My Humax Forum » Freeview HD » Aura UHD

Pixelation and dropouts on playback

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    batteryman

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    Hi, would appreciate any comments on this one.

    I replaced my FVP-5000T with an Aura unit in December. Setup was easy enough and I'm pleased with using it apart from a couple of annoying faults. I get short dropouts and some pixelation/"ghosting" when recordings are played or time delayed programmes watched. It doesn't happen every time but often enough to be annoying, especially when it's the "crunch" moment in a thriller. I'm suspecting a hard drive related issue is the cause.

    I'll be contacting the retailer about it but wondered if anyone had any comments before I do.

    Thanks in anticipation.

    | Tue 23 Jan 2024 17:07:02 #1 |
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    VitaminD

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    Please make sure that the aerial cable and the HDMI cable are properly seated in the relevant ports, the aerial cable connecter
    can over time become loose.
    Make sure the HDMI cable does not touch the aerial cable at all, a common cause of dropouts. A higher quality better shielded HDMI cable may be required.

    Pixellation and drop outs can occur due to the signal being too strong.
    Press the Freeview button on the remote go to Settings> Channels & Broadcast> Signal Strength.
    If the signal strength is in the very high 90's to 100% then that is too high and can cause interference.
    You will need to check the strength of the signal over all the multiplexes that channels are broadcast.
    For example switch to BBC1HD and check the signal, then change to BBC1 (standard definition), Dave, E4,
    Talking Pictures TV and Drama. checking the signal each time.
    If you find that any of these are showing a signal strength of 100% or just below you will probably need to buy a variable attenuator to place on the aerial cable, these are quite cheap from Amazon. You use the variable potentiometer to reduce the signal strength to about the 90% mark. Always aim to have the Signal Quality at 100%.

    Did you use the Auto Search function for tuning the Aura.
    Using the Auto Search function can sometimes cause the Aura to tune into one or more transmitters.
    If you are near to two transmitters then you may find duplicate channels in the EPG these duplicate channels will be in the 800's on the EPG.
    It maybe that the Aura has placed lower strength signals in the more familiar placings in the EPG and the better higher quality signal strength channels in the 800's.

    If you suspect your Aura. is tuning into more than one transmitter then you would benefit from doing a manual tune
    so you are only receiving from the best transmitter for your area.

    If you want instructions on how do do that then post back here and I can give you details.

    | Tue 23 Jan 2024 17:47:33 #2 |
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    batteryman

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    Hi, thanks for the comprehensive reply.

    Connections are fine, I'll have a look at signal strengths tomorrow. Don't know if I mentioned it but watching programmes in real time, ie straight through from the tuner doesn't give the problem; also no problem with the picture using the tv's own tuner.

    I did use the auto-tune but will re-tune manually to the Winter Hill channels to see if it cures the fault. I have had an auto-tune give me the wrong (Wales) region in the past but you set the region these days so it doesn't happen. The HD channels are in the single hundreds, BBC1 is 101 etc. There are no channels above 800, which is Talk Liverpool tv.

    Watch this space but if manual tuning and signal strengths don't solve the problem I'll be contacting the retailer.

    | Tue 23 Jan 2024 18:48:44 #3 |
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    batteryman

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    Hi, coming back on signal levels. Good spot, I should have thought of that being so close to such a powerful transmitter. Signal strength/quality on all those channels was 100/100. I guess it saturates at the top; anyway, I've ordered an attenuator and will come back with the outcome.

    Thanks for your time.

    | Wed 24 Jan 2024 9:29:07 #4 |
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    batteryman

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    Feedback on the results of using attenuators - I preferred the fixed value, inline type so tried a 3dB attenuator first. Most channels remained at 100% signal strength with two dropping to 98/99% and all signal quality values remaining at 100%. There has been a marked reduction in pixelation and dropouts.

    I then tried a 6dB attenuator and got:-

    BBC1 HD - 97%
    BBC1 - 97%
    Dave - 96%
    E4 - 96%
    TPTV - 98%
    Drama - 97%

    All channels had 100% signal quality again. I'll leave it for a while and monitor the picture quality from recordings and live TV and pass back the results.

    | Thu 8 Feb 2024 16:50:53 #5 |
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    batteryman

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    Further feedback on this one. 9dB attenuator dropped signal to 94-95% and adding the 6dB as well ie 15dB gave signal strength 90-92% with 100% quality on all 6 channels.

    Still monitoring the results; I thought there was improvement but I'm still getting glitches on picture and sound. Will continue to monitor but any comments on this?

    | Sat 17 Feb 2024 13:17:01 #6 |
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    VitaminD

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    I would have bought a variable attenuator up to -20db.
    Perhaps adding two fixed attenuators on the aerial line is a possible cause of drop outs, I am not sure though.

    There was a problem that arose in the past week whereby the Aura was dropping sound and picture on a
    particular mux the D3&4 mux (channels affected were standard definition versions of ITV, Ch4, Ch5 and other channels carried by this mux.
    There is plenty of posts on this issue in this forum.
    Humax apparently issued a fix for this updating the System app Freeview,
    there is a procedure you can follow given in post by a contributor named Trog.

    https://myhumax.org/forum/topic/occasional-2-second-black-screen-on-some-channels/page/7

    post #66

    | Sat 17 Feb 2024 13:46:17 #7 |
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    batteryman

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    Thanks for the prompt reply. I'll be picking up a single 15dB attenuator next week, just wanted to get the signal level right first. The two are all metal cases, fully screened and about 62 metres from the Humax - plugged into the wall socket.

    Will be having a look at Trog's post in a couple of minutes.

    | Sat 17 Feb 2024 15:07:43 #8 |
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    batteryman

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    Coming back to this post after a few weeks experience with a single 15dB attenuator (cost less than £2.00 from CPC Farnell). Signal levels are all around 90-91% with quality at 100%.

    I'm still getting the occasional dropout and pixelated/ghost images on the TV screen. I don't get them using the TV's tuner so I can only assume it's the Humax so I'll be contacting them after Easter for comments.

    Happy Easter

    | Thu 28 Mar 2024 16:34:59 #9 |

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