herky-jerky channels anyone?

[TheGuv]

I noticed today that I'm having some herky jerky problems on some channels.

I first noticed it this morning when I DVR'd a cable news program. It was hard to watch the scroll at the bottem of the channel.

Now, as I watch programs live, I still notice the problem on any channel with scroll. It also seems that people are herky jerky a bit also.

Audio seems fine.

 

[MarkNelson]

I had this problem intermittently for awhile now. Sometimes changing the channel fixes it*. Sometimes powering off fixes it*. Usually pulling the power fixes it*.

*The fix is always temporary. It comes back eventually.

 

[Ziuck]

I have had this issue with my 622 for the last couple of weeks. I appears to only happen on SD channels an not HD.

I thought it was my box.

 

[crowther]

I had this problem quite frequently on my VIP211. Went to Tech support with no answers. Finally came upon a fix myself. When I see the jittering (especially on the crawl line of a news channel), I go into the menu. Go to system setup. Then HD setup. In HD setup you will see the box where is says TV Type. In that box you have options - 480, 720, 1080. I like to set my tv at 1080. But when I have the jittering I go into that box and set it to 480 and when it asks if I want to save this change I say "yes". This takes away the jittering. Then I go back and reset to 1080 and the problem seems to clear up. Now I have the problem very rarely, but this process always fixes it. Hope this helps.

 

[thunderlips]

It's been happening to my 622 fairly frequently the last couple weeks. The only fix for me seems to be to skip back a couple times, then back to where I was. It's definitely happening on sd channels, but I don't recall if it has happened on any hd channels. I should mention that it occurs during both live and recorded programs.

 

[Dah-Henny]

I think everyone experiences this...I have yet to hear an acceptable explanation for WHY this occurs. I even get the jitters on OTA abc with some programs. It's like watching a vhs tape & someone's hitting the pause button 100 times a minute.

 

[mdwatt]

I've been noticing this primarily on certain HD channels. Sometimes on OTA channels, but I think that's becuase my signal on OTA isn't the greatest since I live over 70 miles from broadcast.

 

[AT&TDishman]

I think everyone experiences this...I have yet to hear an acceptable explanation for WHY this occurs. I even get the jitters on OTA abc with some programs. It's like watching a vhs tape & someone's hitting the pause button 100 times a minute.

It is caused by your hard drive, just like in your computer when things start to slow down. A simple reset will bring things back to normal.

 

[Dah-Henny]

I have a VIP222. However, your explanation makes more sense than anything I've heard.

The only jitters I see on E* are some of the movies on VOOM. The kicker is...some programs on ABC primetime OTA hooked directly to the roof-top antenna get the jitters. ABC 45 broadcasts in 720p. My local CW broadcasts in 1080i & have never seen the jitters. Maybe my Visio 37LCD is a problem.

A lot of ppl experience the jitters though...go figure?

 

[RockinHARD26]

Herky Jerky? I have no clue what you mean!

 

[Foxbat]

I had this problem quite frequently on my VIP211. Went to Tech support with no answers. Finally came upon a fix myself. When I see the jittering (especially on the crawl line of a news channel), I go into the menu. Go to system setup. Then HD setup. In HD setup you will see the box where is says TV Type. In that box you have options - 480, 720, 1080. I like to set my tv at 1080. But when I have the jittering I go into that box and set it to 480 and when it asks if I want to save this change I say "yes". This takes away the jittering. Then I go back and reset to 1080 and the problem seems to clear up. Now I have the problem very rarely, but this process always fixes it. Hope this helps.

My ViP211 does this. Dish replaced my ViP211 and the replacement does the same thing. When I was troubleshooting, I found that the standard definition video outputs were not experiencing the problem. I, too, found the trick about switching the HD output to 480p and back to 1080i.

Dish doesn't seem to want to acknowledge this issue. The Technnical CSRs I spoke with "had no knowledge" of this issue. Maybe it is bad hardware and we just need to continue to return units until we get a good one.

 

[bfbchief]

I have been getting this too...on ALL of my receivers...so I don't think it is a receiver problem. I have a 625, 211 and 311....

 

[downriver]

It's not the hard drive. Maybe it's a transmission problem with mpeg4 compression. It can be very annoying, at times unwatchable. They must be aware of it.

 

[bowens]

I had this problem on my 211. I hoped it would go away when I got my 622 but no, it's still there. I had pretty much decided it was my TV but I guess not. It isn't that big of a deal to me. I guess I've gotten used to it.

 

[vicw]

Wow, things haven't changed much. We went through a bout of the herky-jerky problems back when I was a customer around 2002-2003, I think. (I subsequently moved across country, and went to cable, until local HDs recently became available in my area. Now I'm considering a move back to E* or D*)

I believe this problem is almost certainly the result of dropped frames in transmission, probably caused by overcompression of inadequate capacity within Dish. You can see the same behavior if you try to capture video to a PC, and your system can't process every incoming frame real time, it starts dropping frames. It's very uncomfortable to watch.

I know it was a huge annoyance with Dish when it was happening, especiially when watching any channel with a scroll bar. Dish fixed the problem back then, but I don't recall them ever disclosing what they did. It's a bit ominous to me, as I don't want to get back into that scenario if it has become a chronic problem. Has it gone on for just a short period, or longer?

 

[ptuck874]

could it be the solar flares messing with transmissions? mine sometimes does a little hurky jerky then goes back to normal ..

 

[bfbchief]

could it be the solar flares messing with transmissions? mine sometimes does a little hurky jerky then goes back to normal ..

You know I did think of this...I thought i read somewhere else...that this was happening to other people too (not just Dish Network)

 

[rmims404]

I have experienced this "herky jerky" or split second freeze up of the picture. Scroll on the news channels also hangs up. I have noticed this mostly on SD channels, but I also have the same concern on TBS HD. Powering down and rebooting seems to fix this temporarily. Tech is supposed to come Sat 10/13. I wanted to see if my dish needs realigning or relocating. Sometimes I can go to TBS HD and the system acts like theres no signal, searches and tells me the signal has been lost. Only does this on TBS HD.

 

[steve4810]

I don't think it's the sun or MPEG4.

1. I noticed it for the first time today but it was only on TV1 (in two user mode) even though both were tuned to same channel TV2 was smooth as siik.

2. I did a front panel reset and it went away but nothing else I tried did (Though I didn't try the TV resolution change in HD setup).

3. Since I only saw it in HD mode (TV2 was component) it could be tied up the the lip sync problem. Both things are a function of frame timing. Perhaps a false step by the software programmers who were trying to skip frames if they got behind the voice by some certain amount.

An good experiment would be to record the channel while it happens and see if the dropped frames are still missing when played back on both TVs.

 

[steve4810]

Need help with my ?.... The past few days I have found out watching an HD program, that there has been a faded looking black line running up and down on the right side of the TV... I thought it was me till I told my wife to look, and she could see it. I thought it was my TV but it isn't. Do u guys think it could be Dish's HD programing, or my receiver going bad??? Only had it since Feb of this year.. Thanks

It isn't the Dish signal. Somethings busted or not adjusted right. But if i were you I'd start a thread with your post to attract more than the "herky jerky" crowd.