Sounds like I'm not the only one. HD has been extremely dodgy lately. Some channels are worse than others. Using an HDPVR 530.

Funny thing is that when I press the "info" key, and the HD signal is in the small picture box .. and there is no problem. But I didn't subscribe to HD to watch a tiny box on the screen.

It is repeatable on the same points in a recording and it does not look like pixelization problem at all. Screen either goes blank or does a colourful vertical stripe dance.

Regular TV works just fine most of the time.

I am suspecting that it is worse for high bandwidth channels. Not all channels are compressed as much. It is very very bad for anything that has live sports. Olympics are really bad.

Anybody else having these problems ???
Yes, yes, yes. Having the same problem in Victoria. You make a good point that is seems to be worse on sports channels. I almost prefer watching in SD because at least there are no interruptions every 30 seconds.

...Don't know if it's worth calling Shaw...?

Yes, it is ALWAYS worth calling Shaw as they don't always notice until someone complains. The more people that call, the higher up the priority list the problem with go so please do call Shaw when you notice a problem.

It is worth chatting to Shaw... almost nothing is worth phoning Shaw for...

I found them almost impossible to get a hold of via phone.

Agreed, I should have said 'contacting Shaw'. Thanks, loracweb.

If you have to phone Shaw, you can use the call-back feature which is better than holding your line to wait. I'd still prefer online-chat though.

Does anyone else have huge quality issues with this show on KIRO-HD? Video stuttering, audio gaps, digital audio crackles many times during every episode.

Have you checked the Sound dropout thread (page 92, post 1375)?

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=73915&page=92

Has anyone else noticed the poor picture quality in the digital channels in Calgary? I thought the picture quality on these channels (eg. CNBC, FoxNC, etc) was supposed to be better than the old SD or analog channels, but not on my new Sony TV. The only channels I get good PQ on are the HD channels which Shaw doesn't seem to be in any hurry to add more to.

Have you checked the Sound dropout thread (page 92, post 1375)?

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=73915&page=92
Yeah, it's not that. What I call "micro-stutters" are the worst problem with this channel. It's like single frames are getting dropped. Craig Ferguson, Big Bang Theory, Hawaii Five-O all show it (so different programs, different times).

Has anyone else noticed the poor picture quality in the digital channels in Calgary? I thought the picture quality on these channels (eg. CNBC, FoxNC, etc) was supposed to be better than the old SD or analog channels, but not on my new Sony TV. The only channels I get good PQ on are the HD channels which Shaw doesn't seem to be in any hurry to add more to.
It's not just Calgary. The quality of the SD channels is atrocious. I swear it got worse for me when I was moved to the all digital map, but I don't really have anything to back that up.

I find that the Citytv Vancouver HD channel doesn't have good bass sound. e.g. try listening to the end of the tv show FRINGE when they play the music... there's like no bass. :confused: Haha I sound like a stoner. Anyways. That's my technical contribution to this thread. :)

That sounds like a simsub problem. One of my stations... it might be City (I forget, whichever one shows Cougar Town) used to totally mess up the channels of the source 5.1 audio when they added their channel ID bug on the screen.

I remember that CTV would sometimes have a 5.0 channel audio signal according to my receiver (no subwoofer track) while the same program on ABC would be in 5.1.

I never have problem with CTV sound, but CityTV Vancouver used to have messed-up sound since HD launch (happens to OTA as well so it's not a Shaw issue). Like I've mentioned in another thread, CityTV somehow downmixed original 5.1 sound (US TV shows) into 2.0 and then converted it back to 5.1 (bad) and sometimes mixed back to the original 5.1 sound with ALC (auto-level control) which resulted in fluctuating voice level and reduced bass level (bad bad bad) and in at least one occasion the converted sound was delayed which means echoing the original 5.1 sound (really bad). CityTV seems to have fixed the problem these days. Bass level from "The Event" is now "normal".

TSN2HD has been totally unwatchable for me the past few days. It's just highly pixellated video with no audio. All other channels are fine for me. I've a DCT3416. I wonder if it's just me...

It would help to know where you are, kuri. Here in North Calgary, TSN2HD seems fine, at least right now. I watch the Nascar races on it and it hasn't been any worse than usual.

Sorry, I'm in Vancouver BC, in the Champlain Heights area. I guess I'll give Shaw a call this weekend if it doesn't improve.

After a couple of chat sessions Shaw sent someone to check out my problem with HD channels breaking up (pixellation, sound stutter) intermittently. The guy came in all suited up with tools, but all he did was change a splitter from 3-way (with one empty outlet) to 2-way. He figured it was a signal strength issue, which affects HD more than SD, and that if it was a bad PVR I'd see the problem on SD channels as well. The HD looked fine for a while, but after he left (of course!) I got a couple of breakups. Sigh. I don't mind the occasional glitch, but if it goes back to being frequent I'll have to call again. He said if it wasn't better they would probably replace the wall outlet. After that, who knows!

The saga continues...

If it was a S/N issue then why didnt the tech boost the signal? Sounds like he just wanted to get in and out asap.

By removing the 3 way splitter with 1 unused leg he did boost the signal. A 3 way splitter will typically cut the incoming signal by 6 or 7dB. A 2 way splitter only cuts the signal by 3.5 so he did gain 2.5-3.5dB by swapping out the splitter. often this can be enough to correct things. If the issue continues book another SC to have a tech come out and troubleshoot further.