Pros and cons of cable cards?

[barnabas1969]

And this one, from February 18, 2012, Showtime HD, "Knowing":

have you been collecting screen shots of this for some time? You seem to have quite a few..lol. Wonder what is causing that, some sort of decoding issue of the content stream I would suppose but is it a problem with the tuner or CC?
newfiend~

Nope, these are all just from watching TV this evening. Would you like more??? I could probably collect at least 10 of them while watching an hour of CNN. And... each time I've checked, my signal strength on CNN has been between -1 and +1dB. SNR always hovers around 37dB.

If it's a decoding problem, it is in the Ceton tuner. This does not happen on my Hauppauge QAM tuners. Ceton has acknowledged and reproduced the issue. Erkotz posted this acknowledgement FIVE MONTHS AGO. I just want them to fix it. I have a very expensive whole-house DVR system that has glitches in the video stream that my cheap, crappy cable-company-supplied DVR never had. My signal strength is as close to 0dB as possible... and my SNR hovers around 37dB. This is NOT a signal strength/quality issue. Trust me, I've exhausted every other possibility. Ceton is the issue.

[newfiend]

Well I hope they get this sorted at some point. If they know about the issue hopefully they are working on it. (amoung other things) They have a lot going on behind closed doors I am sure, InfiniTV fixes firmware and driver related, The Q, Echo's, & InfiniTV 6... I would love to have a look at what we "don't know about" that is in the works.. Bet it would be interesting to say the least.
I don't doubt its the tuner causing the issue, I just hope that it can be fixed in firmware updates.
newfiend~

[crawfish]

I do have the black line/pixelation issue, it happens about every 30 seconds to 5 minutes on all forms of TV, but it doesnt really bother me all that much.

Just curious, but has anyone affected by these pixelation glitches or crashing tried an HD Homerun Prime?

[richard1980]

I've never seen anyone complain about this issue with either the HDHRP or the DCR-2650. I'm assuming those devices do not exhibit the issue. It was mentioned earlier that a firmware update brought about this pixelation issue. TBH, I can't remember if the issue existed when I first got the InfiniTV in August 2010, but I'm pretty sure it did not, so I'm inclined to think it was a firmware update. The solution seems simple to me....downgrade to the newest firmware before the issue started. But I don't know where to download the firmware. I know where the drivers are located, but not the firmware.

[Scallica]

Just curious, but has anyone affected by these pixelation glitches or crashing tried an HD Homerun Prime?

Good question. I have the HDHR Prime and it works beautifully.

[borntworide]

. However, if you record copy-protected shows, they can only be watched on the PC where they were recorded, or on any extender. So, I believe that extenders are your best bet.

I am following that it will work with the extender,s but why would it not work using another pc? Same network and opening files will not work?

I have to ask what does OP stand for? LOl Thanks

[adam1991]

but why would it not work using another pc?

Because DRM says so.

The extender is simply extending the single PC which has the rights to view the show. Another PC is another PC, and it doesn't have the rights to view the show. Think of it this way from the content provider's viewpoint: another PC is just like copying it across the internet to a friend across country. DRM exists to make it impossible for HIM to view the content, right? Your other PC in the other room is no different, according to the content owners and the DRM system they've established.

You're right--it would be nice if DRM somehow was able to know that "hey, it's in the same house on a LAN, and I'm streaming it not copying it..." MS has the solution to that, it's called softsled (extender software inside Windows itself), and it'll not likely ever see the light of day--most likely because realistically, you'd be able to extend your "network" to your friend across country without any problem, something that keeps the content owners up at night.

OP = original poster.

[richard1980]

To clarify something, an extender is just a remote user logged on to the host PC. Whatever you do through an extender, it's exactly the same as doing it on the host PC itself...including playing back copy protected content. All actions are occuring on the host PC, not the extender. The extender is basically just a box that receives the audio and video signal coming out of the computer.

When you try to stream copy protected content to another PC, the host PC isn't doing the playback. The client PC is doing the playback. With copy protected content, the PC that made the recording is the only PC that can play back the recording. So playback will fail on the client PC.

[WhatHappend]

TBH, I can't remember if the issue existed when I first got the InfiniTV in August 2010, but I'm pretty sure it did not, so I'm inclined to think it was a firmware update. The solution seems simple to me....downgrade to the newest firmware before the issue started. But I don't know where to download the firmware. I know where the drivers are located, but not the firmware.

Richard,

I wouldn't say anything is simple. Each FW rev fixed things that are very important to most uses. I for one could never use the original HW and FW versions that would prevent recording NFL football games. I don't remember any firmware that didn't have this pixelation issue. I reported this to Ceton pretty early on.

I would like to know the results of your experiments.

I have pretty much all Ceton FW's (beta and released) locally archived, if you want to try version prior to 1 year ago just PM me.

I will PM you and barnabas1969 the links to Ceton's site for most all FWs (on the other site because PMs here also prevent more than 3 links, why, why, why??).

The following limitation here prevent me from posting:

Your message contains too many URLs. The maximum number of URLs allowed is 3.

[STC]

Just curious, but has anyone affected by these pixelation glitches or crashing tried an HD Homerun Prime?

Good question. I have the HDHR Prime and it works beautifully.

And without wanting to launch a big firestorm here, my InfiniTV works beautifully.
My cable co marks everything copy free, and it seems this is a big factor. I also do not have a TA in the mix. YMMV.

[crawfish]

Just curious, but has anyone affected by these pixelation glitches or crashing tried an HD Homerun Prime?

Good question. I have the HDHR Prime and it works beautifully.

And without wanting to launch a big firestorm here, my InfiniTV works beautifully.
My cable co marks everything copy free, and it seems this is a big factor. I also do not have a TA in the mix. YMMV.

Which is partly why I asked if anyone has done the obvious experiment of substituting a different tuner. I don't know how you don't when you're getting these pixelation glitches every 5 minutes or 15 minutes as I've read, or you get these frequent crashes, and it goes on for months and months and months. It would drive me nuts, and I wouldn't be able to tolerate it.

[STC]

I don't have problems with mine, and wanted that side of the coin to be heard too

[crawfish]

I don't have problems with mine, and wanted that side of the coin to be heard too

I understood that.

[adam1991]

Just curious, but has anyone affected by these pixelation glitches or crashing tried an HD Homerun Prime?

Good question. I have the HDHR Prime and it works beautifully.

And without wanting to launch a big firestorm here, my InfiniTV works beautifully.
My cable co marks everything copy free, and it seems this is a big factor. I also do not have a TA in the mix. YMMV.

Exactly same situation here. Couldn't be happier.

[joevulture]

I have pretty much all Ceton FW's (beta and released) locally archived, if you want to try version prior to 1 year ago just PM me.

I'd be interested in trying this, but my PCIe card is currently packed away, and I'd have to get Brighthouse to re-pair my CableCard (it's paired to my USB InfiniTV).

I filed my bug with Ceton back in July of last year; me being the lazy punk I am, I didn't get around to filing it for a few months; I figured that something was wrong with my wiring or amp, and I wasn't home much. I want to say that it happened around March 2011.

-- Joe

[STC]

Anyone thinking about this, use extreme caution due to InfiniTV hardware revision differences and/or combinations of Ceton FW and HW not wanting to play ball together.
I'm unsure if even the downgrade process would be allowed by current working images. If it is indeed possible, at least make sure you only try downgrading to images that were on your board to begin with and not just going pot luck. Warranty issues may also arise.

Saying that I'm sure Richard would be very careful in his methods.

[2c and not affiliated with Ceton in any way.]

[richard1980]

Yes, I am very careful to reproduce the exact driver/FW/HW combination that I have used in the past (public only....no beta versions).

So far I've gone as far back as FW 1.0.3.2 and still have the pixelation.

[barnabas1969]

I can't remember if mine had the problem when I first bought it or not. I bought mine in March 2011. I think I moved the HTPC into the living room as my primary DVR later that month. If 1.0.3.2 had the problem (released 3/18/2011), then I guess I have had the problem all along. I probably attributed it to signal problems... until I got my signal so clean that it's nearly perfect on all channels.

I went to great lengths to get it perfect. I ran a new coax drop to the HTPC specifically for the Ceton card (the QAM tuners and TA share their own drop too), added terminators on un-used outlets to reduce reflected/leaked signal and also to reduce induced noise, replaced a bunch of connectors, had the line from the utility pole to my house replaced, etc, etc, etc.

Once I got the signal as squeaky clean as possible, that's when I found out that other Ceton users were having the same exact problem.

I'd love to try an HDHR Prime, but I'd also hate to lose a tuner... if I could borrow one to try, that would be OK. Honestly though, now that I've put up an outdoor antenna (two days ago) and connected one of my dual-tuner cards to the antenna, I'm getting 57 channels OTA. I'm now wondering if I really need to pay $100+ per month for cable TV. I'm examining my options to "cut the cord" at the moment.

[kd0bcl]

Regular reader, but not an avid poster.

I Have had the Ceton PCIe 4 tuner card since early 2011 have had the copy once pixelation issue as well. However not as frequent as others have suggested that it happens to them. I would say on average 1-2 times per 30min show. It bothered me some originally but let it go after exhausting signal issues, swapping cable cards, etc... I am a service tech with the cable company that it is on and have also confirmed this is a ceton issue. Signal level is about 9dbmv at the ceton input with a 2db tilt from low to high. MER39db and no pre/post BER errors present. This has been tested with my SLM recording signal quality while watching the ceton pixel on copy once programming.

I have no other issues with my tuner card. No reboots or mem leaks, tuner crashing that has been reported. The only reason my "uptime" resets is for update resets, or other manual reboots.

The HTPC is dedicated to tv use and runs win7prem. Only thing added to system is my channel logos. I can go into detail about the pc hardware if someone would like. I am running all four tuners assigned to WMC on the pc. 1 wired xbox360 as an extender. There is 1 motorola tuning adapter connected as well.

One note is the Ceton is very picky on RF signal. It appears not to have any AGC circuitry so what it is reporting in its diagnostic page appears to be much less than the actual input db. Since there is a passive inside for at least the 4 tuners and the out of band tuner, the signal needs to be quite strong for proper operation. Generally though if the RF power is at least 0dbmv at the outlet it seems to work fine, most often an rf amp is not needed, unless there is multiple digital outlets in addition the the ceton, or the subscribers drop is longer than normal. I see many posts about adding boosters. I wonder if there are some issues created from random noise and distortions, ingress/leakage that the low quality amps sometimes produce?

Peter

[barnabas1969]

kd0bcl,

Thanks for the reply. I'm using an amp that is supplied by the cable company. As I've posted, my signal strength is as close to 0dB (as reported by the Ceton diagnostic program) as possible. My whole house has been checked for leakage and ingress.

Are you saying that I should try for a signal strength greater than 0dB (as measured by the Ceton) to eliminate this problem? My QAM tuners do not have a problem... and they receive a signal that has been split more times (and should be lower strength, with more noise) than the one my Ceton tuner is connected to.