WHY DOES U-VERSE HD SUCK SO BAD??

[jack_bauer_24]

SO FRUSTRATING!! HD PICTURE QUALITY SUCKS!!  I JUST GOT MY U-VERSE INSTALLED LESS THAN A WEEK AGO; THAT SAME DAY I CALLED IN TO TECHNICAL SUPPORT TO SEE WHY MY HD QUALITY WAS SO BAD... A TECH CAME OUT THE NEXT DAY, SWITCHED OUT MY RECIEVER AND SWITCHED OUT MY HOOK UP FROM HDMI TO RGB.  STILL SAME THING.  TODAY SPENT AN HOUR ON THE PHONE WITH TECH SUPPORT WHILE THEY WERE RUNNING TESTS AND TRYING TO TWEAK MY SIGNAL A LITTLE BIT... STILL SAME THING.  ANOTHER TECH IS COMING OUT ON THURSDAY TO CHECK IT OUT... I NOTICED THERE WAS ANOTHER POST ON HERE ABOUT SIMILAR ISSUES... ANYONE FIND A FIX YET??  OR ANY SUGGESTIONS?? I THINK I'M GOING TO SWITCH BACK TO MY OTHER CABLE PROVIDER IF THIS CAN'T BE FIXED....

[mibrnsurg ACE - Geek]

http://utalk.att.com/utalk/board/message?board.id=Uverse_TV_Equipment&message.id=18758#M18758

Sat, Oct 17 - 6:30 AM ET 3:30 AM PTHDNet Test Patterns
Wonder how your home theatre is doing? Wish you had test patterns to help set it up? Well, HDNet

is here to help. This short program will help you get the most out of your home theatre setup by

providing you with the same professional test patterns HDNet uses to set their gear.

Happen to have good HD on my 42" Panasonic plasma.

Chris

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Please NO SD stretch-o-vision or 480 SD HD Channels
1-800-983-2811 to avoid Mr. Voice Recognition
YRMV IMHO Simply a U-verse user, nothing more

[cozdiver]

Well you probably got the $200-$300 deal when signing up and if so your first few months are free so

quit crying and give them a chance to fix it cause you are not paying for it. They seem to have got

it right with millions of others like me. It has been nearly flawless for over a year with the exception

of the wireless internet that could use an upgrade otherwise the tv service along with all the HD has

been excellent.

Message Edited by cozdiver on 10-14-2009 04:49 AM

Message Edited by cozdiver on 10-14-2009 04:50 AM

[shoe]

Must be your crappy TV because my service is perfect

[deck993]

I have had U-verse for a little over 2 months am in pretty much the same boat.  I reset all my controls on my 6 month old 52" Sharp 1080p LCD TV to factory presets and it helped slightly.  I bought a copy of Digital Video Essentials DVD and attempted calibration.  I followed the link above and attenpted adjusting using the HDNET test pattern, all without success.  I tried both HDMI and component cables, with and without my Bose 321 sound system attached using optical cables.  I called U-verse and they dispatched a technician the same day.  He sat on the floor flipping channels and asking question for about 15 minutes before deciding the problems were with the television rather than U-verse.  Since the TV is still under warranty I called Sharp and they are dispatching a technician who is scheduled for today to examine the set and determine if the problems are being caused by the TV or U-verse.

The terrible picture quality is most noticeable when there is movement on the screen, especially with football games and is more obvious on games broadcast on CBS and NBC.  When the U-verse technician arrived I didn't have any football taped on the DVR to show him, but I have since taped multiple football games as examples.  Interestingly enough, when I play any of the taped games from the DVR on any of the TV's the bad picture quality is the same whether it is the 1080p set, a 720p set, or 2 SD sets.  This leads me to believe the bad picture quality is coming from U-verse rather than the set.

If the Sharp technician tells me the set is fine I will be calling U-verse tier 2 support again and see if they can resolve the problems.  If not, I may have to go back to Brighthouse.  I really like the WHDVR, Mediashare, NFL Redzone, and sports multi-view, but I can't live with the poor picture quality.  I want a clear, sharp HD picture free of any artifacts or judder.

I am open to any suggestions from my peers. 

[shoe]

How many hertz is your set

[deck993]

Forgot to add: Set is 120hz. I am approximately 500' from the VRAD. Last time I looked at my stats I had virtually no uncorrected blocks in a 3 day period and something like 2-3000 corrected blocks.

[shoe]

So is mine and all I can say it that it is flawless

[KCRoyals]

Well, since the network is uniform, only 3 things vary, which will vary on every customer, which is:

1) Quality of Installation  (Installer Specific)

2) Home inside wiring  (Part of your home, not the TV Providers Network)

3) CPE  (Customer Provider Equipment, alot of people don't want to hear it, but you TV does effect the picture quality).

That being said, I am 1,800 Feet from the VRAD, and mine is crystal clear HD on all 4 of my HD TV's, I did have to play with the settings in the menu of each TV a little bit, but it is well worth the 1x adjustment. 

If you really want to get it to look better, there are websites mentioned on here that will give you recommended settings, for optimal viewing.  Or, if this thread was started by a competitor troll, nice try.

[CGI_1]

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shoe wrote:
Must be your crappy TV because my service is perfect

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Nice to have "Gateway Guides" on here such as yourself  to give out great info to those who have problems with the service.

Message Edited by CGI on 10-15-2009 01:19 AM

[klatu10]

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shoe wrote:
So is mine and all I can say it that it is flawless

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My picture as well is excellent. It rivals my two satalite services its that good.

[shoe]

I thought so

[paul416]

My hd reception is outstanding. I first got U-verse in Oct 2008 and since then the PQ has definitely improved. I live in suburban Chicago area.

[jack_bauer_24]

People like you make me laugh "cozdiver".  I don't care about the rebates or the cost of HD.  I'll pay extra for it if I have to... I signed up for U-Verse since I was told that due to it being fiber optic, the picture quality is going to be the best in comparison to any other provider out there.  It's not.  My internet is very fast, however like many others on this site, the hd quality goes to **bleep** mainly when there is fast movement...

Message Edited by jack_bauer_24 on 10-14-2009 09:03 AM

[jack_bauer_24]

For the people that are and are not having HD issues... Do any of you know if your setup is FTTN or FTTP??

[TreyMW]

PLEASE keep this courteous folks! 

Thanks!

[mibrnsurg ACE - Geek]

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jack_bauer_24 wrote:
For the people that are and are not having HD issues... Do any of you know if your setup is FTTN or FTTP??

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FTTN, cat5e from NID to RG, 510' from the VRAD, ethernet pactch cable to DVR, TH42PX80U 42"

Panasonic plasma, HDMI from the DVR, use 4 different picture setting on the TV for best PQ

during different programs/scenes.  I also make sure I sit 3 x diagonal measure (CNET, Amazon.com

and Kim Komando all call this the far option) viewing distance.

2d Edit:  Absolutely no problem w/sports movement including football, hockey, basketball or

Nascar Sprint Cup and Nationwide racing.  The only artifact I see is slight movement of backgrounds

due to less frequent refresh of that portion of the frame, as to football, slight movement of the grass,

generallly less so on ESPN/ABC though.

Chris

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Please NO SD stretch-o-vision or 480 SD HD Channels
1-800-983-2811 to avoid Mr. Voice Recognition
YRMV IMHO Simply a U-verse user, nothing more

Message Edited by mibrnsurg on 10-14-2009 12:57 PM

Message Edited by mibrnsurg on 10-14-2009 01:08 PM

[KCRoyals]

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jack_bauer_24 wrote:
For the people that are and are not having HD issues... Do any of you know if your setup is FTTN or FTTP??

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FTTN, used existing CoAx on all TV's, the installer just cleaned up the ends on both sides, 5 STB's (2 HDMI / 3 Componet Connections) , 4 HD TV's, 1 Std Def. Currently enrolled in U400 w/HD technology Fee TV Package, Pro HSI Package, & U-Voice Telephone Package.

I beleive, from my understanding there is a small portion of the Dallas MetroPlex, i.e. a few neighborhoods/subdivisions, are actually FTTP.  Most U-Verse customers are FTTN. 

[PowerCycle]

In old subs its mostly FTTN. My neighborhood was mostly comcast before until U-verse rolled in, so UV just used the existing coax left by comcast. But I've heard in new subs with pricey real estates, the developers pre-wired every house for fiber.

[camp80]

Mine is FTTN, Coax to different receivers. 1 HDTV with Surround sound 5.1 system. 42" Vizio 75mhz Hooked up via component cables and optical out for sound. Other 2 TV's reg CRT screen. My HD quality until I configured my system with Home Theater Existential, was average to poor. After I configured the screen my HD quality is great. I had Direct TV prior. HDMI was working but as other have posted here the black washout did not give me the picture quality that component do. Now that being said I do get some artifact with some fast moving sports, but I know that it is my set with the 75mhz refresh rate. I've seen U-Verse on sets with 120, and 240 refresh rates and they do not have the same.  Improvements are always nice and I'm waiting for the money to buy a new TV or changes in MPEG 4 codac's. I'm happy with what I have.

[cozdiver]

You may want to go here and look for your model and see if has any known issues.

I had a Samsung DLP and returned it within 30 days after reading in this forum it had

alot of issues. Sure enough it took a crap a few weeks after I bought it and I took it back for

an LCD. 

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?s=47caa91067ea33937ca69afa0162a20b&f=9

[Archimedes_1]

Have you checked the RGB settings on your TV?  I had to change mine in the menu for the TV itself to "Full" and that made the colors and detail in the dark areas a lot better. 

Besides that though, I don't think the quality is as good as I got with my cable provider which I had prior to this.  The image doesn't have that pop that it had before, it doesn't look as life-like.  I dropped my cable provider though because they hardly had any HD channels and no NFL network, plus others and the DVR they had was obsolete.  Uverse has lots of great features, all it needs is better PQ and then it will be perfect. 

Also Uverse needs to add free HD on-demand.  This is one thing my cable provider had that Uverse doesn't.

Message Edited by Archimedes on 10-15-2009 11:17 PM

[Garcapone]

it is compressed my friend...just the facts Jack

[vicviper]

Garcapone is right I'm afraid. Artifacting and crappy quality are simply part of the Uverse signal. They compress the hell out of it, and as a result it looks like crap. I too switched from Comcast, and when they turned it on for me I was extremely disappointed in the picture quality. Comcast is now pointing this out in their advertisements....and it is sadly the truth. I hate it because aside from the terrible quality, I love all of the features of Uverse. The internet speed is great and consistent, the channel selection is awesome. I just wish wish wish it looked better.

It's almost 2010 for crying out loud.....I feel like we're far enough into the future that crappy picture quality should be a thing of the past.

[Roosh]

Same story here.  Just switched from Comcast to AT&T U-Verse and boy do I have buyers remorse!  The HD picture is OK, until you watch a football game.  Any motion whatsoever pixelates and looks terrible.  If I add to that the audio drop outs that occur every 2-10 minutes over my digital surround sound, it is pretty pathetic.  I hate the thought of going back to Comcast, though.  The picture quality was much better, but I like U-verse functionality and the Comcast On Demand never worked.  Maybe I will try Direct TV as a last resort...

Does anyone know if they ever plan to improve the quality or should I just switch now?

[mibrnsurg ACE - Geek]

Sorry you can't get Picture Quality as good as mine, have to say I've seen improvement in the HD

quality in the 16 months I've had Uverse.   My message #17 above details my set-up and how I get

that good PQ.  Don't know if you're on coax or have an LCD w/less than 120hz motion help as to

possible reasons you have poor HD PQ.

Chris

---

Please NO SD stretch-o-vision or 480 SD HD Channels
1-800-983-2811 to avoid Mr. Voice Recognition
YRMV IMHO Simply a U-verse user, nothing more

[hpmsrm]

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deck993 wrote:
Forgot to add: Set is 120hz. I am approximately 500' from the VRAD. Last time I looked at my stats I had virtually no uncorrected blocks in a 3 day period and something like 2-3000 corrected blocks.

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Well.....we are 2,100 feet of wire from our VRAD.....our corrected blocks are well over 1 billion over a 10 day period.  Uncorrected blocks are less tha 75 over the same period.  We have sharp, crystal clear HD with no jittters....no pixelation....no drop-outs....etc.  Our TV is a Sony 55" SXRD.  We've had some problems with the TV....not related to picture quality....but the UV HD service is great.

If we had your problems we would be constantly pestering the techs and, yes, even checking out the TV set.  But if you had good HD with your other provider you should be getting similar quality service from UV.  So stay after them.

[hpmsrm]

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vicviper wrote:
Garcapone is right I'm afraid. Artifacting and crappy quality are simply part of the Uverse signal. They compress the hell out of it, and as a result it looks like crap. I too switched from Comcast, and when they turned it on for me I was extremely disappointed in the picture quality. Comcast is now pointing this out in their advertisements....and it is sadly the truth. I hate it because aside from the terrible quality, I love all of the features of Uverse. The internet speed is great and consistent, the channel selection is awesome. I just wish wish wish it looked better.

It's almost 2010 for crying out loud.....I feel like we're far enough into the future that crappy picture quality should be a thing of the past.

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We came from comcast too and BELIEVE ME if they are advertising better HD picture quality they don't have a leg to stand on.....at least not based on our experience.   In our neighborhood Comcast was only tolerated because it was the only service available.  Now nearly all of us have converted to U-verse and those that have not are mostly satellite service subscriber.   In our house....their HD PQ did not come close to the picture we get from UV.  So your problem must be a local one....either inside your residence or external.  We don't have those problems so to generalize and say that UV picture is crappy is not a fair statement.....except in your location.

[Datalyss]

Roosh - What are you using for your digital surround sound? For best audio quality there is an Optical Audio output on the back of the DVR as well as regular STB's. If you don't then there is your reason for your audio dropping. Secondly pretty much nearly all the people and or install's I've done the Uverse HD is better than Comcast's HD. Bare in mind everything depends on what your settings are on the TV as well as the cables used. Now the more money you spend on an HDMI cable doesn't always guarantee quality. I've compared to a customer his $100 HDMI cable verses our generic HDMI - there was no difference. There are some with faster hz ratings that do work better however I generally use component most of the time which on some tvs do give clearer picture. As far as pixilation is it on a specific channel, HD channels only, or HD and standard digital channels? We need more info than just rants on " it sucks and I'm going back" statements. Remember everyone has horror stories of any TV service as well as good ones. Not one is perfect.

[Archimedes_1]

I'm keeping U-verse because I get a lot more channels then I ever did with Charter, plus the U-verse guide and DVR is light years ahead of what Charter had, but I do miss the better PQ I got from Charter.  Hopefully ATT will be able to improve the technology so they can use less compression and get that pop my HD used to have.  Another thing ATT needs to add is Cartoon Channel HD, don't charge me extra for Smithsonian and give me free HBO, Starz, etc, HD on-demand, Charter used to offer that.