Hopper 3 Poor Picture Quality on Playback

[chris sawtelle]

So I am a few weeks into the Hopper 3 now. Switched from my VIP 922 and so far I am not impressed with the Hopper. The remote sucks. The layout is poor.

I have found I can not switch to live tv if I am watching a recorded show from the same channel I want to go live on. The only way is to go to another channel and then back.

I have already commented on the poor layout of the channel guide.

The latest item to add to the list is that the playback on a recorded movie is terrible. It looks like I am watching an old VHS. I tried an experiment just to see. I re-recorded a movie on the Hopper 3 that I had on the external drive that was recorded by the 922. The difference in playback is alarming. The one recorded by the Hopper is terrible.

At this point I wish I had not upgraded.

 

[ChadT41]

I have had every receiver from the 622 up, and the H3 is by far better in the picture quality. Sure you recorded it in HD compared to the SD counterpart? What channel was it recorded from(different channels will only air certain formats). That would be a good start

 

[spoiler1041]

So I am a few weeks into the Hopper 3 now. Switched from my VIP 922 and so far I am not impressed with the Hopper. The remote sucks. The layout is poor.

I have found I can not switch to live tv if I am watching a recorded show from the same channel I want to go live on. The only way is to go to another channel and then back.

I have already commented on the poor layout of the channel guide.

The latest item to add to the list is that the playback on a recorded movie is terrible. It looks like I am watching an old VHS. I tried an experiment just to see. I re-recorded a movie on the Hopper 3 that I had on the external drive that was recorded by the 922. The difference in playback is alarming. The one recorded by the Hopper is terrible.

At this point I wish I had not upgraded.

You have an ota module?

 

[patmurphey]

Something else is wrong with your recording, "bad" playback is not inherent to the Hopper3. And, get a 40 remote if you can't live with the 52.

 

[budda]

If you want to go live you hold down the back button. Some times I have to hit it once than hold. But works just fine. As far as PQ. On this forum I have only read of one person who could not get a good picture. Maybe two people. What TV do you have? Is it a LG? You may know this stuff but.Common issues are. Make sure the output settings are correct. Both TV and Hopper are set to 16x9 or fit screen. You are on a HD channel. Good luck!!

 

[chris sawtelle]

I have had every receiver from the 622 up, and the H3 is by far better in the picture quality. Sure you recorded it in HD compared to the SD counterpart? What channel was it recorded from(different channels will only air certain formats). That would be a good start

I have had all the receivers also and really liked the 922. I compared the actual movie playing (HBO) to the recorded movie (had to wait for it to play again) and the "live" show was far superior to the recorded one. Other recorded movies are much better but there is still a difference in the quality of the recorded show vs. the "live" one.

 

[chris sawtelle]

You have an ota module?

This was a movie recorded straight off HBO 303 HD.

 

[chris sawtelle]

Something else is wrong with your recording, "bad" playback is not inherent to the Hopper3. And, get a 40 remote if you can't live with the 52.

Thanks, and I am going to look into the 40. I suppose I will get used to the 52 but I feel it is poorly laid out.

 

[chris sawtelle]

View attachment 117459 If you want to go live you hold down the back button. Some times I have to hit it once than hold. But works just fine. As far as PQ. On this forum I have only read of one person who could not get a good picture. Maybe two people. What TV do you have? Is it a LG? You may know this stuff but.Common issues are. Make sure the output settings are correct. Both TV and Hopper are set to 16x9 or fit screen. You are on a HD channel. Good luck!!

Thanks. Holding the back doesn't work under this scenario as far as I can tell. Let's say I am watching channel 303 HBO then I put on a recorded show also from 303 HBO. It will not go back to live play of channel 303 by holding the back button or punching in "303", you have to go to another channel and then back. It's like it gets confused thinking it is already on that channel. The 922 never did this. Just a bit of a pain!

As far as the picture. I have top of the line 9 Series Samsung, fantastic picture. Worked great with the 922 and normal play with the Hopper is good. It is just that the recorded movies seem to suffer. Most are good but some are really bad.

 

[budda]

The live feature is a two step I believe. Not home to check it but if you hit select. You get choices. Record stop or live tv. Try it once.

 

[chris sawtelle]

The live feature is a two step I believe. Not home to check it but if you hit select. You get choices. Record stop or live tv. Try it once.

No choice for live. I went to info then selected live but it does not go "live" it stays on the recording and just fast forwards to where the recording is and if you don't pay attention it then switches to the last channel watched.