U-Verse Must Die
Once upon a time, I was a longtime and loyal subscriber of Time Warner Cable (TWC) digital cable Television (TV) and Internet. Then one day I got married and I had to move into a new apartment. Immediately preferring convenience over quality, value and some time to research what else is out there, I stuck with them.
As things started settling down, and my wife and I started experiencing a little of the homey lifestyle, and even though TWC has always offered high picture quality, I started getting fed up with their lack of High-Definition (HD) channels, because as they say “Once you go HD, you can’t… err… go back.”
I started getting mail ads and leaflets of this new cool service from AT&T called U-Verse. It was cutting-edge—fiber-optic infrastructure, tons of HD channels, sleek and lightning-fast menu system, no black screen on channel switching, the ability to record 4 channels at once (with up two HD channels), and the ability to schedule recordings remotely over the Internet, etc. I started looking at their programming packages and prices and it was very appealing. “They offer CNN HD? Isn’t CNN a Time Warner company? Isn’t Time Warner Cable a Time Warner company? Why the hell don’t I already see it on my TV?!”
Saturday, May 16th, 2009—the AT&T U-Verse technician arrived around 1 PM to set my place up with U-Verse TV and Internet connectivity. Since I lived in an apartment which already had coaxial and telephone lines, I didn’t get my hopes up for Fiber to the Home (FTTH), so it was going to be something like Fiber to the Node / Neighborhood (FTTN). He had to complete the Residential Gateway (RG) setup, which provides connectivity for my Local Area Network (LAN) and the Motorola cable box, and then used the internal coaxial network to bring the feed to my HDTV in the living room.
What I like about the AT&T U-Verse high-speed Internet offerings is the finer selection of packages in my given area—they offered 1.5, 3, 6, 10, and 18 Mbps, while Time Warner offered 1.5, 7 and 15 Mbps. Plus, the U-Verse upload speeds were higher for each package. I opted to save a little by going from 7 Mbps to 6 Mbps, which was satisfactory for my download performance requirements—I don’t download movies at all, but I do download some music, send/receive emails, engage in some multi-player gaming, and manage a movie and film score blog and radio station as some of you already know.
The technician turns on the digital box and the TV. The menu and guide looked sweet. He then set it up for 1080i and it looked even sweeter. After a total of 2 hours, off went the technician and I started playing with this thing like a little kid. Then, I received the royal smack in the face…
I entered blocking artifacts and mosquito noise hell. This became noticeable from the same viewing distance. I had already read on-line that U-Verse’s picture quality was not very good, but I was suspicious as I thought it was the result of some geek-heads being extremely nit-picky. Apparently, for AT&T to provide 4-stream recording and black-less channel-switching, and to fit everything into 25-Mbps of bandwidth (I think!) they compress the hell out of the video.
I’m a big advocate for picture quality—to me, it’s getting closer and closer to what the makers behind the cameras intend. This is another reason why I rent my DVDs rather than stream them off the Internet, and why I’m still laying my eyes on the upcoming Oppo Digital Blu-ray Disc player. Anyway, I always knew there was some level of compression in digital channels, but not at this noticeable level. I was under the stupid assumption that I would get all those nifty features at the expense of something else less important, but not the picture quality… Never the picture quality. I don’t care if it’s higher bit-rate MPEG-2 or lower bit-rate MPEG-4 video compression schemes. If it affects my picture and viewing pleasure, it is not welcome.
Unfortunately, many people don’t even notice this, some don’t care, and some try to put up with it. I can hear the voices in my head: “Dude, I receive 1000 HDTV channels, how many do you have? Haha, that’s it?! Your life has no meaning!”
TV providers are obviously pushing for quantity over quality these days, which is similar to what is happening in the music industry, where music sound is loud, flat, and compressed with the end result of zero dynamic range. What’s worse is people are completely satisfied with this crappy low bit-rate audio, preferring convenience and selection over quality.
AT&T’s service, in my opinion, completely negates my investment in an excellent quality 50″ Plasma television and viewing of HDTV programs. I’m definitely not going to put up with this until AT&T gets its act together.
U-Verse must die.
I don’t suppose you used HDMI to connect? I heard a rumor that the U-Verse boxes preform poorly with HDMI, but look much better through Component. Just a thought.
Comment made by Zack on September 6, 2009 @ 3:19 am
Zack: You are right. I did use HDMI to connect the U-Verse box to my TV. I didn’t try to use Component, so I cannot relate my experiences there. However, even if the rumors were true, why? There shouldn’t be any reason for a Component connection to give a better picture quality than the HDMI does with an LCD/Plasma TV. That in itself might be enough of a reason not to go with U-Verse.
Comment made by Adam E. on September 6, 2009 @ 12:34 pm
Not only that, but I also heard that the U-Verse box’s HDMI doesn’t carry audio. Doesn’t make any sense. I just keep thinking “maybe they fixed things since May” but I don’t know. I’m considering trying it myself, just to see what it’s like, but my research (including posts like this) does not leave me with the highest of hopes.
Comment made by Zack on September 6, 2009 @ 1:13 pm
Thanks for posting this! I just started getting advertisements in my area for this, and was thinking about getting it. I definitely won’t now!!
Comment made by Fiber Optic Cable Guy on September 7, 2009 @ 12:21 pm
Zack: Regarding the audio, I guarantee that it is not true. I tested with HDMI and there was definitely audio coming through. I wouldn’t mind trying AT&T again if I heard they focused more on quality.
Fiber Optic Cable Guy: You’re welcome. I had the highest of expectations but was let down, which is the reason I posted this–to have people not immediately believe into the hype and wait until they try it out or read about it.
Comment made by Adam E. on September 9, 2009 @ 5:19 am
Guys, I have to say that I had pretty much the same experience. After 8 hours, the one U-verse guy left my house with blocky HD compression artifacts and frequent frame studders and glitches. I experienced some of the glitches very infrequently with Dish, but not like this. Some shows seem to be better than others. Biggest problems are from high motion broadcasts, like Sports!
I haven’t tried component. I have HDMI. The only thing I can think of is that the component might be softer which would help with the mosquito effect.
I believe that people new to the game will not know or care. I have had Dish HD for almost 2 years and I have to say that U-verse is unacceptable.
Comment made by Sixteenby9 on September 14, 2009 @ 10:47 pm
Hey, Sixteenby9… Sorry to hear that you’re having the same bad experience. I actually switched to Dish Network HD after U-Verse and I like it better, even though it has its own minor issues. I might post another blog entry soon about my Dish Network experience.
My advice is you’re paying for quality high definition service, so don’t cut corners by masking a bad signal with another unnecessary processing step. You should have and enjoy a digital signal all the way to your TV. Maybe if more unsatisfied people complain or cancel their service, it will send a clearer message to AT&T that we don’t accept crap.
Honestly, if Time Warner had been cheaper and had had a better selection of HD channels, I would’ve stuck with them longer.
Comment made by Adam E. on September 15, 2009 @ 5:44 am
Well Adam, your HDMI may have worked, but the installer said (over the phone, as I was out of town during the installation) that he couldn’t even get video from it! So he used component instead and then said “There’s no sound.” I said to forget it and I’d fix it myself and when I got home I simply fiddled with the optical cable a bit and it turns out that it only works if it’s plugged into the U-Verse box half-way. I was forced into U-Verse because my apartment won’t allow a dish and I hate cable. I had Dish Network HD before and it was the best! (Except for the fact that I had to redo EVERYTHING after the brain-dead installer left.) The HD here (on U-Verse) is not the worst I’ve seen, but it does remind me of when you apply the effect in PhotoShop that is supposed to make your photo look like a painting. Like the picture is made up of big soft blobs rather than little sharp pixels. I am not happy with it, but for me, it’s the only choice. Sigh.
Comment made by Zack on September 19, 2009 @ 9:03 pm
All right, I just tested the HDMI and it’s fine, so I guess the installer was mistaken… again.
Comment made by Zack on September 20, 2009 @ 2:20 pm
Nope…i just had my uverse installed today. The picture quality on my 52 inch LG looked like it was made out of lego’s. I called ATT and they stated that I had to BUY HD..I stated that when the tech set up my TV he turned on the HD AND all channels are shown to be in 1080i. She said “nope, they are analog and then converted”..She then said if i upgrade (more money) I wouldget true HD. I said bullshit and asked her to cancel my Uverse. IT SUCKS. HDMI and Component didnt make a difference. Even the sound was out of sync to the lips of the people I was watching. Its a joke.
Comment made by Topher Crowder on December 11, 2009 @ 7:14 pm
Sorry to hear you had a bad experience, Topher. I too had high expectations for U-Verse but was let down. The only thing I kept was their Internet service and I haven’t had any major problems with that.
So far, I’m pretty happy with Dish Network even though a channel or two have noticeably worse picture quality (blockiness, etc.) CBS is one of them.
Comment made by Adam E. on December 16, 2009 @ 4:33 pm
I’m going through artifact hell right now. I’ve had U-Verse for about a month. I love their Internet service. Consistent 12mbps can’t be beat at $55 a month. But I can’t watch TV. I have a boat load of HD channels, but can’t watch any of them because the picture is worse than standard def on any other service. Cancelling as soon as I have time to go back to Dish Network, which I never had problems with. Time Warner is just medieval…not even a consideration after my last experience with them. Poor picture quality, overpriced, terrible guide, etc. If picture quality is something you are even mildly concerned about, avoid U-Verse at all costs.
Comment made by Besheer on January 8, 2010 @ 4:05 pm
Forgot to add that my picture quality was so terrible, I thought something was wrong and had them send out a tech to fix it. I was telling their reps on the phone that something has to be wrong because Youtube videos look better on my TV than their HD channels. After the tech’s visit, I obviously found out that there is nothing wrong with my connection other than the fact that I have U-Verse.
Comment made by Besheer on January 8, 2010 @ 4:09 pm
I can relate 100% to all these posts….just cancelled my uverse after 2 days. HD is inconsistent from channel to channel and 1/3 of the HD channels are broadcast in sd on uverse, while they come in crystal clear widescreen format on cablevision in ct. I bad high hopes and struggled because of the pros, but at the end of the day, it is unbearable to watch any sporting events on uverse, with the NFL network feed being nearly unwatchable. Oh well
Comment made by Mike q on January 30, 2010 @ 11:34 pm
I’ve had Uverse for 6 weeks. The HD channels are not as sharp as Time Warner, and Time Warner was not great. The Super Bowl really looked poor; I ended up watching it off the rabbit ears. It would have been nice to be able to user the PVR features I am paying for.
Comment made by mike ryan on February 10, 2010 @ 10:40 pm
I had dishnetwork for 18 months and it was ok, but my at&t uverse is much better the only problem i’ve had is the lips are out of sink once in a while. I’m using a HDMI cable and the picture quality is awesome.
Comment made by ron on February 11, 2010 @ 11:52 am