For those that have DirecTV, I was wondering if anyone else has noticed periodic audio drop outs, mainly on local channels, but also at times on other channels. Doesn't stay very long, maybe 5-30 seconds, found no pattern and happens random.

Also, there have been occasional video lockups for just a few seconds. I use two HR21 DVR and this has been going on for about 4 months now. DirecTV even sent me an automated voice mail message to my home while at work saying they knew about an audio issue and were working on it for audio signal loss drops, but that was back in October 2008.

Anyone know what is going on or have the same issues at times? It's not constant, so that's why it is hard to say what it is. I know it's NOT the dish or anything like that because it was OK until about October then it started doing this, even on NON HD equipment.

Just thought other DirecTV customers may have had this happen to them and have some input or thoughts about it. I know Comcast and some FIOS customers have been having a few issues too.

Thanks.

From DBSTalk:

The problems that folks are experiencing are not exclusive to DirecTV. In fact, they are a very common problem affecting the entire TV industry, but local stations in particular, because they tend to get content in so many different formats, and tend to have smaller budgets than national networks.

The move to digital has greatly complicated the audio issue, with various encoding methods and content switching in and out of Dolby Digital surround, among other problems. Many stations have known problems with their equipment, but their priority is to get their OTA signal working. With the Digital Transition and the fact that most local stations have also had their budgets strained by paying for two transmitters (one analog, one digital), and are looking at having a further unexpected expense to keep them both going if the transition deadline is extended, stations don't have the money to address these problems right now.

My area has DirecTV, Dish Network, Comcast, and Uverse, and I've heard of these issues with all services, but it's the worst for services that convert MPEG2 to MPEG4, because the MPEG2 signals aren't always up to spec, but MPEG2 decoders can deal with those problems more gracefully than an MPEG4 transcoder can.

Given time, these problems will be worked out for everyone, but right now, the focus is on the digital broadcast transition that's 3 weeks away. Assuming that date isn't moved and it gets completed successfully, then other issues can start being addressed.

Thanks, that explains it. I thought it was probably something along those lines but could not find it over at dbstalk.com or at least when I did a search.

Thanks for finding the post, it helps to know.