ideal signal strength?

mikeyboy32

Standard Member
Joined
Apr 17, 2005
Messages
13
Reaction score
0
Points
32
Hi, just got a V+ box. a couple of the channels inc bbc1 seem not to be as sharp and good a picture as i think they should be. i'm using a LG 50" plasma 50ps3000 via a HDMI cable.

is there any way in the settings where i can see what the signal strength is? also is the ideal signal strength?

thanks.
 
Press:

Home --> Settings --> Technical Stuff

Go down 2 pages until you see 'AGC Signal Level'. There should be three entries, one for each of the internal tuners.

I believe the optimum level to be -5dBmV?

The signal needn't be precisely this to be acceptable though and can range 3 or 4dBmV higher or lower.
 
Last edited:
the AGC signal level is 34. only has this one entry though. not 3 like you say for each tuner. also doesnt have 'dBmV' after the 34. am i looking at the right info? it definitely states just 34 for the AGC signal level.
 
the AGC signal level is 34. only has this one entry though. not 3 like you say for each tuner. also doesnt have 'dBmV' after the 34. am i looking at the right info? it definitely states just 34 for the AGC signal level.

I'd hazard that you are not looking at the correct figure or entry if the information you've given is correct?
 
just double checked it and that is exactly what is showing. there is also a 'return power' setting on the next page of 41dBmv.

i can't see where else this info might be. sorry mate i realise that isnt mych help to you. any other ideas?
 
just double checked it and that is exactly what is showing. there is also a 'return power' setting on the next page of 41dBmv.

i can't see where else this info might be. sorry mate i realise that isnt mych help to you. any other ideas?

I've no idea. As far as I'm aware, what I said s what you should be seeing.
 
Hi to the OP

I agree with most of what Dante01 says but please be aware:-

A digital video signal gets worse(degrades) in the following sequence.

Good Picture > Same picture with occasional miniblock freezes > Same picture with frequent miniblock freezes.> Same picture with a lot of the previious freeze types but also quite frequent total freezes>Frequently intermittent totally frozen picture > no picture.

At no point does digital TV deliver a poor picture as was the case with interference or weather conditions on Analog TV.

In my limited experince it is rare for a v+ signal to be below par. If it fits the above digital degredation list then phone 151 and get an engineer visit - providing the fault is with their kit VM wont charge you anything.

However otherwise please post some details which may help us to get your problem solved.

Is the TV 1080p or not?

What setting have you got the V+ box set to for HDMI output?
 
Hi to the OP

I agree with most of what Dante01 says but please be aware:-

A digital video signal gets worse(degrades) in the following sequence.

Good Picture > Same picture with occasional miniblock freezes > Same picture with frequent miniblock freezes.> Same picture with a lot of the previious freeze types but also quite frequent total freezes>Frequently intermittent totally frozen picture > no picture.

At no point does digital TV deliver a poor picture as was the case with interference or weather conditions on Analog TV.

In my limited experince it is rare for a v+ signal to be below par. If it fits the above digital degredation list then phone 151 and get an engineer visit - providing the fault is with their kit VM wont charge you anything.

However otherwise please post some details which may help us to get your problem solved.

Is the TV 1080p or not?

What setting have you got the V+ box set to for HDMI output?

thanks for the reply. the tv is 1080p. i've tried it on 720, 720wide, 1080, 1080wide. i didnt notice any difference with the quality to be honest, so i've kept it on 1080wide.

i've noticed it more on bbc1, and itv tonight for the match (fuzzyness around the players). also on soccer am on sky sports 1. faces are not that clear when not a close up on the screen.
 
Hi Mikeyboy.

I have the same TV/V+ combo as you, and was also a bit surprised by the picture at first. I quickly realised, however, that during the installation the guy had somehow managed to reset the PS3000 to factory defaults and all my carefully managed contrast/brightness settings were lost. Just be sure you don't have the picture set to 'Vivid' or anything, and that the brightness/contrast settings are OK. I have mine set to Cinema, with a contrast of about 70 and brightness about 55. Once I'd reverted these to something like they were before the installer started fiddling, the picture was far better. Having been a long-time subscriber to Sky/SkyHD previous to having Virgin installed, I'd say the SD picture is better on Virgin - significantly so in some cases. Don't know whether this is the general consensus, but it certainly seems that way to me.

I haven't really been able to identify any difference between 720 and 1080 in the V+ settings either, other than the menus being sharper when set to 720. Overall, I'm very pleased with the picture quality - just needed a bit of fiddling to get it there!
 
I too have the exact same tv and V+ and here's what I've found and I am delighted with the piture quality compared to my sky HD box.

Each AV input has it's own picture setting so make sure on your V+ channel you do not have any noise reduction on or edge enhancer or dynamic anything.

I recommend setting the type to cinema with a warm colour temp with contrast of about 65-70 brightness of 55-60 and colour at 50. Turn your shapness DOWN to 40 ish.

Some channels / shows always look pants as the are recorded and broadcast in lower bitrate. I believe it's only the channel 5 family of channels that actually broacast in full PAL (575i) but this might have changed.

Soccer am ALWAYS looks awful and has terrible production quality. BBC1 can change thoughout the day - The weakest link looks terrible (and not just because of Anne) but prime time slot programms normally look pretty good.
 
thanks a lot for your advice eldanaldo and staxdoobie. much appreciated. i've juggled the settings around a bit and gone with the cinema option like yourselves. by the way have you both got the v+ box set to 1080wide? one thing i've just noticed comparing the espn normal and espan hd channels during the everton match on at the moment is that the pre match interviews jagged on the espn hd but better on the normal espn. the actual live footage of the match is a lot better on hd channel tho. strange.
 

The latest video from AVForums

TV Buying Guide - Which TV Is Best For You?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom