US Telco Support > Verizon > Verizon FIOS TV > What causes pixelation?

What causes pixelation?

Maybe because on demand is downloaded from the internet, so what it might be is just the data not being sent fast enough so that might be cause the pixelation.

reply to msanta
About a year ago I had pixelation on some HD channels. For me it was caused by a cheap coax cable between my router and cable box.

reply to msanta
Lets see, it can be caused by bad cable,bad splitter,bad connector,router,dirty fiber,bad connection @ ONT,and the list goes on..........

reply to msanta
I just noticed that my 50/20mbps speed drops down to 30/20mbps when I watch VOD & PPV is this normal?

Pixelization has a couple of potential sources. Verizon could be broadcasting a dirty signal that your hardware cannot correct. TIVO has a known problem for this type. It could be caused by bad terminations or loose connectors or a bad splitter...there are probably more.......

reply to msanta
A technician is scheduled to come to my house tomorrow, would Verizon charge me if they need to replace any bad splitters? My house is only seven years old and I don't think the cabling in the walls or any splitters inside the house could be bad. Would they replace the router or the box if they find something wrong with it? I have on the outside a seven way Verizon splitter. I added a two way splitter to the las port to add an extra TV to my basement. Could that be a cause for pixelation? Any suggestions or ideas about what to tell the technician tomorrow?

reply to ursa99

reply to msanta
I have this more often that I would like. Right now I am trying to watch HGTV HD and it is bad. Pixelation and the audio is cutting out. It is happening on 503, 522, 526, 550, 567, 573, 574, 576, 585 is unavailable, 588, 590, 600, 602, 617, 619 is uavailable, 620, 621, 622 unavailable, 625 unavailable, 628 unavailable, 630 unavailable, 639 unavailable, 640 unavailable, 651, 664, 665, 681, 685 is "Not Available", 746, 840, 850, 903, 904, 907, 908, 909, 910, 911, 912, 913, 920, 927, 931 is not available. So 40 or so of the 100+ HD channels are doing this (I have them all).

I was watching HGTV just fine this morning and then all of the sudden it started and has been going on for an hour or so. I notice this every couple days or so.

I have a high quality splitter outside, and the fact that it only happens on occasion does not seem to me like it is a problem on my end.

What's going on?

Edit: I am going to add that I never had this problem until they added the new channels. I have been a FIOS customer for a couple years with an HDTV for about 18 months now.

reply to msanta
The tech came in this morning, checked all the signal strength coming from the ONT and the wall and found a good strong signal. She replaced a 2ghz two way splitter I had installed in my last port on the outside splitter with a 1ghz splitter. So far I watched a movie on VOD with no pixelation. I hope this was the problem, although I doubt it very much!

I had this problem and when I called Verizon the tech reset my box saying he was reinstalling(?) software on my DVR.He also had me check my connections and I found the cable connecting the box was very loose.Anyways I haven't had a problem since except for some VOD which I rarely use anyway.I also think the wow factor in HD is back.

reply to mglunt
I called today about it. She tried to resend the signals, and when that didn't work, she ordered me a new box. Mine is almost 2 yrs old. I don't think it is the box though because the problem is intermittent. I am going to ask someone else I know locally with the service to see if they are having a similar issue.

About 3 hours later, the problem is gone again.

Mglunt, I think and hope you should be ok now. I had the same problem for the last week. The tech came out today and saw the same problem you had. He said, sometimes the activation codes don't get through the boxes and resent the activation codes. This corrected the problem, he said, the STB develops a memory and if the channel was unavailable for any length of time it may try to keep it that way until the codes are sent back to the box again.

Msanta, the splitter should do the trick for you as well. Lets just say, if you saw my post last week my systems was totally screwed up. Anyway the 1Ghz splitter I was told is the trick hope it all works out for you too.

Somebody in the know correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't MoCA reside in the 1-2GHz range? That would explain why VoD would have troubles through a 1GHz splitter. Too much attenuation over 1GHz could cause problems with the data stream while the sub-1GHz broadcast stuff is just fine. I think by rule of thumb that all splitters for FIOS TV should be 2GHz splitters.

reply to msanta
If that's the case why do they use 1GHZ splitters in their installations. The main 6 way splitter is 1GHZ and so is the one the tech put in place of my 2 way splitter on my last port. So if I go to Radio Shack and buy a 6 way 2GHZ splitter I can solve my problem?