Poor picture quality/interference

[jaynemesis]

Hi,

I re ently moved into a new house just before Xmas. Prior to that we got virgin installed, but did not set up our network and tv's until we moved in.

The Internet is working OK (not perfect, speed tests seem OK, but it seems to have some latency loading websites etc).

My main issue is with TV's. We got a brand new 65" 4K OLED TV for our living room and use our older 4k TV in the kitchen and both seem to suffer from serious picture quality issues despite all efforts in playing with TV settings, different cables, etc. It essentially looks like we're watching 1080p instead of 4k content, or 720p instead of 1080 when watching HD content, with a constant grainy overlay on the picture.

I have no idea what could be causing the problem. We had Virgin at our old house and never had these issues. Is it possible the installers did something wrong when wiring them? Is there any easy method for me to narrow down what could be causing the problem?

It's the same for streaming media and TV, and we already have a cat6 cable to both boxes.

The hub is set to modem only mode as I use a ubiquiti setup for my network.

[japitts]

I've moved your post to the TV board, but I've made an educated guess as to which box you have. Can you check on this page whether you have a V6 or a 360 - the boxes are the same hardware but completely different software so the answer to your conundrum might well differ a tad.

You've mentioned that the issue affects streaming, OnDemand as well as live TV, so it does sound like we're looking at a video output issue here. By means of info - live TV channels don't use the internet, your router is only used for streaming & OnDemand, but I don't think your 'net connection has anything to do with this.

If you could confirm your box type, that would be an excellent start - also perhaps elaborate on what the "picture quality issue" is. Maybe a photo or video added to this thread, if you're able, would also help... a picture tells a thousand words etc.

[Zak_M]

Good morning @jaynemesis, 

Welcome to the forums and thank you for taking the time to post. 

I am sorry to hear that you have been having some issues with your TV services.

Have you managed to follow the above advise from Japitts? 

looking forward to hearing from you soon. 

Zak_M

[jaynemesis]

Yes,

I have a 360 box. Didn't get a chance to take a photo yet, but I will grab one soon. It's essentially like a static effect, lots of dots all over the screen, they are especially visible during lighter scenes but are always there. To me it seems like it could be some type of interference noise. I've tried 3 different HDMI cables in all different ports to the TV and with a different TV and get the same problem. I've also tried with another box in a different room and had the same problem.


For an image example while you wait for me to take one, imagine this kind of static: https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fgetwallpapers.com%2Fwallpaper%2Ffull%2F8... But instead of being black/white, it's full colour and the picture is still displayed behind it. The effect is that a 4K image looks more like 1080p, it's grainy and loses any detail from the content.

I'm wondering if maybe it has something to do with the plug that goes into the data cables where they all start to split out to other boxes, since that seems like an obvious potential introduction of interference?

[japitts]

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@jaynemesis wrote:

I'm wondering if maybe it has something to do with the plug that goes into the data cables where they all start to split out to other boxes, since that seems like an obvious potential introduction of interference?

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Can you take a picture of the plug that you're referring to? From my interpretation of "split out to other boxes", you're referring to the incoming co-ax cable - and if this is affecting different video sources (i.e. live TV & streaming), then I have doubts that's the cause.

My money is on an HDMI issue, from what I've read here. Is this a new box, and has it ever worked before?

[Kain_W]

Hi jaynemesis, 

Thanks for posting and welcome to the community!

From checking the account I can't see any particular stats that would directly attribute to the issue.

It seems from what you're describing is a slight pixelation issue from time to time on your screen.

Have you checked to see whether the coax cables are securely fastened at all? Plus is the pixelation present on all resolutions you have tried?

Thanks,

[jaynemesis]

Hi,

I checked the connections here and into the various tv boxes, I think they are all secure, but honestly I don't really know what I'm checking with coax, never really used them myself before, I just trusted the installers.

The pixelation issue as you called it is present 90% of the time (maybe 100% but it's just harder to notice on some content). It happens regardless of resolution.

Here's a few photos of the plug and where the coax cables split. Let me know if you have questions.

2/1 splitter: Black cable goes to exterior virgin wall box, white cable to plug, single white cable to 5 splitterPlug (goes into the 2/1 splitter)5 splitter from top to bottom: black cable goes outside house to kitchen tv box, white cable to living room tv box (same room), white cable to 2/1 splitter, black cable goes outside to virgin modem (which is connected to ubiquiti for routing/networking), black cable goes outside to bedroom tv boxFull setup (ignore other white cable in the corner, it's not plugged into anything.

[roy247]

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@jaynemesis wrote:

Hi,

I checked the connections here and into the various tv boxes, I think they are all secure, but honestly I don't really know what I'm checking with coax, never really used them myself before, I just trusted the installers.

The pixelation issue as you called it is present 90% of the time (maybe 100% but it's just harder to notice on some content). It happens regardless of resolution.

Here's a few photos of the plug and where the coax cables split. Let me know if you have questions.

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Who were the installers that you trusted, it couldn't have been Virgin ?

[japitts]

I asked in post-5 above, but I don't see an answer as yet..

Is this pixellation on live TV? Streaming services? OnDemand?

All these 3 sources are brought into your box and handled differently - so for example, a signal fault would often cause picture breakup on live TV but would have no impact on VoD services. An internet problem would cause issues with VoD but live TV would be unaffected.

[jaynemesis]

Of course it was Virgin I trusted. They did a great job at my previous house.