| Tuesday, February 26, 2008 |
| Let's learn a new word: macroblocking |
Joe and I got our first TiVo several years ago, and I was immediately hooked. I've never been one of those people who just sits down to watch TV -- I'm only interested in watching specific shows, and with TiVo, all I had to do was set a season pass and every single episode of "The Daily Show," "Monk" and "The Simpsons" would be captured for me by the magic box. Plus I could fast forward through the commercials, something that has made it well nigh impossible for me to watch anything that hasn't been TiVo'd. Unlike with a VCR, you can start watching a show that TiVo is recording while it is still recording, so you can turn on "The Daily Show" at 11:10 PM and finish watching it at 11:30. What a time-saver!
Last year, when the monolith came into our lives, we upgraded to a high-def TiVo recorder. Everything was perfect for several months. Then we moved and switched to a new cable TV provider. I'm not sure if it's the cable card, or the TiVo, or the signal strength, but lately we've been experiencing macroblocking, which you can see here and read about here. Macroblocking means the picture gets distorted and the audio drops out for a couple seconds. When it happens again and again and again, it renders a TiVo'd show pretty much unwatchable. We've been having the problem both on high def and regular TV shows.
Joe called TiVo, which claimed no knowledge of this problem, which is obviously b.s. considering how many web sites you find when you do a Google search for "tivo macroblocking." Most of the posts seem to be from last summer. I also found some recent posts on TiVo's own forums, though they don't use the term "macroblocking" (more like "jerky picture & sound").
There seems to be some speculation that the issue stems from using certain manufacturers' cable cards in the HD TiVo, so right now we're trying to get someone from the cable company to come over and swap out the cards. It's pretty maddening not to know whether or not a TiVo'd show will be watchable or not.
It's possible that we may need to rethink our TV options because our cable company, which is municipally owned, may be getting out of the telecom biz. If that happens, I'd give serious consideration to subscribing to Dish Network or DirecTV instead of cable; that was never something we could do in the past when we lived in a condo, but it's viable now that we have a house with plenty of room for a south-facing dish on the roof. And unlike Rog we wouldn't have to worry about snow on the dish! Still, it would suck to be out the money we paid for the new TiVo just one year ago, since it wouldn't be compatible with satellite service. We'd presumably have to get whichever DVR the provider offers, and it probably wouldn't be as nifty and user-friendly as TiVo, but at least the dreaded macroblocking presumably wouldn't be a factor.
Yesterday, we TiVo'd "Oprah" (luckily, there was only a wee bit of macroblocking) because Valerie Bertinelli was going to be on to discuss her new book, and we wanted to hear the promised dirt about her cocaine use and her marriage to Eddie Van Halen. I grew up watching Valerie on "One Day At A Time" and never missed her TV movies, which always had sensational names like "The Seduction of Gina" and "Shattered Vows." Lately, she has been back in the public eye as a spokeswoman for Jenny Craig. Valerie is so sweet, enthusiastic and bubbly, she seems like the kind of person you'd love to have as a friend.
Of course, "Oprah" being what it is, there was a lot of talk about Valerie's weight loss; she even provided a tour of her fridge and freezer. She used to be addicted to frozen jalapeno poppers, and she keeps a box in her freezer to prove to herself that she doesn't need them anymore. Now she eats 10-calorie Jell-O with fat-free whipped topping instead. People who talk about losing weight on TV always carry on about how delicious their new lo-cal snacks are. C'mon, you can't convince me that Jell-O is as delicious as jalapeno poppers (and I say that as someone who has never eaten a jalapeno popper). Will Valerie be able to sustain her weight loss and stay away from the poppers? Based on photos, former Jenny spokesgal Kirstie Alley seems to have regained some of the weight she lost. Losing is hard, but keeping it off is harder. Just ask Oprah. |
posted by 125records @ 1:05 PM  |
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| 3 Comments: |
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Could the macroblocking be a reception problem from the cable provider, unrelated to TiVo? Do any of your neighbors have a problem? I know that's more likely with satellite than cable, but you never know.
A lot of people rate Dish's DVRs the best - better than TiVo. Although maybe I just heard that from Dish ads. I like mine a lot, and from what I've seen of your TiVo, it's not all that different these days.
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Rog: It's definitely not the cable provider because we have a non-HD TiVo upstairs, and I record The Daily Show and The Colbert Report on both TiVos. If there's macroblocking downstairs, the upstairs recording is always fine.
The cable guy is coming out on Friday, so we'll see what happens.
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I saw that Oprah. Stephen Spielberg is one tacky horndog. Really. She was just nineteen.
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Could the macroblocking be a reception problem from the cable provider, unrelated to TiVo? Do any of your neighbors have a problem? I know that's more likely with satellite than cable, but you never know.
A lot of people rate Dish's DVRs the best - better than TiVo. Although maybe I just heard that from Dish ads. I like mine a lot, and from what I've seen of your TiVo, it's not all that different these days.