mrhatken

FYI, we're in Perth metro. My Dad has been complaining about lip-sync problems on 90HD on his Panasonic Vierra with integrated HD tuner. Similarly his Strong 5006 SD STB was having major problems with 9SD today (jumpy video, no sound). I thought the SD problem was the TiVo (attached to the STB) but it was the same straight to the TV. No amount of rescanning the STB could fix it. We also can't see any other 9x stations besides 9 and 90. My family doesn't watch Nine much (at least not enough to have noticed a problem with quality of the SD or lip-sync on HD - don't have HD ;-) but I will keep a closer eye on things now. I can't believe that a commercial station is getting away with this - oh if the advertisers new, perhaps they do. If it is taking Nine this long to fix the problem it must be a really big problem or they must be totally incompetent. Cheers, Ashley.

Thanks Diesel. I was trying to simplify things by only considering LCDs but I think I probably do need to consider a plasma. I guess for their budget a 8 series or 7 series 42" Panasonic would be good (Pioneer is probably out of their price range). Cheers, Ashley.

Howdy Folks, My elderly parents want to buy an large widescreen TV. I'd like them to get a Pioneer 428xda (as discussed in the recent thread) but they don't wish to spend more than $1750 (hopefully quite a bit less). They've been looking at the LG 42LC7D which I have told them is a reasonable TV but they could probably do quite a bit better for not much more money (than the $1300 they are able to get this for). I'm looking for an LCD because they use a PVR and may leave the screen on a static image for a while, and we wouldalso like to use the display with a computer to display photos etc. I'm not fussed about resolution but an inbuilt HD tuner is required. Any suggestions please? Cheers, Ashley.

Howdy All, For a particular reason, that I won't bore you with, I am looking for a: High Definition Digital Set-Top Box with Standard Definition RGB output via SCART (i.e. SCART RGB). Has anyone heard, or seen, or have one like this? I assume most HD STBs that also do SD output it on S-Video or Composite. Thanks in advance for any "sightings." Cheers, Ashley.

Hi All, Are others experiencing poor reception in Perth? Our reception has gone from bad / no signal on ABC to most if not all channels now. Some channels get a signal but it continually pauses / starts / pauses / starts. I retuned a couple of times and most of the signal strengths were 70+% and quality was 50+%. It seemed to have no trouble finding the stations but then there was no signal when trying to view. We do have an old analogue antenna but it has been working fine for the past few years. I am wondering whether the set-top box (Jonsa Ellies RFAIDT1) is going, its only a year old :-( Thanks in advance for any similar experiences. Could this be weather related? Cheers, Ashley.

Hi Alan, I'm happy to complain ;-) However, I wasn't (and I am still not) sure if it is there problem or a problem with my (our) set top box. As well, since I don't have a proper digital antenna that could be the problem (with hot/humid weather helping?). To be honest though, I haven't had time to investigate further. ABC seemed to come back with a one station retune, although it has dropped sound since then, a reboot of the STB seemed to fix that. It's all rather strange to me. Cheers, Ashley.

Yes, me too, strange that a full scan didn't seem to work (at least for me). Cheers, Ashley.

Hi Alan, Thanks for your post. I think I will give it a few days, perhaps there were problems with the change over to the new ABC set-up that has caused this (either at their end or mine). If I can't fix it by early next week I will give them a call - thanks for the pointer to that feedback number. Good (?) to see it may not just be my set-up (set-top box). Cheers, Ashley.

Howdy All, My SD set-top box will no longer receive ABC channels (any of them) but it receives all others. Yesterday, it went into a strange mode that it would only play the video (no sound) from ABC channels. I disconnected the power and connected it again and it seemed to fix itself. Today it will no longer display any ABC channels. I've tried retuning all the channels (twice). I've check the aerial cable and connections (it is an old analogue aerial but reception has been fine up to now). Could it be the heat? Could it be the STB failing (just for the ABC channels, is that possible?)? I thought it was a bit of a coincidence that this happens just when the ABC is making changes (ABC 1,2 etc.) Is anyone else seeing this? Thanks in advance for any suggestions or information. Cheers, Ashley. PS STB is a Jonsa Ellies SD (with SCART connectors) bought last year (I hope it is in warranty from HN). It's been pretty good so far.

Strong Technologies have provided me with a firmware upgrade (that strangely isn't on their Web site - I am not sure whether that is nice of them or not) for the SRT5000. They suggest it may fix the "PID change causing channel loss" problem. I'm off on vacation this week so I won't have the time to install the upgrade, but when I get back I will install, see how things go (over the months) and report back (FYI). Thanks to all. Cheers, Ashley.

Thanks for the explanation Tony! I understand and that sounds reasonable. I thought I had ;-) I tried a Topfield STB (not PVR) but it didn't have a channel display (IIRC) so I got the Strong. I would assume this would be a firmware issue, so maybe I should hound Strong. Thanks again. Cheers, Ashley.

Howdy All, Thanks for your suggestions. Please don't flame me when I say the antenna is 20 years old and in the roof, and the cabling is poor quality and mixed in with other wiring. I know this is the cause of the poor signal (well, it is fine most days, but usually when we have some bad weather or the cable gets too close to other electronics it gets worse). What I can't fathom is why the set-top box "removes" the channel without me doing anything. If I do a rescan it comes straight back (of course, 99.9% of the time at the same frequency). And it's not a cheap STB, it's a Strong (5000 I think) that I bought new a couple of years a go (because it was meant to be good quality, good signal etc). I looked for a firmware upgrade last year but there was nothing for this particular box. BTW, the signal strength and quality generally shows as high (since we live central to Perth). I'll get around to getting a real digital antenna installed when we can (I've checked out the Geographic Viewer's forum) but still this STB behaviour seems wrong wrong wrong. Thanks again. Cheers, Ashley. PS I guess it could be something physically wrong with the box, but I had read that this behaviour was pretty common, so I assumed it was just the software. Way out of warranty now.

But my question is: If we lose a channel (as I do with SBS) because the strength or quality of the signal goes down for a while (probably because of the weather or other interference) why doesn't the channel just return when the signal strength increases (as the weather or interference changes)? I can't see why we have to retune the channel - it's broadcast on the same frequency after all (in probably 99% of the cases)! Why are these set-top boxes trying to make this so hard for us. Cheers, Ashley.

Yes, our Channel 7 Perth reports as "invalid channel number" or something like that. What's the story with this? Should I be using other 71 or whatever it is rather than 7? Cheers, Ashley.

Howdy All, We're getting pretty bad SD Ten reception during this bad weather we have been having. Is it just the weather and there's not much else we can do about it? Do others experience the same problems. The image breaks up quite a bit and clicks and pops. We have a Strong SRT 5000, only a few months old. The antenna is another story. It was probably in the unit when it was built some 15 years ago. We live in South Perth at the bottom of a small hill. All other channels are fine (except the recent problems with ABC, better now ...). I'm keen to hear if others are experiencing the same problem. Or should we get a new antenna. Cheers, Ashley.

Nothing (and noboby) is perfect. Learn to live with imperfection (even in something you pay a lot of money for). It's a good life lesson and skill to learn. Of course, if it doesn't work pretty much as claimed then that's another thing. Cheers, Ashley.

Hey tds, Not as big as our step up from a 34cm (or was it less). Now we can see what they are hitting when the tennis is on ;-) Cheers, Ashley.

Oops forgot to give a link for those that are interested: <http://www.freeview.co.uk/> Cheers, Ashley.

The UK have got the right idea. 30 FREE channels with FreeView SD digital TV. The PayTV companies even throw in the new channels, sports highlights, music channels. I was there a while back and the SD STB were flying off the shelves! People understand 30 free channels pretty clearly (especially when it doesn't come with a contract and monthly charge). I predict this is what will be needed to make the change in Aus. It's also seen as a "lead" into subscription PayTV (once you've got the 30 free channels - some of which advertise the pay channels - you'll just have to get all those other channels). Cheers, Ashley.

Hi Ingram, Thanks for that explanation. Yes, I think I do have the tear line as you describe. I'll have to play around with the horizontal sync width and see if it changes things as you suggest. Right now the spike/tear isn't that noticeable and only comes every minute or so. I would like to remove it though. Are you saying this only happens when you use the LCD with a computer (HTPC)? Cheers, Ashley.

Hi Ingram (and other forum readers), Can you please explain clearly your problem? I have my Mac working on DVI at 1360x768 @ 60Hz (or is it 61Hz) - I guess this is a HTPC ;-) I do get a little spike running up the left-hand side of the screen every now and then - I assumed it was because I haven't played around with it enough to get the setting exactly right. No tearing. I have watched HD quicktime movies and the family has watched a DVD (using the computer) and no-one complained of tear lines etc. I also have another Mac connected through the VGA. It is older and I haven't had time to play around with the timings etc. It is a lower resolution at 50Hz and no problems. Although I haven't played a DVD on that machine. Sorry, I am not a HTPC expert, so the simpler you can explain the problem the better ;-) Cheers, Ashley.

Of course. If the money difference is important to you. Get it, check it out at home, you have 14 days to return it if you find anything wrong. I don't expect it has been damaged in the 7 days it has been on display. If you can get it for a few hundred dollars cheaper that will pay for a STB and cables. Don't sit around or I'll get it first ;-) Cheers, Ashley.

Thanks SpaceCowboy, that's good news. As you say, I am sure they will come down in price as they become much more common. And by then we'll all be using OLED curtains and blinds for screens :-) Cheers, Ashley.

Hi Andy, From the Belmont Big-W Store. I heard they were all sold out (something like 6 to 10 units) within a couple of hours. I'm sure there will be more in the future (probably better and bigger and cheaper). Cheers, Ashley. PS But we're watching ours now ;-) Sorry, that was mean ...

Disposable HD LCD TVs !!!! You gotta love that. :-) Thanks Peter, I should have done that analysis my self. We can probably double that figure too, if we don't leave it on at night. That said, I was looking more for some real costs though. Cheers, Ashley.