Issues I'm having on my first day w/Voom

ChetK

SatelliteGuys Pro
Original poster
May 14, 2004
981
8
Round Rock, TX
Perhaps somebody has suggestions for these little annoyances. The issues may have come up on the board before and some may be fixed in known future upgrades. If so, I'd like to know about them:
  • When setting up the Voom receiver for audio, I can choose from Dolby Digital or PCM. I'd like a third option that is "Dolby Digital/PCM". My E* 6000U had this feature and my surround sound receiver would pick whichever the programming utilized. For instance, TNTHD broadcasts in Dolby Digital 5.1 for the Lakers/Timberwolves game tonight - Sounded Great! However, if I switch to the Pacers/Pistons game on ESPNHD tomorrow night, it is broadcast in Circle Surround. If the receiver is set to Dolby Digital, I cannot switch my receiver to Dolby Pro Logic (which is a better way to receive Circle Surround). I have to switch to PCM on the Voom receiver and THEN I can switch my surround sound receiver to Dolby Pro Logic. I'd just like for the programming to decide which audio setup to use in the satellite receiver.
  • I'm pretty sure the "Voom button doesn't take you to the current channel in the program guide" feature will be addressed in the next software upgrade.
  • How long will it take for Voom to upgrade their HD signal to mpeg-4 or wm9? At first, I thought I could take it, but the compression is way to high on EVERY HD channel they have. Including paid movie channels (HBOHD, SHOHD, MAXHD, StarzHD). I couldn't believe how poorly DiscoveryHDTheater looked on the Voom box compared to how good it looked on the Echostar box. I know I keep posting about this, but this is an important one to me. Why even buy into the expensive HD equipment if the signal is going to be all compressed to he||? The entire reason I bought into HD in the beginning was because I didn't want to have to look at any of the dish providers highly compressed SD crap. I can't stand halos around objects and macroblocking when there's a lot of movement on the screen...and I'm getting them on every HD channel. I'm worried that these satellite providers will continue to over-compress the HD signal to fit more and more content that we may or may not want. I'm all for more HD channels, but not at the expense of HD quality. This may be a deal breaker for me. I understand HD is fairly new, but if this is the direction that programming providers are going to take, I think I may need to find a new hobby to waste my money on. Can you tell I feel strongly about this one?
  • I'm not so sure I like the color coding system. This may take some getting used to. I'd like to get to the "Options & Settings" menu with one button. None of this Voom button then the green button then the arrow buttons and finally the enter button just to get to the place that I need to be. I especially would like easier access to the "Program Planner" feature. It seems like these features are hidden.
  • I'd like to see an icon in the program guide on a show that I have added to the program planner. This way, I'll already know I have added it to my program planner.
  • Better descriptions for the shows on Rave. The description is the same for every time slot.
  • Why does the program guide time scale change? For instance: Sometimes a 30 minute slot with take up the entire length of the screen. Other times it may be an hour and 30 minutes. I have no idea what I'm looking at when I launch the program guide.

That's it for now. I'm sure I'll think of more and I'll add them here.
 
Oh yeah, I forgot one:

Why do I get a "No signal" black sceen when accessing OTA channels sometimes? If I look at the signal meter I'm getting plenty of signal strength. And my Mits tuner can pick up every HD channel available in in my area. I guess I don't understand why some 8vsb tuners are better than others.

I have noticed, however, that if I get this screen, if I just try accessing the same station again, it comes it clearly with no drop-outs in the signal. I would guess that this is a software bug.
 
sometimes I have to wait a few seconds on the OTA.

The mpeg4/wm9 is planned for SD signals by the end of the year. Leases for additional space on a different satellite are also in place to begin in October of this year.

I think Mpeg4/wm9 is planned for HD next year.
 
With the addition of HD channels (like is anticipated on 6/1/04) we often experience problems with the other HD channels right before as you experienced on your first day.
 
ChetK said:
[*]How long will it take for Voom to upgrade their HD signal to mpeg-4 or wm9? At first, I thought I could take it, but the compression is way to high on EVERY HD channel they have. Including paid movie channels (HBOHD, SHOHD, MAXHD, StarzHD). I couldn't believe how poorly DiscoveryHDTheater looked on the Voom box compared to how good it looked on the Echostar box. I know I keep posting about this, but this is an important one to me. .

I see it the same way, soft picture with halos - especially DHDT- compared to D*. I hope it can be addressed with the next software update, although I doubt it.

I believe it is the receiver, since OTA PQ is also worst than on my previous D* receiver.
 
I believe it is the receiver, since OTA PQ is also worst than on my previous D* receiver.

I believe so too. However, I think it's probably the hardware more than it is the software. :( :no
 
ChetK said:
I believe so too. However, I think it's probably the hardware more than it is the software. :( :no

Agreed, I also believe it's the hardware, that's why I said that I doubt the software update will fix it.
 
yea pq is not as sharp as D* hope it gets addressed voom seems more like high resolution than high Def :no
 
ChetK said:
I believe so too. However, I think it's probably the hardware more than it is the software. :( :no

I have to agree with this 100%. I am also a new VOOM viewer as of this past week. Previously I used a Sammy SIR T165 to connect to by Sammy DLP and the OTA was a knockout. Now all the channels including OTA Digitial and HD are soft, less colorful and miss the wow factor. I have tried re-tweaking my Sammy but that has not yielded much success. I hope they upgrade the tuner also and hope that the MGEG4/WM9 yield picture quality that I paid for. I decided to hold on to my old STB. I was planning to put it up on EBAY.
 
You and me both gutter. I was going to sell my 6000U on e-bay, but I'm not so sure just yet. No wow factor here either. Colors are muted and tweeking did help some, but never got it to the beauty that the 6000U gave.
 
all those seeing inferior PQ, please go to voom.com, create an account if you haven't already, and send a complaint to Voom. I don't know if complaining here is going to do any good except in a cry-in-your-beer sort of way. If enough people send email or call, maybe they'll get a clue.
 
im giving voom another month if pq is not better i will cancel voom and just stick it out with d* i will complain at voom.com :mad:
 
I had already sent a post Friday Night. about a few observations sucha s the picture quality. I am using DVI. Is anyone using component? Could it look better than the DVI? hard to believe. I saw an old post on AVSFORUM of a guy who had the same experience and he switched to component but never saw anothre post either here or elsewhere like it.
 
barth2k said:
all those seeing inferior PQ, please go to voom.com, create an account if you haven't already, and send a complaint to Voom. I don't know if complaining here is going to do any good except in a cry-in-your-beer sort of way. If enough people send email or call, maybe they'll get a clue.
Tried that-enough people seem to think pq is "super-fantastic"(search recent threads for exact adjectives) that Voom probably feels pq "complaints" not valid across the board.
 
I just went to their web site and entered a complaint/question concerning picture quality.

I'd like to see an icon in the program guide on a show that I have added to the program planner. This way, I'll already know I have added it to my program planner.

I found the answer to this issue I was having. When a program is added to the Program Planner, the program turns a lighter shade of blue in the program guide. I didn't notice this before. The differences in blue is very slight. I guess this is not something that needs to be changed. :)
 
eschu97611 said:
Tried that-enough people seem to think pq is "super-fantastic"(search recent threads for exact adjectives) that Voom probably feels pq "complaints" not valid across the board.

Every "complaint" or suggestion is taken very seriously a Voom. It's very difficult when some people experience a problem and many do not.
 
WilliamBell said:
Every "complaint" or suggestion is taken very seriously a Voom. It's very difficult when some people experience a problem and many do not.
"Better to error on the side of caution", I always say.

Still frustrating that pq issues have not been "fully handled" thus far-system been operating now almost 8 months-enough time, you decide.
 
gutter said:
I had already sent a post Friday Night. about a few observations sucha s the picture quality. I am using DVI. Is anyone using component? Could it look better than the DVI? hard to believe. I saw an old post on AVSFORUM of a guy who had the same experience and he switched to component but never saw anothre post either here or elsewhere like it.


I get alot sharper picture with my components vs my DVI.
with my Wega
 
Mr. Bell (vice chairman of Cablevision and Rainbow Media Enterprises CFO), it's an honor to have you in this thread. Thanks for viewing the forum and, above all, responding to our concerns!
 
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