Recording Quality

I have noticed that if you watch Live TV using the highest setting 1080/10MB it looks great but when I record a show and go back to watch it on the same TV it is noticeably worse in quality. Yes I am streaming Live and DVR shows via home network WiFi but using my laptop/phone I am getting over 100mb down from where my TV is located. It is a 2 Tuner Tablo and other than that this has been a great product so far.

Is there any reason for this?

No idea should be exactly the same.

The Tablo is hardwired directly into the Router so only Wifi from Router to my FireTV.

Live TV is being converted to h.264 video exactly the same way recordings are converted.

Do you see this issue on other playback devices other than the Fire TV?

I have only used the FireTV for the Tablo as I just got it in the last week. I have a ShieldTV that I could try it on tonight and report my findings. Stay Tuned.

Are you comparing the same type of broadcast resolution (720p, 1080i)?
Setting the Tablo max recording quality at HD1080 - 10Mbps, 720@60fps, will make 720p broadcasted channels look even better than 1080i broadcasted channels.

So, if you’re watching a 720p Live TV broadcasted channel, it’ll look better than any 1080i recording.

I am, all the main local channels are 1080i with the exception of one and my issue has been seen on the 1080i channels but full disclosure I havent tried to compare the 720p channel yet.

Give it a try on the Shield and let us know what you think.

The Shield uses the same Android app as the Fire TV.

No other devices such as a Roku or Fire TV?

@chasin Can’t think of any reason why there’d be a difference here; but if this is happening every time, we’d love to take a look. Just give our team a shout.

You might try the Tablo Add-On in Kodi or SPMC. I find it has a much more consistent framerate than the app, you may notice other quality improvements.