MagicTV 3600.. my quick impression report (updated)

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429 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 23

#336449 31-May-2010 08:21

Hi all,

I've just joined the MagicTV club. Seems like a pretty slick unit so far.
Having some kind of interference problem though.
Before I plugged it in I had great reception, picture and sound, whether through my DVD recorder or TV direct.
I've plugged the Magic in to the roof aerial and passing through to DVD recorder and onto the TV.
I now have diagonal lines moving across the TV from right to left on all inputs, Magic, DVD recorder and TV, even when Magic is in standby mode.
So I've had to disconnect Magic!

Hoping there's a simple solution or it's not looking good for Magic

terryr

33 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 1

#336452 31-May-2010 08:38

First question, which I know is really stupid, but did you conenct everything correctly, i.e. aerial to ant. in, ant. out to TV? Also run a short record and play back over TV and see what it's like. I'm hoping what you may be experiencing is a degradation in signal which will be pixelation of the playback, and the Magic Box may even stutter on playing if it's bad enough. With the Magic Box (and other digital receivers), a good TV signal is paramount. There's a function accessible thru menu which allows to see how good the signal is.

In my situation I had the digital signal breakup and it required a rewiring of the aerial lead to fix it. It does seem that digital signals are suseptible to degradation and therefore loss, as against the old analogue signal which just gets progressively worse but is still watchable. The Magic Box may even be more finicky about a good signal than some other digital receivers. I know as I had another before this and it worked fine, although it was a single tuner system. That's another thing, for each device "pulling a signal" on the aerial lead I think you essentially divide signal strength by 2. So with the Magic Box having 2 tuners, and the TV there also, the signal is being cut down in strength. Someone with expert knowledge of signal strengths would be able to get a more definitive answer than this.

Gemini

429 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 23

#336483 31-May-2010 09:45

Hi. Is visible on playback also.
Apart from the diagonals I have a clear picture, have not seen any pixelation or had an audio problems

terryr

33 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 1

#336501 31-May-2010 10:27

On page 58 of the manual there's some info about RF Signal Monitor. Read that and see what your system is getting. Have Tv connected and disconnected (wait a bit for it to settle in each time) and record signal strength and quality. I think in my case the quality was around 66% and I was experiencing pixelation, even though the strength was up around 97%. It may be that you have an issue with ghosting, where the aerial is getting 2 signals, one direct from the transmitter and a second slightly delayed from a bounce of that signal from another source. It can even be your own roof. Previously it may not have been an issue as only 1 device on the aerial circuit. As I mentioned before the extra devices cause the signal strength to be reduced somewhat so maybe it's more apparent now.

Actually the RF signal monitor proves to be very useful as it can serve as a rough guide to direct the aerial towards the strongest source. So maybe check that as well, have someone monitoring the signal strength while you turn the aerial slightly from side to side slowly. See if you get a stronger signal and then check to see if the "ghosting" (diagonal lines) disappear to reduce in intensity.

Failing all these steps it might require someone with the technical equipment to identify the interference, perhaps a TV aerial installer. You might even want to borrow another digital receiver off someone you know to see if it reoccurs with a different device in the circuit.

Good luck.

rosswakelin

15 posts

Geek

#336506 31-May-2010 10:38

I had the same symptom on a different brand of media player, and it came down to power supply interference. I could reduce it by rerouting the power cables further away from the signal cables, but in in the end I had to change out the external power pack on that particular piece of equipment for a better quality one. I know it may be teaching various family members to suck eggs, but have you checked your cable routing?

Py99ajh

19 posts

Geek

#336507 31-May-2010 10:44

Not sure if it's the same but my magic tv didn't work initially as I was getting 'too much' signal from the transmitter. My bravia tv was ok so I couldn't understand it. Got a aerial installer to uav a look and he had to put a restrictor in the system and then the magic tv worked just fine. Who knows?.

Geekzone

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terryr

33 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 1

#336509 31-May-2010 10:45

Good point, always attempt the easy stuff first. Interfence across cabling systems is always a possibility. I gues I've been lucky in that's never been an issue in my circumstances.

terryr

33 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 1

#336510 31-May-2010 10:48

Now that's a first. I've never heard of getting too much signal! Where's your house located, at the base of the transmitter?

Gemini

429 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 23

#336546 31-May-2010 12:24

terryr: Good point, always attempt the easy stuff first. Interfence across cabling systems is always a possibility. I gues I've been lucky in that's never been an issue in my circumstances.

Ok sounds like more of an interference problem than a reception problem.
If it is interference then it's the MagicTV causing it as everything works ok when MagicTV is turned off and removed from the aerial loop.
I suspect the little power converter than comes with it has not been shielded properly.

rosswakelin

15 posts

Geek

#336549 31-May-2010 12:30

As a follow on to my comment about power interference, I have also seen this with the ethernet cable.
If its running too close to EITHER the power or signal cables, it can cause lines on the screen.
Good luck

wiredr

203 posts

Master Geek

#336578 31-May-2010 13:05

gemini ,

when you daisy chain analogue tv with a strong signal level the rf modulators create interference. a herring bone pattern . what you need to do is split the incoming analogue signal 3 ways .
one to tv, one to dvd, one to magic tv . do not pass thru as you have described.
you haven't said what sort of inputs you are using on your tv . the magic should be thru the hdmi and the dvd thru the component .

Mighty Ape

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Gemini

429 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 23

#336608 31-May-2010 14:06

wiredr: gemini ,

when you daisy chain analogue tv with a strong signal level the rf modulators create interference. a herring bone pattern . what you need to do is split the incoming analogue signal 3 ways .
one to tv, one to dvd, one to magic tv . do not pass thru as you have described.
you haven't said what sort of inputs you are using on your tv . the magic should be thru the hdmi and the dvd thru the component .

Analogue signal is very strong ... where can I get a top quality splitter?

I'm using Component into the TV for both Magic and DVD
DVD audio is co-ax to Amp
Magic audio is RCA to TV for now

moultingchook

2 posts

Wannabe Geek
Inactive user

#336616 31-May-2010 14:38

Gemini - Just another possibility. Do you have the Video Output format set correctly for your TV? eg 50/60 hertz. For what it's worth I have a widescreen CRT TV and my output is set to 576i 50Hz. For anyone else contemplating MagicTv but with an older style TV, try before you buy a new TV. I get the best possible picture that the TV is capable of - not HD but just a very good clear picture, much better than prior to going digital.

Gemini

429 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 23

#336820 31-May-2010 22:25

rosswakelin: I had the same symptom on a different brand of media player, and it came down to power supply interference. I could reduce it by rerouting the power cables further away from the signal cables, but in in the end I had to change out the external power pack on that particular piece of equipment for a better quality one. I know it may be teaching various family members to suck eggs, but have you checked your cable routing?

Moved power box and changed res from 1080 to 576
picture good, no interference. Aerial now ok connected to Magic then TV and all looks good. I like it! thanks for help.

Jaxson

8172 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 1332

Trusted

#336958 1-Jun-2010 11:21

Gemini: Moved power box and changed res from 1080 to 576

Do you have an older TV or are you now displaying 576 on your Full HD/HD Ready flat panel TV?

If you're having problems displaying higher resolutions on an lcd/plasma TV then you may want to look at a better quality hdmi cable perhaps?

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