# Black screen on Starz HD channels



## ozarkham (Sep 21, 2008)

Just got HBO and Starz added to my HD package. On Starz Edge and Starz Family I've had movies that occasionally go to black screen for just a second then reappear. The sound never goes, just the picture. So far on the few movies I've watched on HBO this has not happened and it has never happened on the regular channels. Contacted Dish Tech Support and they haven't heard of this before and suggested next time I notice it to try to rewind my DVR and see if the DVR picked it up. Anyone else had this problem?


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## trintay (Sep 21, 2008)

YES!!! This has happened to me several times today while watching StarzHD. I have tried other channels and I don't think its happening on other stations. I know we watched a couple moves on LifetimeHD today and it never did it. It first happened yesterday and I honestly can't remember which HD channel I was watching. I know it was a premium movie channel though. It happened several times while watching Resident Evil: Extinction tonight on Starz HD. I called Dish thinking I got a crap receiver or something (just got HD hooked up two days ago. They gave me the usual bull*crap* of resetting it. I already tried that because I knew that's what they'd tell me to do and it still did it. I then switched over to HBO HD and watched a movie for an hour or so and it never did it once and it was doing it every 10 minutes or so on Starz. Went to ESPN and a few other stations and it didn't do it there either. Let me know what you find out. I know its not my t.v. because I can rewind the show and it happens again in the exact same spot.


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## nameno1chose (Apr 13, 2008)

Having the same problem on StarzEdge..


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## dennispap (Feb 1, 2007)

I am also Having the same problem on most of the Starz channels.
At least the hd ones.


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## Parrothead (Mar 24, 2005)

Same here....It's been happening for a couple of weeks. I guess the people at dish must watch cable. They never seem to know when there is a problem.


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## JBT (Jul 8, 2008)

yep, i've this problem with Starz as well.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

After seeing this thread, I checked... and something I recorded last night (Hellsing Ultimate on SEDGEHD) had a black screen appearance.

I wonder if this is not Dish but rather a Starz issue. I say this because I did not note any loss/drop of signal nor did I lose audio synch... which typically indicates it is a source problem rather than a Dish one in my experience.


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## craig8868 (Jul 20, 2005)

I have experienced the same issue as well. wonder what is up?


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## AVJohnnie (Jul 27, 2004)

Doesn’t seem to affect the audio, just a few consecutive blank (black) video frames, right?  

Well, besides the various STARZ channels being affected I’ve seen it on all of the HBO, MAX, and SHO channels too. :eek2: 

For me this started with the previous L6.13 software update and continues to occur under the current L6.14 release. :nono2:


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## osocoloso (Sep 13, 2008)

Happening to me as well. I thought it was an issue on my 722, as I haven't seen it on the 622. However, we don't watch the movie channels often on the 622.

Was planning on calling Dish, thinking it was an issue with my equipment and then I read this...


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## Opusnbill7 (Aug 27, 2008)

I've seen it on both my 722 and my 222, so I assumed it was something with the source. Only seen it on the Starz-type channels, not HBO or others, though...


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## Paul Secic (Dec 16, 2003)

HDMe said:


> After seeing this thread, I checked... and something I recorded last night (Hellsing Ultimate on SEDGEHD) had a black screen appearance.
> 
> I wonder if this is not Dish but rather a Starz issue. I say this because I did not note any loss/drop of signal nor did I lose audio synch... which typically indicates it is a source problem rather than a Dish one in my experience.


It also happens to mostly on HBO and KRON4. But Young Broadcasting has cut millions from their 8 or 9 stations. KRON4 is our Mynetwork affilate. My caregiver watches the news at 4PM.

Does this station have HD? I have never have watched Mywhatever nor will I. Just curious..

Bay Area posters: Chime in!


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## trintay (Sep 21, 2008)

I have yet to notice it on any other station but the StarzHD channels. It's rather annoying and when I called Dish to alert them to a potential problem he says, "well sir, I have no notes of anyone else reporting this problem. We have several screens set up monitoring all the channels to catch potential problems." Bull****! Then of course he politely asked me to reset my receiver. Oh, if I had a dollar for every time I got that line. There is obviously a problem with either the feed or the software but you can't tell me they aren't aware of the problem. I would 100% happier hearing, "yes sir, we are aware of a problem and are looking into it, we apologize for any inconvenience this has caused." You all should call in anyway so they can make a "note" of the problem.


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## thenamesash (Sep 17, 2007)

Got the same problem, happend a bunch of times last night while watching Best in Show. See it on 612 and 222.


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## Polardog (Mar 5, 2008)

Same problem on my 612.
Recorded 30 Days Of Nights last night and the problem occured a dozen or more times during playback.
It's also happening on live TV. In fact, I just had to do a front button reset.
Video froze up, audio was still OK. When I switched channels the screen was black.


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## sethwell (Sep 19, 2008)

same thing on mine as well. i thought my hdmi cable was on the fritz, swapped it with the dvd player and it still did it. must be dish or starz. glad i'm not the only one.


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## jclewter79 (Jan 8, 2008)

I just saw this happen one time on a replay off of hbo comedy


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## JackDobiash (Jul 20, 2005)

Adding my name to the list of people who have noticed this on Starz/HBO HD Channels


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## Manke (Dec 27, 2005)

Did it many times watching Dan in Real Life last night on Starz. About every 5 minutes or so on my 622 it would black out for a second. I checked many other channels last night and everything was OK. Would switch back to Dan in Real Life and it would start blacking out within a couple of minutes, Sound OK.


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## BillJ (May 5, 2005)

Had this problem Saturday night on channel 307, HBO Comedy, on both recorded and live broadcast.


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## thenamesash (Sep 17, 2007)

BillJ said:


> Had this problem Saturday night on channel 307, HBO Comedy, on both recorded and live broadcast.


Just happened again at 10:27pm EST on SEDGE while watching "O Brother Where Art Thou." This is getting very annoying. Up to now I had been pretty happy with Dish vs. Comcast, but I never saw this sort of thing on Comcast. I called Dish and they were clueless. So who do we report this to that cares and can do something about it?? FYI, I have Eastern Arc so is this part of the problem? It was on satellite #61.5, transponder #21. Now at 10:34pm it happened again 5 times in the span of 15sec. This sucks.

IF ANYONE FROM DISH IS READING THIS, WHAT IS GOING ON?????


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## JackDobiash (Jul 20, 2005)

I'm on 129 so it's not Sat specific apparently.


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## whatchel1 (Jan 11, 2006)

thenamesash said:


> Just happened again at 10:27pm EST on SEDGE while watching "O Brother Where Art Thou." This is getting very annoying. Up to now I had been pretty happy with Dish vs. Comcast, but I never saw this sort of thing on Comcast. I called Dish and they were clueless. So who do we report this to that cares and can do something about it??  FYI, I have Eastern Arc so is this part of the problem? It was on satellite #61.5, transponder #21. Now at 10:34pm it happened again 5 times in the span of 15sec. This sucks.
> 
> IF ANYONE FROM DISH IS READING THIS, WHAT IS GOING ON?????


Report to [email protected] not a CSR on the phone. The CSR's haven't a clue what's going on. You can also email [email protected] .


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## Paul Secic (Dec 16, 2003)

thenamesash said:


> Got the same problem, happend a bunch of times last night while watching Best in Show. See it on 612 and 222.


It happened several times on the main STARZ main channel last night while watching Sgt. Bilko.


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## kucharsk (Sep 20, 2006)

I've actually seen the same happen on HDNet Movies. May just be a momentary signal dropout.


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## thenamesash (Sep 17, 2007)

HERE IS THE RESPONSE FROM MY EMAIL THAT I SENT YESTERDAY TO [email protected].

****************************************************

Dear xxxxx,

Thank you for expressing your concerns and interest in DISH Network. Customer input is an important tool in our efforts to continuously improve the quality of the DISH Network service.

Thank you for the email! This forum was very informative! We have selected a few items out of it and sent it off to the Uplink Engineer. We will keep looking into the issue and trying to get it resolved. It will be a matter of getting the problem identified and then corrected. Unfortunately, sometimes these things take awhile and then other times it is a matter of a few minutes.

We appreciate the time DISH Network customers take to email their audio/video quality concerns Thank you for your patience, information, and for being a valued customer.

EchoStar Technologies LLC

Quality Assurance Department

[email protected]

-----Original Message-----
From: [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Tuesday, September 30, 2008 7:11 PM
To: Audio-Video-Quality
Subject: Intermittent blank screen while watching STARZ HD channels

Hi,

There seems to be an issue that many people are reporting which primarily affected STARZ channels where there is an intermittent blank screen for a split second. There is no loss of audio. More info can be seen on dbstalk:

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=140198

It does not appears to be satellite specific as it is seen on 61.5 and 129. Can you please look into this and let me know what the problem is and when it will be fixed? Thanks!


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## JackDobiash (Jul 20, 2005)

Nice! At least someone is possibly looking at it.


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## thenamesash (Sep 17, 2007)

Here's what I got back from DISH today, they are seeing the problem on STARZ although less frequently than we are. I must say I am impressed with their response and communication from when I sent them an email 2 days ago.
****************************************************************

Dear xxxx,

Thank you for expressing your concerns and interest in the DISH Network.
Customer input is an important tool in our efforts to continuously
improve the quality of the DISH Network service.

We are currently monitoring all STARZ HD services for drops to black. We
have duplicated and captured this so far on one service however we will
continue to monitor further on all STARZ services. Our engineering team
is also aware of and has seen the problem. They will be forwarded all
information to assist in the troubleshooting efforts. While we are not
seeing the problem with the same frequency as reported on the forums, we
are actively working to resolve this problem.

At DISH Network we appreciate the time customers take to email their
audio/video quality concerns. Thank you for your patience and for being
a valued customer.

EchoStar Satellite L.L.C.
Quality Assurance Department
[email protected]


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## Paul Secic (Dec 16, 2003)

kucharsk said:


> I've actually seen the same happen on HDNet Movies. May just be a momentary signal dropout.


The main ENCOREHD channel didn't have any problems last night.


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## dennispap (Feb 1, 2007)

Dear Mr. Papaleo,
Thank you for expressing your concerns and interest in the DISH Network. Customer input is an important tool in our efforts to continuously improve the quality of the DISH Network service.

We are currently monitoring all STARZ HD services for drops to black. We have duplicated and captured this so far on one service however we will continue to monitor further on all STARZ services. Our engineering team is also aware of and has seen the problem. They will be forwarded all information to assist in the troubleshooting efforts. While we are not seeing the problem with the same frequency as reported on the forums, we are actively working to resolve this problem.

At DISH Network we appreciate the time customers take to email their audio/video quality concerns. Thank you for your patience and for being a valued customer.

EchoStar Satellite L.L.C.

Quality Assurance Department

[email protected]


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## thenamesash (Sep 17, 2007)

Just got this response, if anyone has more info, please send it to them: [email protected]
***************************************************************
Dear xxxx,

After monitoring several HD premium channels most of the day today, we
unfortunately did not see any further drops to black. Did you happen to
notice if this occurs more prominently in the evening than during the
daytime? We may need to set up several recordings in the evening. In
discussion with engineering today no specific actions have been done on
our end as yet. We are still trying to collect more data at this point.
We will resume our monitoring again tomorrow. Thank you for your
additional information.

EchoStar Satellite L.L.C.
Quality Assurance Department
[email protected]


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## smngm2 (Sep 9, 2008)

I'm a new Dish sub as of 9/6/08 and I've had this issue with my CBS local (WRAL) in Raleigh the last two weekends while watching college and pro football games. My other HD locals appear to be fine and I'm not seeing it on other channels. I don't have any of the premium movie channels discussed in previous posts - just the HD Turbo Gold package. I assumed the issue was with my local and not Dish - does anyone have any advice?

Thanks.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

smngm2 said:


> I'm a new Dish sub as of 9/6/08 and I've had this issue with my CBS local (WRAL) in Raleigh the last two weekends while watching college and pro football games. My other HD locals appear to be fine and I'm not seeing it on other channels. I don't have any of the premium movie channels discussed in previous posts - just the HD Turbo Gold package. I assumed the issue was with my local and not Dish - does anyone have any advice?
> 
> Thanks.


Welcome... I haven't noticed this (even recorded Cold Case last night from 005-00HD). I mostly watch WRAL OTA though... I mostly see the black screen thing on Starz package channels, but I know others have been seeing it elsewhere.

Since you are a new customer... do you know if they pointed you at the Eastern Arc? If so, then you'd be getting your WRAL from a different sat than I am since I'm on the old configuration so it could be an uplink issue rather than a receiver one in that case and explain why I haven't seen the same problem.


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## smngm2 (Sep 9, 2008)

Thanks. I believe I am pointed at the Eastern Arc. I wasn't told what dish model was installed by the installer only that it was a new dish and I could get the channels included in Turbo Gold using the one where previously two would have been required.

My family doesn't watch network TV that often - mostly sports and then we really only watch recorded shows later in the evening. I'll try to flip over to WRAL more frequently and see if it happens at other times but we've seen it on live and taped games the last two weekends.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

I have watched and/or recorded both OTA and the Dish WRAL and haven't seen it there... but I haven't done it for football games. Those I watch live. My experience with other channel problems (like WRAZ audio skipping on recorded programs) is that I've been able to reproduce it with some programs but not others.

Could be the different satellite location from me OR could be the programs you are seeing it on that I am not watching or at least not recording. I'll try and pay attention next Sunday and see if I notice anything.


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## smngm2 (Sep 9, 2008)

I'm still seeing the drops to black screen on my local CBS affiliate in Raleigh (WRAL). I'm getting it on live TV as well as DVR recordings. Other than calling and speaking to CSR's, are there other ways to report issues to their technical support staff? This is really annoying.

Thanks.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

smngm2 said:


> I'm still seeing the drops to black screen on my local CBS affiliate in Raleigh (WRAL). I'm getting it on live TV as well as DVR recordings. Other than calling and speaking to CSR's, are there other ways to report issues to their technical support staff? This is really annoying.
> 
> Thanks.


I agree to the annoying (since I see it on some of the StarzHD channels)... but I still haven't seen it on WRAL. This, in theory, should be a good thing for Dish to know... since I'm getting WRAL from 118.7 and you apparently are on Eastern Arc and getting it from 61.5 then it must be something they are doing differently on one uplink (or I suppose it could be a satellite problem).

Someone has posted a quality email address to report things like this, but I can't remember it off the top of my head. Hopefully someone will jump in here that remembers and maybe that is an additional place you could report it.


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## Jim5506 (Jun 7, 2004)

[email protected]


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## smngm2 (Sep 9, 2008)

Thanks Jim5506. I just fired off an email so hopefully someone from Dish's engineering side will take a look. I poked around looking for this address without realizing it was on the first page of this thread. 

HDMe - I am getting WRAL off 61.5. I watched live football games via OTA over the weekend with no issues after witnessing the issue on my Dish local. I recorded games to watch later on the DVR via the Dish local because I wouldn't be around to play with my cheap indoor antenna to hone them in (I need to get a decent outdoor antenna but that's more of a time issue for me at the moment than money).


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## smngm2 (Sep 9, 2008)

The Dish QA folks responded promptly to my emails. I sent additional information they requested and received the reply below. Hopefully they can duplicate the problem.

Dear Mr .....,

Thank you for the added information. This issue has been brought to the attention of our Locals and Field Engineering teams. We will additionally begin some active monitoring and/or recording by our QA team in an effort to duplicate the issue on the Eastern Arc (61.5) feed for this channel. Please check back early next week after we have had a chance to monitor and troubleshoot this issue and we will provide an update. Thanks again for the added information.

EchoStar Broadcasting Corporation

Quality Assurance Department

[email protected]


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## Paul Secic (Dec 16, 2003)

smngm2 said:


> The Dish QA folks responded promptly to my emails. I sent additional information they requested and received the reply below. Hopefully they can duplicate the problem.
> 
> Dear Mr .....,
> 
> ...


EchoStar Broadcasting Corporation??


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## phrelin (Jan 18, 2007)

Paul Secic said:


> EchoStar Broadcasting Corporation??


Good catch Paul. All my communications have been from Quality Assurance at EchoStar Technologies LLC and engineering at EchoStar Software Engineering.


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## smngm2 (Sep 9, 2008)

Sorry guys, I'm a newbie to Dish and this site. What does that name change imply?


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## phrelin (Jan 18, 2007)

smngm2 said:


> Sorry guys, I'm a newbie to Dish and this site. What does that name change imply?


Nothing. It's just been difficult this year to follow the dots on the reorganization after the Echostar/Dish split into two companies which occurred around the first of the year.

EDIT: I shouldn't say nothing, but I have no idea what it means, if anything.


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## nameno1chose (Apr 13, 2008)

smngm2 said:


> My other HD locals


At least you have HD locals...


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## Paul Secic (Dec 16, 2003)

nameno1chose said:


> At least you have HD locals...


Here we have KOFY CH 20 and digital CH 20.1 which airs Azteca on Dish channel 15. It showed up last week.


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## smngm2 (Sep 9, 2008)

nameno1chose said:


> At least you have HD locals...


I had HD locals on TWC with no video dropouts prior to signing up for Dish but tired of paying $82/mo for the 15 to 20 channels my family watches. I've been very happy with Dish with the exception of this issue and it's an annoyance but not a deal breaker for me.


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