# Intermitant sound loss & pixels



## DLBTiger (Mar 10, 2004)

I am experiencing more and more occurrances of losing sound for about 2 seconds followed by a short burst of pixels. It happens when watching live signal on both satellites and when playing back recorded programs. My signal is very strong, no trees blowing in the wind, etc.

Is this a sign of a hardware (disk) problem.

Thanks Dave B


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## Mike D-CO5 (Mar 12, 2003)

IF it is a sign of a hardware problem on the disk , then I have it too. It is quite annoying to watch something and have it cut out and pixel every time you get to a good scene. I noticed this on my 721s as well when I had them. I wonder if it is just the Linux based receivers like the 721 and the 921? Haven't noticed it on the 522. My kid has it loaded with kid shows so I really can't tell you if it does it too.


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## SimpleSimon (Jan 15, 2004)

Common problem.

My theory is some data gets dropped on the way from the tuner to the HDD.

I haven't been able to figure out what causes it, though.


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## Zevon (Dec 28, 2004)

DLBTiger said:


> I am experiencing more and more occurrances of losing sound for about 2 seconds followed by a short burst of pixels. It happens when watching live signal on both satellites and when playing back recorded programs. My signal is very strong, no trees blowing in the wind, etc.
> 
> Is this a sign of a hardware (disk) problem.
> 
> Thanks Dave B


I have a 921 that usually works great, but my other receiver (Dishplayer 7200) has been rock solid until DishNetwork sent me a replacement card for it.

They sent me a new "yellow" card to replace my old "blue" card in the unit. Ever since the replacement, when the unit IS working, I get short high frequency "chirps" followed by brief silences, accompanied by pixelation of the picture. However, what is even more annoying, is that since the change, often when I turn it on it has no information, or fails to acquire a signal.

I called them and they are willing to send me a replacement unit, but I don't want it because I have a much larger hard drive in mine, and I feel that the same thing will happen anyway, especially after hearing that I'm not the only one with the problem.

I welcome your thoughts.


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## LASooner (Jan 24, 2005)

My 921 has this problem, but my 508 never has this problem, both are being fed by the same DP34 and Dish 500


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## tm22721 (Nov 8, 2002)

My 921 has this problem but it is only the past few months. I have had my 921 for 15 months...

My 721 does not have this problem.


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## IamtheEggman (Sep 21, 2004)

I never noticed it on live events only recorded events until recently. Now it happens all the time on live events, several times an hour anyway


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## tom921 (Jan 21, 2005)

I experienced this problem for the first time two nights ago. It happened on a regular sat channel, not ota. I had paused the program several times so that I was at least 1/2 hour behind the live feed. Toward the end of the program the problem seemed to go away. It would be interesting to know if the problem went away when the last of the program had been recorded but I wasn't paying attention. I tried to see if it happened on another receiver but the program was through broadcasting at that point.


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## bbomar (Oct 18, 2004)

DLBTiger said:


> I am experiencing more and more occurrances of losing sound for about 2 seconds followed by a short burst of pixels.


I have the same problem. It used to be so infrequent that I had not
noticed but my wife had. Now it seems like I see it a few times
every time I watch something.


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## Bradtothebone (Aug 11, 2003)

I had this problem really bad a month ago, but I get it much less frequently now, for some reason. What it DOES do now is lock the aspect ratio in "stretch" almost daily!

Brad


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## JPC (Feb 8, 2005)

I have experienced this problem several times, but only during American Idol (OTA HD). Sometimes the drop out is long enough for the "Acquiring Signal" splash screen to be displayed. Last week when they replayed Tuesday's performances on Wednesday because of the graphics debacle, I had a unique opportunity to test a theory. 

On Tuesday, during Constantine's performance, there were several pixelated drop outs. This didn't occur anywhere else in the show. Sure enough, on Wednesday, during the reply of his performance, more pixelation and loss of signal. Once again, it didn't occur at any other time during the re-broadcast. I could chalk this up to coincidence, but the fact that it happened at the exact same time makes that very unlikely. The interruption in signal must have occurred between the camera and the VTRs in the broadcast truck for it to be reproduced so exactly. This is the only scenario I can come up with that would allow their VTRs to record the event. 

Did anyone else catch this?


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## pculley (Dec 23, 2003)

Beginning to sound like it might be some quality of the data stream (if it fails in the same place when recorded at two different times). Like some of the problems Dish had a few years back when changing their statistical multiplexing. If the data stream had a momentary burst of higher or lower bit rate than usual, or some unusual data packing, then I would start to think that the 921 with the latest code has a bug in dealing with it.

BTW, I also am seeing this quite a bit, and never had this specific problem before. It looks and sounds quite different than the usual signal loss problem.


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## EJP (Jun 16, 2004)

The only time I have that problem is when I playback Mad Money on CNBC. It happens about 4 or 5 times each show.


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## elmc (Jan 7, 2005)

I only have this problem when I am watching a recorded show, both HD and SD (I do not use the OTA tuner). It does not happen often, and when it does, it doesn't happen again in the same recording.

Before the 921, I had a 721 and I remember it happening on that, but not as often. Before the 721, I had a dishplayer 7200 and I also remember it happeneing on that.

All three it seemed to only happen on recorded programs. I don't remember this happening ever live (except for the occasional storm).

I also have a 510, but that has been in my basement for my kids - I don't watch it.


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## dalucca (Feb 5, 2005)

I have also noticed the issue the past couple of nights while viewing live OTA HD shows. I first noticed it Monday night while watching 24 and again last night during American Idol. While watching Idol last night I switched to my other OTA stations and the issue was not occuring. It seems to be only occuring on Fox and occurs while I am getting a consistent strong signal. I brought up Themes so I could view the signal and it was never dropping below 100%. 

I purchased my 921 in January and this is the first time I am noticing the pixelation and audio dropout occur on a frequent basis. Did occur in the past but very infrequent.


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## guyster (Feb 4, 2005)

I just received my 2nd replacement 921 yesterday. I had the original and the 2nd box replaced for various picture quality problems. I had never seen this issue on my original box, but it started occurring quite frequently on my 2nd and latest box.


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## dfauver (Oct 3, 2004)

I have this problem also whenever I watch live or a recording from HDD. Very annoying.


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## AnubisPrime (Mar 13, 2005)

I notice this happening too...


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## JPC (Feb 8, 2005)

dalucca said:


> I brought up Themes so I could view the signal and it was never dropping below 100%.


dalucca-
Hint: the "cancel" button should bring up the title bar and give you your signal level also. 
JP


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## AnubisPrime (Mar 13, 2005)

My 921 was installed on Monday (3/28).

I use it for SD only. I just wanted a dual tuner. The price was right.

I set up timers. They all work correctly, back-to-back, etc.

I don't use any OTA features.

The pixelization and sound drop out are noticable anywhere from once an hour to once every 10-15 minutes. I have a 508 and 301--both of which do not exhibit this.

I have reviewed the forum, and have seen there is a bug report, and that Mark is aware that this issue does exist.

_Is this going to be addressed in L213?_ Is it true that the read/write algorithm? was changed in a previous release?

I know folks are anxious to get software releases to fix their problems, and I know that I am a newcomer to the 921 (and there are people here whom have invested much more capital in this model than I did). Everyone was nice enough to answer my questions even before I had my receiver installed.

If Eldon is addressing as many issues as possible, including this one and others like the ZSR issues, I'm willing to wait. I'd rather have it done correctly and well tested.

Any thoughts?

Dom


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## gregmisc (Jan 10, 2005)

AnubisPrime said:


> The pixelization and sound drop out are noticable anywhere from once an hour to once every 10-15 minutes. I have a 508 and 301--both of which do not exhibit this.
> 
> Dom


I have same comments as above. This is new problem for me.


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## Tomos (Jan 16, 2005)

Yeah got it on my unit as well. Have it live and recorded, HD and SD.


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## AnubisPrime (Mar 13, 2005)

As I've said above, I've confirmed once again that it still going on here as well...

L213 does not address it or any other issues from L212.

I hope it is being investigated, and I am willing to wait (though I realize that I am a newbie here and there are people whom have been waiting much longer than I).


Dom


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## sluggo (Sep 16, 2004)

I've seen it on recorded shows and live shows. I have not noticed it on OTA channels, but the PBS HD from Warren Ohio, with signal pegged started showing some pixeling about the same time the audio drops started.


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## dalucca (Feb 5, 2005)

JPC said:


> I have experienced this problem several times, but only during American Idol (OTA HD). Sometimes the drop out is long enough for the "Acquiring Signal" splash screen to be displayed. Last week when they replayed Tuesday's performances on Wednesday because of the graphics debacle, I had a unique opportunity to test a theory.
> 
> On Tuesday, during Constantine's performance, there were several pixelated drop outs. This didn't occur anywhere else in the show. Sure enough, on Wednesday, during the reply of his performance, more pixelation and loss of signal. Once again, it didn't occur at any other time during the re-broadcast. I could chalk this up to coincidence, but the fact that it happened at the exact same time makes that very unlikely. The interruption in signal must have occurred between the camera and the VTRs in the broadcast truck for it to be reproduced so exactly. This is the only scenario I can come up with that would allow their VTRs to record the event.
> 
> Did anyone else catch this?


Issue is still occurring, actually may be getting worse. Again, only happens on FOX and now I am getting the "Acquiring Signal" splash screen on a consistent basis. What is really frustrating is the signal strength is not fluctuating very much. I thought that it possibly may be an issue with my antennae.

Additionally, I have a 811 and it is not occurring while viewing FOX OTA channels.


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## bnam (Nov 25, 2004)

I noticed it on American Idol last night. There was quite a bit of the drop out and "acquiring signal" issues. I wonder if this is a Fox broadcast issue or a broadcast/921 interaction issue.

I've wonder if other (D* or other E* HD rcvrs) also experienced the problem on AI last night.


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## dalucca (Feb 5, 2005)

bnam said:


> I noticed it on American Idol last night. There was quite a bit of the drop out and "acquiring signal" issues. I wonder if this is a Fox broadcast issue or a broadcast/921 interaction issue.
> 
> I've wonder if other (D* or other E* HD rcvrs) also experienced the problem on AI last night.


As I mentioned earlier, I noticed it again last night during Idol on the 921 so I went upstairs and started watching the same program on my 811 and did not have the issue. Since we are both in the Sacramento area, I would like to think it is a local Fox issue but it really seems to be pointing towards the 921.


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## lujan (Feb 10, 2004)

I've noticed it quite frequently now, but only after we got the L213 update/upgrade (whatever you want to call it). I noticed it happening about 10 times during Cold Case (CBS OTA) on Sunday night. Next time I will check the same station where the antenna is connected to the TV directly (without the 921) and see if it happens that way.


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## Tomos (Jan 16, 2005)

I have noticed it for several weeks and it is getting to be a pain in da arse.


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## Michael P (Oct 27, 2004)

I have the same problem here too, both on satellite channels and OTA. I can almost guarentee a dropout or two every time I watch live basketball games. Sometimes it's just the audio that drops, other times the picture follows the audio into pixillation.

I hope this issue is on Eldon's "to do" list right after they fix the "ZSR's of death".


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## Stingray (Dec 22, 2003)

Same problem here on Digital OTA channels.


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## dalucca (Feb 5, 2005)

Has anyone noticed the pixelation and sound issue is not occuring as often? I watched Idol last night and did not have one instance of any signal loss or pixelation.


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## JPC (Feb 8, 2005)

Definitely better - no loss of signal, but still a few audio dropouts. I think it's a Fox thing. This is the first live entertainment series that's ever been broadcast in HD and 5.1 so there's bound to be bugs.


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## gsalem (Feb 4, 2004)

It's not a "FOX thing." I wish it were; then we could get a fix.

It's a Sci-Fi thing, an ABC thing, a replay thing, an OTA thing,
and more.... 

This has become unbearable. There have been issues and 
problems with the 921. But this newly-introduced bug is
the most disturbing.


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## dalucca (Feb 5, 2005)

I have to agree...even though I really only noticed it on Fox, others have been reporting it on other channels as well. A few of the other bugs do have a workaround and somewhat acceptable, but this is one is really annoying. :nono2:


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## bnam (Nov 25, 2004)

I did not experience any dropouts on Fox last 2 nights (AI). Since the dropouts on Idol seemed to have occured at the same point in the broadcast for different 921s across the country, it leads me to think it is some sort of interaction of broadcast issue that the 921 is not able to handle well vs. other rcvrs.


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## boylehome (Jul 16, 2004)

CBSHD on satellite 148 still getting pixelation and green horizontal flash near the top of the screen. Audio is ok.


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## JPC (Feb 8, 2005)

I stand corrected. I guess my OTA tuner isn't as tempermental as others', or I'd be seeing it elsewhere too (knock on wood). I do still think that the problem is a direct result of a fluctuation of some kind in the signal being received by the 921. It doesn't appear to be a random hiccup on the 921's behalf, or I would not have had identical dropouts during the Idol re-broadcast two weeks ago.


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## Topanga (Aug 11, 2002)

I have the drop outs on OTA and Dish. Is there any solution?


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## Jester 1 (Mar 25, 2004)

Mine will lose sound on prerecorded shows for a second or two, but if I back it up I can them normally get the sound that was not their prior. It also normally only occurs when recording shows on the Local networks, off of the Antenna, ABC is the worst. My signal is strong though, up in the 100S.


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## dalucca (Feb 5, 2005)

It has been a week since I last posted and my issue has seemed to have resolved itself....is anyone still experiencing the pixelation or sound loss like we were a couple of weeks ago?


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## sleepy hollow (Aug 25, 2003)

I get it all the time. It does seem to have abated somewhat lately, and I have no explanation for that, or confidence in any trend this may represent, but it is still present in just about every recording made.


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## JPC (Feb 8, 2005)

Still see it on FOX [OTA HD] and almost exclusively during Idol.


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## dalucca (Feb 5, 2005)

JPC said:


> Still see it on FOX [OTA HD] and almost exclusively during Idol.


I was also seeing it on Idol, but have not the past couple of weeks. The issue seems to pointing to the local Fox feed rather than the 921 for live feeds. I will do some testing of recorded programs and see if the pixelation occurs.


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## boylehome (Jul 16, 2004)

Yes pixelationon CBSHD (have not noticed audio drop outs). Another letter was sent to [email protected]


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