Freesat - Pixelation with 100% signal quality & strength
 

Hoping someone can help solve a problem.

Pixilation of HD image in small areas of screen even though the signal strength and quality is 100%.

The TV is a Panasonic (TX-L32G10B) with an inbuilt/internal DVB-S / S2 Freesat reciever.

Pixelation only seems to affect small areas where the image is fast moving such as the turning of someones head or the waving of a hand or arm for example. The whole image is not effected, just a small area at any given moment.

BBC HD News channel 200 is the channel that is effected the most, it only happens on HD channels.

The weather etc doesn't seem to have any effect inc rain, wind or temperature. Doesn't matter if it's cloudy or a clear sky either.

Checked the Dish and the cable connection and can't find any issues. Re-made a new connection after cutting back roughly 6" of cable.

Any help much appreciated, should i try buying a new Freesat reciever?

Re: Freesat - Pixelation with 100% signal quality & strength
 

BBC News HD is on Astra 2E along with most BBC HD output. If your dish was misaligned or your cables were in poor shape I’d have thought your whole BBC service would look equally bad. My only guess would be that BBC News might be utilising less bandwidth within the mux than other channels and your TV may be more sensitive to the greater compression that would be required.

Re: Freesat - Pixelation with 100% signal quality & strength
 

Thank you Chris for your reply, however i don't much understand some of your words.

Seperating out the inbuilt reciever from the TV, is it the reciever that's sensitive to greater compression or the TV that gets its input from the reciever........ hope that makes some sense!

Trying to establish whether buying a new Freesat receiver plugged into an onboard HDMI port may resolve the issue or not. Is it perhaps the old inbuilt Freesat reciever that's causing the problem or is it the TV. If it's the reciever rather than the TV then buying a stand alone Freesat set top box may be my way forward.

If it's the TV that's causing the issue rather than the reciever i'll have to live with it until it dies before replacing it.

To add, i can watch fast moving film and BBC news sports coverage in HD without issues!

Re: Freesat - Pixelation with 100% signal quality & strength
 

Well don’t spend any money on my account because I’m speculating to some extent. In essence, I’m saying that (almost) all the BBC’s HD channels broadcast from the same satellite so you can rule out dish misalignment. That would affect all the channels.

However, not all the same channels are broadcast at the same bandwidth. Some are compressed into a narrower space within a radio frequency that may be carrying half a dozen or more channels, allowing more room for other channels. Generally they give more room to channels where best quality is required, like BBC1 where their most expensive output is broadcast. So a particular frequency may carry eight channels - called a multiplex, or mux for short - but the space is not divided equally.

When the signal reaches your TV or your set top box, it has to be decompressed and displayed as a HD tv picture. The more the signal has been compressed, the harder that is to do well. Generally, a modern, expensive TV will do it better than a cheaper or older one. Any TV will find it easier to display good quality images on BBC1 because the signal for that channel is not as compressed as BBC News is (probably - remember I’m speculating a bit).

I don’t know what quality the satellite receiver in a Panasonic TV is but I suspect it is not as good as what you’d get from a dedicated Freesat set-top box. A good STB connected to your TV via an HDMI cable might well sort your problem. But don’t take my word for it, I’m not a TV installer. Perhaps you could borrow a box from a friend and test it?

Re: Freesat - Pixelation with 100% signal quality & strength
 

Thank you Chris you've prompted a rare light bulb moment.............

I've just realised that i have a Freesat set top box elsewhere, a holiday let i own. I'll use that to test things at home. Theoretically if the pixelation continues i could argue it's the TV at fault. If pixelation stops then i could argue it's the inbuilt / internal Freesat reciever in the TV that's at fault.

Should of thought of this one a lot earlier on my own! I'll blame my parents!

I'll try this over the next few days and post back the results.

Re: Freesat - Pixelation with 100% signal quality & strength
 

According to current figures BBC NEWS HD on Astra 2 is averaging 6.4Mbps against BBC1 Wales HD (on the same Mux) at 6.7Mbps.

Another thing to try would be changing screen res from 1080i to 720p & see if that makes any difference. 1080i used to be notorious for issues with fast movement, which is why some sports channels used to recommend using 720p.

Re: Freesat - Pixelation with 100% signal quality & strength
 

Just thought i would follow up on my experiment.

Firstly though, thank you nodrogd, but my TV has no options to change screen res. I think it's too old.

I fitted a relatively new Manhatten Freesat reciever this last couple of weeks and the problem doesn't occur. When i switch back the TV's own internal reciever the pixelation returns.

So i need to purchase a new Freesat reciever.

Any recommendations at all?

Not interested in being able to record programs but catchup would be good. Not bothered about it being smart so much. Don't do netflix etc.

Re: Freesat - Pixelation with 100% signal quality & strength
 

To save buying one, maybe you could keep the Manhattan for yourself, providing it's possible to receive Freeview at the holiday let??

Re: Freesat - Pixelation with 100% signal quality & strength
 

Sadly the Freesat reciever will have to go back to the Holiday let for Spring Half Term and for the rest of the season and onward etc.

I'll have to buy a new one, but which one.