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Certain On Demand titles from HBO and Cinemax blurry and flickery
When accessing certain On Demand movies from HBO and Cinemax in Omaha, NE, the picture looks out of focus and has a bad flicker to it. This is on Contour 1, boxes Cisco 8642 and 4742. This is not the TV's problem, as it only happens on certain titles. With HBO, if I record the same title off of the live channel with the 8642 DVR, it is fine. So again, definately not the TV. With HBO, this has happened with only a few titles, most work fine. Cinemax On Demand is just plagued with it, though, as more than half of the titles I wanted to watch during their free On Demand preview had this problem and were therefore unwatchable. I don't think I've ever encountered the problem on Showtime OnDemand, Starz OnDemand, or any other OnDemand through Cox. Don't encounter it on live channels or DVR recordings from live channels. I tried each of those boxes on the same TV, same results. The box is hooked up to the TV through component. (I do not know if the same problem happens through HDMI, since I have no TVs with HDMI.) The box for this TV is set to output 480i standard (what the TV supports, non-widescreen TV 480i format). Here are some specific examples and titles: HBO OnDemand Titles with this problem Invisible Man, Turistas, The Frighteners With Invisible Man and Turistas, the titles display fine when aired on the live HBO channel or recorded to the Cox DVR from the live channel. (Frighteners was not tested on live channel.) There were a few other HBO OnDemand titles with this problem in the past, but I don't remember which ones. I do remember they did play fine on the live HBO channel, though. Cinemax OnDemand titles with this problem: The Watch, Walk of Shame, The Apparition, Shaun of the Dead, Code 46, Don't Let Go, Darkness, Curse of the Pink Panther, Son of the Pink Panther Not able to test on the live channels since live channels are not included in the Cinemax OnDemand free preview. (OnDemand only included.) Below are some still captures. They give a general indication of what I am talking about, although the problem in real life is worse than these images show since the bad flicker can't be seen on a still image. The one on the left is from a Cinemax OnDemand title that displays normal (Inheritance). The one on the right is from a title that is screwed up, The Apparition. Notice the Dolby text at the bottom is not even readable on the screwed up title (The Apparition), but is readable on the title that displays normally (Inheritance). (You'll need to click on the images to view them at a larger size.) Can this be looked into? Maybe there's a flag or something set incorrectly within the video itself? .Re: Whole Home DVR vs Single DVR on Contour 1
OK, but is there usually an extra monthly cost for the 2 tuner DVR I pay for now to be turned into a whole home DVR? (I already have two other non-DVR Contour boxes.) I understand you may not be able to quote me an actual price due to local differences, etc., but as a general rule is there an extra cost for the 2 tuner single room DVR to be set as a whole home DVR with the boxes I already have? (I understand there is a setup fee.)Whole Home DVR vs Single DVR on Contour 1
I have Contour 1 with a single room 2 tuner DVR (Cisco 8642HDC) and two Cisco 4742HDC non-DVR boxes. If in the future I wanted a whole home DVR with Contour 1, can this be done with these boxes or does it require the 6 tuner DVR box? If whole home DVR can be done with these boxes, is there an additional monthly charge above that of the single room DVR fee? I realize the whole home DVR does require a tech install and that there is a one time charge for that, but are there any other monthly fees if the 2 tuner DVR can be used? I also realize that Cox techs are not doing in home service right now due to Corona, and that therefore this could not be done right now.Questions Contour 1 and 2
Got a letter that my Motorola/Rovi boxes must be replaced with Contour within a month or so. (Omaha) The Contour 2 boxes eliminate the component video connections. (The red, green, and blue 3 wire connection.) This is unacceptable. I need both component video connections (red, green, blue 3 wire) AND composite video (1 yellow connector) for my various TVs. (HDMI is useless to me.) According to your site, Contour 1 boxes have both composite AND component connections, whereas Contour 2 boxes eliminate the component. So can I still get Contour 1 (with DVR)? Are the following Contour 1 boxes still available and supported after the Motorola boxes are not? Cisco 8642HDC Cisco Explorer 8742HDC Cisco Explorer 9865HDC Cisco Explorer 4642HDC Cisco Explorer 4742HDC Also, worst case scenario if I had to use the Contour2 boxes, what zoom modes does Contour2 support? The Motorola/Rovi has a function that crops and zooms 2.35:1 aspect ratio widescreen movies to approx 1.85:1 aspect ratio widescreen (but no further than that, further would cut too much off). This is a mandatory feature when connected to a non-widescreen TV. While 1.85:1 widescreen movies are fine on a non-widescreen TV, 2.35:1 widescreen movies are not watchable on the non-widescreens without the zoom. Note that this is a crop and zoom, NOT a horizontal stretch. (This zoom is accessed on the Motorola/rovi under the the res setting of 480i std --> zoom 16:9 option.) Does contour2 have the same zoom option when outputting through the component or composite? If the zoom is eliminated on supported boxes, I'll for sure have to cancel Showtime and HBO, as half the movies would be in an unwatchable format.Support for Motorola DCH3416 ending - Do Contour Boxes Have Same Zoom?
Cox support told me that support for the Motorola DCH3416 boxes will end in Omaha next year. If so, Cox needs to supply Contour boxes with component connections (not just composite like they are now). Not everyone has a TV with HDMI, and composite does not have as good a picture as component. Please do not screwover customers who do not have a TV with HDMI. Also, the DCH3416 has a zoom feature (when outputting 480i, accessed in the menu) that deals with non-widescreen video which is stuck into a widescreen channel. When viewed on a non-widescreen TV, such video appears as a tiny image in the middle of the screen and is unwatchable. The Motorola DCH3416 zoom will zoom the picture and crop the blank space to restore this video to its original size. (Fills a non-widescreen TV, without stretching anything out of porportion, the way the non-widescreen videos were originally shot.) On the Contour 2, the zoom option and user interface appears to be disturbingly similar to Comcast's horrible boxes that I saw when visiting someone out of state. The "full" option on the Comcast simply stretches the picture vertically and out of porportion, and is totally useless. Does the Contour 2's "full" option stretch vertically and out of porportion on non-widesceen (4:3) TV setting, or does it actually crop/zoom like the DCH3416? IF the zoom feature isn't on the Contour boxes or the Contour box just does a vertical stretch, many things would be unwatchable and I'd have to seriously consider canceling when those boxes are forced on me. Examples of the zoom on the Motorola DCH3416 are below. This is the zoom I'm looking for. (The non-contour mini boxes also zoom the same as the DCH3416, but on the mini boxes it is accessed by pushing the zoom button on the remote twice.) Note the zoom always works on HD channels being downconverted to SD, but only works on some SD channels. (But it works on most of the SD channels I need it for.) Does the Contour 2 "full" option for zoom do exactly the same thing as the DCH3416 zoom shown below? UNWATCHABLE: Non-widescreen show shrunken to middle of screen on non-widescreen TV. ZOOM function accessed on DCH3416 box. With DCH3416 zoom activated: Picture now normal for non-widescreen show on non-widescreen TV. Notice it was NOT stretched vertically or horizontally, but the blank space was cropped and image zoomed to its original size as it was originally shot. .Just 2 channels poor db levels/stuttering
Hi, I have Cox TV service in Omaha. I have Motorola DCH3416 boxes. Just 2 channels (1340 SHO and 1300 HBO) tend to stutter or block up when it is windy, or possibly when temps are below about 20 degrees F. Also, the inband status db reading on the boxes' diagnostic menus for those 2 channels often read fair or poor when there is wind or temps below 20 degrees, even if the channels aren't stuttering. The inband status db reading for the other channels read good, and there is no stuttering on the other channels. (My cable internet is not affected either.) ALL my boxes do this, so I can't see how it could be the box. They do it in all the rooms I tested them in, so it isn't just one outlet. I made sure the box is connected directly to the wall with no splitters, and also tried swapping out the cable from the wall to the box. Problem remained. I went outside (when it wasn't windy or cold and the inband db status read good for those 2 channels) and swayed the coax wire attached to my house from the pole, and jiggled all the coax wires and connections on the outside of my house to see if that would reproduce the problem. (Since it seems to be caused by wind.) Had someone else monitor the readings while I did this. I could not reproduce the problem. Does it sound like it may be a problem with Cox's lines on the poles, or something else on Cox's end? The reason I hesitate to report it is I don't want the boxes with my DVR recordings swapped out, when I can't see how it could be the box. I've also already tried swapping the cable to the wall, etc., and don't really want to move the junk out of the way again just so the tech can double check what I've already checked (inside). And of course it is a given that there will be no issues at the time the tech comes. Any ideas? Thanks.
