@7up, compression artifacts, sure, but not the weird super ghosting that some have reported. It streams like any streaming sports show… but I realize that some may have never dealt with streaming content. I still don’t get it…
Maybe some are really sensitive to normal h.264 artifacts (don’t expect a fix)… other on this thread may be seeing something totally different, something that I personally have never seen (sigh).
Now… is it possible to create (not Tablo today) a DVR/PVR that captures raw (mpeg2-ts)? Sure. But space wise it may not be very friendly. You may find a normal 2 hour movie taking up 25-30G or more. Just one of the trade offs.
@cjcox - some people either because of their equipment or visual acuity don’t see the artifacts during sports but i assure you they are there. Youve already declared elsewhere yiu are anti blu-ray, which group are you in? ;). As I said above tablo’s encoder does a pretty good job but even film content takes a hit in picture quality during the trabscode process. . if you are genuinely interested you can do better transcoding in real timewith a Mac or PC.
Solution: for Live TV such as sports connect the OTA antenna directly to your HDTV tuner. Most people watch sports live anyway rather than recording it.
Solution: for Live TV such as sports connect the OTA antenna directly to your HDTV tuner. Most people watch sports live anyway rather than recording it.
Agreed
I’m a cord cutter + streamer… I’m an old Aereo user. And while I’ve dabbled with my own PVR/DVR using mpeg-2 ts, I’m used to what you get when streaming… but still, I really really don’t think that’s what people are complaining about because it’s just not that awful. I still think I’m not seeing what others are seeing…
Or… maybe because I’m so used to streaming HD, I’m just not that picky anymore. 
Anyhow, I’ll probably leave this thread alone… unless I discover something interesting…
@cjcox - I only mention this as you have already expressed plans on building your own server but have a look at Media Browser. While it encompasses most of the features of Tablo including transcoding and mobile apps, I would not really consider it a competing product.
There have been several threads on this topic.. Bottom line is that tablo has to transcode mpeg2 to h.264 in real time. While it does a pretty good job for film content which includes most prime time shows, video content particularly sports may suffer from artifacts during motion.. This isn't an issue for TiVo which isn't transcode or satellite DVRs which already receive transcoded content. I don't record much video content and for watching live sports I just bypass tablo and use TV tuner. Perhaps the next version of tablo will have a newer better encoder but until thens it is what it is.
I guess adding HDMI in the future could eliminate this issue (for me). I’d be willing to buy a Tablo per TV if each unit had HDMI and could play content from other units (like Tivo with the Mini). While it was sports that I ultimately wouldn’t tolerate with the Tablo, I was bothered by watching other regular shows as well. It just seemed very slightly choppy like it wasn’t showing as many frames as a cable DVR.
Is it unreasonable to expect that Tablo will be able to get the video quality displayed on TVs to be at a cable DVR level? Doesn’t seem like rocket science and again at $299 4-tuner Tablo is not exactly cheap.
-MM13
Lets also not forget the originating station can be the most important factor in determining the actual mpeg stream quality that is beamed out… so while some people may not see it and others do … it could all be down to the station … (just a guess)
I had about 20 people over last night to watch the Super Bowl. Unfortunately, the Tablo really doesn’t handle sports very well. The image quality was good, but the Tablo was very noticeably dropping frames. You could frequently see the frames changing, making everything look very robotic and choppy. This was noticeable to everyone in the room. I ended up having to hook up both my antennas directly to the TVs. I’m contemplating returning, since without live sports, there’s really not much of a value add over just a Hulu Plus subscription.
I had about 20 people over last night to watch the Super Bowl. Unfortunately, the Tablo really doesn't handle sports very well. The image quality was good, but the Tablo was very noticeably dropping frames. You could frequently see the frames changing, making everything look very robotic and choppy. This was noticeable to everyone in the room. I ended up having to hook up both my antennas directly to the TVs. I'm contemplating returning, since without live sports, there's really not much of a value add over just a Hulu Plus subscription.
It is interesting how different our collective experiences are. I recorded the Superbowl on SageTV and Tablo 4-tuner, and watched it via Tivo at my friends house. I looked very carefully for differences, particularly in fast motion and in dark scenes (like half time) and any differences were extremely slight to indistinguishable. This was on two different 50" TVs (a brand new LG LED and a 7 year old Vizio Plasma). My Tablo is hard-wired ethernet and viewed through a hard-wired Roku 3.
I wonder if the harddrive one uses is the big factor in how well Tablo streams. I’m using a WD AV drive (same as in a Tivo) and have literally had flawless performance from my Tablo setup (haven’t restarted it since I installed it Thanksgiving weekend).
So while some are having problems with sports, others aren’t, which leads me to think it isn’t an inherent problem with Tablo but some combination of factors (network, harddrive, antenna reception, individual Tablo build (are some defective or marginal in performance?). I’ll note that my Tablo is never hot either, which a number of people complain about - again individual manufacturing differences?
Tablo gives sports a film-like quality. It is very noticable to me. Because I seldom record sports, I just watch them straight into the tv. I get full surround sound that way, too.
Tablo gives sports a film-like quality. It is very noticable to me. Because I seldom record sports, I just watch them straight into the tv. I get full surround sound that way, too.
That’s interesting - I don’t see that at all.
For audio, I use Pro Logic II with my Tablo, which works surprisingly well - I’m sure there is a difference between PLII and true Dolby, but without hearing is side by side, you’d be hard pressed to tell.
@ChrisFix, many of us come from the compressed world of IPTV (U-verse)… in which case you won’t really notice any difference. Can’t miss what you never had.
IMHO, we live in a world of compressed… from mp3’s, to Netflix, and even things like U-verse…
Right not Tablo isn’t an uncompressed streamer (which again would take 3-4x the storage). Just the way it is.
This is the reason I watch Live TV well, live on the TV. I used my 6 way distribution block to send the antenna signal to all three of my TVs. Cable outlets existed in those locations to begin with so it was a no brainer for me to just send the signal. Then one of the ports also goes to the Tablo. The only thing I use the Tablo for is recording show and viewing them.
@ChrisFix, many of us come from the compressed world of IPTV (U-verse).... in which case you won't really notice any difference. Can't miss what you never had.
IMHO, we live in a world of compressed... from mp3's, to Netflix, and even things like U-verse....
Right not Tablo isn't an uncompressed streamer (which again would take 3-4x the storage). Just the way it is.
I understand that, but my comparison is between SageTV and Tivo (OTA) - neither of which are compressed - and the Tablo quality of the Superbowl would take sitting way too close to the TV to see a difference. BTW, I’ve been OTA only for 4 years - so this isn’t a comparison to Uverse or other crap HD.
There’s certainly a difference between a straight ATSC signal and a video stream. Not that I’m complaining, as I stream nearly all my sports but I can see a marked difference on my Samsung live and Tablo/Roku on nearly everything I watch.
Overall, I have no complaints as I like the downconversion of my shows to maximize the storage.
One station here broadcasts in 1080i, and the others in 720p, and my Tablo likes the 1080i way better.
@chrisfix can you send me a link to the hard drive you have for Tablo?
This is the exact one I have:
I am a recent Tanlo 4 tuner and Roku 3 user. I also have everything using wired ethernet. I have not yet had a chance to watch a lot of sports but I am following this thread with interest.
Do people think hard wired Ethernet makes a difference in sports playback?
One thing I have noticed… I used an old 2T Seagagte hard drive I happened to have laying around. I had to check the box to delay the start of playback on th tablo setting otherwise it would skip/repeat at the beginning. After checking the box for delayed start of playback it seems to play reliably now.
I have thought about buying one of the Samsung 1T SSD USB Drives. I wonder if that would overcome the need to check the delay start setting and possibly smooth out sports live playback? Anyone try running Tablo from an SSD?
I have a 4 tuner and a roku and have never had any issues playing sports. The superbowl looked great! As do any NBA games I watch. My roku and tablo are both connected via ethernet. In fact any device I own that has an ethernet port is connected that way.