DirecTV HD DVR - HR2*/ HR34 Master Topic: one thread for all - Page 10

If the Kuro in the menu allows you to set the incoming video type, IF, you set it there.

If not, you need to calibrate a separate Kuro memory for the incoming RGB video signal.

My Sammy display looks exactly the same whether fed 4:4:4, 4:2:2 or RGB limited. The only problem with the OP's situation would be if the display is calibrated for one type RGB and being fed the other. I'll assume the HR24 is outputting limited RGB. But if he has a BD player that can be set to output RGB, he should be able to match the calibrations one to the other. But in any case there shouldn't necessarily be an issue just because the HR24 is outputting RGB.

I just got off the phone with DirectRetards and was basically denied completely in my attempt to get my system upgraded at all. I have two HR20 and one HR21. I was looking to upgrade two of the old boxes to HR24 and also get SWiM and DECA set up. I spoke to a CSR who put me through to tech support/protection plan. They quoted me the standard multiroom install upgrade of $99 but the best they could do on a HD-DVR was $149 (down from $199....whoopdeedoo) and that wouldn't even guarantee the HR-24. I already spent $600 for the "privilege" of leasing 3 boxes and this is the way we're treated. Not to mention the $4500 of subscription fees over the past three years.

Over 5 grand and they won't throw a bone. Anybody have any advice on how to strongarm these people? Letter to the CEO?

If not, I'm off to FIOS!!

With the current demand for HD and the Whole Home DVR service along with the connected home networking, the stock of receivers is running short.
Some markets [installers] don't have HR24s in stock, so they can't install one. Other markets still have some and they're earmarked for the Whole Home DVR upgrade with the connected Home networking.
If you went with the MRV & DECA upgrade, all your receivers will work without replacements.
This upgrade is $99 + $49 for the service call.
To guarantee a HR24, you'd need to buy one retail.
I know all of this sucks, but you've simply picked a bad time and things may/will get better in a few months.

The only folks at D* who can "make deals" are those in Cust Retention. You can now reach them directly at 1-800-824-9077. If you get an offer from them for "free" or discounted equipment, be aware that any such deal also will involve extending your contract commitment. They will spell it out for you.

NO ONE over the phone can guarantee your getting a particular model of HD DVR shipped directly from D*. The best way to get the model you want is to get Cust Retention to agree to credit your account an agreed-upon amount after you obtain the model you want and activate it. Or, you can contact the local install contractor directly and insist that the installer bring the model you want with him when he upgrades your system.

I have done both at separate times and each method worked for me.

Dana

True, true, it does all suck. It would be okay if service was reliable but I'm also sick of having 3 rain droplets in our county and lose reception for an hour. Had a dish realign recently and it still does this especially with HD channels. Plus, they never added AMC HD and I'm sick of watching Mad Men in SD.

Oh well. I just feel like they take their long term customers for granted.

Something is wrong somewhere. I live on an island on the coast of Maine - open ocean in my front yard and Spain is somewhere below the horizon - and my sat dish is subject to nor'easters, sou'westers, blizzards and everything in between. I never lose reception. When we lose utility power (frequently - and BTW cable goes out with it), my whole house generator kicks in and I still get reception.

A few years ago Comcast acquired the local cable operator and in a foolish moment I dropped D* and joined Comcast. A terrible mistake. Many broken promises. I left ASAP and rejoined D*.

But, it's a free country. So, it's your call.

Dana

Wow, so getting spotty reception during inclement weather is abnormal? I've complained about it, had the dish realigned, and been told it's a normal part of satellite services.

I'm getting more annoyed by the minute here. Very close to pulling the trigger and dumping D*.

I just had a new 5LNB dish installed, I get 95-100% signal levels on all sats. I checked it during a heavy thunderstorm the other day and the lowest level I had was 90%. Of course I am almost directly under the sats here so YMMV.

You don't give us a clue where you're located, so we have no idea what "normal" would be for you.
I lose signal for maybe 5 mins a year, while some in the mid west & east coast may lose them longer and more often, due to the heavy thunderstorms they get.

I have a friend in FL. who says that in their torrential downpours, he'll lose signal. Fortunately, they don't last very long.

Dana

I live in Avondale, PA. I'm about 25 min from Wilmington, DE and about 50 min from Philly.

I will actually lose signal before a storm even starts...just when there's dark clouds.

Try these HDMI settings with your Kuro:

Press "Home Menu"> Select "Option"> Select "HDMI Input"> Select "Video">

Select "Color-3" for RGB signals (16 to 235) locked

or

Select "Color-4" for RGB signals (0 to 255) locked

I believe that this is a global HDMI setting rather than per HDMI input.

From reading about others in or near your area, it can be a problem because of the heavy storms. It isn't the rain/clouds "over your head" but those between the dish and the SAT, so if the storm comes in from the southwest, it will affect your signal before it gets overhead. Some use it as a storm warning as maybe 15 mins before it hits them, they see the signals dropping out.

At USSB, we had a map with a line from our uplink dish. (When storms would roll in, we had to boost power to our transponders.) At 40,000 feet, the sat signal was in a different suburb. So, veryoldschool is right (not that he needs me butting in!) , it's not always what's over your house.

The warmer the storm the higher the clouds can be and this seems to be what's causing the mid-west/east coast to have more problems that other areas as thunderstorms can reach as high as 70,000', and I'd bet we don't see them much over 40,000' out here.

Hey Phacoman, I guess I got lucky. Call them back.
I live in Minnesota and have 2 H20 DVR's and one plain HD reciever. I called to get one of them upgraded from a 20 to the new 24. The gal mentioned a promotion, for $158.55 they will come to my home and upgrade all 3 recievers and the dish. Install the home wide service. I let them know I have gigabyte wired home with broadband internet.
So $158.55 for 2 HD24 recievers and one of the new HD recievers.

Hi Dr_Mark,

So, just to clarify, you actually got the HR24s, or the CSR said you would. Can you update us if it actually worked? great price for WHDVR and 2 HR24s!

The only part of this that would be of interest is the internet, since the only supported networking is the "connected home", which is the DECA coax type. They'll simply tap out of it with another DECA to your home network.

Just got the confirming email.
Please Review Your Order
Your installer will arrive between 12:00 PM - 4:00 PM on Monday, August 16, 2010. To reschedule your installation appointment, visit directv.com/schedule or call 1-800-531-5000.
Please make sure to review the terms and conditions of your order.
Order Date: 8/6/2010
DIRECTV Order Confirmation Number: #######
DIRECTV Account Number: #######

YOUR EQUIPMENT SELECTION
1 DIRECTV® HD - Swap $0.00
1 Whole-Home Upgrd and ICK $99.00
Equipment Total $99.00
ADDITIONAL
Installation Fee $49.00
Delivery & Handling Fee $0.00
Tax $10.55
Order Total Paid* $158.55
I did confirm both with the D-tv gal and the confirmation person. These ARE 24's not older models. YES.
I think I might call and ask about the "1 DIRECTV HD swap". I was told it was for all 3 units.
Just got off the phone, the installers screen specifies 3 units for replacement with the new model.

I hope you get just what you expect.
What I see in this order is:
The H20 gets replaced with a HD receiver that has a network connection for MRV, which most likely would be the H24.
Whole-Home upgrade, which is the connected home networking, aka DECA and the internet connection.
A 2 year programing commitment because of the receiver swap.
The total price reflects all of this.
What I don't see is any line item for swapping any DVRs and at $199 each, this is the part in question.

Good luck and hope it all turns out well for you.

That is incredible if that works out for you Dr.Mark. Please keep us updated about exactly what you get out of this deal.

I've been going back and forth about whether to just switch to FIOS out of frustration but I've been lurking on the FIOS threads and it seems that the home media DVR they use pretty much sucks and it might even be a step back from D*. Apparently the storage space is only 20GB! At least each of my old D* HD-DVRs holds 100GB.

Gonna have to mull this over some more.

I have a Wireless-N router and N USB adapter for the back of my dvr. Will these allow me to hook up my directv-dvr to the internet?

The USB adapter will not work on an HD DVR. The USB port only functions for two things I'm aware of: it will provide power if you want to use a cooling fan that has a USB connector; and it will connect to an AM21 (if it is a model other than HR20). Otherwise the USB port does not function. You cannot plug a wireless USB adapter into the back and expect it to connect. You would have to get what is called "wireless bridge" which will have an ethernet connection to your DVR and can then connect wirelessly to your router.

SMK

I know this has been discussed before but I've never seen much in the way of explanations. I have pretty frequent audio dropouts, maybe 1/2 second on average over HDMI. I tried using optical for audio with HDMI for video and the dropouts are shorter but they still happen. Seem to be worse at certain times, other times hardly at all. Always more common when watching from the DVR.

Is there any help or workaround for this?

I had pretty much the same issue with Dish Network HD-DVR and it's starting to piss me off.

There are people who've had problems with this on DirecTV, but if you are having it with both DirecTV and DISH, I would say you might look into your TV having an issue. A lot of TVs have had issues with audio dropout, and there have been firmware updates put out to fix them. You might look into that from your TVs manufacturer.

If you are having problems with Toslink to your receiver, that would mean it is not just a TV problem. You might try different settings for your DVR/receiver in terms of the digital signal being sent to the receiver and what the receiver does with it.

SMK

Get a better receiver (e.g., Pioneer). If you don't actually use a receiver, forget my suggestion and no need to continue reading.

Here's my guess at a diagnosis. The signal you're getting has some defects, from time to time. Some receivers are better than others at dealing with such errors. Your receiver is reinitializing its Dolby processor at every little glitch, causing audible dropouts.

Thanks guys, but this is a well-documented issue with the HD-DVRs and DD audio. Yes, the glitch is in the stream from the DVR and yes different processors handle it differently. It's posted regularly on various forums including the DTV technical forums. People with virtually every brand of AVR report the issue. Since I almost exclusively watch HD programming with DD audio I have it a lot. I was looking for someone with direct knowledge of the issue.

There are two issues here:
1) the current firmware in the HR24-500 has a known issue with playback and DD5.1. Not sure if the other model HR24s share this or not. Look for this to be corrected in the next Firmware update. Testing of this version is showing they found & corrected the problem.
2) to a lesser amount, there are still issues in the SAT feeds and with the MPEG-2 to MPEG-4 conversion. This too is being looked into, but currently there is no known time frame as to when a fix will come out.