Got A Tivo

Live forum: http://forum.freeipodguide.com/viewtopic.php?t=44095

bballp6699

04-08-2006 19:17:22

I just bought a Tivo for $80 for a year with the 80 hour box. I set the bitch up and the picture looks kind of shitty. It might not be bad to the untrained eye, but I notice the difference as a person that has burned a lot of movies. It looks like a video that has been compressed beyond what it should. Do they always look like this or is there a way I can fix it?

freaky1718

04-08-2006 19:40:41

my tivo is actually very clear so i dont know whats wrong

bballp6699

04-08-2006 20:02:09

It's like the difference between

http//www.cs.sfu.ca/CC/365/li/material/gifs/parrot.gif[" alt=""/img631dc2af14] and [img="631dc2af14]http//www.cs.sfu.ca/CC/365/li/material/cgi-bin/p90.jpeg[" alt=""/img631dc2af14]

KnightTrader

04-08-2006 20:05:53

Yea theres a small distinguishable idfference. Especially if you blow it up to a larger scale. Try googling it >.>

Nimh

06-08-2006 16:16:03

Make sure you have the recording set on Best Quality. I have a TiVO and never had any problems, so try that.

dmorris68

06-08-2006 16:39:03

Never noticed an issue with my 3 DirecTivo's when I had DirecTV. Of course all channels were digital quality (other than some re-broadcast locals).

Image quality from my Charter Cable MOXI boxes really looks like crap compared to my old Tivo's, because not all of Charter's "digital" package channels are actually digital.

bballp6699

06-08-2006 16:42:27

Hmm, I just changed the setup so it goes through the DVR into the Tivo and surprisingly it comes in clearer. I read something about trying something that does a signal boost. Could the DVR have boosted the signal at all?

dmorris68

06-08-2006 17:20:24

Doubtful, a DVR will usually drop signal like any other device. I've not heard of any consumer video device amplifying the signal it outputs.

And on that note be careful when needlessly amplifying cable signal, you can make your situation much worse. When I lived in apartments and rental houses, I used to string extra cable drops all over the place and had to use amps to keep the signal level up. When I built my house, I wired 36 cable drops, so I automatically assumed I would need an amp. I was having all sorts of problems with ghost images and other such interference. My ex-brother-in-law was a tech for the cable co., and he brought his meter out and checked my signal. I was getting like 12-15db liwithoutli the amplifier -- with the amp I was getting 25+db. "Normal" is considered 7-10db. Removed the amp and picture quality improved greatly. When I just had the MOXI boxes installed recently, the cable guy had to put in attenuators to force the signal strength down below MOXI's max threshold of 12db.

Either I did a kick-ass wiring job, or the cable co. is pushing some serious juice down my line. )