Dropouts!

Digital dropout has become more noticeable a problem of late. The first obvious signs came during an episode of "Weeds" in which, no sooner had I expressed a wish to replay a scene than the scene repeated itself – without any physical input from me. More recently, in TiVo-ing an HD showing of "The Jerk" I experienced digital dropout that was equally evident in the recorded version. This suggests interference from the transmission media, and are determined, at this time, to be random occurences involving transmission rates, richness of data, and conversion algorithms. We'll soon see who is going to take the hits and who is getting the strikes for the latest output. Letting a program director at Viacom pre-select options for my viewing enjoyment is only a safe path one can choose to follow, or not.