Dish Network DVR video skipping

[Gunslinger08]

Just started today. Only seems to skip on channels/shows that take up the full screen with constantly changing content. Starts after a few seconds of playing fine. Doesn't skip on ESPN. Skips on recorded programs unless I hit "menu" which shrinks the visible area to about 1/4th of the screen. Audio continues playing fine.

Any idea whether this would be my DVR, AV receiver, or TV?

 

[kalrith]

What DVR is it? What TV and receiver do you have? How is the DVR connected to the TV and receiver?

I had a problem that sounded similar to this and had to get my SD DVR from Dish replaced, because the hard drive was going bad. I called CS, and they had me run a test on the hdd, and the test failed. Does it skip at all on live content (remember that if you're behind even a few seconds, you're watching recorded content). If it's just recorded content, then that would point toward a problem with the hdd.

My only other thought is that if it's an HD receiver and set to 720p, then 720p stations (ESPN, FOX, ABC) would be passed to the TV untouched by the receiver, whereas 1080i and 480i stations (pretty much everything else) would have to be deinterlaced and scaled to be fed as 720p to your TV. If the DVR is doing a crappy job at the deinterlacing and scaling, then that could definitely create some problems.

 

[Gunslinger08]

DVR - VIP722
TV - Samsung 1080p plasma (this one, I think http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-FPT508.../dp/B000R1E59O)
Receiver - Onkyo HTIB (S6200)
DVR connected to receiver via HDMI. Receiver connected to TV via HDMI.
It does it on live content as well.

 

[Gunslinger08]

HDTV Setup on the receiver is configured for 1080i. It does seem like Fox and ABC work fine (including recorded shows like 24 and Lost).

 

[kalrith]

Is this a new DVR? Has this issue ever happened in the past? Were you able to determine if the issue only occurs with recorded content or with live content as well. You could try to change the settings to 720p and see if that makes any difference.

 

[Gunslinger08]

Is this a new DVR? Has this issue ever happened in the past? Were you able to determine if the issue only occurs with recorded content or with live content as well. You could try to change the settings to 720p and see if that makes any difference.

Never had this happen before. Also happens on live content. Switching the DVR output to 720p looks like it resolves the issue. What's that mean? De-interlacer on the DVR going bad? Or could it be an issue with the receiver or TV?

 

[Gunslinger08]

Interesting. I switched it back to 1080i and now it seems to be fixed. Maybe just a blip in the memory that needed to get swapped?

 

[kalrith]

Interesting. I switched it back to 1080i and now it seems to be fixed. Maybe just a glitch in the matrix?

That's probably what it was.

If the issue never resurfaces, that's great. If it does and a quick switch to 720p and then 1080i fixes it, then that also good as long as it's not happening all the time.

I'm not really sure what was going wrong. It could be a problem with a recent software update or a sign of the DVR going bad since it never happened before.

 

[Gunslinger08]

Thanks for the help!