Just got Comcast HD and some issues with HDMI.

[sommert]

Hi All,

I switched over to Comcast to take advantage of their cable, voice, and internet package. Internet and Phone service is great. I used to have dishnetwork before Comcast came in. I have older tube TVs in the basement and bedroom. The picture on both is just fine with Comast digital cable boxes.

In my living room I have the Comcast HD Dual Tuner DVR. The HD channels are nice and crisp. My issue is that all the non-HD channels have a obvious quality issue. They are grainy. My tube TVs look better than my plasma.

My setup from the Comcast Box is an HDMI cable to a Denon Av4306 receiver. The receiver is then HDMI to a Samsung Plasma 50". This was the same HDMI config as the dishnetwork DVR with no issues.

I tried changing the comcast box settings to various HD HDMI modes with no luck.

The person who installed it come by today because he forgot a tool and I asked him about the problem He said he hears it a lot that using HDMI with their boxes on non HD channels get complaints. They are bringing out a new box on Monday, but I have doubts its going to be much better. I am already preparing myself to call dish network to resume service. I guess I could try component to the denon and let the Denon uplink to the TV. I wanted to post a message here to see if this is a known issue and if there is anything you can do about it.

 

[TLS Guy]

Hi All,

I switched over to Comcast to take advantage of their cable, voice, and internet package. Internet and Phone service is great. I used to have dishnetwork before Comcast came in. I have older tube TVs in the basement and bedroom. The picture on both is just fine with Comast digital cable boxes.

In my living room I have the Comcast HD Dual Tuner DVR. The HD channels are nice and crisp. My issue is that all the non-HD channels have a obvious quality issue. They are grainy. My tube TVs look better than my plasma.

My setup from the Comcast Box is an HDMI cable to a Denon Av4306 receiver. The receiver is then HDMI to a Samsung Plasma 50". This was the same HDMI config as the dishnetwork DVR with no issues.

I tried changing the comcast box settings to various HD HDMI modes with no luck.

The person who installed it come by today because he forgot a tool and I asked him about the problem He said he hears it a lot that using HDMI with their boxes on non HD channels get complaints. They are bringing out a new box on Monday, but I have doubts its going to be much better. I am already preparing myself to call dish network to resume service. I guess I could try component to the denon and let the Denon uplink to the TV. I wanted to post a message here to see if this is a known issue and if there is anything you can do about it.

Did you up convert at your receiver or TV?

 

[sommert]

The Receiver was set to convert , but I played with the settings and nothing seemed to help or make a difference. The TV manual states to feed it native 720p which is what I do from both the cable box and denon receiver.

 

[TLS Guy]

The Receiver was set to convert , but I played with the settings and nothing seemed to help or make a difference. The TV manual states to feed it native 720p which is what I do from both the cable box and denon receiver.

I bet the problem is that Comcast are using too much video compression on the non HD channels. Be patient things may improve next year, when the cable providers are no longer required to carry analog signals, which hog a lot of bandwidth.

 

[sommert]

well, not only does the HD box have a proble, but now my regular box upstais is pixelating and the audio is pausing. I called them back and told them to be prepared to fix all my issues or I am cancelling the service. Life is too short to wait for good TV

 

[Midcow2]

well, not only does the HD box have a proble, but now my regular box upstais is pixelating and the audio is pausing. I called them back and told them to be prepared to fix all my issues or I am cancelling the service. Life is too short to wait for good TV

Sorry you are having problems. Everyone I know is converting the other way from ComCast to DishNetwork or DirecTV.

 

[rosco]

I currently work for a Dishnet retailer, and it never fails.
Everytime I do a switch for a customer from Charter cable to dishnet, the customer says "WOW that looks so much better than charter"

Dishnets HD is clearer by far from any cable provider.
As far as the SD side of dishnet VS charter or another cable provider, it really dependes on the tv.

Some HD tvs look fine on sd with dish, and some look grainy and blury.

Just an observation

Mike (A.k.a. Rosco)

 

[sommert]

Its got to be something with my setup. I was just at the next door neighbors house. he has comcast HD (no DVR). ALL his channels are excellent. He is using component with an older (4-5 years) Panasonic TV.

 

[bandphan]

If your inbound signal isnt strong enough (or to stong) or there is a issue in the line(to many splits, bad splitters, ect), you will get exactly what you are describing. What service did you have before? I wouldnt think that you have any issues with the box. When the installer returns ask him for your inbound and outbound readings.

 

[fmw]

Not likely your setup. Go back and re read TLS's post. You are looking at SD channels that are compressed so that the compression doesn't show on a CRT but does show on a fixed pixel display. The satellite services do it also. SD always looks better on a CRT than on a fixed pixel display. Nature of the beast.

 

[sommert]

If your inbound signal isnt strong enough (or to stong) or there is a issue in the line(to many splits, bad splitters, ect), you will get exactly what you are describing. What service did you have before? I wouldnt think that you have any issues with the box. When the installer returns ask him for your inbound and outbound readings.

Before Comcast I had DishNetwork with no video issues - except snow and rain fade

 

[bandphan]

Before Comcast I had DishNetwork with no video issues - except snow and rain fade

Ive had to stay on top of comcast when I switched from sat service last year.Check to make sure the ib signal at each box is over 30 on the chanel/s affected.

 

[sommert]

Update...

Update:
Comcast was here again today. This time in a real Comcast van and the guy seemed to know his stuff. He did find some signal issues and corrected them. I had some splitters in the house feeding old dead Satellite coax. He was here for about 3 hours. He also replaced the DVR. The remote now works fine. The non HD channels are still not as good as my neighbors or dish network. He was able to adjust my sharpness and dial it down which removed some of the grain, but I am still not too happy with the picture.
I then decided to eliminate the receiver and went straight to the TV from the DVR with HDMI. This didn’t change a thing. Same quality issue. I also tried running component to the receiver from the Comcast ox and things still looked the same. I got to thinking how often I would actually watch these non HD channels and the answer was rare. I will cope with it a while longer. If it wasn’t for Comcast’s on-Demand services I would be back with dish in a heartbeat. I have really enjoyed that service the last couple of days.