it's driving me crazy" LOL


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## I.M. Nobody (Aug 25, 2006)

I have been working with Mythbusters for a few episodes and when I go to see myself on tv my lips don't match my voice. What a:hurah bummer. However my wife says I can't talk anyway.:lol: 

But I do hope they get this problem fixed it's very annoying.


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## California King (Nov 24, 2007)

I don't know about you guys, but when I see sync issues, I start to obsessively look for them in everything I watch...and then get even more pissed off...lol


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## romulox (Jun 22, 2007)

yesterday, for me, it was the DiscoveryHD channel. The sync was off about 1 second with audio coming first. During the commercials, which all seemed to be SD, some the sync was good and some the sync was off. I did the normal trickplay and going into menus. Nothing worked. Flipped around and noticed all other channels were fine - go back to Discovery and the sync was off.

I rarely see sync issues, and never in a recording from what I recall. Normally they are fixed with pause, replay, etc. for me, but not this time.

Setup is hr20-700 optical to old Pioneer elite VSX21 and hdmi to tv with tv's speaker turned off.


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## rapjrhb (Sep 26, 2007)

California King said:


> I don't know about you guys, but when I see sync issues, I start to obsessively look for them in everything I watch...and then get even more pissed off...lol


Me too! I'm always trying to tell myself that it looks fine when I know it's not quite right!


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## California King (Nov 24, 2007)

For what it's worth I called DirecTV today because it was just getting worse for me. It had issues on all my channels and my previously recorded shows. Turns out, changing to component helped a lot! Everything seems to be synced (maybe 1-2 ms off). 

Also, the person who was helping me said that she reported it and I should be getting some kind of patch or fix within a week..not sure if it will do anything, but as long as it doesn't make it worse, I'm ok with it.


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## gully_foyle (Jan 18, 2007)

Stuart Sweet said:


> If you hit pause while watching and wait a second or so, do the sync issues fix themselves?


NO. Nothing works except system reset. The issue is in the playback, the recording works fine after reset.

Note that this is not a minor slip -- we are talking _sentences_ of slip.


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## cygnusloop (Jan 26, 2007)

California King said:


> Also, the person who was helping me said that she reported it and I should be getting some kind of patch or fix within a week..


!rolling !rolling !rolling !rolling !rolling

:welcome_s to DBSTalk, California King.


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## gully_foyle (Jan 18, 2007)

Several times in the last two releases, I've been begun playing back an mpeg4 recording and had the audio trail the video by at least 5 seconds. Once this mood is entered, it does not stop. No amount of trick play helps. Stopping the recording and starting over does not help. The mood is persistent, and once it appears there is no way to get out of it. 

ONLY MENU RESET WORKS. After reset the "failed" recording is fine again.

Something goes bump in the night, and pointers are seriously munged. Please fix.


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## gully_foyle (Jan 18, 2007)

California King said:


> For what it's worth I called DirecTV today because it was just getting worse for me. It had issues on all my channels and my previously recorded shows. Turns out, changing to component helped a lot! Everything seems to be synced (maybe 1-2 ms off).
> 
> Also, the person who was helping me said that she reported it and I should be getting some kind of patch or fix within a week..not sure if it will do anything, but as long as it doesn't make it worse, I'm ok with it.


Try reset.


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## coleco (Nov 26, 2007)

Hey all, new to the forums here. I'm glad I found the site, but sorry that I and many of us are having problems with the audio. I have read this entire thread and many others on different web sites, direct tv forums, etc. Just so I am clear about this would anyone care to commment on:

1. The fact that this problem is sporadic (bionic women one week bad, next week fine. Stargate Atlantis Sci Fi HD one week bad next week fine) does or does not help pinpoint the problem?

2. We know that someone is working on a solution, or at least finding the exact cause (HDMI, vs various receivers, vs specific HD channels, etc.)?

3. If I run out and buy a new $1000 receiver with the audio delay feature in it like Yamaha, I can correct this issue when it pops up? 

I hate to purchase a new reciever, but frankly can't watch the shows when the synch issue pops up. It is about 1 in 5 times a problem, and only with recorded. Most of the time it is less than a second but there have been times it is comical - sometimes a sentence or two and really cannot be watched. Listen to yes, watch no. I almost never watch anything live anyway because of work and kid issues. 

Just a few questions I had, thanks. I will of course try resetting when I get home and call direct tv myself and ask them their thoughts. It is interesting that I just upgraded my receiver to HR20 about 3 weeks ago. Actually I switched my whole house from cable to satellite. Except for this issue which is worse on my large DLP with HDMI (and lesser so with component cable on a smaller HD tv upstairs) I am thrilled. Take care all.

Coleco


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## dreadlk (Sep 18, 2007)

IMO the problem is with the receiver and the Codec it uses to decode recorded Mpeg4 HD content. I base that on my personal observation that Live TV is almost always in sync (as you also observed) and that it is only recorded mpeg4 HD shows that go out of sync. I would believe that we will have to wait on D* to send a update and that nothing we can do will fix the problem. 

My personal temperoray solution has beed tio record both HD and SD versions of my shows. I do a quick check afterwards to see if the HD version is ok, if it passes a FF/RR test and still has Sync I go ahead and erase the SD version, if not I erase the HD version and watch the show in SD.


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## cartrivision (Jul 25, 2007)

dreadlk said:


> IMO the problem is with the receiver and the Codec it uses to decode recorded Mpeg4 HD content. I base that on my personal observation that Live TV is almost always in sync (as you also observed) and that it is only recorded mpeg4 HD shows that go out of sync. I would believe that we will have to wait on D* to send a update and that nothing we can do will fix the problem.
> 
> My personal temperoray solution has beed tio record both HD and SD versions of my shows. I do a quick check afterwards to see if the HD version is ok, if it passes a FF/RR test and still has Sync I go ahead and erase the SD version, if not I erase the HD version and watch the show in SD.


As others have pointed out, there is no such thing as "live TV" on an HR20, it's all recorded to, and played back off of the disk, even if you are watching it "live", but I agreee that it's probably related to the MPEG encoding and decoding process. We better hope that the problem is caused by improper MPEG encoding, because I think that the decoding process on the receiver end is all done in custom chips (i.e., in the hardware) and not changable by software updates.


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## L2BENGTREK (May 31, 2006)

cartrivision said:


> As others have pointed out, there is no such thing as "live TV" on an HR20, it's all recorded to, and played back off of the disk, even if you are watching it "live.


+1

All of my audio sync issues have been only while watching "live tv". Ironically, I've never had these problems with a saved recording....GREAT! SOMETHING ELSE TO OBSESS ABOUT!!

:rolling:


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