Official Ceton Echo Extender Info Thread - Page 152

+1 for me too, on the occasional audio static audio noise when the audio stream first starts. It is really brief. It has happened on two of my Echos. One that is going through a surround system, and the other is just direct connected to the TV. PQ is pristine though!

OK, Upon further review, I believe they don't properly display exactly 59.94Hz.

Beta 2012.1219.1030

Watching a 1080i channel, scrolling tickers will freeze for an eyeblink(one frame repeated?) every couple of minutes (not an exact timing, I know). Otherwise, it's buttery smooth.

This is with the Echo set to 'Native'.

On 720p channels, the video is as smooth as the 1080i channels, but scrolling tickers have a jitter about every second. It is not buttery smooth, but not too objectionable. Again, still set to 'Native'. While I can easily see the jitter on the scrolling ticker, there is no apparent jitter on the video; motion is smooth.

The odd thing is my TV only shows 1080p for the 1080i channels, and of course, 720p for the 720p channels.

No audio glitches for me so far. When changing channels, the video will stutter as it syncs to the audio, but the audio is clear.
Edited by flipper59 - 12/20/12 at 1:01pm

The Echo does not output 1080i at this time so it will show 1080p.

So the Echo is doing the de-interlacing?

From what I see, it's doing a fine job now with Beta 2012.1219.1030. It's probably not doing 29.97x, but I have no complaints.

720p could use some work. I get motion artifacts on scrolling tickers.

This is true but ultimately ceton has said they want to pass the signal unmolested to your AVR and/or HDTV so that they can do the de-interlacing as the assumption is that these devices will do a better job at de-interlacing.

Hopefully it will be able to pass the native refresh rate in the future too, but this is wishful thinking

Thanks for checking this for me guys. It's what I expected. They have probably created a custom resolution with pixel counts tweaked to get it as close to 59.940 refresh as possible. This is the common work-around for people using HTPC's for video playback as well since none of the PC video cards can do 59.940 exactly either. Depending on how close it is, you may see a dropped or repeated frame every few seconds or every few minutes. Some ATI cards can go for a couple hours. It's unfortunate Ceton didn't select hardware that is better than a typical PC for handling this issue. Except for long panning camera shots and news tickers, it's usually not too noticeable for most people. I wouldn't worry about it if you're otherwise satisfied with the image quality.

So on 2012.1219.1030 I was playing back a movie rip last night and getting serious stuttering on all resolution settings after about 20-30 seconds. Once I turned off bitstreaming, it fixed it completely. Turning it back on bought the problem back. Any ideas?

I can watch TV fine with bit streaming enabled.

I get no audio and a stuttering picture without regard to video or audio settings I choose.

This is rogue f/w. I hope ceton releases an update sooner rather than later or they could just re-release the 1214 f/w with a new date if that is what needs to happen. There is no option to roll back but there should be.

Beta 2012.1219.1030

Rogue for you, but it works for me, with very minor graphical glitches under certain circumstances.

I should note my audio set-up is most basic: Audio set to HDMI, no bitstreaming, single HDMI cable to the TV, using TV speakers.

Is it possible to get a corrupted firmware update? I'd hope they do some sort of check-summing.
Edited by flipper59 - 12/21/12 at 8:34am

I suppose you tried this all ready. I just wanted to confirm that there is no way to go back to previous firmware. What happens when you de-select Beta? and try to update to Stable?

Nothing. Now if I can force it into recovery mode then it will go to stable (1204?) f/w but the 1214 f/w was better than the stable (1204) f/w for me.

Ordered my Echo yesterday from newegg around 3pm and it was delivered to my office 5 mins ago!!!

Looking forward to hooking it up when i get home. I currently only use the lav filters on my htpc... Do i need to add Shark also? i remember reading Shark will help with extenders??? or is that only for the xbox 360?

I use mediabrowser and all my mkv's are 1080p(movies) and 720p(tv shows) i know that is problem now so my focus will be live tv.

Will this have any problems with mpeg 4? i know my live Tv provider uses it.

Thanks

Not sure what firmware your Echo will have, but I will advise patience when first booting up; let it do its thing.

I got back an RMAed Echo, and it updated twice (I got 3 different MC pairing codes; two flashed by before I could write everything down).

Don't be too quick to assume it has locked up. Let it finish.

Wow ok, thanks for the heads up. sounds like i will be spending alot of time in this thread over the next couple of days

The current Echo experience seems to define a beta program rather than retail product at this point. I am still waiting.....

This is beta f/w. The stable f/w was much better than this but the last beta f/w was better than the stable f/w.

My HDHR Prime has "stable" f/w that is 8 months old and it has a few glitches in it. There's been a lot of beta f'w releases since then and some of them over the summer were real rogue. I've stuck with the official f/w. I think soon there will be an RC f/w to update this f/w with glitches. Does that make the Prime a beta product? I use it every day and have no cable STB's at all. I chose to instal the beta f/w when the stable f/w was working very well actually.

Yeah, that's an idea. Set the plug to stable, force "recovery", 1214 might be the stable. On the other hand, it might blow up in your face. What is Ceton Support's suggestion.

I'm a beta tester and am currently waiting for a new f/w to test. I don't use the echo for anything right now as it is so it isn't a big deal. My HTPC works fine but eventually I want to move the echo into the kitchen but need to get Ethernet there first anyhow.

Maybe not, Some have got lucky. Here are a couple more places to get more info:

http://www.thegreenbutton.tv/forums/viewforum.php?f=62

http://cetoncorp.com/product-support/

I had to RMA my original unit after it went back on its own to the original firmware one day last week, at that point it was unstable and wouldn't access the settings add-on. Ceton should receive it today..
I got the bug to have another one for our bedroom and ordered it earlier this week and received it today. Leaving it on the stable firmware at this time, all I can say is that the video quality is greatly improved over the last week I have been without. Can't wait to receive a replacement or my other unit back....

Anyone seeing choppy video or a sort of strobe like echoing effect on BBC America HD or HGTV HD, possibly other channels, but most seem ok. This is constant on every program on these channels. Both of these are 1080i channels but most other 1080i channels I don't see any issues that are too noticeable.

I am using a PC to serve the echo that has a ceton card and a FIOS cablecard.

I do not notice the same thing from my FIos DVR or watching from media center on the server computer. The TV set is a 1080p LCD with hdmi.

I have tried native, 720p, 1080p in the ceton settings and it doesn't seem to make a difference. Same issue is present on the latest beta firmware and previously on the latest official firmware.
Edited by ZenithPete - 12/21/12 at 4:32pm

Same effect here. I'm on the latest firmware. I am use Cablevision Optimum West for my provider. I'm on the latest beta firmware.

IDK what happened but when I got home from work, smooth as silk with audio???

Intel card solved it!

Good news! The network composed of the HTPC and Extenders seems to be very sensitive.

Following this thread closely as I look to ditch my garbage Time Warner boxes and move to an HTPC with Ceton Extenders as my "cable boxes". I see references that Intel chipsets seem to work better, so I'm assuming I should look for an Intel mobo for my build. Just want to go with hardware that others are seeing success with. Very happy to see the Echo maturing.

I think the reference is to intel NIC's for network connections but I have a Gigabyte board with a Realtek NIC on board and it works fine.

Before you go so far as having an echo for an extender you need a tuner card, either the ceton InfiniTV4 or the SiliconDust HD HomeRun Prime will do the job for you.

Hey Sammy2, have you updated to the 1221.1618 f/w and if so what do you think? With my setup it seems to be the best yet. Channel changes are smoother than past f/w.

It hasn't rolled to me. I just checked and it isn't there. Funny thing is that the 1219.1030 f/w is playing nice now. I'll be looking for thais new f/w soon, though. How's it doing with mkv's? I played one for an hour or so last night. Often I pause a movie to do whatever. About the third time I did this it wouldn't resume so I switched to my HTPC to finish watching it. Although the PQ is vastly improved on the echo, my HTPC still produces better PQ. It does 23.976 so that's a plus, although I didn't see any dropped frames at 60fps on the echo.