HD PICTURE RUNNING DOLBY DIGITAL 5.1 OPTICAL OUTPUT WITH AUDO DROPOUTS

[MrbWolf21]

IS ANY BODY OUT THERE HAVING ONE SECOND AUDIO DROP OUTS USING MOTOROLA DVR / SET TOP BOXES?

IN THIS CASE IT IS ONLY HAPPENING ON HD CHANNELS RUNNING HDMI VIDEO OUTPUT AND AUDIO OPTICAL OUTPUT.

WOULD LOVE SOME FEEDBACK

Message Edited by MrbWolf21 on 05-19-2008 01:12 PM

Message Edited by MrbWolf21 on 05-19-2008 02:00 PM

Message Edited by MrbWolf21 on 05-19-2008 02:15 PM

Message Edited by MrbWolf21 on 05-19-2008 02:34 PM

[RCSMG ACE - Master]

I believe that issue has been covered in this thread.

[nesto1]

I am not running HDMI, but on my components + Opt audio, the only channel I have an issue with is CW HD where on soem shows I get intermitent audio loss.

[RCSMG ACE - Master]

Here is another thread with audio issues with suggestions.

[MrbWolf21]

THIS IS NOT AN ANSWER. ANY BODY WHO KNOWS ABOUT HI-DEF / DOLBY 5.1 BROADCAST WOULD BE EXPECTED TO KNOW ABOUT THE OPTICAL OUT.

Message Edited by MrbWolf21 on 05-19-2008 01:36 PM

[hd_rydr]

wolf21

definitely a problem with the optical audio output, going to a receiver. sound will drop off every few seconds. i have talked to a couple of u-verse techs, and they say it won't be fixed until the next microsoft update to the operating system 1.6.3 scheduled for early '09...unfortunately, the optical output  is the only way to get 5.1 sound...

hd-rydr

[jmmarton]

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hd_rydr wrote:

wolf21

definitely a problem with the optical audio output, going to a receiver. sound will drop off every few seconds. i have talked to a couple of u-verse techs, and they say it won't be fixed until the next microsoft update to the operating system 1.6.3 scheduled for early '09...unfortunately, the optical output  is the only way to get 5.1 sound...

hd-rydr

---

I'm using optical out from my U-verse DVR and have no problems.

Joe

[MrbWolf21]

HI,

 I HAVE TALKED WITH DOLBY IN LA, CA AND WE BOTH AGREE THAT IT IS THE CHIP SETS ON THE MOTOROLA DVR / SET TOP BOXES. THE MICROSOFT CE OS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE PROBLEM.

WHEN I RECORD TO THE DVR WHICH I ONLY RECORD HI-DEF, IT RECORDS THE DROP OUTS.

WHICH WILL ALWAYS PLAY BACK IN THE SAME PLACE.

THE ODD THING IS IF YOU USE THE LIVE PLAY BACK FUNTION WHEN YOU HERE A DROP OUT WHEN VIEWING LIVE HI-DEF IT WILL NOT PLAY IT BACK WHERE YOU HAD JUST HEARD IT.

CAN YOU TELL ME WHAT CITY AND STATE YOU ARE IN?

 I AM LOGGING EVERYTHING WITH A TIER 2 OPERATION MANAGER WHICH IS TOTALY AWARE OF THIS PROBLEM. AT&T HAS CONFIRMED THAT IT IS HAPPENING.

WHEN THEY RELEASE THE NEW CISCO BOXES THEY HOPE THAT THIS WILL FIX THE PROBLEM.

THANKS

[robfromca]

I'm running component video out and optical audio out to my receiver. I get brief drop outs when the stream is dolby digital 5.1. 2 channel stereo streams seem to be fine, although I'm not 100% positive about that (not a big enough sample set really). Sometimes it will be fine for 30-40 minutes, then they'll happen frequently for a few minutes, then go away for a while. Sometimes they are pretty steady.

They are also are very fast dropouts; it's almost not even a full drop out, just a total collapse of the sound field, like maybe I'm still getting center channel (although that could be psychoacoustics kicking in).

At any rate, totally annoying, and everyone in the room notices when it happens. 

Update: Folsom, CA (near Sacramento), just installed the service about a month ago. 

Message Edited by robfromca on 05-20-2008 01:25 PM

Message Edited by robfromca on 05-20-2008 01:25 PM

[MrbWolf21]

HI,

IT IS THE MOTOROLA DVR / SET TOP BOXES.

IT WILL RECORD TO THE DVR.

THE ONE THING THAT IS VERY STRANGE IS WHEN YOU ARE WATCHING A HI-DEF CAHNNEL AND YOU HERE A DROP OUT AND THEN USE THE LIVE PLAY BACK AND WATCH THE SAME VIDEO THAT HAS JUST DROP OUT IT WILL NOT BE THERE.

COULD YOU TELL ME WHAT CITY AND STATE YOU ARE IN BECAUSE I AM REPORTING ALL CITIES AND STATES THAT THIS IS HAPPENING IN TO A TIER 2 OPERATIONS MANAGER WHO I AM WORKING WITH. WE WILL SOON BE DEALING WITH R & D PEOPLE TO SEE IF WE CAN FIX PROBLEM. I BELEIVE THAT THE ONLY WAY THAT THIS WILL HAPPEN IS WHEN AT&T CHANGES TO CISCO BOXES.

THANKS,

MRBWOLF

[randyl]

cisco boxes are out now in new markets  fyi

guess we will be hearing about the fix or not from someone with a cisco ??

maybe have a tech come out and swap u out for a cisco ???

all sorts of rumor floating around about cisco verus moto  etc and whdvr etc

if i recall correctly i think koolkid stated the cisco and motorla have the smae chip set ????

that has been awhile and maybe dayed info now >>///

dunno

randy

ps no audio drops in spring tx on optical cable to a harmon kardon   here.. (5.1)  least family says lol

[MrbWolf21]

CISCO IS IN CHICAGO AND ATLANTA SOON TO BE IN HOUSTON I BELIEVE.

STILL DO NOT KNOW ABOUT CISCO CHIPSET YET. IF CISCO HAS SAME CHIPSET I DO NOT THINK DOLBY WILL BE HAPPY.

CANNOT GET CISCO IN MO AT THIS TIME.

MIGHT GET TO TEST ONE THOUGH MAYBE HA HA HA!!!

WHAT BOX ARE YOU RUNNING?

MRBWOLF

[randyl]

same motorola since july !!

[jmmarton]

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MrbWolf21 wrote:

CISCO IS IN CHICAGO AND ATLANTA SOON TO BE IN HOUSTON I BELIEVE.

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I'm in Chicago and I've got a Motorola box.

Joe

[jmmarton]

---

MrbWolf21 wrote:

 I HAVE TALKED WITH DOLBY IN LA, CA AND WE BOTH AGREE THAT IT IS THE CHIP SETS ON THE MOTOROLA DVR / SET TOP BOXES. THE MICROSOFT CE OS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE PROBLEM.

WHEN I RECORD TO THE DVR WHICH I ONLY RECORD HI-DEF, IT RECORDS THE DROP OUTS.

WHICH WILL ALWAYS PLAY BACK IN THE SAME PLACE.

THE ODD THING IS IF YOU USE THE LIVE PLAY BACK FUNTION WHEN YOU HERE A DROP OUT WHEN VIEWING LIVE HI-DEF IT WILL NOT PLAY IT BACK WHERE YOU HAD JUST HEARD IT.

---

I've not noticed any audio dropouts with either 5.1 or just plain 2 channel audio.  This is with an optical out from the Motorola DVR to a Sony receiver.  Chicago market here.

Joe

[MarkShadid]

I was blaming Windows CE because I thought the chipsets were the same in both the Motorola and the Cisco.

[dohspc]

I still have the audio dropouts sporadically using optical. Using rca or hdmi for sound is not in the cards as I want 5.1 on HDTV so I will deal with it for now. Funny thing is I have tried two Sony receivers and one does not have the problem. The one that has the random one second dropouts is an older 6.1 unit (about 4 years old) STR-DE985. I have tried a new Sony 7.1 receiver, the STR-DG720 for about a week and had no dropouts on optical.  Now it may have something to do with older receivers and how they are handling the signal from this DVR? That is no excuse for it to happen but just thought someone would like to know this info.

[mmillerr]

We need a definitive answer from ATT on the audio dropout issue.  There are 5 pages on U-talk alone discussing this issue and many many more on various other forums.  Lots of speculation and theories even some supposed acknowledgements from unnamed Tier 2 techs that it it a widely known issue with the Windows CE software with a projected 2009 s/w upgrade to fix the issue.  One thing I have not seen is an official post from ATT with a fix of ANY sort for this wide spread issue popping up in ALL the service areas for Uverse. 

My service was just installed on 9/13 and the audio dropout started almost immediately (after the installer left of course).  As I type this there's an ATT tech standing in front of the replacement box waiting for it to be activated (30 minutes and counting on hold waiting for the box to get through the system) I know he's just following the 'company line' but I'm fairly sure from the other posts here that it's a waste of BOTH our time.

Please, please please give us the truth or pass this along to someone who's willing and able to address this question and at least give us some reason to hope that this issue is going to be corrected and an ETA for the same.

Mark

Canal Winchester(Columbus) OH

My new box activation just "went OMA"  with a 2-3 hour estimate for activation.  I'm really beginning to wonder if DTV's occasional 'searching for signal' messages during bad weather were really that big a deal.  At least then I had HDTV and uninterrupted DD 5.1 sound without the hiccups.  Luckily I just suspended service and can restore it at no extra cost with just a phone call if I don't see some light at the end of the U-verse tunnel.

Maybe if enough of us speak up on this thread we can at least get some answers?????

Message Edited by mmillerr on 09-17-2008 03:41 PM

Message Edited by mmillerr on 09-25-2008 10:38 AM

[showtime48 ACE - Guru]

well mark the chances of hearing from att on this peer to peer forum are very very slim. so what does that leave you for options?...

[budk0yip]

I read / heard someplace that:

• A rev C box may be a fix for this.  If so, how do you tell what rev your box is?
• AT&T is planning on putting together a group to do nothing but replace all the Motorola stbs with Cisco and this would slow the installs so they could replace all the Motorola boxes

[MrbWolf21]

I started this thread.

The optical audio dropouts will NOT be fixed untill maybe first quarter of 2009.

The email I got from AT&T tier 2 I will paste below.

The new THDVR software for TV2 client is v1.6.1 this version makes THDVR work but does NOT FIX the audio problem.

Microsoft says v1.6.3 will fix the problem (see email below).

In addition I brought my Dish account back on line with HD an A/B it against U-verse. The video blew U-verse away and the 5.1 works perfectly.

Also in the email is a work-a-round but it sucks you will only get at best Dolby Pro Logic not 5.1 in that configuration.

EMAIL:

received a email response from the engineering group regarding your current issue.

This is the Microsoft response to the open trouble ticket:

Issue Descriptions

1) Optical audio has sporadic 1/2 to 2 seconds dropouts (no digital stream

detected) as often as 2-3 times per minute while watching live TV on an HD

channel.

2) System sound effects disable Dolby Digital Surround Sound when a sound is

heard while browsing the menu and watching HD TV channels. The Dolby

Digital is changed to PCM 48k.

Issue Identification

1) The customer reports audio dropouts and is using an optical audio cable for

the connection from the STB.

2) The customer reports Dolby Digital surround sound changing to PCM 48k

when browsing the menu or guide where a system sound is generated.

Resolution Status

Both problems are scheduled to be resolved in the 1.6.3 Microsoft client release,

targeted for early 2009.

Workarounds

1) Audio Dropouts

• If the issue is on the DVR STB, the customer can pause live TV for

several seconds and then press play to resume watching the program.

The issues will not be observed when watching recorded TV or TV that

has been paused and is a few seconds behind the live stream.

• If the issue is observed on a non-DVR STB, the customer should

change to composite audio (left/right RCA) cables* for the audio

connection to the STB. This workaround is also an alternative for DVR

STBs.

So It looks like no resolution until the end of the year. The Cisco box uses the same Microsoft client, so the issue is not resolved by switching from the Motorola to the Cisco DVR.   

Good Luck All

[parkdoob]

The email is encouraging, as it actually acknowledges (and even somewhat explains, in part) the issues I've been experiencing.  Although for the record, I should say that I definitely experience audio dropouts when watching recorded TV as well, not just live TV (given that this is specific to the TOSlink, this would seem to make sense).

[MrbWolf21]

Parkdoob,

You will experience dropouts from recorded material as it is playing back with the the TV2 client. If you backup in the recorded

program the dropout will not happen in the same place and may not happen again for a while or at all durring the reamining program. So the dropouts are not recorded.

[jimfitzgerald]

I'm getting U-Verse on 10/14.  If I experience this problem, U-Verse is gone and Charter stays.  Why would anyone put up with this?

[jimfitzgerald]

How about using HDMI from the DVR to your sound system?  Is this drop out only a problem with optical?  How many HDMI outputs does the DVR have?

[MrbWolf21]

Jimfitzgerald,

HDMI out of DVR (only one output) will work with out dropouts.

But, you only get two channels of audio down it which means you do not get 5.1.

The DVR has RGB as well as HDMI but you can only use one.

The DVR has a sensor in the video output so you can only use one at a time.

Go figure.

[jimfitzgerald]

Why only 2 channels of audio with HDMI.  I thought HDMI was as good as it gets for both audio and video.

EDIT:  I use HDMI from my Blu-ray to receiver and I get all kinds of sound.

Message Edited by jimfitzgerald on 10-05-2008 03:00 PM

[RCSMG ACE - Master]

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jimfitzgerald wrote:

Why only 2 channels of audio with HDMI.  I thought HDMI was as good as it gets for both audio and video.

There could be a handshake issue with the stb and the tv using hdmi, but there is a solution that has been quite effective in resolving this issue for a lot of people.  If you like you can coonect the optical out of the stb to your receiver and I think you will be pleased.  When you get your Uverse installed and you are experiencing any issues with your picture and or sound quality please let us know.  There are those using hdmi who don't have and never have had any issues at all.  It depends on the brand/type of telelvision you have.

EDIT:  I use HDMI from my Blu-ray to receiver and I get all kinds of sound.

Message Edited by jimfitzgerald on 10-05-2008 03:00 PM

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[jimfitzgerald]

I have a one year old Samsung 42 inch 1080p LCD.  I also have a one year old Onkyo SR805 receiver and a Sony S300 Blu-ray DVD.  Currently my DVD is connected HDMI to receive and HDMI from receiver to LCD.  My Charter cable stb is connected to the LCD via Dvi/HDMI for video and L/R for sound when using the tv speakers.  I also have optical from the Charter cable stb to the receiver for when I want to use the surround system for tv movies and concerts, etc.

I will not tolerate the audio dropping out I am reading about here.  So, I guess the optical will not be an option with U-Verse.  So, I am trying to ascertain if I can go HDMI from the U-Verse DVR to my Onkyo receiver and eliminate the sound dropping out.  Someone said yes, but the sound would only be two channel.  Is that correct?  If so, why?  That makes no sense to me.  I want to know the correct way to deal with this BEFORE the install so I set it up correctly and purchase the correct cables.

EDIT:  My Onkyo receiver has audio passthrough, so it will send the audio directly to the tv if I want to use the tv speakers for normal tv viewing.

Message Edited by jimfitzgerald on 10-05-2008 04:09 PM

[RCSMG ACE - Master]

If you like you can email your question to ATT directly.  I don't know how long it will be before you hear back from them but at least you will be posting the question to someone who can answer it.

https://emailus.sbc.com/ermsfp/emailus?service=external/HomeUverse