Sound and video quality on Tivo box

[MikeNewman78]

As you do not have a category for the Tivo box, I have put my question here.

Why is the sound level so badly controlled.  Using the Tivo box, I find the sound levels vary dramatically between channels.  For example, if I have a comfortable sound level on BBC 1, why is it so low when I switch to BBC 2.  The variation on all channels is totally unacceptable.  The lowest level being in GBNews - channel 626.  On a number of channels, the coding appears to be all screwed up producing a blocky picture of varying colours.

Do not try to tell that I am doing something wrong.  I worked in the industry for most of my life and it stinks of Virgin Media just not being interested in providing a decent service.

[newapollo]

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@MikeNewman78 wrote:

On a number of channels, the coding appears to be all screwed up producing a blocky picture of varying colours.

Do not try to tell that I am doing something wrong.  I worked in the industry for most of my life and it stinks of Virgin Media just not being interested in providing a decent service.

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Have you tried reseating the HDMI cable, or trying a different HDMI cable/port?

Have you tried rebooting the TIVO? If so does this clear up the picture issue?

Which channels are affected by the blocky picture of varying colours?

Please be specific as in the channel names and if they are in SD or HD as this may help determine if it's due to either a signal fault or a box issue. 

[MikeNewman78]

I cannot remember all of the channels that are going blocky but I do remember that one of them is 5 USA - channel 153.  This problem is not always as bad as it is now and is often clear.  It has been worse than usual over the last week.

As for the sound comment, I think that trying to re-seat the HDMI cable is wrong.  I have changed the HDMI cable and it is still exactly the same.  It is always the same channels that produce the same results with the volume settings.  These are not small variations.  Why, when I.am watching BBC 1 (Channel101) with the volume on my TV screen showing a level of 10, I have a comfortable audio level and if I then use my remote to select channel 626 (GB News), I need to wind the volume up to about 25?  If I then immediately change back to BBC1, I have to wind the volume back down to 10.

I then get fed up with Virgin Media and change to Freeview satellite and all the channels are clear and the volume is the same across all channels.

I am seriously thinking of telling Virgin where to stick their TV service.  The only reason that I have not done this before is that my wife watches a few of the channels that are not on Freeview.  These being Gold, Alibi and TCM.  What a pity the Virgin TV feeds are not as good as the telephone and internet services.

If I had my way, the TV would land up at the rubbish dump where it belongs.

[newapollo]

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@MikeNewman78 wrote:

I cannot remember all of the channels that are going blocky but I do remember that one of them is 5 USA - channel 153.  

As for the sound comment, I think that trying to re-seat the HDMI cable is wrong.  I have changed the HDMI cable and it is still exactly the same. 

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I was referring to re-seating or changing the HDMI in case that was causing the blocking on the pictures.

I asked about which channels as VM channels are carried in groups or muxes, unrelated to their EPG positiion, rather like Freeview channels. This was to try and determine if it was a box fault, HDMI cable fault, or signal issue.

The picture below shows which other channels are carried on the same mux as 5 USA 

Please check those channels and if they are same it shows a signal issue, which will help VM faults deal with the blocky pictures.

As to sound levels, I've found they vary channel by channel, also when advert breaks come on, on Freeview, Sky and VM

[MikeNewman78]

I think that I will just tell Virgin where to stuff it.  It will be less traumatic than dealing with people who do not work for Virgin.

I know that the audio levels are dropped just before advert breaks and then your ears are  blast to bits with the adds.  This is just another disgusting practice which is why I sit with the remote firmly clutched in my paw to mute the garbage that the ads spew out    I am well aware that Virgin only carries the programs and does not control the studio sound variations with adverts.  One thing I would expect is that Virgin are satisfied that the input levels to their distribution network are all generally the same.  This does not appear to be the case.

As for your comment about how the channels are grouped in the MUX requires a bit of investigation on my part and I am not sure if it is freely available.  I know how they work as I worked in the electronics industry for over 50 years before I retired in 2012.  Even if I did have this info there is very little that I can do about at the consumer end of the cable.  It might be signal levels but without the correct equipment, I cannot determine what the level is and would not now what it should be.  So all I could do is randomly fiddle with attenuators.  Not very scientific!  In any case, why should the levels change randomly after many years of service?   In general we use a TV guide to see what [REMOVED] is being pumped out by the network providing the channel and look for the Virgin or Freesat channel number..

Having said all of that, I might try to contact Virgin directly but doubt if I will get any sense.  Things have become so bad that they will probably try to blame it on Covid.

This case is no longer of any use to me.  It is closed without satisfaction.

[MOD EDIT: Inappropriate language removed, please review the Forum Guidelines]

[japitts]

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@MikeNewman78 wrote:

I think that I will just tell Virgin where to stuff it.  It will be less traumatic than dealing with people who do not work for Virgin.

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I'm not going to respond or comment on any of your other points as I'd largely be reinforcing advice already given, but it's only fair to point out a couple of things here.

This is primarily a user-community forum, where the first responders are very often other users - who spend spare time posting on these boards to assist other people and, in many cases, share particular expertise they may have. Staff do pick-up threads where peer-based support is either inappropriate or not resolving an issue, but that is the nature of community based forums such as this.