Hopper/Joey upgrade dissapointing, requesting some advice

[Yrd]

Wish I'd known about this forum before yesterday...

We've had our hopper (1H/3J) for a few weeks and I've noticed, only once the limit of 3 tuners. Coming from the 2 tuner DVR and another single tuner ssetup, it's not a huge change. 1 of the Joey's was put in a guest room and will probably never get used. I may turn off PTAT because we honestly don't watch very many of the shows recorded.

My biggest disappointment is the picture quality of the DVR content through the Joey on a 1080p TV. All other TVs are 1080i or lower quality, including the set hooked up to the Hopper. The Joey is a notable downgrade from the older tuner that it replaced, I don't remember the model. This WHDVR thing was the entire reason for our upgrade. Now that I've read a bit, I understand why the quality is lower than what I had before. I didn't realize the Joey's were using tuners from the Hopper.

Here's what I'm requesting advice on:

1. I'd like to switch my Hopper's location to the one 1080p TV we have. I'm a more discerning viewer than the others and would like the higher quality picture. What would I need to make this happen? I'm hoping I can just do this myself and take any splitters and move them to the other room.

2. Possibly replacing the Joey with another Hopper. I'm seeing $100 fees in a lot of these threads, is that what we'd be saddled with, if I chose that option? We've been a Dish subscriber for many years.

 

[MattG@DISH]

1) If you know how, you can move the equipment around yourself

2) It will likely be a $100 charge for another Hopper. If you send me a PM with your phone number or account number, I can check for you.

 

[sethwell]

Before you go swapping boxes to different locations I would make sure the installer didn't hook up your set with composite cables(red,white, yellow) instead of the HDMI connection. also make sure to go into the settings, format tv, HDTV and make sure that it is set to either 1080i or 720p and in 16x9 aspect ratio. also make sure you are using the HD version of the channel.

i know this sounds like simple stuff that the installer should have done correctly in the first place but we are all human, and make a mistake every now and then. good luck and hope it gets worked out for you.

and also to Satelliteguys.us!!

 

[hahler2]

I too would check all your settings and connections. I don't notice any PQ difference between my Hopper and my Joey. Both are on 1080P televisions.

 

[Yrd]

Before you go swapping boxes to different locations I would make sure the installer didn't hook up your set with composite cables(red,white, yellow) instead of the HDMI connection. also make sure to go into the settings, format tv, HDTV and make sure that it is set to either 1080i or 720p and in 16x9 aspect ratio. also make sure you are using the HD version of the channel.

i know this sounds like simple stuff that the installer should have done correctly in the first place but we are all human, and make a mistake every now and then. good luck and hope it gets worked out for you.

I've already changed everything to the highest quality and best aspect ratio. It's compression artifacts I'm not happy with. They are pretty bad on DVR shows through a Joey.

 

[mdavej]

Sounds like cable issues to me. If Joey isn't getting a perfect picture, there's a problem with the coax going to it (or connector or splitter).

 

[Yrd]

Sounds like cable issues to me. If Joey isn't getting a perfect picture, there's a problem with the coax going to it (or connector or splitter).

Care to explain that a little more?

 

[dangue]

No noticeable difference in picture quality between my two hoppers or the single Joey. I would definitely make sure connections aren't the issue before moving boxes around.

Sent from my iPhone using SatelliteGuys

 

[articos]

Everyone above is talking about the coax cable from the hopper to the joey and/or the node to the hopper/joey. The Joey can use RG-59 cable, which is in many homes, or it might do better with RG-6 cabling, which is in most new homes and is satellite-rated (3 Ghz). There are some installs where RG-59 won't work. If you know what to look for, check the wall-plates, which might be low quality and causing problems - changing them to 3 Ghz rated connectors may help. Otherwise, it could be a bad splitter or old/bad cabling causing picture quality problems. Easiest fix is to just have Dish send a qualified tech to come look at it, since you were just installed and aren't happy with the picture. As everyone else said, there should be no difference between the Hopper and the Joey's picture if they're set to 1080 and connected properly.

 

[rdinkel]

Try a different HDMI cable.

 

[oldengineer]

I'm using a Joey with a 60" Sony SXRD set. Maybe I'm not as discriminating as some subs but I think the PQ is as good as from the host Hopper. If I was troubleshooting this I would first switch the Hopper and Joey and go from there based on what you see.

 

[AIsmail]

I'd go with swapping your coax then maybe your HDMI cable. The installer did that on the coax for me yesterday. I don't notice any difference in pq. The joey looks as good as the 211 it replaced whether I'm watching live tv or something off the dvr. Same goes between the joey and the hopper. Regarding the whole 1080p tv thing, keep in mind your not going to get 1080p when the signal Dish is sending isn't 1080p. While your tv has the capability, the signal doesn't.

 

[JM42]

I've already changed everything to the highest quality and best aspect ratio. It's compression artifacts I'm not happy with. They are pretty bad on DVR shows through a Joey.

The joey isn't introducing any compression artifacts. It should be getting the same data stream from the DVR as what the original feed was. If your getting blocking it could be an issue with the quality of the moca link and some dropped packets. It could just be legitimate compression artifacts are more noticable on the better TV.

 

[TheKrell]

And for completeness it could be a defective Joey.

 

[Scherrman]

I've already changed everything to the highest quality and best aspect ratio. It's compression artifacts I'm not happy with. They are pretty bad on DVR shows through a Joey.

Are you saying that it's only when watching DVR shows or do you just notice it more with DVR shows?

 

[Dishman1978]

Try a different HDMI cable.

Yes try this first.

 

[kwindrem]

This is defiantly not right. Since you have 3 Joeys, I'd swap two of them and see if the problem follows one Joey.

The signal that flows from Hopper (through the node) to Joey is the same compressed signal that Hopper uses. It's the same signal live and off the DVR.

A flakey MOCA signal will look similar to satellite signal fade (dropped blocks, freezes, etc.) rather than compression artifacts. There is a MOCA signal/quality meter that can be turned on from Menu/Settings/Network settings/Whole-Home/Display settings that may offer some troubleshooting help.

There is no direct connection between Hopper and Joey. The path is back to the node, then to the Joeys probably through a splitter since you have 3 Joeys.

 

[Yrd]

I'm going to test it. There is definitely major compression/artifacting going on. I'll check the same show on the hopper and the joey and see if there is any difference. The MoCa signal is full bars, so it would have to be the source, right?

I can't do anything now because the TV connected to the hopper is a rear projection and it's daytime in a bright room, impossible to make a good visual judgement.

 

[ZachS@DISH]

The MoCa signal is full bars

The bars will never change. This is just the MoCa logo letting you know you have a MoCa connection.

 

[Whiteyguy]

the bars do change. they can go from 4 bars to 3.