Channel 532 KCTS-HD Audio/Video Breakup (Split from SD thread)

[57]

Is anyone else seeing the video/audio breakup on Rogers 532? I've recently recorded:

Austin City Limits (Arcade Fire) Sunday, 3AM, Tue 5AM (on both my PVRs)
Austin City Limits - Monday 5AM (Fleet Foxes, Joanna Newsom)
Ask This Old House - Mon 10PM
American Masters (To Kill a Mockingbird) - Tue 1AM & Thus 5:30AM (at 12 minute mark).
Nova Elements - Thursday 12 Midnight Live and 4AM Friday recorded.
Cooks Country/America's Test Kitchen - Saturday
This Old House - Saturday
Essential Pepin - Saturday

The breakup was at exactly the same time on both of my PVRs, so that rules out the PVRs. The breakup was worse on ACL and This Old House/Ask TOH (every minute or so) with American Masters being less frequent - say every 5-10 minutes starting about 12 minutes in.

Saturday I recorded the same programming on 525 without issue (except that on 525 the audio is often improperly encoded DD5.1 with the dialogue out the LF & RF channels - part of the reason I prefer 532.)

I have no such issues on other channels.

[57]

No one watching 532? See my previous post on video/audio breakup and provide feedback if possible. Thanks.

[whitbyontario]

Regarding 532, we recorded two cooking shows on Saturday evening.

There was some minor picture breakup, however it was much improved from the last few weeks.

[57]

I've been seeing picture breakup on 532 on every programme for more than a month. Sometimes it's not too bad (every 5-10 minutes), but sometimes it's so bad that it happens every minute or several times a minute. The breakup is not of the entire picture, but may consist of "lines of pixels" or "groups of pixels" or sometimes a picture shift, etc. The audio breaks up if the amount of "pixellation" is "large".

Since some programming is not on WNED Buffalo and since I prefer the KCTS audio I called Rogers and they also saw the breakup on their STBs. Whew!. I'm not the only one. (Rogers Case# C56856590)

What surprises me is that there is almost no mention of this here on the forum. Doesn't anyone watch 532? It's the only channel that I've seen with this sort of consistent video and audio breakup (video more than audio).

[57]

Rogers called back saying they needed more info - I gave it to them. They then called back a couple of hours later saying the issue was resolved (it wasn't at my end).

When I called back they said they couldn't see anything at their end - he had the channel up and didn't see what the other CSR saw last night - strange. It's also strange that other people are not reporting this issue (much).

Rogers checked my signal and they didn't like the signal on this channel (even though I thought it was OK - perhaps they can see more than I). So, perhaps there is a minor problem that is exacerbated by a poor signal at my home causing much more breakup at my home than other people are seeing. I have a call scheduled for Friday.

[whitbyontario]

I don't think the issue is resolved.

We watched a cooking show on 532 at 4:30 pm yesterday and there was some breakup of the picture and the odd sound glitch.

[57]

Rogers came on Friday and checked everything at my house. They even ran a new line from the street (easy since it's above ground). Still the same problem and I have no signal issues. What surprises me is the almost total lack of feedback here. (besides you whitbyontario)

The Rogers tech escalated the issue to "maintenance" on Friday, but they probably won't look at anything until this coming week. Luckily the issue was pretty bad on Friday with breakup every minute or so. It gets difficult to "prove" if it only breaks up every 5-10 minutes, which also happens.

[whitbyontario]

We recorded the new Sherlock Holmes Mystery at 12 am Monday on 532 and watched it in the evening.

No sound or picture problems for the whole show.

[57]

There was a Rogers car with a Quality Assurance person in front of my home today. He was following up to see if the issue was resolved and it was not. I checked live programming while he was testing out front and I looked at "Mystery" which I recorded this morning (same episode you recorded Monday). Glitches are still there. He thinks it may be related to my head end, which means you wouldn't see the issue in Whitby, which has a different head end.

He left me his business card and asked me to call him if it was not resolved by tonight! I'll give it a couple of days and see...

(I had recorded "Mystery" on 525 Sunday night - no issues.)

[whitbyontario]

I think I spoke too soon.

I recorded American Masters Johnny Carson on 532 at 12 am Tuesday.

We watched it last evening and once again there was sound and picture breakup. It was watchable but very annoying in that parts of the dialogue was missed.

[upsdriver]

I live in the North York, Dufferin and Lawrence Area, and I noticed this morning that channel 532 was pixelated and audio was breaking up... must be a wide area thing... over all happy with the new HD PVR and Guide.

[57]

Thanks for the feedback upsdriver. It used to be that only 532 was affected. But for the last couple of days, many channels are affected. Seems to be the SDV channels and perhaps you're on the same head end as I am. Today I counted 29 channels on the same QAM, which is almost impossible. I have someone coming by again today and I've contacted the Q/A person that was here a few days ago. He is really angry with his fellow Rogers people who promised to have this resolved, but have not resolved the issue.

Other affected channels include 581, 591 and many others. My neighbour has the same issues (but has never reported since he doesn't watch much TV and since many people never bother to complain).

(perhaps the problems are related to the recent change in the Galaxie channels - they are no longer simple audio streams, like the radio channels are, but are now on QAM and recordable...)

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/show...10#post1413210

[57]

Another visit from Rogers to check the signals in my home. What a waste of time since we know the issue is not inside my home. (neighbour has same issues) This guy didn't even know what SDV was or how it worked! He is sending his supervisor tomorrow...

If the supervisor wishes to disconnect the various lines in my home again to check signal I think I'll scream.


PS. Oh, I forgot to mention that I was sitting on my front porch with my phone nearby when the tech drove into my driveway, sat there for a few minutes and then drove away. I got a call a minute later from Rogers asking if I was home and I said yes, mentioning the above incident. She said the tech had called and I wasn't home. Obviously I was and obviously he had dialed the incorrect number and obviously did not see me sitting on my porch.

I've seen this many times before where they come to your home and then call your phone number while parked out front. Why they don't call from their previous location so that they don't waste a trip if you're not home is beyond me. Why they don't knock on the door when they're already at your home is also beyond me.


PPS. Perhaps issues are also coming from their planned switch from analogue to digital for their tier channels.