8300HD DVR Discussion Thread

[TimS]

Thanks kindly, if I find a cable locally I'll give it a go and report back. My TV is a Sharp LC-37G4U for the record. Unfortunately I'm sure I'll pay far more for a cable here than I would online, but I suppose at least I can return it this way...

[TimS]

Well, didn't feel like driving to Rotterdam over the weekend, and couldn't find a cable in the clifton park/Ballston Spa area, so no HDMI for me yet.

But, was wondering if anyone's noticed a few odd things I have. First, the INHD channels seem to pulse slightly, getting brighter and darker every few sections. I was worried this was my TV, but it only seems to happen on InHD. Also, it seems like the colors seem to be off going from HD to SD. I was watching the simpsons on 1808 last night and they seemed almost green, but changing to 0008 they looked normal. Any ideas?

Thanks,

-tim

[MasterFX1]

I believe the pulsing you are talking about is a compression artifact. I've seen that effect a lot lately on DiscoveryHD using a 3250 STB.

[TimS]

Thanks, I guess that's good to hear... better than it being my TV

[Skaggs]

I have the DVR set to record all episodes of Third Watch on NBC.

This evening, as I was flipping around the HD channels, I noticed that the DVR was recording Dateline NBC at 10:30PM. I don't have the DVR set to record Dateline NBC.

Apparently, since Third Watch wasn't on this Friday, it recorded the show on NBC anyway.

I thought it set the recording schedule via the program guide data like a TiVo does, but I was wrong.

[econ]

The 8300DVR is not the only unit that does this.My 8000DVR did the same thing on Wednesday night when it recorded in the same time slot for Lost and Lost was not on.

[TimS]

I noticed another oddity last night, which may be related to the "pulsing" brightness I was seeing.

I was watching a recording of Law and Order from the SD-NBC channel last night, and noticed that all the dark sections of the screen were really, really murky and had no detail. I was fiddling with the settings on my TV (an LCD) trying to improve things, when I noticed that if I brought up the programming guide, the picture immediately brightened and the small preview window had a much brighter picture. In other experimenting I told the DVR to zoom the picture and, again, the image was much brighter. It was only when I was watching in the default 480i mode that it looked very dark and gloomy.

Watching the news on CBS this morning I noticed the same thing, a brighter looking picture when in the preview window or when the image is zoomed in.

I'm going to try disabling 480i output, maybe that will give me the brighter picture without having to go to zoom mode, but I was wondering if anyone else has noticed this problem? Now that I've found it it's terribly annoying. I'm quite certain it's not my TV. I just got through tuning it with DVE and have no complaints about black levels or dark details in HD programming, DVDs, or games.

-tim

[hurnik]

It's technically not the unit, but rather the crappy software that our local TW has chosen. The SARA software is NOTHING more than a glorified VCR. When you pick say, Law and Order on channel 1813 at 9:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. all it really does is set the stupid thing to record ANYTHING on channel 1813 at the 7 day interval at 9-10 p.m. Just like if you had a VCR and told it to record something at 9:00-10 on Wed.

TW claim that they have something like a Tivo is utterly false. I own two Tivo's and can tell you that the only reason I've got the DVR from TW is that it can record HD content.

Now, some lucky folks (like in portions of Long Island and NYC I believe) have SA DVR units from TW but THEY get to use the Pioneer Passport software which actually is intelligent and FAR more "tivo-like" than the SARA software our local TW has chosen to force on us.

Like the fact that if you watch "live" shows while it's recording that it dumps you out when the show is done in "real life"--not when YOU'RE done watching it.

econ said:

The 8300DVR is not the only unit that does this.My 8000DVR did the same thing on Wednesday night when it recorded in the same time slot for Lost and Lost was not on.

[TimS]

Anyone else have a problem with their 8300 recording but not actually saving shows? We've noticed a few times where the DVR says it's recording something, and will prevent you from watching something else if you're recording 2 things, but at the end of the show it's supposedly recording that show does not appear in the recorded list? It's happened quite a few times over the past few days and is getting somewhat annoying...

[hurnik]

Don't have an 8300 but I can assure my 8000HD has done this a few times.

I think I'll see if TW will replace the unit.

TimS said:

Anyone else have a problem with their 8300 recording but not actually saving shows? We've noticed a few times where the DVR says it's recording something, and will prevent you from watching something else if you're recording 2 things, but at the end of the show it's supposedly recording that show does not appear in the recorded list? It's happened quite a few times over the past few days and is getting somewhat annoying...

[econ]

I had the 8000 HD. During playback, I was getting tiling and other distracting audio and video problems. A TW technician came by yesterday and after looking at a few playback problems said that he had an 8300HD in the truck and would exchange it for my 8000HD. I agree with comments in this thread. I think the picture is slightly better with this unit. However, I have had one problem with it. Twice now when channel surfing, the unit has locked up and then rebooted. After rebooting it works fine again. Has anyone else had this problem?Also, I purchased a DVI cable to connect the 8000hd to my TV. Never used it. Now I see that the 8300HD would require an HDMI to DVI cable. Is there an adapter to change DVI to HDMI? Or must I get a new cable(HDMI to DVI)?

[TimS]

My 8300 rebooted last night, just after 9:00 pm. This is the first time this has rebooted, but my previous SD DVR rebooted probably once every few weeks while I was watching it.

And I believe there are HDMI -> DVI adapters out there, but I honestly haven't looked.

[Skaggs]

I was having real problems with pixelation last night (Sunday) with all my HD channels. I attempted to watch Desperate Housewives and the audio was chattering while the pixelation continued.

The SD channels were more grainy than usual.

Also, all weekend long, Microsoft Outlook would give me messages that it couldn't connect to the RR servers.

I got fed up and called TWC. There are sending a tech out Tuesday.

Today, the HD channels look Ok, with no pixelation. At least I have the recorded Desperate Housewives to show the tech.

I stopped at Towne TV to pick up a HDMI to DVI cable. A guy named Kevin helped me out. He said he didn't have a cable like the one I wanted, but would sell me a DVI to DVI cable ($40) and a HDMI to DVI adapter ($30). I told him Thanks, but no Thanks. I explained that I was trying to support the local dealer instead of buying on the internet. He told me to buy it on the internet and he even said that is the way he gets some of his cables.

Kevin went on to tell me that he has not been able to get the DVI to work on a TWC 8000DVR. The only way he has gotten a DVI connection to work with a TWC box is with either the 3250 or 5350(?). He said he did just hook up the 8300's HDMI to a HDMI on a SONY TV two days ago. He has not had success going from the 8300's HDMI to a DVI on a TV.

[TimS]

Did you happen to catch their price on an HDMI -> HDMI cable?

[Skaggs]

Sorry, no I didn't ask since my TV doesn't have an HDMI IN. I'm sure they have it, since he said he just installed such a setup a few days ago. As he suggested, you would be better off buying from a quality cable outfit. There is one that is highly recommended on the AVS Forum...Pacific Cable. A 2 meter HDMI to HDMI cable is $31.

While Kevin, the guy I talked to, was very knowledgable, the place (Towne TV) was chaos. Large cardboard boxes were everywhere and there seemed to be little organization. That was my 1st time in there, so I don't know if it is that way all the time. Probably because of the Christmas rush with eveyone wanting their plasma installed to watch the Yule Log in HD Christmas morning.