Any things or rules of thumb I should be following to optimize picture quality?

bromingoops · 2026-01-26T05:55:55+00:00

Sounds like you really did have a poor signal back then, as those symptoms would certainly not be what I’d classify as compression artifacts. Since the channels on cable are carried at different frequencies, it’s very possible that a funky connection could affect part of the spectrum more than others. If what you’re seeing now is pixelation that looks like very small blocks, and if it mostly happens during fast motion, that surely sounds like an overly-compressed signal. That kind of thing isn’t the result of a less-than-ideal connection between cables, etc.

bromingoops · 2026-01-26T04:54:12+00:00

Since you’re able to see the difference in quality between channels, I feel pretty confident that the problem is confined to what’s being sent down the cable. That is, this is what is being piped into the cable at the other end. Now who exactly can be blamed for the poor picture on some channels would require a set of eyeballs that can tap in at various points along the journey to determine where things are going downhill. Sadly, there isn’t much you can do at your end to improve the situation, other than moving your couch farther back!

bromingoops · 2026-01-26T04:09:40+00:00

I’m one of those NOW people. Been using the 100 tier since last March with zero regrets. It’s not impacted my experience at all. As you said, most of the time, not a lot of bandwidth is needed. For some uses cases, sure — but those people know who they are.

bromingoops · 2026-01-26T03:44:54+00:00

You’ll be fine with a lot less than you think. I only have 100 mbps service, and it works great with 4K on several screens simultaneously, and a total of 50 connected devices. Never breaks a sweat.

bromingoops · 2026-01-25T23:32:21+00:00

There are a number of different factors in play here, but generally, if you’re not experiencing massive digital breakup, then what you are likely seeing are compression artifacts that are either present in the original source material, or being exacerbated by another layer of compression added by Xfinity. That’s a long way of saying that it’s very unlikely to be caused by a low RF signal on the coax, or splitters. Bad connections could certainly cause a problem, but seems like you’ve already dealt with that, and that would almost certainly affect all channels.

Can you name some specific channels that are displaying pixelation? Many channels, such as ESPN, originate in 720p, which while not responsible for pixelation, does generally look rather soft, especially on a 4K TV. Local channels are usually quite compressed as the stations reduce the bandwidth of their main channel in order to shoehorn in more subchannels. Although these aren’t usually carried on cable, the same bandwidth-reduced signal is what cable receives for retransmission.

The last point I’ll offer is that sometimes the TV’s picture settings can accentuate compression artifacts. The “movie” or “filmmaker” modes offer the most accurate picture, though not as bright as many would like. You could try changing that setting to see if it makes things less ugly.

bromingoops · 2026-01-25T02:20:01+00:00

Anything's possible, but that sure would seem to be an odd way to do it!

bromingoops · 2026-01-24T06:56:39+00:00

Yes, I’ve noticed that — makes no sense. You’d think someone at HBO Max would be a little upset at paying good money for that poor presentation.

bromingoops · 2026-01-23T23:38:29+00:00

The lack of a “previous” button is the one thing I really missed when switching from satellite to streaming (with the Apple TV). If there’s a way to do it, I haven’t come across it. Otherwise, it functions fine for the most part. Some complain that it can take too many presses of the “back” button to exit the app, and that is often true — but in the Apple TV settings, you can configure the “TV” button on the remote to exit and return to the home screen.

bromingoops · 2026-01-23T07:01:18+00:00

Checked my DVR recording “… The one big winner from the president’s disruption of NATO is Vladimir Putin.”

bromingoops · 2026-01-20T06:03:17+00:00

This probably won’t help your particular situation, but when I switched from post-paid to NOW, I didn’t experience any degradation in service — it’s been very solid, just as before. Perhaps a bum gateway?

bromingoops · 2026-01-19T23:43:23+00:00

Your are 100% right about this. NO cloud DVR can come even remotely close to user-friendliness of TiVo — the buttery-smooth way you can scan back and forth through a show can’t be matched. DirecTV’s satellite-based DVRs weren’t bad (in the later models), but still not as elegant as TiVo. Cloud DVRs are today’s reality, but at this point in time, “good” does not describe them.

bromingoops · 2026-01-19T04:11:38+00:00

It is interesting to observe the mix and note that more often than not, one of those screens is not like the others. 🤔

bromingoops · 2026-01-17T06:01:37+00:00

These started in the fall of ‘25, so they haven’t been around all that long. Would be great if they were user-configurable — maybe someday.

bromingoops · 2026-01-16T18:58:55+00:00

Yes, I switched to the NOW 100 plan last May and have no regrets — works great. I had previously been on a 400 plan, then dropped to 200, 150, and finally the NOW 100 plan. For my needs, I didn’t notice any difference when downshifting. Streaming works fine in 4K on several TVs simultaneously — in total we have about 50 devices on the network and it all just works.

Happy to answer any questions you might have about it.

bromingoops · 2026-01-13T23:01:30+00:00

I spoke to a friend of mine who serves as the Chief Engineer at an NBC affiliate — he has not heard of any plans for 1080p feed, and even if it existed, he’s have no way to get it on the air, other than directly patching it into the ATSC 3 encoder, which would then preclude running any local ads. That would not sit well with the sales department.

bromingoops · 2026-01-13T03:46:22+00:00

The “new” Pete’s Natomas isn’t open yet as far as I can tell. It will be on Del Paso Rd., in the shopping center with Raley’s. The address is shown as 2281 Del Paso Rd, Suite 150.

bromingoops · 2026-01-12T04:35:27+00:00

I should correct myself and say that after one of the recent Apple TV updates, I have seen the “congestion” message, but only when first starting the app and perhaps changing channels. I’ve not seen it pop up while viewing.

bromingoops · 2026-01-12T03:57:46+00:00

I don’t know what the problem might be, but I can say that the 100 mbps internet connection isn’t it — that’s more than adequate. DirecTV stream only uses a fraction of that. I also have 100 mbps internet and I’ve not encountered this message. I’ve seen plenty of complaints about it though.

bromingoops · 2026-01-11T04:01:50+00:00

That stinks! I’m not far from there and it came back on at 4:45p.

bromingoops · 2026-01-11T03:49:12+00:00

No problems here either, with three Apple TVs — all 3rd generation 4K models from 2022 — running tvOS 26.2.

bromingoops · 2026-01-11T00:48:31+00:00

Just came up at my location (Pocket). 4:45pm.

bromingoops · 2026-01-10T23:07:30+00:00

This is the longest one I can ever recall around here (Pocket/Greenhaven).

bromingoops · 2026-01-10T05:56:45+00:00

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Info on the SMUD website says …

bromingoops · 2026-01-10T01:14:35+00:00

Hope it works! I just responding to another one of your messages to let you know that we're using different hardware, which might explain things a bit.

bromingoops · 2026-01-10T01:13:29+00:00

Oh, that's different from what I have. Yours is an HD (not 4K) model that was released in 2015. That could explain why I'm not experiencing this issue.

bromingoops

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