I just purchased and setup a SB Solo and everything works great except the picture on my TV is severely degraded. I know past replies have said there should be no degradation, but my picture now is far worse. Specifically, 1) not as sharp, 2) not as bright, 3) colors are off….e.g. the yellow highlight on my Comcast channel guide is now a dark yellow vs. a light yellow. The colors and picture however look fine on my PC (e.g. I get the normal light yellow and not the darker yellow distortion….which is why I think the problem has to be with the passthrough. I called SB tech support and they also assured me that the image modifications that are done on the sling stream does not impact the component out, that it is a straight passthrough).
I have a Comcast Motorola DVR connected to the component input of the SB, and then have the component output of the SB connected to my TV. My TV is not a plasma or LCD, it is the 40 inch tube Sony Wega XBR (which is HD).
I am pretty sure it is not the cables since I tried doing a direct connect (from DVR to TV) with each set (trid them both) and the picture is fine that way. Only when I go through the Slingbox is the picture degraded.
Unfortunately, my TV does not have an HDMI input, otherwise I could direct connect the TV to the DVR using this and not need to use the component out from the SB. I could also connect the SB to the DVR through the composite video or S-Video, but that then defeats the purpose of having the Solo and I lose the higher quality picture when Slinging.
I am considering trying to swap the unit (that it may be defective, but think this is a longshot), but wanted to see if anyone had any thoughts first. The only other option I can think of is to buy a component splitter, but would prefer not to do that if possible.
Thanks in advance!
Moderator
Mooresville, NC, United StatesThere have been very few of these problems. My thought would be that it has something to do with the cable box. How hard would it be to get another box? What model is it?
Here's a component splitter for under $8 shipped.. You could probably just use 3 plain RCA splitters.
Slinging Tivo HD from a Pro HD, Tivo Series 2 with cable and DirecTV from a Pro, Tivo HD from a Solo, Humax DRT800 from a Classic to Sprint Mogul, Dell Inspiron 8600 with Sprint EVDO, and a SlingCatcher over Windstream DSL.
Thanks for the reply. My DVR is the Motorola DCH3416 (HD Dual Tuner DVR with HDMI connector)...I think this is the newest one Comcast offers, as I just got this several weeks ago. I am not sure why it would be the DVR, as the component output works fine when sent directly to the TV. In any case, I did not see the info listed that you referenced (the component splitter for under $8). If you could please post a link to that, it would be greatly appreciated and I will try that.
Moderator
Mooresville, NC, United StatesOops, missed the link..
It's possible the output on the box has a problem where it isn't strong enough. Seems weird but you never know. Could be that the TV is overly sensitive. I've got a 32" Sony tube with no problems..
Slinging Tivo HD from a Pro HD, Tivo Series 2 with cable and DirecTV from a Pro, Tivo HD from a Solo, Humax DRT800 from a Classic to Sprint Mogul, Dell Inspiron 8600 with Sprint EVDO, and a SlingCatcher over Windstream DSL.
Moderator
Mooresville, NC, United StatesAnother possibility is an HDMI to DVI cable. I assume your TV has dVI?
You could have an issue with your box outputting HDMI and component at the same time though. I'm not sure about that box.
Slinging Tivo HD from a Pro HD, Tivo Series 2 with cable and DirecTV from a Pro, Tivo HD from a Solo, Humax DRT800 from a Classic to Sprint Mogul, Dell Inspiron 8600 with Sprint EVDO, and a SlingCatcher over Windstream DSL.
Thanks, exactly what I was looking for (the component splitter...I do not have a DVI connector on my TV). I have purchased and will report back on the results. One other thing I forgot to mention - for some reason the colors are out of order on my SB component ports. The standard order seems to be Green/Blue/Red (that is what is on the DVR, TV, as well as the picture of the connection on the Slingbox website and in the manual). However, on my actual SB (both the original one and the new one I exchanged for), Red is in the middle between Blue and Green. Don't think it matters, but thought I would mention it (that is why I thought the first unit was maybe defective, but the second unit I got also had them out of order).
You're not alone on this issue. I just hooked up a Solo this weekend and immediately saw the problem with the pass through. Definitely not HD. I'm use a Pace 775 DVR which is very similar to the Moto DCT6412. I ended up ditching the pass through and using an S video cable to the Solo from the Pace box and the Pace Component is back to going direct to the Sony monitor. I don't know that the component hook ups give you any better video from the Slingbox so expect I'm not losing much. This is just a temporary arrangement until the Pro HD gets released later this year (if we're lucky) but a pass-through theoretically shouldn't have any impact on the signal but my experience is with the Solo thee's definitely an impact.
Sorry, thought I had posted my results. In any case, the Component splitter that ryandh recommended worked like a charm (and was less than $8 as he said)!! Now both my TV picture and my slingbox picture are fine (there is a very slight bit of degradation...picture seems a bit less bright and once in a while I will get a single static line flying across my screen...guess the splitter is not perfect either)....but the first is barely noticeable (not even positive it is not my imagination) and the 2nd happens so infrequently that it is not an issue.
So the SB was definitely degrading my signal on the passthrough...with the splitter the picture is probably 98-99% of what it was before, with the slingbox I would say it was closer to 50-60%.
I definitely recommend this solution if you are having the same problem. Thanks ryandh!
I just purchased the combo of SB Pro and the HD Connect from Circuit City. After hooking everything up per instructions, there was an obvious picture degradation. Faces looked like they were pasty with makeup! Disconnecting the component video cables and using S-Video cables solved the problems on our HDTV, but defeated the reason for buying the HD Connect to start. The signal tap on the HD Connect is obviously causing the problem. Does anyone have a fix or work-around to get higher quality signal to the SB?
Thanks!
Hello,
I just purchased a SB Pro + HD Connect cable and I am having the same issue described here. Has anybody received an official reply from Sling Media about this issue? There's obviously a flaw with this hd connect cable. Either a defect in the connector or it is incompatible with certain set top boxes.
I'm using a DirecTV HD DVR, Model HR21.
Thanks,
Chris
Sling Media
Worcester, MA, United States1. Issues with the SB PRO + HD Connect should go to the SB PRO forum, not here.
2. First thing's first, you just purchased the SB PRO - have you updated it with the latest firmware from SlingPlayer 2.0?
(I won't follow up anymore on this SB PRO issue here to discourage PRO issues in the SOLO forum.)
-MegaZone, Sling Media Beta Manager
Slingbox PRO-HD w/TiVo Series3, Slingbox SOLO w/TiVo Pioneer DVR-810H, SPM Treo 680, SP WinXP
(I also run GizmoLovers.com)
Copyright © 2009
Capable Networks LLC.. All Rights Reserved.
RSS |
Privacy Policy |
Advertise With Us |
Terms of Use |
About Us |
Contact Us |
Site Map
Our Capable Community Network:
Drobo Space |
DVR playground |
MediaSmart Home |
MotoDash |
My DigitalEntertainer |
My Open Router |
Robo Community |
Sansa Community |
Sling Community |
TechLore |
TiVo Community |
TouchSmart Community
Slingbox™ is a trademark of Sling Media, Inc. SlingCommunity.com is not affiliated with Sling Media, Inc.
This Week: Do you use the SlingPlayer 2.0 Electronic Program Guide?
Did you forget your password?
You can also log in using OpenID.
Previous Thread
OK, I exchanged my Slingbox for a new one and am still having the same problem. So for now I have resorted to connecting my DVR to my SB via S-Video so I could revert back to connecting my TV directly to the DVR via the component output. I am going to research some component splitter options, but looks like that will set me back another $50 at least plus add a lot more complexity and cables (and almost all component splitters seem to require power). Very disappointing that the component passthrough screws up the signal.....