Intermittent picture pixelation and sound problems.

[Stiltsel]

Annoyingly I have exactly the same problem but i did not have a problem with the BT box I had for many years. EE sent me a new box in case the original one was faulty but this is exactly the same. I am connected to a terrestrial aerial which works fine and if I am watching on catch up TV there is no problem as this comes from the internet which is connected by cable. If i watch live tv on using the ee box I have a problem and also when watching recordings made from live TV. Also get a blip noise and sound level dropping for a second or two. When checking the signal strength on the EE box I have 94% signal strength and 100% quality but then the quality drops temporarily to 50 or 60 and then comes back up to 100% again until the next blip a few minutes later. I regre5 3ver having changed from BT to EE!

[Katie_B]

Hi @Stiltsel. 

I am sorry to hear this has continued.

Since receiving your replacement box have you been back in touch with technical care?

Speak soon, 

Katie

[Stiltsel]

I have carried out more checks.

(1) The problem does not occur if I am watching using online iPlayers therefore the HDMI lead cannot be the problem.

(2) The problem does not occur if I am watching  live TV using the aerial passed through the EE box.

(3)The same program does pixellate whilst watching using HDMI input from the box but does not pixellate on the separate TV if viewed simultaneously  connected to the through box aerial.  This indicates that the box is the problem as the HDMI lead must be OK given (1) above.

(4)The problem does not occur if I just plug the TV directly into the aerial socket.

(5) The problem still occurs if the ethernet connection is disconnected. It still occurs if the Router and Wi-Fi are turned off and only the TV and box are switched on so Broadband/wifi/internet cannot be the problem, nor the ethernet cable.

(6) The problem still occurs if a power line adapter is completely disconnected. (Not actually used for the TV or box anyway).

My only conclusion is that the box must be fundamentally flawed. (I do not wish to connect just using the Internet rather than terrestrial aerial for a number of reasons). 

EE are sending an engineer out on Monday. It will be interesting to see what the conclusion is. Maybe give me back my fautless old BT YouView box?

[Stiltsel]

The engineer informs me that it is an aerial problem although generally the signal quality is 94% and the strength is 100% apart from its blips. I must admit that on a nice bright sunny day today I do not seem to be getting the problem. However I am reluctant to buy another aerial since the signal is just fine when watching terrestrial TV and not using the box. i am reluctant to buy a new aerial given that there is no guarantee that that will solve the problem!

My options now are to buy a new aerial (it is not long since I had a new digital aerial fitted) and hope that it solves the problem, or switch to internet viewing which I do not want to do as you cannot skip the ads on recordings and do not get all the programs.

I wish I had never upgraded to EE from BT since the BT You View box was obviously more reliable and far less sensitive  (and £7 per month cheaper) than this problem I have been landed with.....Not happy!

[Midnight_Voice]

@Stiltsel 

How long ago was ‘not long’?

I would be very inclined to get the fitter from that job back, and ask him to explain the deterioration, and fix it under the guarantee you got at the time.

[Stiltsel]

Aerial was fitted long enough ago for me to have forgotten who did it (several years). Aerial still looks good and I have no problem with it at all when watching TV using the aerial, (nor when using the BT You View box). It is only when I am watching TV through the EE box that I get the problem with this intermittent momentary pixilation and also squeak and momentary sound drop off. I will speak with an aerial engineer and see what he thinks but I am not sure what he will say when I present him with what appears to be a perfectly good aerial giving signal  strength and qualities of 100% and 94%. I do also have an aerial booster in the loft which has been there ever since I moved into the house. Maybe this is causing some conflict? It would appear that the EE box is maybe just too sensitive to ??????. It certainly was not a problem, or exceptionally rarely so, with the BT You View box.

[Timbo45]

@Stiltsel 

You mention signal strength as being 100% and also 94% so which is it?

If it's 100% then the signal is too strong and needs to be reduced to , say, 90% with a variable signal attenutor.

[Stiltsel · Accepted solution]

The strength was 94% and the quality was 100%.It was the quality which would periodically drop momentarily to about 60% and then come back up.

I have today had an aerial fitter return to my property and check the signal. He identified that these were unreliable and also very weak on certain channels. The aged booster in the attic has been replaced and it seems this evening that this has solved the problem. 

What was confusing the issue was that I did not seem to have a problem if I did not use the EE box so the EE box is evidently more sensitive to signal issues than just using the TV without the box. 
In conclusion the pixelation and blip and sound drop would appear to have been caused by an unreliable/weak aerial signal. All seems to be OK now and I am happy again. 😀👍. I will confirm if this reliability is lasting. Thanks for your advice folks!

[Peter_W]

Thanks for the update on this one @Stiltsel, I'm really glad to hear that sorted it out for you!

Peter

[Midnight_Voice]

@Stiltsel 

Glad you cracked it! 94 PQ sounds alright-ish, but it’s actually pretty poor; I have a variable attenuator I can put in my aerial chain, and things stop altogether at 92.

There was a long-held view on the YouView Community that YouView box tuners were less sensitive than most TV tuners, and that seemed to be the case.

Some people thought this was down to them having two tuners, though I always thought that they should be electronically compensating for that.

But now we have your marginal experience with the Box Pro, which has four tuners, playing up on a setup where a two-tuner YouView box was OK.

Maybe they were right all along…..