# Pixelation Out Of Control On DirecTV



## T.C. (Sep 21, 2017)

I'm currently watching the Stanley Cup Final (NHL) Game 5 on NBC (Channel 4 In Detroit). The pixelation is out of control! Hasn't stopped since the broadcast has started! 1 hour straight and it pixelates within every 2-3 minutes. As much as 3 times in one minute.

Also, the NBA Finals on ABC Sports (Channel 7 In Detroit) was doing the same thing last night. What in the hell is going on with this service?

Does anyone have an update or any info? Is DirecTV ever going to correct this issue? Is this 1st Grade (elementary school) engineering? Such a SH#$ company.


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## trh (Nov 3, 2007)

I'm watching the game on my NBC station via DIRECTV; not a single issue. 

Do you have any bad weather passing through your area right now? What are your signal strengths? Maybe your dish needs realignment? Do you have other DIRECTV receivers in your house that you can if you have the same problem?


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## jimmie57 (Jun 26, 2010)

T.C. said:


> I'm currently watching the Stanley Cup Final (NHL) Game 5 on NBC (Channel 4 In Detroit). The pixelation is out of control! Hasn't stopped since the broadcast has started! 1 hour straight and it pixelates within every 2-3 minutes. As much as 3 times in one minute.
> 
> Also, the NBA Finals on ABC Sports (Channel 7 In Detroit) was doing the same thing last night. What in the hell is going on with this service?
> 
> Does anyone have an update or any info? Is DirecTV ever going to correct this issue? Is this 1st Grade (elementary school) engineering? Such a SH#$ company.


Check all the screwed connections in the coax line to see if any of them are loose.

Is it raining between you and the satellite ?

Have you tried to Reset the receiver ? Menu, Settings & Help, Settings, Reset, Restart my Receiver.

Have you ran a system test ? Any errors listed ?
Menu, Settings & Help, Settings, Info & Test, Run System Test


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## bnwrx (Dec 29, 2007)

Clear picture here in Colorado....local out of Colorado Springs


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## T.C. (Sep 21, 2017)

Clear sky. No rain. It's on my Genie HR-44

Tuner 1 97%
Tuner 2 97%
Tuner 3 97%
Tuner 4 97%
Tuner 5 97%

I also get pixelation on my HR-24. My wife watches that Hallmark Channel.... and it was pixelating yesterday.

This has been an ongoing issue since NFL Season September 2017. Everyone has been talking about this in a lot of forums... especially at the AT&T forum. I'm not the only one it's happening to. It seems to be effecting select zip codes and regions.

I will run a system test later.

Resetting the box... or even using "CLEARMYBOX" doesn't really do anything. It will clear it up for about an hour.... and then it happens on select stations.

My signal strength is so good... even when it does rain... my satellite never goes out. Always have a good reception.


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## jimmie57 (Jun 26, 2010)

T.C. said:


> Clear sky. No rain. It's on my Genie HR-44
> 
> Tuner 1 97%
> Tuner 2 97%
> ...


Is the light on the Power Inserter Green ?

Those numbers are probably on the 101 sat. Change it to 99 ca or cb and 103 ca or cb and see what those are.


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## west99999 (May 12, 2007)

jimmie57 said:


> Is the light on the Power Inserter Green ?
> 
> Those numbers are probably on the 101 sat. Change it to 99 ca or cb and 103 ca or cb and see what those are.


If the light wasnt green he wouldn't have signal....


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## T.C. (Sep 21, 2017)

jimmie57 said:


> Is the light on the Power Inserter Green ?
> 
> Those numbers are probably on the 101 sat. Change it to 99 ca or cb and 103 ca or cb and see what those are.


99 (ca)

9-16 87, 91, 88, 91, 88, 92, 89,91
17-24 90, 92, 89, 92, 89, 92, 89, 93

99 (cb)

1-8 95, 94, 89, 89, 92, 92, 89, 89
9-16 91, 94, 90, 92, 95, 95

103 (ca)

9-16 95, 95, 95, 92, 94, 91, 93, 94
17-24 93, 92, 95, 94, 94, 93, 95, 95

103 (cb)

1-8 95, 94, 93, 91, 91, 89, 92, 90
9-16 91, 87, 91, 88, 91, 86


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## T.C. (Sep 21, 2017)

The NHL game didn't pixelate once during the 3rd period. Lucky me.


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## trh (Nov 3, 2007)

What are people saying is causing this problem on the AT&T forums? You mentioned your wife had that problem on the Hallmark channel, but you also said it was a 'regional' issue, which might indicate the locals because they are on spot-beams to specific geographic areas. 

I'm in Northeast FL and the only time I've experienced any pixilation is when there is a storm system between my dish and the satellites.


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## T.C. (Sep 21, 2017)

trh said:


> What are people saying is causing this problem on the AT&T forums? You mentioned your wife had that problem on the Hallmark channel, but you also said it was a 'regional' issue, which might indicate the locals because they are on spot-beams to specific geographic areas.
> 
> I'm in Northeast FL and the only time I've experienced any pixilation is when there is a storm system between my dish and the satellites.


Don't know if I'm allowed to post a youtube clip that shows you exactly what's happening to most subscribers.... but here it is...

Pixelation Problem - Video





AT&T long discussion
Pixelation


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## trh (Nov 3, 2007)

T.C. said:


> Don't know if I'm allowed to post a youtube clip that shows you exactly what's happening to most subscribers.... but here it is...
> 
> Pixelation Problem - Video
> 
> ...


Neither link worked.


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## trh (Nov 3, 2007)

But they worked in my reply.....


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## T.C. (Sep 21, 2017)

So basically I get that interference.... or whatever you want to call it "out of nowhere" most of the time. There's a real smart poster in that AT&T thread that knows the ins and outs of it... he claims DirecTV is aware of the situation but they won't tell you why it's happening. Someone said it has to do with encoding. But it only effects certain regions of the United States.


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## T.C. (Sep 21, 2017)

There are some DirecTV techs that know what's going on as well. They tell the subscriber.... I don't know why we're even out here because nothing I'm going to do today will correct the problem. One home owner had an entire NEW INSTALLATION FREE from DirecTV and the problem was still happening. No one knows the reason? Let me correct myself.... DirecTV knows the reason... they won't release the info.... and they don't have a correction for it.


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## slice1900 (Feb 14, 2013)

Since the Stanley Cup was carried on local channels, perhaps there could be something affecting one of the regional uplink centers that deliver the locals to the satellites to be spot beamed down to customers. That's the only possible issue that could affect only "certain regions of the US".


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## DR2420 (Jun 12, 2012)

T.C. said:


> I'm currently watching the Stanley Cup Final (NHL) Game 5 on NBC (Channel 4 In Detroit). The pixelation is out of control! Hasn't stopped since the broadcast has started! 1 hour straight and it pixelates within every 2-3 minutes. As much as 3 times in one minute.
> 
> Also, the NBA Finals on ABC Sports (Channel 7 In Detroit) was doing the same thing last night. What in the hell is going on with this service?
> 
> Does anyone have an update or any info? Is DirecTV ever going to correct this issue? Is this 1st Grade (elementary school) engineering? Such a SH#$ company.


Sounds like you live in Michigan. I'm in Michigan as well and I had DIRECTV last year, and it was bad. Same exact issues you are having. It was doing it on our locals, Fox Sports Detroit, NFL Sunday Ticket channels, it was pretty widespread and it kept going on for months. The strange thing as has been mentioned, it doesn't seem to be effecting everyone. I have a friend who lives in TX and he hasn't been having any issues. After months and months of it, I had enough and got rid of DIRECTV. I was hoping by now it would be resolved so I could consider possibly getting it back for the upcoming NFL season. If I were to get it back, it just sounds like I'd be going through the same nonsense I was before. It's weird because we had DIRECTV for some time and it was never an issue until last year or so. I had strong signals and guys coming out here and no change. It didn't fix a thing. Why? Because it's a DIRECTV problem. I can't believe this is still going on, pretty much dictates me not going back anytime soon.


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## TDK1044 (Apr 8, 2010)

There was a point a few months back when I saw this randomly on various channels. I haven't seen it at all recently though.


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## Steady Teddy (Jan 23, 2007)

I have the HR54/C61K. I watched the 1st period of game 5 live on Channel 4 Detroit last night and the rest of the game this morning on the Genie. Didn't see any pixilation. Saw some intermittent slight video stuttering though, which has been the case since day 1 for me with this equipment.


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## T.C. (Sep 21, 2017)

DR2420 said:


> Sounds like you live in Michigan. I'm in Michigan as well and I had DIRECTV last year, and it was bad. Same exact issues you are having. It was doing it on our locals, Fox Sports Detroit, NFL Sunday Ticket channels, it was pretty widespread and it kept going on for months. The strange thing as has been mentioned, it doesn't seem to be effecting everyone. I have a friend who lives in TX and he hasn't been having any issues. After months and months of it, I had enough and got rid of DIRECTV. I was hoping by now it would be resolved so I could consider possibly getting it back for the upcoming NFL season. If I were to get it back, it just sounds like I'd be going through the same nonsense I was before. It's weird because we had DIRECTV for some time and it was never an issue until last year or so. I had strong signals and guys coming out here and no change. It didn't fix a thing. Why? Because it's a DIRECTV problem. I can't believe this is still going on, pretty much dictates me not going back anytime soon.


Wow! You hit the nail on the head. Fox Sports Detroit is unwatchable as well. In fact... I don't even follow Detroit sports because of it. I get asked when did this all start happening? Around September 2017 I noticed it on select Sunday Ticket Channels... like the CBS and FOX feeds. Then when sometimes DirecTV gives you Free HBO or Showtime for a weekend.... a recorded a few shows... and noticed it was happening on select HBO Channels. HBO Zone HBO 2.

As Steady Teddy mentioned above... I call it "pixelating" but you can also call it whatever you want. Interference... whatever. But, it's not caused by the weather. It's just so damn annoying when you have a great entertainment system set up in your house..... and the audio cuts out as well.

I'm already receiving an extra $30 off my bill a month. Every time a call around July or early August it seems like it's the best time to contact the retention department. I was already on contract last year... (with 1 more year to go) and the DirecTV rep still gave me $30 off a month for 12 straight months and Free Sunday Ticket. I wasn't even pressing either. Lucky I guess? But I pay $57.00 a month for the Entertainment package and I have a Genie and a HR-24. Simple setup. I've just learned to deal with it.... but my contract expires late July... and I haven't decided on what to do? They probably won't keep me at $57.00 a month.

It's a shame though... because if there was perfect picture quality 24/7 I wouldn't have a problem paying $100 a month.

*Also back to Steady Teddy about the video stuttering...* I believe it has something to do with the "LIVE TV RECORDING" aspect of DirecTV receivers. It always does that on my Genie when watching any type of sports related programming "LIVE". (Watching a simple movie... the video doesn't stutter.) I fix it by hitting the rewind button for about a 3-4 seconds delay (then hit play again.) The video stuttering stops. It's nice and smooth. It's a pain in the a$$ but it corrects the issue.

But the Video Stuttering and my Pixelation issue are 2 separate things. Just making posters aware of that.


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## DaRef (Jan 10, 2018)

T.C. said:


> Wow! You hit the nail on the head. Fox Sports Detroit is unwatchable as well. In fact... I don't even follow Detroit sports because of it. I get asked when did this all start happening? Around September 2017 I noticed it on select Sunday Ticket Channels... like the CBS and FOX feeds. Then when sometimes DirecTV gives you Free HBO or Showtime for a weekend.... a recorded a few shows... and noticed it was happening on select HBO Channels. HBO Zone HBO 2.
> 
> As Steady Teddy mentioned above... I call it "pixelating" but you can also call it whatever you want. Interference... whatever. But, it's not caused by the weather. It's just so damn annoying when you have a great entertainment system set up in your house..... and the audio cuts out as well.
> 
> ...


I believe a lot of the stuttering/pixellation issues are due to sub-standard low performance hard drives in all Genie models (including the new HS17. Here is my reasoning:

I wanted to use a high capacity external drive for DVR recordings. I purchased a large 5TB external backup drive, removed the hard drive and put it into an eSATA enclosure. I did this because the external drives are often less expensive than a similar standalone hard drive. This 'worked' but the performance was abysmal to the point my wife would not watch any programming from the DVR. My research found that these large external hard drives, while having reasonable raw specs, have special firmware that is optimized for long write operations (think computer backups or DVR recordings) at the expense of continuous read operations (watching recordings). It was even bad on live programming because live TV buffers to the hard drive (to make rewind and fast forward possible). Most of the posts I've read sound exactly like what I experienced although not as extreme as I had with the recycled backup drive. If you think about it, it makes sense because those type of backup drives would practically never be doing multiple sets of reads and writes at the same time.

So when the budget allowed, I purchased a 6TB 7200 RPM high performance drive for about $160 on sale online. I put this high performance drive in the same external enclosure and all of my problems instantly vanished. In the past month I have not seen pixellation on any channel, local or otherwise, and **maybe** one or two one second skips in an entire evening - and then only when there are two or three other shows recording at the same time on the HS17. Realistically, recording three shows and watching two others programs (recorded or live) is a pretty heavy load for any hard drive and I'm very happy with the results the new drive has provided.

This leads me to believe that DirecTV is putting low performance "green" drives in all of their DVR's, thus the same performance issues on all models of DVR's. I believe I even saw a picture of a "green" drive in internal pictures of an HS17 somewhere, maybe Solid Signal. They likely do this because of a) cost and b) lower power consumption to get an EnergyStar rating for the DVR device.

This also explains why DirecTV **may** know this is the issue but will never fess up to it. Can you imagine replacing thousands and thousands of these "green" hard drives due to customer complaints?

Please don't rush out and buy an expensive hard drive just based on my experience. After all, every customer's use pattern is somewhat different. However, if your observations about pixellation and skipping are similar to mine, it may provide some relief for the issue. And I know that this potential solution won't work for everyone because of cost constraints or limited technical ability. So take a close look at your usage case and frequency of problems before making a plunge like this.

Hopefully, this will help some folks have a better experience with DirecTV.


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## richall01 (Sep 30, 2007)

You may have a bad LNB. I have had no problem after I did my up-grade


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## slice1900 (Feb 14, 2013)

The demands on a hard drive in a DVR are so far below their capability that there's no way that "low performance drives" is a problem. If you were recording 5 HD channels and 2 4K channels you'd be writing maybe 12 MB/sec, which is a tenth of the write speed a typica drive is capable of. Maybe the drive inside the DVR is just a little bit defective - not enough to outright fail but enough that it sometimes gets errors.

Is there vibration in the location where the DVR is - perhaps a subwoofer nearby or something like that? Vibration can cause problems with hard drives, some are more resistant to it than others.

If the standard drives Directv was using couldn't keep up reading everyone everywhere would have these problems, which is obviously not the case.


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## T.C. (Sep 21, 2017)

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has posted.... and gave me their opinion on what the issue could be. It's greatly appreciated. I'm definitely taking notes and digesting everything.

I'm going to back up a little and explain a previous technical issue that I had with DirecTV when they first installed the original Genie a few years back. I had a Genie and mini-genie. The issue I was having... ever so often "wherever" I put the mini-genie... in the household (because I moved it around a few times) was the audio never matched the video. Someone would be talking and the words never matched the lips. Mostly on Nickelodeon and all the kids networks. It was the most annoying damn thing ever... and it was just a simple setup. Just an HDMI cable. And the mini client was the biggest POS ever. Here's what DirecTV did to try and rectify the situation:

1. Replaced the mini-Genie 3 times.
2. Replaced the Main Genie once.
3. Ran new coax for the mini Genie.
4. Ran new coax for the Genie.
5. Replaced the dish power adapter.
6. Recommended me to change the HDMI cable to a different manufacturer. I use a Monster HDMI... and a $2.00 HDMI.

This was a complete nightmare with DirecTV.

I told them... can you just give me a regular HD/DVR receiver.... and let me use the Genie. They said they would have to charge me. $200.00 I said why??? Look how much money you've wasted so far and it hasn't corrected the issue? So basically... I honored the 2 year agreement... and was watching sh#$ television for 24 months. It was sooooooooooo wearing on me.

So, when it was cancellation time... they said... what can we do to keep you? I said the first thing you can do is give me a HD/DVR. So they sent me the HR-24... and let me keep the Genie HR-44. After removing that POS mini-client... PROBLEM SOLVED. I was very happy! Every DirecTV rep that I talked to.... while addressing the situation told me they have a Genie and a HR-24. I thought that was the strangest thing. 3 Different DirecTV representatives said they don't use the mini-genie in their homes. Well... we certainly know why.



Now, back to the issue in September 2017... all of my equipment is the same. Now, it could very well be a bad hard drive in the DVR. Anything is possible. But, all I remember is watching football on any Sunday Ticket channel.... and the pixelation would happen. I thought it was just a freak thing... like maybe a 1 day issue? Then I noticed more people complaining about it.

Since starting this thread... it hasn't pixelated in a very long time. But, I haven't really watched any sport shows. Haven't really watched that much TV. Possibly there is a network issue with local FOX, NBC, or ABC? But, the funny thing is... 90% of the time the pixelation is while watching sports.

I do know my contract ends soon. (The next 30-45 days). I haven't decided what I'm going to do??? I want to give Dish Network a chance... but... I would hate for everything to be newly installed and have technical issues with DISH. I might GO NUTS! lol But whatever I decide to do... and/or what DirecTV recommends doing... I will let everyone know.

If anyone else has anymore ideas... (please post) I need all the help I can get. Thanks.


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## DR2420 (Jun 12, 2012)

T.C. said:


> I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has posted.... and gave me their opinion on what the issue could be. It's greatly appreciated. I'm definitely taking notes and digesting everything.
> 
> I'm going to back up a little and explain a previous technical issue that I had with DirecTV when they first installed the original Genie a few years back. I had a Genie and mini-genie. The issue I was having... ever so often "wherever" I put the mini-genie... in the household (because I moved it around a few times) was the audio never matched the video. Someone would be talking and the words never matched the lips. Mostly on Nickelodeon and all the kids networks. It was the most annoying damn thing ever... and it was just a simple setup. Just an HDMI cable. And the mini client was the biggest POS ever. Here's what DirecTV did to try and rectify the situation:
> 
> ...


I had the pixelation problems with DIRECTV and went to Dish and didn't have an issue whatsoever. Dish has better equipment, there's no doubt about it. I think you would love the Hopper 3 DVR and their Joey's work good for secondary TV's. I personally think Dish's picture quality isn't quite as good, but it's not horrible by any means. Basically, you would be getting better equipment with a little less picture quality. I had the Top 200 package, which had a very nice variety of channels. I never had an issue with customer service and they lock in your price for 2 years. I liked the guide, it was very clean and nice, also responsive. There's really no comparison between the Genie and Hopper 3, it's really not even close. Dish just doesn't have the NFL Sunday Ticket, if that means anything to you. They pretty much have everything else that Directv does. I don't think you would experience the same issues with Dish that you have been experiencing with DIRECTV. Of course bad weather will impact the signal, as it does with DIRECTV. My Dish signal actually seemed a little stronger than my DIRECTV signal.

I will say Dish seems to have more carriage disputes compared to DIRECTV, Dish took away my local Fox and it's been like two months now and it's still not back. You may not have any issues with yours, hard to say.


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## T.C. (Sep 21, 2017)

So, I investigated more into this issue... because last night on the NFL Network and ID Channel... pixelation was out of control. Like a disease. So, I decided to record the NFL Network on the HR-24 receiver while I was watching the same channel on the HR-44. It is happening on BOTH RECEIVER exactly at the same time. Is this a DirecTV transmission problem? Or is there something faulty with my dish?

If there was something faulty with my dish.... wouldn't this happen a consistent basis? Like every day? This pixelation issue is weird... happens like crazy while watching a certain sporting event and then doesn't happen for 4-5 days.... then restarts again.

Has anyone figured out why this is happening?


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## makaiguy (Sep 24, 2007)

How clear is the line of sight from your dish to the satellites? Might you have some trees that have grown to encroach on it such that they get in the way when the wind blows?


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## DR2420 (Jun 12, 2012)

T.C. said:


> So, I investigated more into this issue... because last night on the NFL Network and ID Channel... pixelation was out of control. Like a disease. So, I decided to record the NFL Network on the HR-24 receiver while I was watching the same channel on the HR-44. It is happening on BOTH RECEIVER exactly at the same time. Is this a DirecTV transmission problem? Or is there something faulty with my dish?
> 
> If there was something faulty with my dish.... wouldn't this happen a consistent basis? Like every day? This pixelation issue is weird... happens like crazy while watching a certain sporting event and then doesn't happen for 4-5 days.... then restarts again.
> 
> Has anyone figured out why this is happening?


Hard to say for sure, especially if you've had the service awhile. I got Directv installed a month ago and I've been having pixelation on a lot of channels. Doesn't happen every second or minute. It can work fine for 30 minutes to an hour and do it. It's very brief, a second or two and disappears, sometimes it messes with my audio a little bit. It's puzzling, nobody seems to know anything about it. I've been told by a tech that was here that it is a known software issue and they can't do anything to fix it. Then, I call in and they don't know anything about it. Who knows, who knows. Very frustrating.

Also strange that we both are from Michigan and having a similar experience.


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## T.C. (Sep 21, 2017)

makaiguy said:


> How clear is the line of sight from your dish to the satellites? Might you have some trees that have grown to encroach on it such that they get in the way when the wind blows?


Thanks for the post. It's a clear sight. No trees... no obstruction. Nothing. (Even if the wind was blowing.) I've been having pixelation issues since September 2017.



DR2420 said:


> Hard to say for sure, especially if you've had the service awhile. I got Directv installed a month ago and I've been having pixelation on a lot of channels. Doesn't happen every second or minute. It can work fine for 30 minutes to an hour and do it. It's very brief, a second or two and disappears, sometimes it messes with my audio a little bit. It's puzzling, nobody seems to know anything about it. I've been told by a tech that was here that it is a known software issue and they can't do anything to fix it. Then, I call in and they don't know anything about it. Who knows, who knows. Very frustrating.


I have the same symptoms that you're experiencing. I spent 30 minutes explaining this to an AT&T/DirecTV Retention Dept. Rep... it's pointless... unfortunately to get any discounts... you have to explain the same story over and over again.... and waste a half hour of your life. In the last 48 hours... pixelation is occurring off and on

212 NFL Network
221 CBS Sports Network
285 ID Channel

And like you said... it's a mystery... didn't really do it that much in July... but all of a sudden... closer to football season... HERE WE GO AGAIN!!! lol


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## DR2420 (Jun 12, 2012)

T.C. said:


> Thanks for the post. It's a clear sight. No trees... no obstruction. Nothing. (Even if the wind was blowing.) I've been having pixelation issues since September 2017.
> 
> I have the same symptoms that you're experiencing. I spent 30 minutes explaining this to an AT&T/DirecTV Retention Dept. Rep... it's pointless... unfortunately to get any discounts... you have to explain the same story over and over again.... and waste a half hour of your life. In the last 48 hours... pixelation is occurring off and on
> 
> ...


Yeah, they just say... Oh, we need to send a tech out! Tech comes out and... everything looks fine, your signals look great! He leaves..and.. the pixelation continues. I've had 3 service calls already and it has not done one bit of good. Last night they escalated my issue to the engineering department, but I'm sure that won't change a thing. For what they charge for the service, this shouldn't be happening, especially this long! I had an agent on the phone last night from tech support tell me that it's a software problem and they should have a fix for it on or by August 31st, while others know absolutely nothing about it. Sounds like they don't even know at this point. They just treat it as something is wrong at your home with the satellite/cabling etc. It sounds like you are having the same issue to me and it sounds like something on DIRECTV's end.. What problem? Nobody knows, apparently


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## DR2420 (Jun 12, 2012)

What is so frustrating is when you get different information and no real answer/resolution. Maybe there aren't enough people calling in about it. Maybe they know and the agents really don't. Would be nice if we could just get somewhere. I find it hard to believe it is a software problem, I really don't think it is but what do I know!? I'm not sure how long I will be able to stay patient with this. I left DIRECTV back in August/September last year because of this. I gave it several months and didn't see people talking about it as much so I figured it was mostly resolved. So much for that. All of this for the NFLST pretty much. I did not have these issues with DISH.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

DR2420 said:


> Hard to say for sure, especially if you've had the service awhile. I got Directv installed a month ago and I've been having pixelation on a lot of channels. Doesn't happen every second or minute. It can work fine for 30 minutes to an hour and do it. It's very brief, a second or two and disappears, sometimes it messes with my audio a little bit. It's puzzling, nobody seems to know anything about it. I've been told by a tech that was here that it is a known software issue and they can't do anything to fix it. Then, I call in and they don't know anything about it. Who knows, who knows. Very frustrating.
> 
> Also strange that we both are from Michigan and having a similar experience.


If you can click back and see those pixies at the same place in the recording it's _probably _the broadcast. If you can't replicate it you've got a problem in the box. If it was a known issue everybody would be complaining. To say it's a known issue and nothing can be done about it is ridiculous, it's software, of course it can be fixed. We all have the same software and I only see a couple posts about pixies. Kinda doubt it's the software.

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

T.C. said:


> 212 NFL Network
> 221 CBS Sports Network
> 285 ID Channel


You only see the pixelations on three channels, is that correct? If it is and you don't have pixelation issues on all channels that would seem to point to those 3 channels being at fault. I get a lot of video and audio breakups on YES during just about every game and I can click back and replicate just about every pixie or audio drop that I see. In my case I'm sure it's YES that is at fault. And it's been going on for years.

Rich


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## poppo (Oct 10, 2006)

I don't know if this is related or not, but I have a HR54 and a HR24. The HR54 can power the LNB with it's internal power inserter. However, I was using an external power inserter (connected to the powered port of the splitter) because any reboot of the HR54 would cause the HR24 to loose the signal, because the HR54 interrupts the power to the LNB as it reboots.

Anyway, I was getting excessive pixelation. I tried a different power inserter with no luck. Only if I went back to using the HR54's internal power inserter would the pixelation drop dramatically.


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## bjdotson (Feb 20, 2007)

poppo said:


> I don't know if this is related or not, but I have a HR54 and a HR24. The HR54 can power the LNB with it's internal power inserter. However, I was using an external power inserter (connected to the powered port of the splitter) because any reboot of the HR54 would cause the HR24 to loose the signal, because the HR54 interrupts the power to the LNB as it reboots.
> 
> Anyway, I was getting excessive pixelation. I tried a different power inserter with no luck. Only if I went back to using the HR54's internal power inserter would the pixelation drop dramatically.


I don't know if this is a coincidence or not, but I've noticed something recently. I live close to a an Air Force base and a when the pixilation occurs on my tv, I can hear a plane roaring by to the south of my house (doesn't happen when the plane is North of me) The jets are quite noisy but I didn't notice the correlation for quite awhile, but once I did I listened for it. Sometimes it is one plane, sometimes it is multiple. Where I live, we call the noise, "The sound of freedom" and live with it.


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## makaiguy (Sep 24, 2007)

bjdotson said:


> I live close to a an Air Force base and a when the pixilation occurs on my tv, I can hear a plane roaring by to the south of my house


If a plane to the south should happen to momentarily block the signal from the satellite to your dish, there could be a short term loss of data. Seems like for fast jets the interruption should be very short and the forward error correction should take care of it, but perhaps not.


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## bjdotson (Feb 20, 2007)

makaiguy said:


> If a plane to the south should happen to momentarily block the signal from the satellite to your dish, there could be a short term loss of data. Seems like for fast jets the interruption should be very short and the forward error correction should take care of it, but perhaps not.


Yeah it is pretty short. The longer times seems to correspond with multiple jets chasing each other. Actually kind of interesting seeing one jet chasing another.


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## slice1900 (Feb 14, 2013)

If it was just the jet getting between the dish and the satellite it would be very momentary - and very unlikely unless the jets always follow the EXACT same flight path and altitude as they pass to your south and you have really terrible luck to be in the exact wrong place. The fact that it happens when they pass by to the south (i.e. where your dish is pointed) but doesn't when they pass by to the north confirms it is definitely responsible for the pixelation in your case.

It could be that the jet is broadcasting/leaking a lot of RF or it could be that the airfield has radars that track the jet and when it passes you get hit with a really strong radar beam from the airport that's tracking the plane. Is the base to your south?

Regardless of the actual source of the RF, even if it isn't at the exact same frequency as Directv's broadcasts, if it is powerful enough it could easily cause problems for your LNB. It is trying to bring in a signal that's about a billionth of a watt when it reaches you, so it doesn't take much interference to cause a reception problem. The filters the LNB uses to block out unwanted frequencies assume the unwanted signals are only designed to block out normal interference. They wouldn't be able to handle a military radar coming at them, it'll bleed through and swamp out what Directv's satellites are broadcasting.


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## bjdotson (Feb 20, 2007)

slice1900 said:


> If it was just the jet getting between the dish and the satellite it would be very momentary - and very unlikely unless the jets always follow the EXACT same flight path and altitude as they pass to your south and you have really terrible luck to be in the exact wrong place. The fact that it happens when they pass by to the south (i.e. where your dish is pointed) but doesn't when they pass by to the north confirms it is definitely responsible for the pixelation in your case.
> 
> It could be that the jet is broadcasting/leaking a lot of RF or it could be that the airfield has radars that track the jet and when it passes you get hit with a really strong radar beam from the airport that's tracking the plane. Is the base to your south?
> 
> Regardless of the actual source of the RF, even if it isn't at the exact same frequency as Directv's broadcasts, if it is powerful enough it could easily cause problems for your LNB. It is trying to bring in a signal that's about a billionth of a watt when it reaches you, so it doesn't take much interference to cause a reception problem. The filters the LNB uses to block out unwanted frequencies assume the unwanted signals are only designed to block out normal interference. They wouldn't be able to handle a military radar coming at them, it'll bleed through and swamp out what Directv's satellites are broadcasting.


Yeah, that's actually what I was wondering. As to the base's location, that's hard to tell; it is east of me but the base starts about 20 miles north of me and extends for at least 100 miles south (although 80 miles of that wouldn't be a problem.) I live a mile from a road that goes east to the west gate of the AFB.


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## slice1900 (Feb 14, 2013)

bjdotson said:


> Yeah, that's actually what I was wondering. As to the base's location, that's hard to tell; it is east of me but the base starts about 20 miles north of me and extends for at least 100 miles south (although 80 miles of that wouldn't be a problem.) I live a mile from a road that goes east to the west gate of the AFB.


Well I guess you could go to Google Maps or whatever and look at photos, while a phased array antenna would be pretty easy to hide there'd probably be a separate fence around it. They might have a bunch of them, I really have no idea. I would think it would have to be reasonably close to where you live - Ka frequencies are basically line of sight so unless it is on a big hill it wouldn't affect you if it is further than a few miles away.

Just don't call the base and ask, or you'll probably get a visit from some gentlemen in uniform and find airport security takes a lot longer next time you travel :tearsofjoy:


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

A radar or other navigation aid would not need to be on base to cause a problem. A momentary interruption as planes pass sounds like either a reflection or something emitted from the planes.

I had a presidential motorcade knock out my DBS signal (ku) once.


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## T.C. (Sep 21, 2017)

DR2420 said:


> What is so frustrating is when you get different information and no real answer/resolution. Maybe there aren't enough people calling in about it. Maybe they know and the agents really don't. Would be nice if we could just get somewhere. I find it hard to believe it is a software problem, I really don't think it is but what do I know!? I'm not sure how long I will be able to stay patient with this. I left DIRECTV back in August/September last year because of this. I gave it several months and didn't see people talking about it as much so I figured it was mostly resolved. So much for that. All of this for the NFLST pretty much. I did not have these issues with DISH.


I hear you.  Sometimes I wonder if people even have a keen eye or not? Or perhaps they know it's there... and just don't call. For example... my wife puts up with it and doesn't tell me when the pixelation is occurring. You could of several DirecTV subscribers who just don't care to call. Over at the AT&T forum... (same topic)... one solid poster of their claims AT&T/DirecTV engineers are quite aware of the situation.... and that customer support isn't BRIEFED ON THE MATTER. To me... it's a cover up of some sort. Or it's a regional issue? One day the truth will come out.



Rich said:


> If you can click back and see those pixies at the same place in the recording it's _probably _the broadcast. If you can't replicate it you've got a problem in the box. If it was a known issue everybody would be complaining. To say it's a known issue and nothing can be done about it is ridiculous, it's software, of course it can be fixed. We all have the same software and I only see a couple posts about pixies. Kinda doubt it's the software.
> 
> Rich


Hey Rich... good to hear from you. Your YES feed sounds like my Fox Sports Detroit feed for Tigers games. Some days... it's unwatchable. There's times in which I just turned it off because of the audio drop outs. I called once before... and it's useless. They always say... we haven't heard of any issues in regards to this. I'm like... well tell the engineer on staff to turn on the damn channel and watch it with me. lol Waste of time. I had the NBA League Pass 17-18 season and all the games on those Fox Sports channels are garbage. The Indiana feed was garbage on numerous occasions. Only feed that was excellent 100% of the time... LA Lakers. Crystal clear... no audio drop outs ever. Love it.

Back to your pixelation comment.... yes i did record it on the HR-24 while watching it Live on the HR-44... and the pixelation occurred at the identical time. So, it's not a receiver issue.



bjdotson said:


> I don't know if this is a coincidence or not, but I've noticed something recently. I live close to a an Air Force base and a when the pixilation occurs on my tv, I can hear a plane roaring by to the south of my house (doesn't happen when the plane is North of me) The jets are quite noisy but I didn't notice the correlation for quite awhile, but once I did I listened for it. Sometimes it is one plane, sometimes it is multiple. Where I live, we call the noise, "The sound of freedom" and live with it.


This is a very good post and it made me think. I do have a major airport about 4 miles from my home... but here's why I'm not sold on this 100%.... I never had pixelation issues until September 2017. I had DirecTV 6 years prior... and never had pixelation issues. Only issue I ever had.... The main Genie and mini genie clients worked like sh#$ in my household. lol Once I got rid of those mini genies... life was good again.


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## T.C. (Sep 21, 2017)

Add HBO Comedy Channel 506 to the list of pixelation issues. Keeps growing.... and growing. lol


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## DR2420 (Jun 12, 2012)

T.C. said:


> Add HBO Comedy Channel 506 to the list of pixelation issues. Keeps growing.... and growing. lol


Getting worse instead of better. Absolutely ridiculous, shouldn't be happening. I have an install set up for DISH on Friday, which means I will be giving up the NFL Sunday Ticket and MLB Extra Innings.. Still deciding whether to go ahead with it. It's a shame because I like DIRECTV overall when it is working properly. The picture is real sharp, when working.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

makaiguy said:


> If a plane to the south should happen to momentarily block the signal from the satellite to your dish, there could be a short term loss of data. Seems like for fast jets the interruption should be very short and the forward error correction should take care of it, but perhaps not.


We live in the flight paths of at least one airport. Lots of planes overhead at times. Makes me wonder...never considered planes causing breakups.

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

T.C. said:


> Hey Rich... good to hear from you. Your YES feed sounds like my Fox Sports Detroit feed for Tigers games. Some days... it's unwatchable. There's times in which I just turned it off because of the audio drop outs. I called once before... and it's useless. They always say... we haven't heard of any issues in regards to this. I'm like... well tell the engineer on staff to turn on the damn channel and watch it with me. lol Waste of time. I had the NBA League Pass 17-18 season and all the games on those Fox Sports channels are garbage. The Indiana feed was garbage on numerous occasions. Only feed that was excellent 100% of the time... LA Lakers. Crystal clear... no audio drop outs ever. Love it.
> 
> Back to your pixelation comment.... yes i did record it on the HR-24 while watching it Live on the HR-44... and the pixelation occurred at the identical time. So, it's not a receiver issue.


I've always had breakups, both audio and video, when using YES. Never bad enough to make me stop watching. Lately I've been checking to see if I can replicate the breakups and each time I've done that I could. If the DVR records the breakups the problem is probably not in the HR...probably. I don't see very many breakups during ESPN games. Or on FS1. Don't recall seeing many on a Fox broadcast either. Just YES. There, I see "many".

Rich


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## bixler (Oct 14, 2008)

This is horrible this morning trying to watch ESPN Gameday. WTF happened to their system the last few weeks? I've never seen this and then all of a sudden the last month or so this crap.


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## T.C. (Sep 21, 2017)

Recorded Shameless during DirecTV's Showtime Free Preview last weekend....

Season 4 Episode 1 Channel 545... watched the entire hour episode and it pixelated 16 times. lol Is this an encoding issue? Decoding issue? Transmission issue?

Ridiculous


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## AngryManMLS (Jan 30, 2014)

Add NBC Sports Boston (630) to the list. I've had others on DirecTV also comment saying they are experiencing the same issue as well so it's not just me.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

T.C. said:


> Recorded Shameless during DirecTV's Showtime Free Preview last weekend....
> 
> Season 4 Episode 1 Channel 545... watched the entire hour episode and it pixelated 16 times. lol Is this an encoding issue? Decoding issue? Transmission issue?
> 
> Ridiculous


I've been watching games on YES as usual and things have changed. No audio drops, no video breakups. Nothing I can't replicate. I've never seen YES without constant audio and video problems, some I could replicate and some I could not. Now I do not see anything I can't click back and see again.

What changed? Certainly nothing on D*'s end. I did do one thing, I put SSDs in/on both HRs that I use to watch sports. I see a very stable picture now...all the time. This is damn near unbelievable.

Rich


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## DR2420 (Jun 12, 2012)

T.C. said:


> Recorded Shameless during DirecTV's Showtime Free Preview last weekend....
> 
> Season 4 Episode 1 Channel 545... watched the entire hour episode and it pixelated 16 times. lol Is this an encoding issue? Decoding issue? Transmission issue?
> 
> Ridiculous


It's quite evident it's a DIRECTV problem and my patience ran out. I'm with DISH now and guess what? No more pixelation! I do think DIRECTV has better picture quality, though. What good does that do though when it's constantly pixelating?

Hope it gets resolved for you and others soon!


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

DR2420 said:


> It's quite evident it's a DIRECTV problem and my patience ran out. I'm with DISH now and guess what? No more pixelation! I do think DIRECTV has better picture quality, though. What good does that do though when it's constantly pixelating?
> 
> Hope it gets resolved for you and others soon!


Odd. One provider has better hardware and the other has better PQ. One has pixies and the other doesn't. I wonder if both providers are aware of this.

Rich


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## jeff greenough (Feb 2, 2018)

I’ve been a poster on the directv site for over a year. Some 6 months ago my pixelation essentially cleared up. Once or twice a week there will a momentary glitch but not enough to glitch the audio. 

My understanding from another poster over there is that it was a regional issue. 
I was ready to move to dish, and then magically it cleared up. 

I have 2 issues with streaming instead. First is ur using upinternet bandwidth to watch content. Not a big deal with good qos and at least a 100mbps plan. The second is if have to piece together my content from multiple sources. I can’t get all premiums from one spot...
Maybe in a couple years I’ll cut the cord... gotta convince the wife ;-)
Best,
Jeff


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## maccur (Dec 7, 2005)

We have had pixelation/audio hits on all channels since the Genie was installed in May of 2017. We had a tech come out in October-November 2017. Switched the dish, cleaned up the outside wiring, still had the issue. And yes, the break-ups are on recorded material. Called DTV in December of 2017 and reported we still had a problem and that it seemed to be a regional problem as I saw the same sound and video break-ups at my brother-in-law's house (live in the same town). Was told by an actual tech that it was a nationwide software issue that would be resolved with the new guide. They gave me Cinemax at half price for a year as a make-good (yeah, right).
To this day, we still have the break-ups. Now, no one at DTV seems to know anything about a regional/national issue regarding pixelation. The next step would be to start switching out receivers. But we have movies recorded that we want to keep, so we put up with the poor audio/video. We live 35 miles from an airport and are under the flight path. But the planes are still so high on approach that it doesn't seem possible that there would be any interference.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

jeff greenough said:


> I've been a poster on the directv site for over a year. Some 6 months ago my pixelation essentially cleared up. Once or twice a week there will a momentary glitch but not enough to glitch the audio.
> 
> My understanding from another poster over there is that it was a regional issue.
> I was ready to move to dish, and then magically it cleared up.
> ...


Streaming can be frustrating at first. Bit of a learning curve. It's not like cable or sat. No channels as we know channels. Remotes are simpler. It can be expensive or it can be inexpensive. You/we get a whole new experience to play with. Took me over two years to get everyone in my home streaming. Try not to be critical of the experience, it takes time to figure out what you want to do and how to do it.

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

maccur said:


> We have had pixelation/audio hits on all channels since the Genie was installed in May of 2017. We had a tech come out in October-November 2017. Switched the dish, cleaned up the outside wiring, still had the issue. And yes, the break-ups are on recorded material. Called DTV in December of 2017 and reported we still had a problem and that it seemed to be a *regional problem* as I saw the same sound and video break-ups at my brother-in-law's house (live in the same town). Was told by an actual tech that it was a nationwide software issue that would be resolved with the new guide. They gave me Cinemax at half price for a year as a make-good (yeah, right).
> To this day, we still have the break-ups. Now, no one at DTV seems to know anything about a regional/national issue regarding pixelation. The next step would be to start switching out receivers. But we have movies recorded that we want to keep, so we put up with the poor audio/video. We live 35 miles from an *airport* and are under the flight path. But the planes are still so high on approach that it doesn't seem possible that there would be any interference.


I remember someone posting about this that lived near an airport. Was that you? What is your general location? We keep asking folks to put their location below the avatar so we can look for regional problems.

If you can see the problems and record them it is probably the broadcast that's causing the breakups. Your post addresses that. If your BIL sees the same problems in his home in the same town it must be a regional problem. I don't know if NRs do anything to mitigate regional problems. Kinda doubt it.

Can a plane crossing the LOS of a dish cause these problems? IIRC, they might. I have lots of planes overhead all the time. I live in the flight paths of the NYC airports and Newark International. They come and go all day long.

Expecting a CSR to know anything about your problems is probably futile.

I always saw pixelations and audio breakups, then I stuck SSDs in two HRs that I use daily and...I have not seen one instance of those problems that I could not record since I installed the SSDs. It would appear that everything I thought was causing those problems...was just wrong. I'm not saying an SSD would solve your problems, I've been using them for less than a month. Would be interesting to see what would happen if...

Rich


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## T.C. (Sep 21, 2017)

Been watching college football all day today... across ESPN 206, ABC (Detroit) 7, FOX (Detroit), 2..... flipping back and forth to other networks.... no pixelation issues all day.

All of a sudden... watching the TCU VS Ohio State game on ABC (Detroit) 7.... and pixelation is absolutely out of control. Pixelation is every 2 minutes since the game started.


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## T.C. (Sep 21, 2017)

Now even the commercials have pixelation. LOL WTF is going on?


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## maccur (Dec 7, 2005)

Rich said:


> I remember someone posting about this that lived near an airport. Was that you? What is your general location?
> Rich


I never posted about being close to an airport. I'm located south of San Jose. Seeing the break-ups at my brother-in-law's house definitely indicated to me it was some type of system problem or regional problem, yet all DTV wants to do is switch out receivers. Seems like a waste of time and effort.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

maccur said:


> I never posted about being close to an airport. I'm located south of San Jose. Seeing the break-ups at my brother-in-law's house definitely indicated to me it was some type of system problem or regional problem, yet all DTV wants to do is switch out receivers. Seems like a waste of time and effort.


There was mention of that on a thread. I saw posts saying planes could disrupt the sat sig on that thread. Don't have a link. Yes, you have made it clear that it must be a regional problem but what's happening in that region?

Rich


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## bjdotson (Feb 20, 2007)

Rich said:


> There was mention of that on a thread. I saw posts saying planes could disrupt the sat sig on that thread. Don't have a link. Yes, you have made it clear that it must be a regional problem but what's happening in that region?
> 
> Rich


I was one of the people that mentioned this. I live west of an Air Force Base. When the military aircraft are north of my house there is no problem. When they fly to the south of my house I get pixilation. I don't think that it is the planes themselves, I believe that it is radio communications (either plane to plane or plane to base) although military radar is a possibility. The fighter jets chase each other around my house.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

bjdotson said:


> I was one of the people that mentioned this. I live west of an Air Force Base. When the military aircraft are north of my house there is no problem. When they fly to the south of my house I get pixilation. I don't think that it is the planes themselves, I believe that it is radio communications (either plane to plane or plane to base) although military radar is a possibility. The fighter jets chase each other around my house.


I know just a little bit about radar systems. I'd absolutely think that could cause the problems you see. I don't see military planes here but I do see a lot of commercial flights to the SW. I was on a destroyer tied up in Norfolk when one of the new Radarmen turned on the surface search radar. We watched the...not sure what you call it...dish, I guess, rotate. That's something you never saw in port. Next thing we saw (I was on the signal bridge) was a truck with a rotating antenna of some sort pull next to the ship's gangplank. We had blanked out all reception in the area. Caught hell for that, the captain did. Yeah, radar can do some strange things.

Rich


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## Jasqid (Oct 26, 2008)

T.C. said:


> Been watching college football all day today... across ESPN 206, ABC (Detroit) 7, FOX (Detroit), 2..... flipping back and forth to other networks.... no pixelation issues all day.
> 
> All of a sudden... watching the TCU VS Ohio State game on ABC (Detroit) 7.... and pixelation is absolutely out of control. Pixelation is every 2 minutes since the game started.


I started having issues watching this game last night too. I went into settings and did a reboot of all locations. Problem went away after the units came back up. Hs17/c61k


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## T.C. (Sep 21, 2017)

I wanted to thank everyone for posting their experiences in this thread. One day we will figure out the cause of it. I just don't have the patience to get a tech out here... and he says... hey... there's nothing we can do... we changed everything out. And there still is a problem. That would really piss me off. The reason why I don't JUMP to get a tech out here... it will clear up for about 7 days with no issues.... then on one random day... Pixelation gets out of control.... and it won't stop. It just has a mind of it's own. Crazy.


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## slice1900 (Feb 14, 2013)

So wait you've NEVER had a tech out about this issue, but you've been posting about this for months??? Have one out, and tell him you've been told your symptoms sound like your LNB is going bad. It can't hurt to replace the LNB, and intermittent pixelation or 771s that come and go is basically the main symptom of a failing LNB.

A bad LNB isn't the only potential cause of pixelation but it is the most likely cause. If replacing it doesn't fix the problem no harm done and at least you can rule that out and are no worse off than you are now.


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## T.C. (Sep 21, 2017)

slice1900 said:


> So wait you've NEVER had a tech out about this issue, but you've been posting about this for months??? Have one out, and tell him you've been told your symptoms sound like your LNB is going bad. It can't hurt to replace the LNB, and intermittent pixelation or 771s that come and go is basically the main symptom of a failing LNB.
> 
> A bad LNB isn't the only potential cause of pixelation but it is the most likely cause. If replacing it doesn't fix the problem no harm done and at least you can rule that out and are no worse off than you are now.


Thanks for the post. The system was installed probably in 2014. A new LNB... coax cable.... power source.... was installed in 2016 to fix an audio drop out issue.... prior to the pixelation problem. Once they installed all of the new updates in 2016... it never fixed the audio drop outs.... Just using the main Genie... and an HR-24 receiver... fixed the audio drop out issue. DirecTV reps are just clueless in diagnosing the situation. It's like you have to take a little here... and a little there from people who post... and other websites.... to figure out what's going on.

I have plenty of discounts from DirecTV and freebies for the next 11 months... basically I just post for reference.... and hoping one day someone posts in this thread... HEY I FINALLY HAVE A FIX FOR YOUR ISSUE. But as a few posters have said... it looks like a Regional Issue.

If I get really annoyed... I might have them send out a tech. But I feel like it's not going to work.


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## slice1900 (Feb 14, 2013)

LNBs don't only fail due to age, some are just a little off spec and fail rather quickly. FWIW, calling it "failure" is perhaps a misnomer. What happens almost all the time should be more accurately called frequency drift, though that is a type of failure.

Even Directv's modern "digital SWM" LNBs like the reverse band 3DR/5DR models everyone gets today are still analog in the front end, and rely on DROs (dialectic resonant oscillator) to generate mixer frequencies to downconvert the very high frequencies satellite signals are broadcast at.

DROs can have their frequencies drift due to vibration or heating/cooling cycles, which is why it is often intermittent. When the frequencies the DROs generate are off, the frequencies the receiver's tuner sees are off. If they are too far off from the standard frequency for a given transponder that the receiver is expecting, the receiver's tuner struggles. That leads to pixelation, or worse, 771s - and it might not happen on every receiver (i.e. it is possible if the frequency is just a little bit off that one model is OK but another pixelates or gets 771s)

So IMHO just because you had your LNB replaced in 2016 is no reason to believe replacing your LNB won't fix the problem. Especially since you say the pixelation appeared after that 2016 LNB replacement. And like I said, if it doesn't fix the problem you are no worse off than you are today.

Too bad Directv doesn't use PLLs in their LNBs, they cost more than DROs but are nearly immune to this sort of issue. But I guess they ran the numbers long ago and it costs them less to have installers replacing LNBs that fail rather than making ones much less likely to fail. I've never seen the inside of a 3DR/5DR LNB so I guess it is possible they switched (since they'd already need a much lower frequency PLL for the DSWM chip) but knowing how they work I really doubt it...


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## CalCamper (Apr 3, 2019)

This is a very interesting thread and I have something new to add.

I have two receivers at home; an HR44/700 (Genie) in the living room and an HR24/200 in the office. I have the "Whole House" thing as well as a wireless receiver and one of those really small wired receivers, so 4 receivers in all although only two have the ability to hold recordings.

This morning, I decided to watch National Treasure again. It was recorded on the HR44 and I had an opportunity to watch some of it last week. So, from my office, I chose NT on the List and hit Resume. It started, but was pixilated. I didn't remember this part being pixilated before so I fast forwarded a few min. Pixilated. I rewound and it was pixilated. The whole thing was pixilated.

I went to the HR44 and hit the red reset button and waited "a few seconds". When it was through, I brought up the movie again and zero pixilation throughout the movie. Zero pixilation.

Now I have to rethink my past pixilation experiences as I watch mostly recorded shows and not so much live shows.

I also wonder if I can pull out the internal HD from the HR44 and connect it to my Windows 10 desktop machine along with a BSN 3-6 Gig HD and clone the internal to the larger HD. Then, install the larger HD into the HR44. Has anyone tried that?

Back to morning brew . . .


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

CalCamper said:


> This is a very interesting thread and I have something new to add.
> 
> I have two receivers at home; an HR44/700 (Genie) in the living room and an HR24/200 in the office. I have the "Whole House" thing as well as a wireless receiver and one of those really small wired receivers, so 4 receivers in all although only two have the ability to hold recordings.
> 
> ...


You're thinking it's the HDD that caused the problem? I don't see that.

Rich


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## CalCamper (Apr 3, 2019)

Rich said:


> You're thinking it's the HDD that caused the problem? I don't see that.
> 
> Rich


I dunno, which is why I brought up the question about Cloning. Another member, DaRef, Posted in June last year that he attached an external drive and that it solved the issue (post 21 of this thread). I thought it may have been a short-term fix but he posted again in Feb this year stating all his issues went away. I would think if it was something other than the HD, the freezing/pixilation would have returned in that 8 months.

I have quite a bit of shows/movies on the HR44 that I don't want to lose, but I don't want to "shut down, disconnect an external drive, reboot and wait 'just a few seconds' " just to watch the old shows. I would rather Clone and replace the original HD. Has anyone tried this? Someone mentioned a Purple HD is expensive. In the eye of the beholder, I guess. Amazon 6GB Purple for <$200.

Back to my morning brew . . .


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

CalCamper said:


> I dunno, which is why I brought up the question about Cloning. Another member, DaRef, Posted in June last year that he attached an external drive and that it solved the issue (post 21 of this thread). I thought it may have been a short-term fix but he posted again in Feb this year stating all his issues went away. I would think if it was something other than the HD, the freezing/pixilation would have returned in that 8 months.
> 
> I have quite a bit of shows/movies on the HR44 that I don't want to lose, but I don't want to "shut down, disconnect an external drive, reboot and wait 'just a few seconds' " just to watch the old shows. I would rather Clone and replace the original HD. Has anyone tried this? Someone mentioned a Purple HD is expensive. In the eye of the beholder, I guess. Amazon 6GB Purple for <$200.
> 
> Back to my morning brew . . .


Yup, for a 6TB drive (think that's what you meant) less than $200 is a decent price. For the Purple drive.

I don't know if the HDD could cause your problem, I've never seen such an issue. But I would not be surprised if the HDD was at fault. I started using SSDs in docks about 8 months ago on my 44 and two 24s and have not seen one instance of pixelation since I installed them that I could blame on the drives. What I had were 3 HRs that were very slow and cranky along with a lot of pixelations and audio drops. That all went away immediately upon installing the SSDs on each HR. So, yeah, I now think most of the problems we see are caused by the HDDs. For years I blamed the software on all my problems and I was just plain wrong. I'll put a link in to the thread about the SSDs as soon as I post this.

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

Okay, here's that link: What happens if I put a 1TB SSD in my HR44-700?
What I think happens is the HDDs work great initially then slowly degrade but don't stop working. Once the degradation reaches a certain point the HR slows down noticeably and the pixies and audio drops begin. You run the built in diagnostics and everything comes up good but change that drive to a new one and the problems disappear. I don't think the diagnostics can "see" the level of degradation the HRs are at.

If folks are power users and record damn near everything an SSD is not the answer at this time, too expensive. But for folks like me...I only record a few things, mostly sports, so capacity doesn't matter.

Were I you, I'd try the Purple Surveillance WD HDD and see if it fixes your problem. I always recommend keeping any HDD no more than half full on a DVR. You will have fewer problems.

Rich


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## T.C. (Sep 21, 2017)

I just wanted to update this thread...

It seems the pixelation that I was experiencing for years has finally gone away on it's own. It's been about a month and a half since I noticed any type of odd interruptions.

The last software on my H44/200 was Friday 5/10 at 4:21 AM. Software: 0x11b2

I am crossing my fingers heading into August... and into football season that this holds. I've been waiting for it to pixelate and screw up... and it hasn't. This is unbelievable.


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## ctide21 (Sep 4, 2011)

Maybe it was sunspots . I had the pixelation too and it has gone away for me as well.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

T.C. said:


> I just wanted to update this thread...
> 
> It seems the pixelation that I was experiencing for years has finally gone away on it's own. It's been about a month and a half since I noticed any type of odd interruptions.
> 
> ...


Was the update the only thing that changed?

Rich


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## T.C. (Sep 21, 2017)

Rich said:


> Was the update the only thing that changed?
> 
> Rich


The only thing that I've noticed was the possible software update. I didn't do it on my own....

Also, no service techs.... no phone calls to DirecTV for at least maybe 6 months? So everything was done on it's own. Maybe the technical engineers finally figure it out?

Just wanted to make a post... so others can review. Hope it holds.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

T.C. said:


> The only thing that I've noticed was the possible software update. I didn't do it on my own....
> 
> Also, no service techs.... no phone calls to DirecTV for at least maybe 6 months? So everything was done on it's own. Maybe the technical engineers finally figure it out?
> 
> Just wanted to make a post... so others can review. Hope it holds.


If the problem doesn't pop back up consider yourself lucky. Hope that happens. If not, come back.

Rich


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## Rob37 (Jul 11, 2013)

I am still having pixelation and audio judder especially on some sports channels. It happens for me on ESPN, & Some of the RSN’s. I have an H25/500 HD only receiver. Not a Genie DVR.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

Rob37 said:


> I am still having pixelation and audio judder especially on some sports channels. It happens for me on ESPN, & Some of the RSN's. I have an H25/500 HD only receiver. Not a Genie DVR.


Do you watch YES at all? I used to complain about the pixies and audio drops on YES and then I put SSDs on my HRs and all that went away. It wasn't the broadcast, it was the HDDs. Doesn't help you much but at least you now know that someone that watches YES and ESPN a lot never sees pixies or audio drops on those channels. It's not the broadcast in my case. I have no idea why a receiver would do such a thing. Perhaps replacing it would solve the problem?

I was so sure YES caused all my problems and I was so wrong.

Rich


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## slice1900 (Feb 14, 2013)

He says he is watching on an H25 receiver, so it can't be DVR related.


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## Rob37 (Jul 11, 2013)

Rich said:


> Do you watch YES at all? I used to complain about the pixies and audio drops on YES and then I put SSDs on my HRs and all that went away. It wasn't the broadcast, it was the HDDs. Doesn't help you much but at least you now know that someone that watches YES and ESPN a lot never sees pixies or audio drops on those channels. It's not the broadcast in my case. I have no idea why a receiver would do such a thing. Perhaps replacing it would solve the problem?
> 
> I was so sure YES caused all my problems and I was so wrong.
> 
> Rich


 I watch just about ALL the RSN's because I am an MLB Extra Innings Subscriber & Sports Pack Subscriber. But I do not & will not have a DVR.


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## T.C. (Sep 21, 2017)

Rob37 said:


> I am still having pixelation and audio judder especially on some sports channels. It happens for me on ESPN, & Some of the RSN's. I have an H25/500 HD only receiver. Not a Genie DVR.


My other receiver is a H24/200... the only issue I had was Freezing Commercials. I still get that from time to time. Wife uses that one all the time... but she says it doesn't bother her. On live sports broadcasts like ESPN... I don't recall any drop outs. Now, on my Genie... yes drop outs all the time. Only way to correct that... I'd tune to the station.... and hit pause for about 3-4 seconds... then press play. Audio drops tend to go away.

I'll be calling up DirecTV to try and renew my deal with them. I'll see what freebies they offer... if any? Currently I'm on the Entertainment Package... 2 receivers... $65.00 a month out the door. I'll definitely let you guys know what rate I get it at... so you can call up and save a few bucks.


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## T.C. (Sep 21, 2017)

Last software update for my HR 24/200 was Thursday 11/29/18 4:22 AM

Firmware: 0xba2

Just to give you the heads up.


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## T.C. (Sep 21, 2017)

Rob37 said:


> I watch just about ALL the RSN's because I am an MLB Extra Innings Subscriber & Sports Pack Subscriber. But I do not & will not have a DVR.


When I had the NBA League Pass for the 2017-2018 season... it was an absolute JOKE with the audio feeds. Every single night I had issues with almost every single RSN. Indiana RSN for Pacers basketball.... constantly echoed... like they were playing in a sewer or tunnel. Called up DirecTV techs... they said everything is fine on their end. lol Jackasses


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## jamieh1 (May 1, 2003)

Was just looking at USA HD and picture is blurry and pixelated


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## studechip (Apr 16, 2012)

jamieh1 said:


> Was just looking at USA HD and picture is blurry and pixelated


Mine looks fine.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

slice1900 said:


> He says he is watching on an H25 receiver, so it can't be DVR related.


My point was, it's not YES related either.

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

Rob37 said:


> I watch just about ALL the RSN's because I am an MLB Extra Innings Subscriber & Sports Pack Subscriber. But I do not & will not have a DVR.


I understand about the DVRs. What I'm saying is I see no audio breaks or pixies on YES and SNY and ESPN. If you are seeing such problems with your equipment I don't see how it can be caused by those channels since I don't see the same issues. Has nothing to do with DVRs. Why you have those problems is odd, to say the least. That's why I suggested a replacement.

Rich


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## T.C. (Sep 21, 2017)

Rich said:


> I understand about the DVRs. What I'm saying is I see no audio breaks or pixies on YES and SNY and ESPN. If you are seeing such problems with your equipment I don't see how it can be caused by those channels since I don't see the same issues. Has nothing to do with DVRs. Why you have those problems is odd, to say the least. That's why I suggested a replacement.
> 
> Rich


We all thought the same thing. But, for some reason.... DirecTV was having issues that were regional or zip code related. So possibly you're good at your location. I've waited for nearly 2 years for them to correct my issue. So far so good. I'm calling July 22 to negotiate a new deal.... all my discounts fall off July 21.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

T.C. said:


> We all thought the same thing. But, for some reason.... DirecTV was having issues that were regional or zip code related. So possibly you're good at your location. I've waited for nearly 2 years for them to correct my issue. So far so good. I'm calling July 22 to negotiate a new deal.... all my discounts fall off July 21.


I've never understood how a signal from a satellite could be regional, is that possible?

Rich


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## DR2420 (Jun 12, 2012)

I'm in Michigan and still have the occasional pixelation and picture judder on some sports as well, channel 206 (ESPN) being one. The pixelation is not as bad as it was, but it's definitely still there, for me at least. It seems to vary from channel to channel. Some channels seem to work fine, others, not so much.


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## Willh (Jan 1, 2009)

studechip said:


> Mine looks fine.


it looked like junk during WWE SmackDown Live last night, the WWE's graphic looks very blurry during the graphics transitions, also, when New Day's entrance happened it looked very blurry like i was watching a SD feed on the HD feed.

i don't know if this was on DirecTV's end, USA's end or WWE's end, but it was not a good PQ last night.


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## T.C. (Sep 21, 2017)

DR2420 said:


> I'm in Michigan and still have the occasional pixelation and picture judder on some sports as well, channel 206 (ESPN) being one. The pixelation is not as bad as it was, but it's definitely still there, for me at least. It seems to vary from channel to channel. Some channels seem to work fine, others, not so much.


I hope it gets better for you. It's a drastic change for me.... for the better. I've been waiting for it to screw up.... and it hasn't. Never changed any cables... no techs... no changes. Same setup. I'm not going to dance and jump up and down yet.... until the first week of college football... and first week of NFL.

My Genie hard drive is basically at max capacity. So I knew it wasn't a hard drive issue. It's always been with DirecTV.


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## slice1900 (Feb 14, 2013)

Rich said:


> I've never understood how a signal from a satellite could be regional, is that possible?
> 
> Rich


As far as I'm aware that's not possible, unless there is some sort of ground based interference (i.e. military, airport, etc.) The satellites have a single antenna to broadcast to the whole continental US, it doesn't make sense it could have signal problems limited to certain regions.


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## studechip (Apr 16, 2012)

slice1900 said:


> As far as I'm aware that's not possible, unless there is some sort of ground based interference (i.e. military, airport, etc.) The satellites have a single antenna to broadcast to the whole continental US, it doesn't make sense it could have signal problems limited to certain regions.


Spot beams.


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## makaiguy (Sep 24, 2007)

studechip said:


> Spot beams.


Except that, as far as I know, spot beams are only used for regional broadcasts, not national ones like ESPN and USA, both of which have been cited in this thread..


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

slice1900 said:


> As far as I'm aware that's not possible, unless there is some sort of ground based interference (i.e. military, airport, etc.) The satellites have a single antenna to broadcast to the whole continental US, it doesn't make sense it could have signal problems limited to certain regions.


Yeah, it seems so obvious but this keeps coming up. Seems to me if folks are seeing nothing wrong and other folks are having problems it must be specific to those homes that are having problems. I had those problems and always blamed the RSN or D*. Made one major change to my system and all the audio and video problems ended very quickly. In my case, not D*'s fault or the fault of the RSNs.

Rich


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

makaiguy said:


> Except that, as far as I know, spot beams are only used for regional broadcasts, not national ones like ESPN and USA, both of which have been cited in this thread..


Exactly. National channels delivered to the entire US are on ConUS shaped beams covering the entire US. Theoretically there could be hot spots and bad spots within ConUS coverage, but a design problem would affect more than a couple of channels on one transponder. Any problems with a transponder should affect the entire nation, not just one area.

BTW: Even though RSNs are "regional" sports networks they are delivered nationally ConUS channels. The same signal nationwide.

I'd look for local causes of interference.


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## slice1900 (Feb 14, 2013)

studechip said:


> Spot beams.


Are used for locals only. If the channel number is over 69, it isn't on a spot beam.


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## studechip (Apr 16, 2012)

slice1900 said:


> Are used for locals only. If the channel number is over 69, it isn't on a spot beam.


Of course. I was answering Rich who asked "I've never understood how a signal from a satellite could be regional, is that possible?" Yes it's possible on a spot beam.


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## DR2420 (Jun 12, 2012)

T.C. said:


> I hope it gets better for you. It's a drastic change for me.... for the better. I've been waiting for it to screw up.... and it hasn't. Never changed any cables... no techs... no changes. Same setup. I'm not going to dance and jump up and down yet.... until the first week of college football... and first week of NFL.
> 
> My Genie hard drive is basically at max capacity. So I knew it wasn't a hard drive issue. It's always been with DirecTV.


I am glad it is finally working better for you and I hope it stays that way. I know you were having a lot of issues there for awhile and were getting fed up with it, understandably so. It really is a strange thing, but it's definitely not as bad for me as it once was. At one time it was constant pretty much on every channel, now it's not nearly as frequent. I can at least watch a program now without much trouble. CNN is definitely a channel that I've been experiencing some of it with, but it's still watchable at least.


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## ejbvt (Aug 14, 2011)

DR2420 said:


> I am glad it is finally working better for you and I hope it stays that way. I know you were having a lot of issues there for awhile and were getting fed up with it, understandably so. It really is a strange thing, but it's definitely not as bad for me as it once was. At one time it was constant pretty much on every channel, now it's not nearly as frequent. I can at least watch a program now without much trouble. CNN is definitely a channel that I've been experiencing some of it with, but it's still watchable at least.


I fully agree. I did nothing, despite all the posts about hard drives and cables and wiring. They MUST have done something. I only see it on CNN and occasionally on the local VT ABC. It is not nearly as bad it was almost 3 years ago now, and only on those two channels.


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## I WANT MORE (Oct 3, 2006)

I experience it on all channels. 
It has not improved.
I participate in the CE program.


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## ejbvt (Aug 14, 2011)

I WANT MORE said:


> I experience it on all channels.
> It has not improved.
> I participate in the CE program.


So do I. I am on the latest release. Well, not the one that came out Tuesday. I am getting that tonight.


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## T.C. (Sep 21, 2017)

Watching AMC Channel 254... and it just pixelated twice within 15 minutes. Ugh... here we go again.

Just curious.... what is the CE Program?


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

T.C. said:


> Just curious.... what is the CE Program?


"Cutting Edge" DIRECTV allows customers who agree to their terms to test future software releases with the goal being that the customers report any problems so they can be corrected before the software becomes a "national release" (or NR). If there is a fix for a problem it may be in one of the "CE" versions of the software being tested - or that "CE" version could brick the customer's receiver. Such is the risk of testing. (Fortunately there have not been mass brickings - but some releases have had issues where it was good that the software was corrected before national release.)


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## Rob37 (Jul 11, 2013)

I still see pixelation on many channels. Sports Channels like ESPN Still have audio judder as well.


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## T.C. (Sep 21, 2017)

Just called the retention department. 800-824-9077

All of my credits have fallen off. Wanted to see if there were anymore offers. Here is what the rep told me.

1. DirecTV/AT&T is fully aware of the "pixelation" problem. The only thing she could comment on... it's happening to select accounts only. They don't want to consider this a regional or zip code related issue. There is no timeline in fixing the issue.

2. Even though they are fully aware of the issue... apparently I called at the wrong time? When you call up the retention department... discounts and offers are for "select accounts" only. The only offer I had for my account was a "one time $15.00 credit." She said call back later. Hopefully better offers in August.

3. Her advice when calling the retention department.

A. Only call when all of your credits have expired.
B. Make sure your last statement has printed.
C. Make sure you pay your bill in full before you call and give the computer system 24 hours to process.

She claimed this will ensure better discounts for your account.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

T.C. said:


> Just called the retention department. 800-824-9077
> 
> All of my credits have fallen off. Wanted to see if there were anymore offers. Here is what the rep told me.
> 
> ...


Keep calling if you want discounts. You should be able to find a CSR that will give you what you want.

Rich


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## James Long (Apr 17, 2003)

Can I have my account "selected" for a discount but not "selected" for dropouts (or other problems)?


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## compnurd (Apr 23, 2007)

T.C. said:


> Just called the retention department. 800-824-9077
> 
> All of my credits have fallen off. Wanted to see if there were anymore offers. Here is what the rep told me.
> 
> ...


Yeh. You were just fed a spoonful of I have no clue what I am talking about


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## T.C. (Sep 21, 2017)

compnurd said:


> Yeh. You were just fed a spoonful of I have no clue what I am talking about


You clearly were right 100%. Calling 619-752-1401 is the best number for discounts.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

T.C. said:


> You clearly were right 100%. Calling 619-752-1401 is the best number for discounts.


Just called that number and was told I'd be sent to the proper place. Now I've been routed to ATT. Nuts. Now I'm holding for a CSR. Now I'm being rerouted again. Oh goody, now I'm being sent to a customer service expert! Ah, a human...he seems to understand...must be horribly difficult to lower the Protection Plan, I am on hold while the "expert" figures out how to do that. Listening to all the wonderful benefits of ATT.

Mercifully my brother who has been ill called me during the call and I hung up. Never got to talk to the "proper" person in that 20 minute call.

Rich


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## T.C. (Sep 21, 2017)

Rich said:


> Just called that number and was told I'd be sent to the proper place. Now I've been routed to ATT. Nuts. Now I'm holding for a CSR. Now I'm being rerouted again. Oh goody, now I'm being sent to a customer service expert! Ah, a human...he seems to understand...must be horribly difficult to lower the Protection Plan, I am on hold while the "expert" figures out how to do that. Listening to all the wonderful benefits of ATT.
> 
> Mercifully my brother who has been ill called me during the call and I hung up. Never got to talk to the "proper" person in that 20 minute call.
> 
> Rich


Sorry to hear this Rich  Hmmmmm do you have other AT&T services? Like cell phones etc? Just wondering if that's why they transferred the call? I've never had any other AT&T services in my life... except for DirecTV. No cell or internet. I would never pay their outrageous prices for BS quality.

Hope it all works out for you.


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## compnurd (Apr 23, 2007)

T.C. said:


> Sorry to hear this Rich  Hmmmmm do you have other AT&T services? Like cell phones etc? Just wondering if that's why they transferred the call? I've never had any other AT&T services in my life... except for DirecTV. No cell or internet. I would never pay their outrageous prices for BS quality.
> 
> Hope it all works out for you.


Probably because his like alot of our accounts have been transitioned over to ATT like all will be soon


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

T.C. said:


> Sorry to hear this Rich  Hmmmmm do you have other AT&T services? Like cell phones etc? Just wondering if that's why they transferred the call? I've never had any other AT&T services in my life... except for DirecTV. No cell or internet. I would never pay their outrageous prices for BS quality.
> 
> Hope it all works out for you.


Nope, D* is my only connection to ATT. Don't know why that happened but it didn't surprise me. I was pretty happy when my brother called and gave me the excuse to hang up on the CSR.

Rich


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## B.Parent1974 (Nov 19, 2011)

I had the issue only with my basement receiver. i swapped my living room one down there and basement one upstairs. i will see what happens next


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## slovell (Nov 22, 2011)

Do they charge extra for pixelation?


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## krel (Mar 20, 2013)

slovell said:


> Do they charge extra for pixelation?


just think of all of the hours you'll have to spend on the phone to get it fixed


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## krel (Mar 20, 2013)

James Long said:


> Can I have my account "selected" for a discount but not "selected" for dropouts (or other problems)?


your an old customer we will charge you more for drop outs and other problems


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