Why does my new receiver get a much worse picture when watching digital cable than my old one?

Question

I have recently purchased a receiver that does HDMI switching and am getting a good picture when I use a HDMI cable with the dvd player. Unfortunately, when I use the same type/brand of HDMI cable with the digital cable box I get a lot pixelation. The picture looks really grainy.

Answer 1

Expect some grain on the analog stations.  It can be minimized by lowering the sharpness and making sure the noise reduction is turned on thru the menu options.  If you are getting pixelation on your HD or digital stations it is because of a low signal to noise ratio and poor signal levels.  Your cable connections may be too far back on the daisy chain of splitters, or low quality splitters or the coax is of poor quality.  I would call the cable company and tell them the box was installed without the signal/quality of line being checked and demand it be checked out properly by a service tech and you're not paying for a service charge since it wasn't done right the first time.

Answer 2

Yes if HD is having an issue than the install wasn't done pro. If the install was the issue than they probably ran the cable too close to AC power lines. Also make sure you cables aren't tangled up in power cables. Try swapping around the cables to make sure your cable isnt faulty either.