S2 vs. S2 DT Video Quality

I finally upgraded my television and the video quality coming from my S2
(composite connection) is not all that sharp. At BEST quality it is
acceptable, but anything lower than BEST is a little fuzzy if there is any
action in the video at all.

Would I get better results with the Series 2 Dual Tuner?

--
Rusty

On 2006-12-15, Rusty wrote:
I finally upgraded my television and the video quality coming from my S2
(composite connection) is not all that sharp. At BEST quality it is
acceptable, but anything lower than BEST is a little fuzzy if there is any
action in the video at all.

Would I get better results with the Series 2 Dual Tuner?

No, but going to the S3 with HD could give you better results.

The S2DT will record things just like the S2 - it just has the option of
doing two shows at once.

--
This is my .sig

On 2006-12-15, Rusty wrote:
I finally upgraded my television and the video quality coming from my S2
(composite connection) is not all that sharp. At BEST quality it is
acceptable, but anything lower than BEST is a little fuzzy if there is any
action in the video at all.

Would I get better results with the Series 2 Dual Tuner?

This is just a side effect of how Tivo compresses video. Any signal
that is not absolutely crystal clear is going to show compression artifacts
from the defects in the signal. High compression will generate a high level
of motion artifacts.

That's just the way SD Tivo is.

Although there are better compression methods than what Tivos
currently use. MPEG4 can get smaller file sizes without a loss in quality.

--
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MacOS X on a DELL! / | \

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"Rusty" shaped the electrons to say:
I finally upgraded my television and the video quality coming from my S2
(composite connection) is not all that sharp. At BEST quality it is
acceptable, but anything lower than BEST is a little fuzzy if there is any
action in the video at all.

Use S-Video connections if you can for the best possible video
quality.

Personally on the S2 I always used Best to get the best picture. I
found High to be acceptable, but I used Best - and I always felt
Medium and Basic were too poor to use for anything.

On the DVD models, which use different encoding settings, I used
High. And I'm using High on the S3 for analog channels.

Would I get better results with the Series 2 Dual Tuner?

The S2DT has a newer generation of MPEG encoder (BCM7042 vs the
BCM7040 in the S2), the same encoder used in the Series3. However,
the bitrates used by the S2DT aren't as high as on the S3, so the
compression is higher, so that doesn't mean the picture as as good as
on the S3.

Still, some users think the S2DT's picture is better than the S2.

-MZ
--
URL:mailto:megazoneatmegazone.org Gweep, Discordian, Author, Engineer, me.
"A little nonsense now and then, is relished by the wisest men" 508-852-2171
URL:http://www.megazone.org/ URL:http://www.eyrie-productions.com/ Eris

On Sat, 16 Dec 2006 00:27:25 +0000 (UTC),
(MegaZone) wrote:


Still, some users think the S2DT's picture is better than the S2.

-MZ

It is. I have 1 of each.

Just my opinion. That and $4 will get you a cup of joe at Starbucks.

George Max shaped the electrons to say:
On Sat, 16 Dec 2006 00:27:25 +0000 (UTC),
(MegaZone) wrote:
Still, some users think the S2DT's picture is better than the S2.
-MZ
It is. I have 1 of each.

I think so too - but I don't have a regular S2 to compare it to side
by side. I have 2 DVD S2s, an S2DT, and an S3.

-MZ
--
URL:mailto:megazoneatmegazone.org Gweep, Discordian, Author, Engineer, me.
"A little nonsense now and then, is relished by the wisest men" 508-852-2171
URL:http://www.megazone.org/ URL:http://www.eyrie-productions.com/ Eris

Hi.

Thank you everyone so much for the help. Now it all makes sense to me. Why
couldn't TIVO just explain it all to me instead of try and blame me on poor
room reception? Oh well. Thanks TIVO! NOT!

Thanks again.

Don


"MegaZone" wrote in message
...
George Max shaped the electrons to
say:
On Sat, 16 Dec 2006 00:27:25 +0000 (UTC),
(MegaZone) wrote:
Still, some users think the S2DT's picture is better than the S2.
-MZ
It is. I have 1 of each.

I think so too - but I don't have a regular S2 to compare it to side
by side. I have 2 DVD S2s, an S2DT, and an S3.

-MZ
--
URL:mailto:megazoneatmegazone.org Gweep, Discordian, Author, Engineer,
me.
"A little nonsense now and then, is relished by the wisest men"
508-852-2171
URL:http://www.megazone.org/ URL:http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
Eris

I finally upgraded my television

To what model, size and type?

and the video quality coming from my S2
(composite connection) is not all that sharp. At BEST quality it is
acceptable, but anything lower than BEST is a little fuzzy if there is any
action in the video at all.

Where's the video coming from to start with? Is that source introducing
it's own artifacts before the Tivo even gets a chance?

"Bill Kearney" wrote in message
t...
I finally upgraded my television

To what model, size and type?

and the video quality coming from my S2
(composite connection) is not all that sharp. At BEST quality it is
acceptable, but anything lower than BEST is a little fuzzy if there is
any
action in the video at all.

Where's the video coming from to start with? Is that source introducing
it's own artifacts before the Tivo even gets a chance?

The television is an LG 37LC2D. The source is Time Warner cable, 72 ohm
coax. The video is pretty clean when tuned using the television's tuner. I
am comparing coax - TV tuner to coax - Tivo S2 - AV1 input on the TV
using composite cables.

It is true that you get better video through S-video, and I tried S-video in
place of the composite connection. What you see better is the artifacts. I
think the composite connection has a smoothing effect on the artifacts
making them less apparent. So while S-video is technically better (and it
absolutely is), the composite connection results in a more appealing
picture. I am not the first to say that here.

I am trying to decide whether to replace the S2 with an S3. The S3 is a
little pricey, but after a month I might be glad I made the switch. I (we)
really like watching television Tivo-style, with time shifting, wishlists,
et al.

--
Rusty

The television is an LG 37LC2D. The source is Time Warner cable, 72 ohm
coax. The video is pretty clean when tuned using the television's tuner.
I
am comparing coax - TV tuner to coax - Tivo S2 - AV1 input on the TV
using composite cables.

It is true that you get better video through S-video, and I tried S-video
in
place of the composite connection. What you see better is the artifacts.

Whoa, you're mixing things up here. If you're using plain old coax, on
channel 3, that's the crappiest possible signal you can give to the Tivo.
If you're talking composite video, you're using yellow RCA connector.
That's "less worse" than the RF channel 3 coax signal. S-video is the best
you're going to get out of that gear. Try to feed s-video through the whole
process. And do NOT run things through the TV. Run it direct from the
cable box to the Tivo. If you're trying to use the cable tuner in the TV to
watch some channels live while the Tivo is recording, that's fine. Just
don't run the video cabling through the TV. Just split the RF coax before
the cable box and run that to the TV's tuner. There's no sense in putting
other devices inbetween the Tivo and the cable box; they'll just add the
risk of degrading the signal.

I think the composite connection has a smoothing effect on the artifacts
making them less apparent. So while S-video is technically better (and it
absolutely is), the composite connection results in a more appealing
picture. I am not the first to say that here.

Based on the input's artifacts that might be true. You're at the mercy of
how poorly the cable company or the broadcast network has encoded the
picture. You may want to investigate the merits of the cable box you're
currently using. Some are worse than others (although I'm no expert).

I am trying to decide whether to replace the S2 with an S3. The S3 is a
little pricey, but after a month I might be glad I made the switch. I
(we)
really like watching television Tivo-style, with time shifting, wishlists,
et al.

You still haven't said which cable company you're using, and in which
market. There may be options possible on how to improve things but they're
likely to be dependent on the local cable quality. Even an S3 won't help if
the cable company's known to do a crappy job in your market, right?