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ahalowell's avatar
ahalowell
New Contributor

Lip sync issues in Surprise, AZ

Hi! I have lived in Surprise for eighteen months.  I've been on Cox the entire time.  During this time we have experienced a high number of occasions where the audio appears to be out of sync with the video.  This occurs mainly on the "off" channels, like HGTV, USA, and such.  I have called and complained a number of times.  I've had techs at the house several times.  Never any luck.  Yesterday a technician came in response to me calling and raising a ruckus up to the service manager.  He was WAY cool and understood the problem.  He went into my Cox onscreen setup and made one change and asked me to try it for a day or two to see if it worked.  I'm here to tell you IT DID!  I am listing below what to change below if you are experiencing this same problem.  (This guy is my new best friend!)

Go into the menu.  Select audio & video option.  Then select audio options.  Go to digital output.  There are two choices: pulse code modulated or Dolby digital.  Make sure you select the pulse code modulated option.  We had been set to the Dolby option before.

This has completely resolved our issue.  We watched HGTV for several hours today and the audio never went out of sync.  Amazing!  Before we would have experienced it at least twice per hour.


Thank you Jason!  You are a true gentleman and scholar!

audio video sync
lip-sync

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  • AllenP's avatar
    AllenP
    Valued Contributor

    PCM is fine if you don't want surround sound.  DD outputs 5.1 Dolby Digital sound on channels where it is broadcast.  PCM outputs 2.0 audio all times.  If you are using TV speakers you may not hear a difference and it can fix a sync problem, as you posted.  But, if you are going into a home theater, there's a big difference.  

  • ahalowell's avatar
    ahalowell
    New Contributor

    I may not be technically astute, but i am running my 80" Sharp tv through an Onkyo home theater system with great speakers.  As soon as he flipped the switch there was a big difference in the sound.  Now maybe it's just my uneducated ears But I am tickled with getting rid of the sync issue and gaining a better quality sound.  To each their own...

    Al

  • AllenP's avatar
    AllenP
    Valued Contributor

    Well I have had a Passport and currently have the original Contour DVR.  Both units switched to 2.0 sound when PCM was selected.  The only way I can get Dolby 5.1 sound is setting the VCR output to Dolby Digital.  Maybe the New Contour is different.  What format does the front panel of your Onkyo AVR display?  Onkyo, as well as other AVR's, have a delay function which allows you to adjust when the audio is ahead of the video to bring everything into sync.  IMHO, the sound I get with DD output is far better than PCM thru my Pioneer AVR but do run about a 0.11 sec delay to bring everything in sync.  YMMV.

  • ChristopherC's avatar
    ChristopherC
    Former Moderator

    ahalowell,

    could you answer these questions for us?

    What kind of set top box are you using?

    Were the shows you were watching recorded on a DVR?

    We are trying to get a better understanding of the issue to help future customers.

    Thank you ChristopherC