Cable TV Picture Stinks

I suffered with similar problems from Comcast. It was worse on the lower number channels 3-10. What worked for me was going over to DirecTV. No more reception issues, and 10.00/month less expensive.

Had the same issue with time warner. (I have 6tvs and 3 computer lines off the cable line) I put in 2 amps (about $20 each) on the cable connections and have had great reception since then.

I just recently "fixed" this issue in my house. There is a single Cable TV feed that comes into your property, which
is then split up into multiple wires that go into different rooms in your house (living room, bedrooms, kitchens, etc.) The more branches this cable gets split into, the worst the signal becomes. I had 6 branches from my splitter, we had major issues with color smears and grainy/pixelated pictures. At first I thought my TV was going bad, but I had 3 different TVs that all have the same issues ... Anyway, I did some research and conclude that I need a Cable TV amplifier. Went on Ebay, bought a good one and voila!, everything becomes crystal clear again. I don't know if you have this same problem, but if you want to pursue this path, I can tell you in details what I did ...

Make sure your connections are clean from outside house (especialy outside where they are in more harsh conditions) and also inside house. I had same trouble once, cleaned all connections and that was that. It dont take much oxidation or whatever to cause that particular problem, well for me at least.

Is this an issue with both analog and digital channels? Some of my locals and the bottom 100 channels are not digital and some really really suck and its just the way it is, bit the digital feeds look great, is this any way what you experience?

I had Time Warner digital cable and changed to DirecTV HD satellite system. The DirecTV signal is much cleaner and lower noise. Noise is far more determinantal to enjoying TV than resolution (in my opinion).

JC,

Are you saying the best picture quality you have achieved is with s-video (not Component or DVI/HDMI) or are you saying your TVs highest resolution input is S-video (no Component or DVI/HDMI input on TV)?

Also, is the issue only with certain channels? All channels?

I had PC issues with TW and two things helped resolve the issue: 1. TW came in and checked the signnal strength. It was a bit low and they ran a new cable into the house and suggested a couple of changes to my in-house topology. 2. A new (different model) STB was much better than the previous model.

I currently have the SA Explorer8300HD which has the built-in DVR. It has exceptional PC over Component Video.

Enjoy,

TIC

Call T/W. This isn`t a scaler issue.