Cable tv Pixelation

[Meadowdj]

In addition to my main cable tv, I have several others connected to cable via Verizon DCT-700 digital adapters.  Two of the tvs had pixelation issues, one way worse than the other.  In all my internet searching, I never stumbled on to any suggestion that it might be a DCT-700 problem.  After days of trying different things, it turned out that when I swapped an adapter from a working tv with the pixelating tv, the problem moved with the adapter.  So, if you have pixelation on some tvs and not others, try swapping adapters as part of your diagnostic efforts.

[dexman]

Swapping STBs is another tool in the troubleshooting toolbox. 🙂

Myself, I would first zero in on poorly terminated coaxial cables and/or open ports on splitters as those tend to be the cause of degraded performance.

[Meadowdj]

Thanks for the response.  Can you provide a link to the “trouble shooting toolbox?

All my internet searching for solutions to pixilation never yielded a suggestion that the cable box might be the problem (must have been a limitation of my search strings).  I finally landed on that reality when I finally got around to swapping around cable boxes and noticed that the pixilation problem moved with the boxes.  So, there is no doubt that my problems were caused by the boxes (DCT-700).

In the end, Verizon sent me replacements for all cable boxes, main STB included, and lowered my FiOS bill by up to $30 a month too.  The DCT-700 replacements are a big improvement as I now get full screen HD channels and access to the guide (no more SD only with side bars).  All the new hardware showed up by 9:00 AM the next morning and I was completely upgraded less that 24 hours after contacting Verizon about the DCT-700s...incredible.

Just a little more background if interested.  I had pixilation on both upstairs TVs only, a 90’ run direct from basement splitter (Antronix VRA900B Residential Amplifier) to DCT-700 and a 45’ run to a wall plate to DCT-700.  I have a 125’ run (25’ to connector to part aerial 100’ run to 3 way splitter ) to my wife’s studio in our detached garage.  From the three way splitter, there are 25’ and 50’ runs direct to DCT-700s (connected to the 7 db loss splitter connections) and a 25’ run direct to an ActionTec MoCA WiFi Extender on the 3.5 db loss splitter connection.  All that studio stuff works perfectly.  So, I jumped to the conclusion that there was some issue with my upstairs cable runs, maybe rodent damage, maybe some interference that affected both runs (which worked fine at one time by the way).  So, the coincidence of both upstairs TVs having the problem blinded me to the possibility that both upstairs DCT-700s had become defective and were the cause of my problems.  So, in the end, all’s well that ends better as is the case for me.  Thanx...

[dexman · Accepted solution]

Sorry for the delayed reply. 🙁

By "toolbox" I mean the different steps that can be taken to troubleshoot television problems. Reading the most recent reply, the actions taken to isolate the trouble to the STBs are what I had in mind. 🙂

I would still suggest, on the runs that seem problematic, checking the terminations to make sure they are not the cause. Loose connections poorly prepped coaxial cable, open taps on splitters and tight bends in the coaxial cable itself can degrade quality.