Damned digital cable!!!

[bliss_eternal]

So they turn everything digital because it's going to be better, right? Well why is it that the picture indiscriminately pixelates (sp), completely interrupting the flow of the show, dialogue, etc.

It's more than annoying.

Our cable company has already credited us with DAYS of free service--because we called and complained about it. Argh!

[Dave Sund]

1. I had the same problem at home

The signal coming in was not amplified, so the picture was being distorted. What provider do you have? Have you had a tech guy come look at it?

[trackfan]

2. This started happening right when they switched to digital cable

here a few years ago, and it continues to this day. It happens at least once during any show I at all care about watching. As usual, we have been sold a bill of goods.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

3. That's not what I hate about digital cable so much as the decline in

quality.

So far, History International is gradually morphing into a military channel like the regular History Channel, an actual Military Channel has been added, Newsworld International was replaced by Current (which is not to my liking), the International Channel has lost most of the Japanese content that I watched it for and has turned into a mostly English-language channel (AZN) for "hip" Asian-American youth, Discovery Civilization has become Discovery Times, and with its emphasis on "terrorism" has begun to sound as if Thomas Friedman writes all the script.

Meanwhile, BBCAmerica has way too many reruns of Benny Hill and those accursed DIY shows and is worth watching only on Monday nights when they air contemporary mysteries (except when they're airing reruns of Prime Suspect); the Biography Channel's Sunday mysteries repeat the same six episodes of Inspector Morse and Midsomer Murders in an endless loop, Ovation has wonderful cultural and performance programs but needs to stop repeating the same couple dozen shows, and IFC also repeats the same films over and over.

Oh, and the On Demand channels show only the stupidest programs from each channel, never the ones that I'd actually like to see again or the ones I've missed.

AAARGH.

[trogdor]

24. Even worse than that...

...any show that requires more than a 90 IQ (you know, the ones that don't sell fake diet pills 20 times an hour) to appreciate gets shoved into a "Digital Plus" package, for which you have to pay an additional "brain surcharge."

It would be interesting to rate TV shows based on who's sponsoring them.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

27. Most of the channels I actually watch are in the digital tier

but when I got rid of my movie channels, they also took away Sundance and left IFC. I would have preferred it the other way around. :-(

[RoyGBiv]

4. Because ...

You either have a signal issue or a bad box, most likely the former. A small degree of signal loss usually isn't noticeable with analog but becomes obvious on a digital channel.

Your cable company should send our a service technician to check the signal quality and fix it ior amplify it as appropriate.

[BlueJazz]

5. Yep..You're right...Roy....Sounds like somewhere in the "Chain" that..

there is signal loss. The poster might want to tighten all connections between the outside box and converter.

[samdogmom]

7. Hmmm--that's what they told me. I've had service people out 3 times now

and I still get the pixels on my digital box tv. The others without digital are all fine. After the first two times the service people were out, I lost my internet service and needed a separate service call to fix this problem. I really think it's the cable company and not the signal. (IT could be the box--they provide this and have never once offered to replace it.) Anyway--I've talked to other people in my town and a lot of those with digital cable experience this same problem. My house is relatively new (8 years old) so the wiring isn't too obsolete. I'm sick of the cable company blaming me for this, especially when my bill is $120+ per month. I wish we could have competing cable service providers in a municipality. I think things would improve with competition.

[BlueJazz]

8. I understand...I changed to this >>>>>

http://www.dishdirect.com/

..two months ago...my bill went down 37 bucks and I get the same channels.

[RoyGBiv]

11. Most likely ...

Your cable company is populated by idiots. That's just the blunt fact. They get their order, can't find the problem easily, and give up on it. It can be fixed. The problem is actually getting it fixed.

I'd suggest one of two things. 1) Call tech support, be mad but rational, explain you're having a repeat problem, need to speak with a supervisor immediately, and don't let them get rid of you until you've spoken with the supervisor. Then, explain the problem to the supervisor, detailing everything, and explain you will be canceling all your services if they do not fix the problem immediately. 2) Cut to the chase and call in to cancel all your service and offer to explain why. If they don't seem interested in trying to save you as a customer, you have cable company that doesn't care about customer service and doesn't deserve your business.

I say this as someone who works in a related industry and for a company that takes customer service very seriously. I've gotten people fired for not fixing problems like yours when they could be fixed. I know quite well what causes these problems and how to fix them. It's not entirely the technician's fault that it isn't being fixed because the company itself is probably placing limits on his or her time that can be spent at any one job. They get dinged in their evaluation for taking too long to fix a problem, regardless of whether that problem actually required that amount of time. (The only way to reverse this trend is for consumers to call in and compliment techs when they receive good service, but that won't happen on a regular enough basis for it to matter.) However, some techs are just lazy or don't want to get dirty.

Bottom line, if the company doesn't want to help you, don't give them any more of your money.

I should also add that the problem really could be essentially unfixable by any single technician. A lot of systems are not set up to handle the bandwidth required for digital cable, but because the company can do it with some of its systems, it offers it in all of them. It's not the digital cable itself -- when it works, it works well. It's a bad set of business decisions by some companies that rely on hoping enough people won't notice.

If I were to deal with you face to face, I 'd ask you to let me personally take care of the problem and would tell you it will be fixed in a week, or you will know why, explicitly, it can't be fixed in that time, at which point I would give you a hard time-frame for getting it fixed. You'd be credited for your digital service going back to the install, and I'd probably throw something else in as well since you've been patient for so long. If my efforts didn't fix the problem, I'd tell you I'd set up your disconnect and credit your bill back to the day I took over the problem so that you don't risk losing any more money on bad service by giving my company one last chance.

If your company doesn't offer you something like that -- which will probably take a little prodding, and I'm offering this advice to let you know how far they will go if they're serious about keeping you as a customer -- you should probably search for another provider.

[RoyGBiv]

13. PS -- About the Box

I missed this the first time around.

They never offered to replace it? Hell, that's the first thing I'd do. However, from the other things you've said, I really don't think that is it. Your Internet service going out suggests a systemic problem.

You mention they are blaming you for the problem. Did they tell you it was due to your own wiring, as in, wiring in the house you, or a previous owner, set up themselves? If so, that is a possibility. The wire you buy at consumer electronics stores or large retail outlets is often inferior cabling, and some house builders use this as well for pre-wired houses. It typically has fancy connectors and such, but that matters far less than the quality of the wire itself. In fact, quality wire is usually cheaper than the sub-standard stuff, but the connectors aren't gold or whatever.

Your company should still offer to fix the problem with their own wire, but they will probably charge you for it, but only if it isn't wire the cable company installed originally.

[samdogmom]

23. Thanks for your thoughtful replies. I will try to follow up on this.

My house was built 8 years ago and the electrical contractor did all of the interior cable wiring when the house was wired. Of course the cable company didn't like this from day one--I think they prefer to get the wiring contracts--but my building contractor decided this--not me. We used state-of-the-art wiring when it was installed, but I do know that there have been many industry advances in the past eight years. I tend to think that the technicians that come out to fix the problem are not the best. I've only had one whom I would consider knowledgeable and honest. Even when they installed my broadband internet they screwed it up and I had to fix it myself. Fortunately, I was computer savvy enough for that problem. Charter Communications is my cable provider and I would rate their service mediocre at best. I experience frequent outages--internet more than cable, but it's very annoying. Often my email will be down, or one tier of the cable channels will be out of commission. I don't have a lot of other options in my small town for high speed internet, so I've stuck with them through thick and thin. Unfortunately because they're a monopoly they don't have to be real responsive to the public. I know I could get my TV from another source (i.e. satellite) but the internet is problematic. And if you don't package your internet with a cable service it costs over $50 a month (with cable it's $39.99). I've gone back and forth on this. I hate waiting around for repair men. I hate hanging on the phone for hours to schedule these repairs. And I especially hate their voice mail system! I get so angry every time I have to call them, that I think I just gave up for the time being and decided to live with the crappy service. When a legitimate competitor shows up in town, however, I'm changing providers!

[bliss_eternal]

22. Our cable company offered to have a tech out right away...

so--I plan to call them and take them up on their offer. We wanted to monitor it a couple of days, and our schedules wouldn't really allow for a cable visit right away. But we will--soon!

I'm thinking your right in that switching the box may do the trick, had some remote issues too...

[texas1928]

6. Check your cables.

make sure they are finger tight. If it still continues, make sure and note if it does it at a certain time or if it is all through the day then you have a weak signal, if it is only happening at certain times then it may be signal leaking in. On both you need to call your cable company and have them send someone out.

[bliss_eternal]

21. Good advice--

I checked the cables, they're good. Oddly it seems most prevalent right after we turn the tv on--then after viewing for a while, it seems to stop. Still weird, as this hasn't been the case before.

I'll be calling! Thanks for your advice! :hi:

[Mizmoon]

9. Mine does that in bad weather

but is fine if it's not wet out. I assumed there was no way around it. I guess I'm a fatalist :)

[texas1928]

10. Sounds like you have a lose outside drop.

call and have them come look at it.

[bliss_eternal]

19. Yes, I will--thanks for the tip...

It's weird in that when I turn the tv on, it does it for the first hour or so--then it tapers off and eventually stops. But that is still odd--shouldn't suddenly need a 'warm up.'

:shrug:

[bliss_eternal]

20. It was a wee bit windy

last night and today. But the weather has been MUCH worse, and I've had no problems.

We'll have to have a tech come out.

[trof]

12. Had the same problem. Went to Dish Network.

MUCH mo betta.
Same price here.

[bliss_eternal]

18. I'll be checking into that--

thanks for the advice! :hi:

[MarsThe Cat]

25. one problem with the Dish-

two, actually-

thick clouds, for one,

and the other- we live along an approachway for a large airport, miles away...and when the planes use that particular approachway, there's a point at which they block the signal to the dish for a second or two, and the picture goes out. on some evenings it can happen a dozen or more times an hour.
i'm contemplating getting a larger dish, as i've been seeing a lot of large ones popping up in the area.

[Deja Q]

14. It's about "DRM". Not as much about quality.

I wince at every LCD screen I look at. Many of these $3000 models show obvious pixelization during panning and other scenes. And that's a dvd-to-screen direct connection.

That's not a dirty-disc pixelization of blocklike artifacts that go away after 1 or 2 frames. This is a uniform, screen-wide problem that's constant.

$3000 for THAT? Sod off.

And then we get to cable...

It's the same shit. Just a different cow. One with a big-ass chastity belt superglued on so it's harder to get the milk without their permission (which is sad, we pay for it all via many means - monthly fees, commercials, and other things - whether we consciously know about it or otherwise).

[bliss_eternal]

16. Yes, exactly...

One of the local networks, recently went ALL DIGITAL. They were quite proud of this, going on and on about the 'quality' viewing we could all experience by watching them--with the PROPER television of course...

Yeah right...

It's a grand conspiracy for more consumer money. Another opportunity for the guy with the big bucks to feel good about himself, because he has the best 'digital, plasma, flat-screen' thingy in town.

Whatever. :eyes:

In the mean time, I'll have to call the losers to check out their box. :puke:

[intrepid_wanderer]

15. good advice above...

-Try once again with the 'stick' that you're considering canceling outright (Do consider it!)

-If you're unable to have at LEAST a very significant reduction in pixelation, cancel

-Dish is a good alternative for most people... you may even choose to have an overlap of a month so you can do two things:

1) asses the quality of the new dish-based service
2) Play both companies off of the other... one will provide superior responsiveness to any problems... cancel the other!


YOU ARE CORRALLED, NOT TRAPPED... just set a time-frame to make a final decision! (and let the companies know your time-frame for satisfaction)

:bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

[bliss_eternal]

17. Thanks--dh and I have been talking about this very thing.

:)

thanks for the advice!

[Graf Orlok]

26. It sucks during even light rain.

Sometimes I wish I stuck with regular cable. :argh: