Is This Normal for PQ?

edgeh2o · ‎07-30-2012

Uverse came to my apartment complex a few months ago to make their service available. We signed up for it a couple weeks ago, but I'm not sure I'm completely satisfied with the PQ of HD channels. For instance, anything show involving water splashing (olympics, discovery, etc), the part of the water that splashes looks pixelated.

Also on America's Got Talent, when there is a group of dancers on stage, and a bunch of lights/effects in the background, everything looks kind of pixelated, and not sharp/clear. I'm using a 4 yr old Samsung 720p 40" LCD, and planning on getting a LG 55" 7600 soon, so I'm worried that the pixelation might be more noticeable on a bigger screen, unless the better PQ of the LG will counter it.

My mom has Comcast and I feel like hers doesn't look as pixelated as mine on her slightly newer 40" Samsung.

Here are pics of my UV Realtime. We only have 1 DVR, and according to the system information I am on the 4SD/3HD profile.

texasguy37 · ‎05-18-2009

One thing that I notice is that the IP/Profile tab indicates that you are on the 25/2 line profile; however, you should be on the 32/5 line profile.

If you have the 4 SD/3 HD profile, the 25/2 line profile will not give you enough bandwidth to use all of the available streams. Call Technical Support at the number shown in my signature.

By the way, where are you located?

edgeh2o · ‎07-30-2012

Thanks for the response, texasguy

Fresno, CA

If they move me to the 32/5 line will that reduce pixelation?

texasguy37 · ‎05-18-2009

edgeh2o wrote:

Thanks for the response, texasguy

Fresno, CA

If they move me to the 32/5 line will that reduce pixelation?

Possibility. Are multiple TV streams in use when this occurs?

edgeh2o · ‎07-30-2012

Sometimes, I've noticed that when I watch something that was recording at the same time that other recordings were recording, sometimes the audio will drop/pixelate.

I called the number you gave me and the person I'm speaking to doesn't sound like she knows what I'm talking about with the UV Realtime software, and 25/2 or 32/5 profiles. I'm currently on hold

edit: Moving up to Tier-2 phone support

texasguy37 · ‎05-18-2009

You may need to talk to someone in Tier 2 Technical Support.

edgeh2o · ‎07-30-2012

He told me he couldn't upgrade me to the 32/5 over the phone so a tech is coming out in the next hour to take a look.

Even just watching the Olympics right now on live TV, they were swimming and the water looked very low quality, even when a girl would turn around her face looked pixelated and smeared.

edgeh2o · ‎07-30-2012

Alright well the tech just left, he said he checked the box and everything looked good, but told me he couldn't change my rate to 32/5 lol. He said a different tech would have to come out to do that and that it might cost extra.

So I don't know what I'm going to do. I may just goto a different provider before my free trial ends. Thanks for trying to help.

texasguy37 · ‎05-18-2009

The change should not require an onsite visit from a tech. Send a PM to Alex who is an AT&T Community Manager on this forum.

Also, check the settings on your account to make sure that you will receive email notification when a PM is received on this forum.

jhy1978 · ‎03-14-2012

Having a tech change your profile will not improve PQ. Uverse compresses HD streams to almost half the size of satellite which is why you see some pixelation. Its the trade off for getting the most HD channels... lack of quality. However if you can live with it you will get used to it.

jonboy545 · ‎07-24-2012

Unfortunately it seems that the macroblocking (pixelation with fast movement) is normal with Uverse HD channels. As stated above ATT highly compresses the HD streams... 6mbps is nowhere close to what TWC sends HD at. Even though TWC only sends at 720P the quality is superior in almost every way.

I'm not that happy about it, but I don't watch sports at all (where it is most noticeable) so I got used to it. We can't have dishes in the community I live in, and Time Warner Cable's DVRs are just HORRIBLE so I live with the pixelation because of the superior DVR that Uverse uses, and the features that it offers that TWC will never implement.

oobleck · ‎05-10-2008

jonboy545 wrote:

We can't have dishes in the community I live in

Are you sure about that? There's a federal law that prohibits banning of dishes below a certain size, with few exceptions (like registered historic districts).

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oobleck

edgeh2o · ‎07-30-2012

In my complex we aren't allowed to have dish's installed on the walls or roof, it would have to be on a tripod on our balcony. Not sure how that would effect the signal.

oobleck · ‎05-10-2008

edgeh2o wrote:
In my complex we aren't allowed to have dish's installed on the walls or roof, it would have to be on a tripod on our balcony. Not sure how that would effect the signal.

A lot would depend on whether your balcony faces the right direction. I've seen dishes on balconies in my area, but I don't know what the buildings' rules are like. A decent tripod might work OK, but you'd still have the rain problem -- one of the reasons I switched from Dish to U-verse (a tree was the other).

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oobleck

edgeh2o · ‎07-30-2012

Rain interferes with Dish/DTV?

Any word on if AT&T will up the bitrate for HD channels?

oobleck · ‎05-10-2008

edgeh2o wrote:
Rain interferes with Dish/DTV?

When I had Dish Network the TV signal would be lost during very heavy rain. It probably depends on where you are and how good the installer is at pointing the dish. As I recall, for Dish it helps if you're farther west -- the satellites are higher in the sky so the signal doesn't go through as much rain.

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oobleck

BeeBeeSA · ‎06-26-2009

I had Dish here in Texas before Uverse and it seemed if the clouds got thick I would loose signal. Didn't even have to rain. I couldn't imagine having Dish in someplace like Florida where it rains all the time. That was one of the main reasons I left them. Well that and wanting to charge me $109 up front then monthly rent to get an HD receiver for one of my TV's. I asked if when I cancelled my services would they refund me the $109 and they said no but I would have to return the equipment to them as it was their property. I couldn't justify giving them $109 to ship me the receiver.

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edgeh2o · ‎07-30-2012

Well it looks like DirecTV is out for me There are just too many buildings/trees from where the tripod would have to be on my balcony, not to mention my balcony points West.

So I either keep Uverse or go back to Comcast. And lately I've been having issues with Uverse internet. It went out 3 times the other night, and today and yesterday, I can't even install an update to play Tribes Ascend. It is going ridiculously slow and says 6 hours left, whereas Comcast would have finished within minutes. I just speedtested myself and I'm showing 1.4Mbs from 3 different speedtest sites.

It would really suck to go back to Comcast... waaaaay higher cost and OUTDATED guide, but super fast internet.

jhy1978 · ‎03-14-2012

Do what I do, use Uverse for TV/Home phone and your cable co. for internet.

texasguy37 · ‎05-18-2009

jhy1978 wrote:

Do what I do, use Uverse for TV/Home phone and your cable co. for internet.

Why?

texasguy37 · ‎05-18-2009

edgeh2o wrote:

Well it looks like DirecTV is out for me There are just too many buildings/trees from where the tripod would have to be on my balcony, not to mention my balcony points West.

So I either keep Uverse or go back to Comcast. And lately I've been having issues with Uverse internet. It went out 3 times the other night, and today and yesterday, I can't even install an update to play Tribes Ascend. It is going ridiculously slow and says 6 hours left, whereas Comcast would have finished within minutes. I just speedtested myself and I'm showing 1.4Mbs from 3 different speedtest sites.

It would really suck to go back to Comcast... waaaaay higher cost and OUTDATED guide, but super fast internet.

What issues are you having with U-verse internet?

Are you having the same issues with both wired and wireless connections?

Which U-verse internet package do you have?

edgeh2o · ‎07-30-2012

Currently the 12Mpbs speed. Went out 3x the other night, and the next day I couldn't update Tribes Ascend on the wired connection, would just hang at 8%, left it for an hour and it started going again but never finished, said it would take 10+ hours in the end. I did speedtests at the same time to see why it was going so slow, and got results of 1Mbps-2Mbps for downspeed. Pretty unnaceptable... I've done the same update with Comcast and it took only minutes

texasguy37 · ‎05-18-2009

So it is a wired internet connection that is disconnecting? By disconnecting, do you mean that you are unable to access any web pages?

What O/S is on your computer?

If you have more than one PC, are you having the same issues on all machines?

What results do you get running speed tests at the following sites?

http://www.speedtest.net/

http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/

jhy1978 · ‎03-14-2012

Because Uverse internet speeds are a joke. Highest I can get is 14megs, with Charter I get 100megs. So I use uverse for tv and phone and use Charter for internet

texasguy37 · ‎05-18-2009

jhy1978 wrote:

Because Uverse internet speeds are a joke. Highest I can get is 14megs, with Charter I get 100megs. So I use uverse for tv and phone and use Charter for internet

What do you comments have to do with the issue being posted by the OP?

I have the Max internet package (12/1.5) which more than meets my needs. Not everyone has the need for a 100 mbps internet package.

edgeh2o · ‎07-30-2012

Wired connection wouldn't update Tribes Ascend, was going to take all day.

Wireless connection couldn't load a webpage for about 20 minutes during this time.

Windows 7 64bit

Yes, the connection problem was on all machines.

When I did the speedtests on those sites, I was getting between 1-2Mbps.

^^^^This is all in regards to the other night, not right now

Since I first got Uverse, I could tell webpages weren't as snappy as Comcast. I just called this morning and upgraded to the 18Mbps speed, and I can feel webpages load faster, seems about as fast as Comcast was now. Hopefully I won't have anymore connection problems like I did that one night.

Now all I wish was that Uverse would give customers 2 options, multiple streams at lower bitrate, or 1-2 streams at high bitrate.

Also, I watched a couple VOD movie the other night from Encore or Starz, can't remember, and the movie was juddery/skipping when the camera would pan. Wasn't noticeable when the shot was still or with small movements.