Yet another Comcast DVR question...

[SRUAlmn]

We just got our Comcast DVR on Monday, and we hooked it up ourselves (I am almost positive that it is connected correctly.) We do not have a HDTV, but they gave us a HDTV DVR box. Our TV is slightly fuzzier than normal, but not bad. It looks almost as if you have on 3D glasses and are watching something that is not in 3D, but only sometimes. Also, every time we change the channel there is a 1 second gray screen and then the channel changes. We have called Comcast and they said it should not matter if we have a HDTV or not with a HDTV box. They said they don't know what the gray screen is. Everything else DVR wise is working fine. Anyone know what might be causing this? They told us to let it go for 2 days and then, if it was still a problem, we could take the box in and get a regular one, but I have things saved on there now and don't want to have to get a different one if it's not going to do any good.
Thanks

 

[bicker]

These are some of the reasons I went with Tivo. The Comcast DVR is okay, for being free, but the loss of viewing experience quality, as compared to Tivo, was too much for me to accept.

 

[Sandcass]

We have a DVR and have no problems with it. The screen looks perfect.

BTW ~ I LOVE MY DVR!!! How did we live w/o it all those years?

 

[SRUAlmn]

Ok, so we have two conflicting responses Anyone else know if this is normal?? BTW, it's not actually free. You just don't have to purchase the box.

 

[jennyl772003]

OK, not sure about the fuzziness, but the gray screen, I can maybe help you with.

Since you have a HD box, it is able to decode 480i, 480p, 720i, 720p & 1080i (maybe others as well, this is more DH thing)

Since you don't have HD (720's & 1080) you need to make sure in the setup these aren't chosen. What your box is doing is checking to see what type of signal to decode. There is a little bit of lag for that. Some boxes are worse then others.

I want to once again say this is more DH thing, so I may not be saying it right.

 

[puffkin]

Sorry, can't help with your issues.

We have the Comcast DVR HDTV box, however we have HDTV. We don't have any problems, the picture is crystal clear. Love the DVR, don't know how I lived without it. Best $9.95 we spend a month for the service.

 

[RAD]

There's two different reasons for the gray screen:

- If you're watching an analog channel, the box needs to convert the analog signal to an MPEG2 data stream so that you can records/pause/fast forward/rewind the program and start recording it to the harddrive (it's always recording to the harddrive.

- If you're watching a digital signal the DVR box acts a bit different then the non-DVR digital box (at least the Motorola's that Comcast uses on our system). On the non-DVR box it started to draw the screen while it's receiving the stream for your channel. On the DVR box it waits until it has the complete stream before it starts to display it.

As for the difference in picture quality, the digital channels should look the same on a DVR and non-DVR digital box since the converion to MPEG2 is done with high quality encoders. For the analog channels the DVR needs to do the conversion on the fly and it just doesn't do as good as a job and the hardware at the head end.

As I said, this is what I've seen on the boxes that I've had. You'll see the same type of operation with the set top boxes for satellite service. Hope that helps.

 

[SRUAlmn]

Thanks! Why couldn't Comcast have explained that to me?

So should we go get the box that's not HD, or just keep what we have? Will the non HD box still do the gray screen thing?

Also, for the settings that jennyl referred to, how do I check ours?

I agree, puffkin, best $10 we ever spent!!! I feel so FREEEEEEEEEEEE to live my life

 

[RAD]

Every Comcast system is a bit different so don't know for yours, but on our's the only DVR's that they have are one's that do HD, so if you want a DVR that's your only choice. I don't know if you've had a DVR before but once you've had one you won't know how you lived without it. Do you also know that the box has two tuners in it (assuming it's a Motorola 6412) so you can record one show while watching another one? There's also a way you can program one of the keys on the remote to cause it to skip forward 30 seconds (great for skipping commercials). Sorry, I don't remember the sequence of keys you need to press on the remote to program it, but you should be able to find it somewhere in this thread: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=464986 (be warned, it's very long).

 

[SRUAlmn]

Thanks! I know our Comcast has DVR boxes that aren't HD because when I called they said if we wanted one that wasn't to just come in and they would switch it out. I did know about being able to watch something and record something else. Thanks Also, I have been using the fast forward button to get through commercials when watching something. I noticed if you push it twice it forwards faster. I'll have to look through the book and see if I can find the 30 second button. That sounds great!

 

[Papa Deuce]

Thanks! Why couldn't Comcast have explained that to me?

So should we go get the box that's not HD, or just keep what we have? Will the non HD box still do the gray screen thing?

Also, for the settings that jennyl referred to, how do I check ours?

I agree, puffkin, best $10 we ever spent!!! I feel so FREEEEEEEEEEEE to live my life

I was told by Comacast that ALL the DVR boxes are HD.

 

[SRUAlmn]

I was told by Comacast that ALL the DVR boxes are HD.

That's so strange because they told us we could come and switch it out, and while we were there to get it orinigally, another guy was adding DVR and she asked if he needed the HD one.

 

[Papa Deuce]

That's so strange because they told us we could come and switch it out, and while we were there to get it orinigally, another guy was adding DVR and she asked if he needed the HD one.

I guess each part of the country may not all use the same boxes. I don't need HD for where I have my DVR but they made me take one. Who knows?

 

[SRUAlmn]

I guess each part of the country may not all use the same boxes. I don't need HD for where I have my DVR but they made me take one. Who knows?

And it hasn't affected your TV quality and you don't get the gray screen when flipping channels?? I wish they would just send someone out to look at it rather than continuing to tell me to bring it in and get a new box.

 

[Papa Deuce]

And it hasn't affected your TV quality and you don't get the gray screen when flipping channels?? I wish they would just send someone out to look at it rather than continuing to tell me to bring it in and get a new box.

Nope. No problems at all. Sorry.

 

[Sandcass]

I have never had Comcast ask me to come to them. In fact just today sombody came to replace a digital box for me simply because it was an older model. When we got the DVR put into the family room we kept the older digital box for our bedroom, but couldn't get it to work. I called Comcast yesterday to tell them and they had somebody at my door today.

I think you should insist that somebody come to your house. They're not cheap, and you should get what you pay for.

GOOD LUCK!