It's definitely dependent on which area of the country you are in. Shaw in Vancouver is horrible with everyone I spoke to. Just wish I could find *someone* who could testify to Novus's HD quality.

Like most commenting here, I have the regular audio drop out issue. During the last month however a more disturbing issue has arisen; namely, I am now experiencing, on occasion, a brief (about half a second or less) loud ‘burst’ of white noise.
There does not appear to be any regularity to its occurrence, generally once or twice over a period of four to five days, but I have not been watching much TV of late.
I suspect this ‘burst’ could damage one’s speakers if they happen to have the volume set sufficiently high.
The issue has only appeared on the high def service to date; channels 211, 212, 224 and 209 in particular. In mid to late May I reported the problem to Shaw’s tech support after it had occurred two or three times, but at that time they indicated no one else had reported a similar experience and I was asked to monitor the situation further and report back.
Has anyone else noticed this issue? It occurred again yesterday (July 1) at 1:33pm CDT on channel 212.
My system wrt to the audio portion of the signal: Pace STB--->Iscan VP50pro--->Denon AVR3300.

Are you an employee of Shaw? If so, I distrust your motivation for posting on this forum. I hope that is explicit enough. If you are not, I sincerely apologize for my presumption.

That some problems go away temporarily is not an indication that there is 'light at the end of the tunnel'.

Nope. I am not.

Again, I do sincerely apologize for my presumption. I hope that this does not preclude any future amiable discourse.

These issues are making me nuts! I made the mistake of having a few friends over to watch the European Soccer Final, to impress them with HD, which when it works is amazing; but it was a mess - every time there was a close-up that included motion, the entire screen was macroblocked.

If you read any of my other posts, you will understand the degree of my frustration.

No worries Melville. From the volumes of posts from different members I understand the frustration. I wouldn't be happy either!

Cheers!

Put me down as one more disgruntled user with BRUTAL macroblocking during the Euro finals on any close-up and/or logo 'swoosh'. It was embarassing to have friends watching it.

Put me down as one more disgruntled user with BRUTAL macroblocking during the Euro finals on any close-up and/or logo 'swoosh'. It was embarassing to have friends watching it.

I am really worried about the olympics at this point, I was watching the diving trials and as soon as the diver was in the air it all became a big macroblocky mess: I do understand that diving is probably one of the most demanding sports bandwidth-wise (there is really nothing that remains the same frame-to-frame while the diver is in the air) but still one would think it would look a tad better than that...

Put me down as one more disgruntled user with BRUTAL macroblocking during the Euro finals on any close-up and/or logo 'swoosh'. It was embarassing to have friends watching it.
It was horrible.

I was in Best Buy looking for something and watched a bit of one of the games on a set they had hooked up to a BEV DVR.

No macroblocking at all.

I wonder if Shaw would refund your money if a Pay-Per-View program macroblocked the same way regular TV does on a daily basis. If so, should they not be offering all of their subscribers refunds, or at least discounts.

The two games of CFL football I've watched so far were awful on closeups, and so-so on field shots. When I watched HD on Bell last season, there were absolutely NO ISSUES with picture quality.

Shaw blows blocks.

Grrrr I just lost a few HD channels. I was watching TSN baseball (audio dropouts as well ....of course...do I really need to say that) and now its a BLACK screen, oh its back now after a few minutes. Yikes, will and when will they ever get their act together and provide the service WE and I are paying for.

I am waiting till the end of July, if they haven't got their act together I am finally plunging into TelusTV which will give me a few more channels I want and September will be rolling around for the new episodes of TV start rolling again.

I'm calling them soon (as in today) to switch my internet to Telus unless they plan on offering me some savings for the constant tecnhical issues and signal degradation. I've already stopped ordering every UFC event and cancelled my time shifting package.

It'll be interesting to hear what they have to say and if I keep my cool.

EDIT: Well after 25 minutes on hold I got through to a guy that was pretty understanding. He says he hears a lot of complaints about HD quality issues and they're "working on it" including a test group on Friday. They matched the offer I'd be swiching over to on Telus so I'll stay put until I move in Feb. If things haven't been resolved by then I'll jump ship. Glad I got someone nice on the phone who understood what marcroblocking is.

A few months ago I finally put myself in the HD universe by purchasing the Motorola 6200 BOX when it was on sale at Visions for $299. I then called up Shaw and upgraded to their HD Package for 9 dollars more than normal.

I was so excited to get HD channels after seeing how good they look at Future Shop and best Buy on all their TVs.

Overall the HD channels do look good but I was really disappointed with SPORTS. I thought I had a problem with my setup or cabling because I couldnt figure out why basketball was so awful when it was showing the whole court and players running fast. Extreme Macroblocking. I had it connected to my Samsung A550 52" LCD via Component so then i switched it to a DVI-HDMI cable and there was no change. The macroblocking for sports is still there.

My place is supposed to be the place to be now that im getting a projector and my sound system is great. How am i going to explain the horrible macroblocking?? I thought i was the only one but after reading this thread i know i'm not alone and I will be calling Shaw to complain. it's simply unwatchable.

Basketball is easily the worst of any sport, and not just during closeups. The hard camera shot always looks horrible, jump shots and lane drives are lego-land worthy.

Two days ago I couldn't get any HD or digital channel (only analoge working). Yesterday to now I can't get Fox HD or Discover HD. Man I can't wait to get back to Bell.

Two days ago I couldn't get any HD or digital channel (only analoge working). Yesterday to now I can't get Fox HD or Discover HD. Man I can't wait to get back to Bell.
Why would have you even considered Shaw in the first place? Curious.

No choice. I had to move when I switched jobs to a place that doesn't have a line of view due to those darn mountains here in Banff. Staff accommodation is cheap, but I'm almost willing to pay twice the rent to get my Bell back. My 40 inch Sammy hasn't been the same since :(

Hey dudes and dudettes..Im new here so be gentle with me..lol
I myself have been totally frustrated with the video quality on the HD channels..I was at the point where I was wondering if my equipment was at fault, since it seems to have gotten worse and worse over time.
But thanks to finding this thread It seems like I am not alone.

There are a few channels that I cannot even watch.One especially is channel 203 Fox..That sucks since I love to watch the NFL games on there on Sundays and strangely that used to be the best quality station last year.. I found it to be the best quality HD broadcast station for football..
But I get that annoying (pixilation) I think its called... every three seconds or so.. Not sure about the terminology since you guys have also used the term "mega" something..lol.

My question is.....What about Bell ExpressVu or Star Choice?
Why are you guys still with Shaw? Does Bell and Star Choice have the same problems? Is it more expensive? Enquiring minds want to know?

ps..Oh i have also learned something else from you guys..so thanks again..I thought it was just my tv (42 inch Panasonic Viera) but now im not sure it is from what you are all saying..
For instance when you get a camera at field level of the football game and they pan a player running, its just all totally blurry..Not sure what that is called...

Thanks again all.
Be good
Brian

I myself have been totally frustrated with the video quality on the HD channels..I was at the point where I was wondering if my equipment was at fault, since it seems to have gotten worse and worse over time.
But thanks to finding this thread It seems like I am not alone.

My question is.....What about Bell ExpressVu or Star Choice?
Why are you guys still with Shaw? Does Bell and Star Choice have the same problems? Is it more expensive? Enquiring minds want to know?

Thanks again all.
Be good
Brian
Hi Brian... welcome to DHC!
I posted various times on this thread around Jan/Feb had the same old problems with video/audio quality with Shaw (as they still remain). Had Techs coming half a dozen times to my house with little to no change on the quality. Moved on to Bell and have been more than happy to have made the change (No audio drops or macroblocking); I even got a free HD PVR for a year with them... I think you should check your options with satellite; it is not more expensive for me and I get almost twice the channels than what I got with Shaw.