CNN transmission intermittent fuzz/clear

Not applicable

Just a minor one really but still wondering. On CNN now (4:43PM, Nov. 14).....CNN transmission is having some kind of odd focus problem. It's the only channel having this. I've checked everything else. If you watch closely enough it gets fuzzed around the edges and behind and then it clears. It's not my tv because I checked my other tv, different make and all.....and it's doing that on there as well. Not earth shattering but odd. When someone moves their head you can see it or look at their clothing or colour in the background it goes....fuzz,  clear, fuzz, clear. The picture itself is clear but there's something minor going on with the focus. You have to watch for a minute or two and you'll see what I mean. Hard to describe properly in a way. But it's noticeable. So thought I would just ask. It wasn't happening this morning.

Thank you.

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Re: CNN transmission intermittent fuzz/clear

shaw-tamara
Moderator
Moderator

Hi  

That's very odd... I'm not seeing any reports of this on our end but it may have been a small enough issue that we weren't advised of it before it cleared up on it's own. I am not seeing any issues with CNN at the moment but if it returns, you're welcome to get in touch with us again. Thanks! 

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Re: CNN transmission intermittent fuzz/clear

Not applicable

Same here in Summerland CNN channel 18.A little fuzzy,out of focus then get sharper then fuzzy and then sharper.A very subtle flickering its very strange and only happens on CNN.

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Re: CNN transmission intermittent fuzz/clear

shaw-tamara
Moderator
Moderator

Thanks for letting us know! Do you happen to know if it's affecting a specific program? Do you notice it during commercials as well as the regular broadcast? 

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Re: CNN transmission intermittent fuzz/clear

drjag2000
Grasshopper

I live in the lower mainland and work in Victoria.  The focusing/defocusing issue is visible on CNN in both my residences.  This is the only channel out of the large tv package I have in both places that does this,  Please fix this problem shaw, it is extremely annoying.

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I have the exact same problem in the YYC area. I upgrade...

abdba
Grasshopper

I have the exact same problem in the YYC area.  I upgraded to a 4K TV and for the first time noticed this problem on CNN on the new 4K right away.  Had in the past noticed the odd pixelation problem on CNN (and hence considered it an odd/weak signal) but never noticed this effect before.

Description of the problem is:  every 1 or 2 seconds it sharpens and focuses, then slowly blurs for a couple of seconds and then sharpens again.  Repeats every couple of seconds continuously and is most noticeable on slow background movement and in faces (which have lots of detail).

After noticing it on the new 4K went and verified on another 1080p older HDTV.  Much harder to detect/see on the older non-4K TV but the effect is happening there as well.  Went and checked on a really crappy 32" 10 year old TV - difficult to see the effect on that one but if you look very closely and carefully, it's definitely there as well.  Conclusion: it's not a problem with the new 4K TV - it's just that the new 4K TV is accentuating the issue making it far more noticable.

Additional facts:

  • Watching on a Shaw Gateway system.
  • Changing output format from 1080p to one of the other options (i.e. 1080i, 720p, etc) makes no difference.
  • Confirmed issue on three different Portals on the Gateway system on three different TVs.
  • Confirmed issue on both HDMI and Component video connections.
  • Is NOT a pixelation problem: it's a focus/fuzz effect which looks quite different to a pixelization/weak digital signal issue.
  • Only channel in my package where I can find this behaviour is CNN.  Other channels generally look generally great.
  • Happens on all CNN shows and the CNN US feed commercials as well.
  • Does NOT happen during simsub commercials (i.e. Global commercials are injected on the CNN feed and they look much better).  But do see it on CNN US feed commercials (i.e. easy to catch on the "This is life with Lisa Ling" commercial).
  • It's constantly happening throughout the day - not time of day or show specific.
  • Happens on both live and recorded content (as would be expected).
  • CNN's lower third and scroll bar look fine and don't show the issue - it's only in the "camera content" meaning the hosts and their backgrounds.
  • First noticed the problem in late October after upgrading the TV. Point being that it hasn't changed or gone away during that time. Likely was happening all along but just didn't notice on the older 1080p TVs where it's much more difficult to detect.

Next step is to see if I can observe the same at someone else's house with a Gateway and/or with a Bluecurve. I think there's a reasonable chance that I might now that I know what to look for.

I'm guessing there's some sort of difference with Shaw's CNN feed with respect to compression algorithm or compression level? And that it's not anything to do with my TV, Gateway, Portals, or the signal.  The most compelling evidence to support this is that it happens continuously on CNN including during US commercials but stops only during Shaw added simsub commercials!

Shaw folks: what can you suggest?

Thanks.

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Bump.  Nothing Shaw???? I'm noticing that sometimes it be...

abdba
Grasshopper

Bump.  Nothing Shaw????

I'm noticing that sometimes it better, sometimes it's worse.  And if you just have a 1080p TV you probably don't notice it.  It's one of those things where people say "I have CNN on Shaw and it looks perfect"..... then you point out the effect and what to look for and they say ".... oh, never noticed that before".

To me it seems to be a variable bit-rate compression issue.  Fast moving scenes are mostly ok.  But where you have a host with a slowly changing background or face movements - that's when it's noticeable.

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Testing on this end I wasn't able to reproduce the behavi...

shaw-valerie
Moderator
Moderator

@abdba Testing on this end I wasn't able to reproduce the behaviour that you're seeing. Get in touch with our technical support team here, so that they can run some additional testing to your equipment specifically, and set up a service appointment for you if needed. 

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I have this symptom too and thought a new TV would fix it...

Les_gould
Grasshopper

I have this symptom too and thought a new TV would fix it, but seems others have tried this. What confused me is how we can have people reporting this problem, but it's not possible to reproduce. What have the service techs been able to diagnose or fix? 

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Could it be a Shaw ground-located satellite-dish that is...

mdk
Legendary Grand Master

Could it be a Shaw ground-located satellite-dish that is pointed at the CNN-feed coming from a particular satellite that, at a certain time-of-day, when the sun moves "behind" the satellite?  Time-of-day when it occurs? Season? The dish at your regional distribution centre (Victoria? Vancouver? Calgary? Edmonton? Other?)

 

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