[Deever]

Hi, this is my first post I am what would be called a noob I guess. Please be patient with me if I am not clear, here's my problem.

I have had Telus Optik TV since Oct 2010. I was using it on an old rear projection tv, and the picture was comparable if not a little better than my old Shaw cable feed. I recently bought a new tv (Samsung UN46C6300 LED) and hooked it up to my Telus STB/PVR. The regular channels now look horrible to the point where i cannot even watch them. The 6 or so HD channels that i get look great. Is there something I am missing in the setup for the PVR that would help? I find it hard to believe that my Standard Def cable channels are all being fed at such a crappy rate.

I am also having problems with my PVR recording shows. Every time I try to schedule a recording I get a message, "Due to scheduling errors manual recording of this program is needed". I have talked to Telus CSR and they say they have a network problem related to my account. I asked when it would be fixed and they said, we don't know, just wait and see!!!

my main concern is getting my regualr cable channels to look decent on my new tv. The PVR getting fixed would be nice too. Could the 2 issues be related?

Any help is appreciated, Thanks

 

[Wiremonkey]

They’re not related issues.

It’s a sad fact that SD does tend to look better on the old rear projection type TVs. Those TVs are more forgiving to the low res signal, as well projection TVs don’t really have pixels that you can see so the picture looks smoother on SD.

Check your new TVs manual and play with the optimisation settings. Search the forum for info on setting up your new TV. 57 may have some info posted on that subject in the tech support sections. His posts are excellent info for all aspects of home theatre.

Your new TV is just showing you the draw backs of SD over the superior HD picture. Optik SD is encoded in MPEG4 the same as the HD, so as long as your HD channels look good then the SD are probably as good as they will be unless there are some settings you can make to improve them.

You should be getting 9 or 10 HD channels with Essentials, not just 6.

If there are network provisioning issues on your account and TELUS is aware of them as it seems, they will get fixed. The department that does that is very priority driven and will get it done ASAP. Sometimes owing to system outages or volume this department gets a little behind, somethimes it can take a few days to correct certain types of issues. The CSR is just being honest when they say they don`t know. Don`t be too concerned, but if there is no improvement in 2 or 3 days try to reboot everything, if that makes no difference then I would call back in and ask for a tech to visit. Get the techs card then deal with the tech after that for this issue.

Some customers are having PVR issues, this is an ongoing issue it seems. This seems to be a firmware issue that Microsoft and TELUS are working together on to address. There is a thread about Optik PVR issues on this forum.


- another TELUS tech

 

[Deever]

@Wiremonkey

Thanks, for the quick response. I was actually afraid that this was the case with my SD channels looking so terrible. And I mean terrible. I have been tinkering with my new TV for a couple days now, and I don't think there is much else I can do. The HD channels I do have look amazing, I have to admit. The problem I will run into is recording shows. I used to just pvr all my shows on SD channels. Now I'll have to use HD instead, but sometimes I have up to 3 Shows recording at the same time. I guess I'll have to prioritize which gets HD because I do not think I have the capability to record 3 HD feeds at once.

As far as my STB/PVR issue goes, I have been reading through these forums and mine is not an isolated issue. It seems at least a few others are having the exact same problem that I am having. I saw your post about doing a total reboot, I will try that. If that doesn't work I will also do as you said and contact a CSR and relay my issues and my attempts at fixing them. Again thanks for the help.

 

[hespeler]

hmm, you got me worried now. I just bought the exact TV and thinking of getting Optik

 

[Wiremonkey]

The truth is no matter who you have as a provider, TELUS, Shaw or Bell, satellite, IPTV or cable, SD will not look good to you once you've seen HD. It will look worse yet on a new TV with high resolution. The new TVs are very sharp so therefore SD is not pretty once the HD genie is out of the bottle.

The SD will look even worse if your TV is too big or your sitting too close. This is another reason to heed the screen sizing rule of thumb. Sit 3 times the screen width back from it.


- another TELUS tech