SA8300HD Issues

[TopShelf]

Originally Posted by slyboy

I don't know that it's any worse than it was with the 8000HD, but there certainly are some occurances of this sort of thing. Basically some split second instances of boxes in random areas of the screen, as though there was some lag before the boxes correctly get filled in with the right data.

I would say that these instances of pixelation are far worse than what I experienced with the SA8000HD, I'm really noticing it now. It doesn't appear anyone else is seeing this to the degree that I am based on the feedback I am getting. I'll continue to monitor this and if it continues I may replace the box with a new one.

TopShelf

[TomW]

This pixelation seems to occur to varying degree on nearly every show I record. Don't watch much "live" TV, so it's hard to tell if it's the recording or the feed. The 8000 had some artifacts at times but not to the extent this box has. A tech came out and determined I have a defective STB so I'll be exchanging it ASAP.

TomW.

[robinwood]

seem to have a lot this week survivor and enterprise -is it the box or Rogers?

[57]

Pixellation on Enterprise? Yes.

http://digitalhomecanada.com/forum/s...0&postcount=73

I also have noticed occasional glitches on Daily Planet - an SD programme. Never had issues with SD on the 8000HD...

There are also the video "freezes" on Rogers Preview 280 - MMVA segment. I thought it was the originating programme, but when I watch using the SA3250HD, there are not video glitches. Also, the glitches were on the audio portion on the SA8000HD, while the glitches are with the video on the SA8300HD.. Weird stuff.

It's not bad enough to return the unit yet, but I'll keep track. Others please advise if you see similar issues.

These may be fixable with firmware updates. If you recall, there were some issues with the SA8000HD that got better with time (some also got worse)...

[Big Brown Dog]

When i'm watching a digital channel in 480P the image fills the screen through pass-through, but every once in a while the image goes back to a 4:3 format just out of the blue, stays like that for a few seconds and then goes back to wide screen ??

Bob

[yyz1970]

Originally Posted by robinwood

seem to have a lot this week survivor and enterprise -is it the box or Rogers?

I agree. Survivor looked like crap this week (watching/PVRing Global Toronto on an 8300HD). I wasn't able to check the other feeds since I was also PVRing Joey/W&G on NBC-HD.

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by shark

Now, anybody else notice that ABC west's showing of SavPtRyan is almost unwatcheable with the dropouts (video pausing, stuttering, etc.)

ALMOST?! Don't tell me you actually watched that mess?

It was lousy. The worst feed I've seen in two years of Rogers HD. Video dropouts, audio dropouts, and flipping between SD and HD versions. The latter perhaps indicating it was a problem with the originator.

Actually, that brings up a definite issue about the acceptability of digital broadcasts. Occasional snow, or interference in an analog broadcast is usually only minimally noticed, and hardly a problem. But when faced with a nightmare like SPR, what will the masses think?

Imagine a major hockey game and that starts occuring?

Gary

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by 57

I recorded a couple of 6' Under episodes, to test the "fade to white, fade to black" issues. There were no audio or video dropouts at any of about 8 fade to white and the two fade to black (credits) scenes.

I was also recording two other HD programmes at the time of playback, so I was pushing the unit as hard as I could...

I was recording/watching Men in Black and recording Harry Potter and the 8300HD spontaneously rebooted! It continued recording once it came back up, but both recordings are basically ruined.

I also notice that there are audio dropouts during playback that are NOT part of the source. I can rewind and rewatch the section with the dropout without getting the dropout again.

Gary

[dialog_gvf]

Originally Posted by JohnnyG

I'm critising you for the hard-line stand you took when justifying your decision to purchase. It was all in the math!

The hilarious thing for me was that I took your advice. Instead of going to my local FS and buying an 8000HD, I went to Rogers to pick up a rental, and got an 8300HD to my utter shock. It wasn't until I was plugging it in and saw the HDMI port that I realized something was wierd.

Now, the big question is, if you recommended not purchasing the 8000HD because the 8300HD is coming out, what about purchasing a 8300HD? Can we assume that something far better will be out within the price frame of the 8300HD rental?

I know the next we may see is the 8300HD Multi-Room. The big question is whether it really is just an 8300HD with upgraded software? The specs claim ordinary STBs connected to the other sets will be able to access it, so that implies mere software upgrades of those STBs.

Gary

[nathan]

Originally Posted by dialog_gvf

I know the next we may see is the 8300HD Multi-Room. The big question is whether it really is just an 8300HD with upgraded software?

I don't know if the hardware would be exactly the same...the standard 8300HD has to spit out one stream via the video outputs, whereas the MR has to deal with at least 3 streams (unsure of the max)...that would imply either a bit more hardware in the MR, or disabled hardware in the standard 8300... and to be honest, neither would surprise me...I've been in the computer industry long enough to see the exact same hardware sold for a vastly different price depending on the BIOS installed/setup at the time.

Originally Posted by dialog_gvf

The specs claim ordinary STBs connected to the other sets will be able to access it, so that implies mere software upgrades of those STBs.

The spec sheet actually says that any box higher than a 3100 rev 3 should be capable of accessing the MR's functionality, which implies that pretty much any set-top box out there (other than some very old 3100's) should have no problem recieving it's 'broadcasts'. I suspect SA built this functionality in quite a while ago...

I am kinda curious if other people on your 'subnet' would be able to browse your box if you didn't install the filters that come with the MR...

I think I would actually buy an 8300HD/MR provided that I could replace the harddrive in it myself should it become defective, as statistically, that's the component that's going to die more than anything else....

[Denis]

I have a new 8300, it replaced my 8000. I thought the new one would fix some of the problems I was having with the old one, but I'm now finding myself wishing I could get my 8000 back This new 8300 has a lot of pixeling problems on playback, at least once every minute I get parts of the screen that break down into pixels and then re-solidify. Very annoying. I NEVER had this with my 8000. I also have audio drop outs regularly, and I had these only infrequently with the 8000.

I saw a post from at least one other person complaining about pixeling. Are others having this too and is it happening only to those that have the 8300, which would indicate an 8300-specific issue, or is it happening to other SA STBs as well, perhaps indicating a Rogers network problem? Live programming does not have this issue which would seem to indicate a problem with the 8300.

What about the audio drop outs, are they more frequent on the 8300 as is my case?

What have those who are experiencing this done about it? If you complained to Rogers, what did they say or do?

[57]

Although I mentioned pixellation the other day, I have not seen any for the past two nights - I watched a lot of recorded TV during those two nights. I only encoutered one brief audio dropout too in two nights - probably 7-8 hours of TV.

I wonder if Rogers had some issues this week... I watched, on the weekend, without problems:

Sex Files (HD)
F2 (HD)
Motorweek
Motoring 2005
Scary Movie 3 (HD)
South Park
Inside the Actors Studio
Friday's Daily Planet
A portion of Everest (HD)

[slyboy]

Originally Posted by Denis

I saw a post from at least one other person complaining about pixeling. Are others having this too and is it happening only to those that have the 8300, which would indicate an 8300-specific issue, or is it happening to other SA STBs as well, perhaps indicating a Rogers network problem? Live programming does not have this issue which would seem to indicate a problem with the 8300.

Denis,
I believe the problem is with the playback of recorded material. It seems that the pixelation is not occuring very often (if at all) with live broadcasts. As long as that remains true then Rogers is getting the signal sent out without a problem. We're all seeing recorded shows with some pixelation, but if you 'rewind' what you're watching after the pixels show up and replay the same passage, you'll probably find that the pixelation does not occur, or at least not at the same time and same spot. This is what a few of us have found, and what that indicates is that the recording on the hard drive is fine, but the box is having problems playing it back. Try that test for yourself.

The 8000HD had the same problem, although most people here seem to think it's worse on the 8300HD and I'm starting to agree. I would say that I notice at least one abnormality in the picture per recorded broadcast.

[rvs007]

I can also confirm the pixelation with the playback of recorded material. I watch the following programs each week and I've noticed pixelation in all the shows (recorded from different channels). They are all recorded in HD:

CSI: Miami
Lost
CSI: NY
CSI:
ST: Enterprise

However, I don't notice any pixelation problems with shows recorded from SD channels like Food Network Canada... Perhaps the pixelation is happening only with HD programming.

rvs007

[Coasterdon]

This happened to me at 1:10 am on the weekend also. My second time for this. Pushing keys did nothing. I was watching a recorded progem at the time so why on earth would it want to power down when I am obviously using it. Anyway last time I lost tv and went to bed. This time I turned it off before it did it itself. Waited a few moments. Turned it back on and everything was ok.
There must be a way to disable that power save thing.