Intermittent HD distortion.
madness80
Enthusiast - Level 1

I am having an intermittent problem with HD content being distorted. I typically see this on the Golf channel, but as I type this, I am watching a program that I DVR'd and it too has the same problem. I am watching channel 590 NBCSN HD, Motorcycle Racing, Southwick Pro Motocross National, recorded on Sat 6/30/2018 at 7:59 PM. I am in Mechanicsburg PA, zip 17050. 

The program appears to be HD content that is "squished" into a SD 4:3 aspect ratio. The program is letterboxed and visually appears as SD, but the content is distorted. The O in GOLF appears as an oblong when it should be a circle. 

This does not happen all of the time. Normally the HD channels show HD content just fine. But on occasion this problem shows up. I have found that if I press the #Size button on the remote, it switches to "Size Wide 1" and most of the screen is filled out and the HD program looks much better. 

I called and reported this problem last year and was sent a replacement STB. That did not resolve the problem. I have this problem on multiple TV's and multiple STB's. I even contacted a friend who also has FIOS and he reported the same problem. 

I have been living with the #Size workaround but I am getting tired of it. When I am having this problem, I have noticed that some of the commercials are in correct HD mode. This causes the display to revert back to "Size Normal", and when the program comes back on, the content is again distorted.   

Here is video that I took of the problem: 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nRWSf5-_9tDsoT-HaDKwZTr41EvMirjt/view?usp=sharing

Is there any way that you could contact the internal FIOS technical staff to troubleshoot and get this resolved? This is not a "reboot your STB" type problem. Thanks. 

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Re: Intermittent HD distortion.
Edg1
Community Leader
Community Leader

Its not really an issue with the box. If an hd channel is showing something filmedin standard or sd content like a daytime lawyer commercial or a local dirtbike race then it will be in 4:3 and will have bars on the side. There is nothing wrong with your box or tv. This is how it is. Some channels like espn even put their espn logo in those bars if there are showing something that was filmed in standard. 

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Re: Intermittent HD distortion.
madness80
Enthusiast - Level 1

Did you watch the video?

It is not SD content. This is not a local dirtbike race. It's the motocycle equivalent of NASCAR. They broadcast half of the race on MAV TV and the other half on NBCSN. The MAVTV broadcast is fine. It's in full HD. The camera's at the track are HD.  

If I tried to watch an HD program on an SD TV, then I would expect to have the left and right portions of the program dropped. The remaining 4:3 display should not have any distortion. A circle should be round.

For my problem, no content from the broadcast is being lost, the HD program is being compressed into a 4:3 format. Objects that should be round are an oblong.

   

I will post a video of the Golf channel the next time it happens. 

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Re: Intermittent HD distortion.
madness80
Enthusiast - Level 1

It happened on the Golf channel last night. Here is a series of photos that shows the issue.

Picture 1 is channel 93, SD. I included the guide display so that the program can be identified. Note the letterbox at the top, left and right. 

image

Picture 2 is again 93/SD but without the guide. Note the letterbox on all 4 sides. This is correct for 16:9 HD content being broadcast on a 4:3 SD channel with no loss of content. 

image

Picture 3 is channel 593/HD. Note that there is no letterbox at the top of the picture.  Compare this photo with the first photo. The guy's face is noticeably thinner in this photo.

image

Picture 4 is without the guide. Look at the word GOLF in the lower right and compare it with the second photo. The program is being incorrectly manipulated. The height looks to be HD, but the width is being compressed without data loss into SD dimentions. 

image

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Re: Intermittent HD distortion.
CRobGauth
Community Leader
Community Leader

This is mainly a peer to peer support forum.

What model STB do you have?

Do you have more than 1? If so, does the problem show up on all?

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Re: Intermittent HD distortion.
madness80
Enthusiast - Level 1

Well I didn't have a lot of luck when I called support last year. And I have to go through the "is your TV plugged in?" type questions when I call. And if I get a second support person I end up trying to explain the problem, again, from the start. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words, so this forum provides me with a vehicle where I can document the problem and show the evidence of what I see. I thought that I saw replies from Verizon accounts on other posts, so I am going to give then a few days to see if anyone responds. If they don't, then I am going to call support and point them to this post. 

To answer your question, I have 3 STB's. 

1. Silver Motorola HD-DVR QIP7216. Problem confirmed.

2. Silver Motorola HD QIP7100. Problem confirmed.

3. Black Motorola HD QIP7100-P2. I will verify the next time I have the problem. 

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Re: Intermittent HD distortion.
CRobGauth
Community Leader
Community Leader

You might see the admins provide referals, but you won't see Verizon employees respond to specific issues.

Have you checked all your cabling starting at ONT?

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Re: Intermittent HD distortion.
madness80
Enthusiast - Level 1

If you look at the video that I provided, you will see that it starts out with an appropriately letterboxed SD commercial. It then shows a full screen, very well done, HD commercial for ExxonMobil. It then transitions into the distorted motorcycle race. If there was a cabling issue, I don't see how the ExxonMobil commercial, and all of the other HD channels, could display properly formatted HD content.   

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Re: Intermittent HD distortion.
madness80
Enthusiast - Level 1

After 2 trouble tickets and multiple phone calls, I have gotten no where. Support keeps telling me that the problem is with the TV network. I have pleaded with support to have FIOS techicians call the Golf Channel technicians to get this fixed but they apparently do not want to be bothered. 

This bug appears to be a regional issue because I talked to FIOS support in Syracuse NY, and they do not see the problem. I sent an email to The Golf Channel but they have not responded. Today I sent an email to NBC Sports and got an automated reply. They must have a trouble ticket system. This looks promising but I will just need to wait.

For the record, the problem happened in the middle of a program last night. I was watching the Indycar race on NBCSN and it flipped from full screen HD to letterboxed.

See the video here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Yege9CG1QrUtoBLRche_S-n9P1CxVXyF/view

To anyone who reads this post, I ask that you periodically check 590 and 593. If you see an HD program that is letterboxed, please call FIOS support and request that it be fixed. If enough people complain, then maybe we can get some action from Verizon. 

Thanks. 

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