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4K picture problem

Pieter43
Helpful Neighbour

I've noticed for some time that there's an issue with the picture quality I'm seeing on my 4K box/tv combination.

Think of the 4k screen real estate as 4 HD quadrants: 4K @ 3840 x 2160 and 4 quadrants @ 1920x1080. I've seen the issue on a wide range of feeds, all of which come from the wired 4K box: live feeds, PVR, stream Crave or Prime, they're all prone to show the issue. What shows is 'proper' 4K resolution in the top left quadrant and the other 3 @ HD or possibly even less. So you have 1/4 of the screen in sharp detail and the remaining 3/4 not near as sharp; doesn't last long, a second or even less perhaps but quite noticeable. What I'm seeing reminds me of a signal not being interpolated properly, like a buffer overflow, as it tends to be most visible with scenes of lots of detail.

I'm hard pressed to state I've noticed since I first upgraded to 4K back in late 2019 but it's becoming more and more of a nuisance to me. I've recently gone from feeding the sound in stereo to an external receiver/speaker combo but the receiver gave up the ghost and I've now gone with a soundbar using the ARC feed from the TV. I figured that perhaps for some reason the coiled HDMI cables might be acting as an HF filter but uncoiling them didn't make any difference, and frankly I didn't think it would but I had to try. So, it's down to either the TV or the Optik box. I haven't tried as yet to wire the TV directly into my ethernet and check Prime without going through the Optik box but I will in order to rule out the TV itself.

Any suggestions?

1 ACCEPTED SOLUTION

Pieter43
Helpful Neighbour

Replacement box arrived. Solved the issue at hand. But, the whole matter of getting up and going with this replacement unit was fraught with hiccups, that however is another story for some other time. When all's said and done it proves my initial hunch of the issue being at the front-end rather than the back-end proved correct: a classic case of you get out of it what you put into it! Farting around with the cabling and all was one of those just-in-case things....oh well...it's solved!

View solution in original post

16 REPLIES 16

xray
Hero

I've never noticed what you describe on either of my Sony Bravia 4K TVs. Can you provide some additional details like:

  • TV model
  • Is the HDMI direct between Optik box and TV or do you pass it through a receiver/sound bar?
  • Resolution settings on Optik box and TV
  • Did you try different HDMI cables?
  • Do you have more than 1 TV and if so is the problem on all of them?

Pieter43
Helpful Neighbour

Thanks for the pipe-in, xray.

I have 2 Samsung tv's, bot courtesy of Telus over the years, so they're basic models, but do the job. The older 43 is on HD and it's fine.

Optik box is set to 2160, TV is @ 3840 x 2160, TV is Samsung 55 inch UN55NU6900 TV.

The 55" has the Optik 4K box connected to HDMI1 and the soundbar is on HDMI2/ARC. I've done a bit more digging, the network cable is CAT 5E so that should have sufficient bandwidth but the ethernet cable is only rated CAT5. I'll do some digging and see if I can come up with a CAT5e one to be on the safe side. I didn't think I had any other HDMI cables but happen to unexpectedly stumble across a couple of rather short ones, 1mtr length that claimed to be 4K compatible but unfortunately that's a tad too short to comfortably go from the Optik box to HDMI1 on the TV, but I did get a chance to try it out and it had major problems: dropouts: periodically I'd loose picture/sound, a momentary black out. Obviously that wouldn't do. Feeding the Optik box to the soundbar and then back to HDMI1 on the TV just didn't work, no joy at all using the 2 shorter cables or the original longer ones. So, for a tidier install I took advantage of the short length to run it between HDMI2 ARC and the soundbar, and the 2mtr one that came off the soundbar is now between the Optik box and HDMI1.

Haven't had a chance to evaluate the minor change I've made but will report back.

Thanks again!

WestCoasterBC
Community Power User
Community Power User

Remember your tv does up scaling and could very well be the issue you're experiencing. I have a Samsung S95B and don't have any issues you're describing.

xray
Hero

If your Optik box is connected via Ethernet then the cable may be a factor. Any cable rated CAT5 or higher will have sufficient speed for transmitting 4K video. What's unknown is whether your specific cable actually meets the spec (regardless of the markings). One way to test any Ethernet cable is to connect it to a laptop or desktop with an Ethernet card and check the network properties for the connection speed. If you see 100Mbps or more then that's plenty for 4K video which only needs 20Mbps.

 

Similarly, HDMI cables have varying capabilities which may or may not meet the advertised ratings, especially the non-branded ones or brands nobody's heard of. You don't need to spend a lot of money on cables of any type, be it HDMI, Ethernet, RCA, etc. Amazon Basics branded are usually competent if you need a price reference point. I use a 5 meter HDMI cable on my 75 inch 4K TV which I bought for <$30 and it works perfectly.

 

Does the Ethernet cable go into a plug in the wall or directly to the TELUS router or some other device like a switch?

Pieter43
Helpful Neighbour

The ethernet cable goes into an un-managed switch into the Telus router with the link speed on the desktop computer which is one the same network using the same brand cable shown as 1000/1000 which should be more than ample. I haven't had a lot of time with the boob-tube today but based on the limited exposure I had after I made the HDMI cable switch leads me to believe I'm on the right track but I'll report back tomorrow.

Yes, I appreciate the TV may do up-scaling but I'm talking about experiencing the issue with what are supposed 4K feeds, such as the local news for example.

xray
Hero
If the Optik box is set to 4k output I would expect the upscaling to be done there and not on the TV

Pieter43
Helpful Neighbour

Now that I've had a couple of hours in front of the TV I can report the problem has become less noticeable but is still there.

Let me say here that I'm a very visually oriented individual and can spot/be bothered by things quite acceptable to others. For example the 25HZ interlace flicker on a PAL TV drives me bonkers, lack of proper focus in a picture, be it still or video from either camera shake/movement to missed focus in either manual or auto-focus, jumps out at me if there's no other redeeming quality to the image.

 

Having said all that, here's what I've done so far:

Undid a loop in the ethernet connecting cable - someone's trying to be too neat.

There was a loop (effectively a coil) in the Wirelogic HDMI cable from the Optik box to HDMI1 on the TV and that was undone. The cable has directional arrows, as one would expect on a shielded cable and I made sure the shield is terminated at the load end. Said Wirelogic cable as to transmit 4K/60P, 4:4:4, HDR so there should be an issue with bandwidth.

The long -6ft or so- Wirelogic cable for the ARC connection was replaced by a 1mtr Twisted Veins cable, which is also 4K rated although I don't think that would make any difference in this particular connection since that's for audio only.

When I have nothing better to do I'll directly connect the TV to the ethernet and use the built-in smart apps and see what the result is. For the time being though it would seem as if the little bit of fidling I've done has had a positive impact and while not gone it is now much more tolerable. I'll report back once I've had a chance to do the direct TV connection.

Thank you both for the your input, chaps!

Pieter43
Helpful Neighbour

20230301_191539.jpgThis is a picture I took on my phone that illustrates the problem, take a look at the horizontal line halfway through the image on the left side. What's not very clear here is the vertical line at the halfway point but it's there. And I think I was just deluding myself with the fidling of the cables I've done, none of it has helped. Images that are near static are fine, any sort of motion, particularly a panning motion still results in the breaking up of the image with the top left quadrant being at full-res and the other three at a much lower res. I'm starting to lean towards it being an Optik box issue and when I have some time I'll initiate a tech call/chat and arrange for a replacement Optik box.

Pieter43
Helpful Neighbour

20230306_184903.jpgThis is another image showing the problem. I finally took the time this afternoon to initiate a Telus chat and the agent I chatted with, Jorge, remotely updated the firmware to the box and that may well have done the trick. After the update I went back to a movie on Prime I'd started to watch and I noticed the issue very early into the movie and after the update I'm quite sure it's been resolved. I'll have to live with it for a couple of days and see the overall impact of that but it looks promising.

Pieter43
Helpful Neighbour

Well, it was a nice thought, BUT, it's still there, so I guess I'll try a replacement box...Peculiar that after the firmware re-flash I experienced some drop-outs on one particular feed...

Pieter43
Helpful Neighbour

Replacement box arrived. Solved the issue at hand. But, the whole matter of getting up and going with this replacement unit was fraught with hiccups, that however is another story for some other time. When all's said and done it proves my initial hunch of the issue being at the front-end rather than the back-end proved correct: a classic case of you get out of it what you put into it! Farting around with the cabling and all was one of those just-in-case things....oh well...it's solved!

Hey Pieter43 -can you sned me the model number of the new box you received? 
I am also concerned about PQ and wondering if a new box / firmware update might be the issue. 
I have one of the new Telustv-21 Android boxes... 

The one I started out with was UIW8001and its replacement is a VIP5662W. Both exhibit the same scaling issue. It's hard of course to find a true 4K feed, the bulk of what's being offered is up-scaled 1080 content. I have not found an issue with the Stingray 4K feeds, the rest however leaves a lot to be desired. If you are experiencing a lot of motion artifacts except for the top left quadrant you may well be witnessing the same thing I am. Now that I've lived with the new box I'm anxious to see if I can find a neighbour with a 4K TV I can borrow to determine if indeed it's box issue. I cannot rule out this being a TV issue but until I can check out a different TV I won't know. The way I figure it, garbage in-garbage out.....

Pieter43
Helpful Neighbour

To add insult to injury the 'replacement box' I was sent and installed was a wireless box, not a hardwired PVR like it was supposed to be, so I had to request another settop box, again. Finally got the proper replacement and picture quality is what I expect it to be, none of the scaling issues I previously experienced. Now, trying to get the PVR side of this new box to work proved to be another matter....

Pieter43
Helpful Neighbour

And here I thought I was done... If nothing else the Telus team must be trying and in the process they're trying my patience: I have now received THREE (3) boxes to try and solve this matter....good thing I ain't paying for the shipping 😊

Pieter43
Helpful Neighbour

By way of follow-up I have to report that both PVRs are giving me the same picture quality and motion artifacts. I'll have to find a neighbour with a 4K TV to try out in order to rule out the TV being the root cause here....