Problems with FX HD - Massachusetts

[jdj]

Anyone else having problems with FX and other HD channels being too pixelated and losing sound?  I called Verizon support last night and they only reset my box, which didn't fix the problem.

There's a red light on my Fios service box in the basement that indicates Low Power.  I told the customer service rep about it last night but she insisted that this was not a big deal, and that resetting the set-top box should fix the problem.  It didn't. 

[HenryFarpolo]

I have a similar problem. It may be a FOX issue. The only channels I see consistant pixelating on are FX, Fox News and Fox Business. The red light you see may be a low battery power indicator. This should not impact the quality of your HD channels.

[MacK]

I have the same issue.  I have seen it on 505 and 504 as well.  Seems the local channels.  Even had the box replaced which seemed to help for a while... but it is back.  Can't even use those stations at this point.

[mether]

Problem with FX HD in Mass! 

I'm a new install (1 week), and was having problems with FX HD, Speed HD, then randomly Hallmark HD, ABC Family and MHD. FX and Speed were by far the worse. FX HD would pause a few times then totally pixelize, etc... When you tuned to that station it seemed to have a problem locking in on the station to receive the signal. Speed was almost as bad, mostly just kept pausing, freeze picture, no sound. Watching Sunday night football was weird too, with the constant crowd noise you could tell when it paused, no sound for about a second, very annoying.

BTW, I have RG 6 coax throughout the house and for my connections.

A technician came out yesterday and said it was my STB, the "new" one is having "issues". So he installed the QIP 6416-2. Everything seems to be fine now, except FX HD! Way better than before, but still get "flashes" every few minutes, sort of like pixelization in about 1/10 th of the picture.

I have a Panasonic 50" plasma, the TH-50PZ80U, HDMI from STB to TV for video, and opt cable from STB to receiver for sound.

Do you just have to live with this? If it's a Fox issue why can't it be fixed? And btw, love the new box issue statement, doesn't anyone check this stuff out? Okay I'm ranting

[jdj]

Just to follow up on my issue:  After talking to four separate agents on four separate nights, and each one telling me that the red "low video power" light was no big deal, I was finally able to get a technician out to my house to look at it.  The technician arrived, started looking at the box and said we need to start by resetting the box.....i told him about the red light on the FiOS box in the basement.  He immediately said "If you've got a red low power light, that means the problem is outside the house, not with your box".  No kidding! 

The tech was eventually able to isolate the problem to the point where the wire connects to my house.  This wire had been bent at too extreme of an angle where it enters the house, which apparently causes the fiberoptic signal to lose power.  All the tech did was to "loop" the line coming into the house so that it was more of a circular shape than a sharp angle.  As soon as he did this, we checked the basement and the red "low video power" light was off.  I still get *some* pixellation on FX now (as the rest of you described), but it much, much less frequent than before (once every 45 mins or so as opposed to every 30-45 seconds).

The most frustrating part of this was dealing with Verizon's phone customer support.  I told each of them about the red light on the FiOS box.  Each of them told me that this light wasn't the problem.  Their field tech immediately knew that this was in fact the problem, and rectified it within about 45 minutes (about the average hold time when you call Verizon customer support).  WHY would Verizon even put this red light on their box, if it doesn't mean anything?  If I had been connected to a knowledgeable service tech the first time I called, it could have saved a lot of time & hassle for both me & Verizon.  

[MickeyS]

I have the same problem, FX HD pixelates and freezes a lot and the NatGeo in HD, someone said the new IMG will take care of this? Is it true?

[elizar]

Here in Buffalo I also notice that the HD Fox channels have reception problems. The picture either freezes for a second or two then jumps forward, or is occasionally blocky. I notice this on the HD feeds for Fox, Fox Business, and to a lesser extent on Fox News. Fringe was annoying last Tuesday, Dollhouse wasn't very watchable on Friday evening.