View Full Version : ReplayTV Features Wish List!!!
inkahauts
05-02-08, 10:14 PM
Ok, so it has been suggested by someone at Directv that we start a wishlist for ReplayTV features that we would like to see incorporated into the Directv DVRs. So, Please post all the features in this thread that are on Replay that you would like to see incorporated onto the DVR's. After I have a decent list, I will see if I can get a wishlist voting page like we have now for these specific items, as was suggested.
It sounded like they will have replaytvs sources and maybe programmers and IP soon....
bwaldron
05-02-08, 10:36 PM
Been awhile since I used my Replay...so will have to think. One off the top of my head:
When setting up a "series link", I liked having the option to select/deselect which days to record on. Helped in fine tuning things to avoid conflicts.
mrshermanoaks
05-02-08, 11:15 PM
Oh, this is easy:
1) Ability to stream between units - I can put a unit in my living room and one in the bedroom, and watch shows recorded on one unit from the other. Since they're already able to stream from PCs and download VOD content, they've got half of it. The trick, which Replay never quite got to, is to integrate content from multiple devices into a single listing of available shows. Why should I care where the program is located?
2) Ability to send a recording request to another unit in the house when the unit I'm using is already "booked". I want to record a show from 7-8pm, but this DVR is already recording two shows. "Would you like to schedule this recording on the Bedroom DVR?". Yes, yes I would.
3) Ability to watch content on my PC that is streaming from the DirecTV DVR
4) Ability to send a show to another user over the internet, assuming both accounts subscribe to the channel the show was recorded on.
5) Remove the 50 series limit
inkahauts
05-03-08, 01:20 AM
The Directv person said that the 50 series limit is in place because of performance worries if its not there. If they can figure out a way around the performance problem, then they will remove the 50 limit....
OverThereTooMuch
05-03-08, 02:35 AM
Oh, this is easy:
1) Ability to stream between units
2) Ability to send a recording request to another unit in the house when the unit I'm using is already "booked".
3) Ability to watch content on my PC that is streaming from the DirecTV DVR
4) Ability to send a show to another user over the internet, assuming both accounts subscribe to the channel the show was recorded on.
5) Remove the 50 series limit
1) As you probably know, this is already in the works (MRV).
2) I like it. Might want to do this when your unit is full too.
3) Also in the works (actually, I thought they had an app for this already, but maybe not officially rolled out in a national release)
4) Isn't this the feature that put them out of business? :D
5) Is there a detailed explanation here anywhere of the kind of perf problems? I'm just curious. I would expect that the box gets new guide data no more frequently than once per day. That's the only time it needs to look through the series links. I don't think you hit perf problems when you have 50 shows recorded.
CCarncross
05-03-08, 07:09 AM
4 is ridiculous, and should never happen...tell your "friend" to record the program himself....the others have already been beat to death and are already on the wishlist....
I've never had replay, but I like the collaborative scheduling feature (record elsewhere if this one is booked) and the MRV features.
Earl Bonovich
05-03-08, 05:16 PM
4 is ridiculous, and should never happen...tell your "friend" to record the program himself....the others have already been beat to death and are already on the wishlist....
Not that it is ridiculous....
It just isn't practical in today's enviornment.
IIRC it was one of the features that Replay had... that led to some of it's "issues" with the content owners.
That feature just opens a MASSIVE can of worms.
looney2ns
05-03-08, 08:39 PM
Replay's Software.....thats the feature I want.
And the stability they had.
dbronstein
05-03-08, 09:29 PM
I had a first generation replay unit and it had the best "list view" of any DVR I've had since (which includes Tivo). It displayed the recordings in a grid with a line for each show and the episodes going across horizontally. So you could see a few episode titles for each show without having to open a folder. It was really nice to be able to quickly scan through the recordings that way.
We already have one REPLAY patent-related request on the current Wish List as a result of this (http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=113809) thread and poll.
That request is: Up to FFX3, automatically switch to PLAY at the end of a commercial block.
The hope here is to make use the REPLAY patented method of detecting end of commercial block "events".
/steve
mrshermanoaks
05-04-08, 10:13 PM
4 is ridiculous, and should never happen...tell your "friend" to record the program himself....the others have already been beat to death and are already on the wishlist....
Not at all!
The problem with ReplayTV Internet Video Sharing was that there was no controls over who sent what to whom. The meaning of "Friends" became a nebulous concept in the internet age, and there were no restrictions on programs transferred - meaning that someone with HBO could send a show to someone who didn't pay for it.
DirecTV could actually use it's systems to enforce the licensing: you can't transfer any program that you hadn't already paid for. Yeah, yeah, I know you'd still need to come up with a licensing agreement - terms for VOD content are difficult and don't favor the user.
But for broadcast stuff, they ought to just let users syndicate their programs for them. I know it's a longshot, but someone with a closed system like DirecTV might just be able to fulfill Hollywood requirements.
inkahauts
05-05-08, 12:01 AM
4 is ridiculous, and should never happen...tell your "friend" to record the program himself....the others have already been beat to death and are already on the wishlist....
What about having the ability to send a recorded show to your second home that is on the same account. I'm just saying there are situations where it would be helpful....
cartrivision
05-05-08, 03:07 AM
The Directv person said that the 50 series limit is in place because of performance worries if its not there. If they can figure out a way around the performance problem, then they will remove the 50 limit....
That is an absurd excuse. How often does the guide data change and require processing the series link list?? Not very often. Whoever made up that excuse should be fired and replaced with a competent software engineer.
No what really got them in trouble was Commercial Skip. Fully automatic commercial skip... and it's why I still use Media Center instead of DirecTV DVRs.
They ended up making it "commerical advance" in the 5500 series when they settled the lawsuits. Internet Sharing, however, remained so I don't think they had too much problem with IVS over commerial skip.
It's also why sites like www.poopli.com are still going.
inkahauts
05-05-08, 03:31 AM
That is an absurd excuse. How often does the guide data change and require processing the series link list?? Not very often. Whoever made up that excuse should be fired and replaced with a competent software engineer.
I believe the machine gets guide data every hour, and it probably searches through all new data every time it come in.
He simply said it was performance based.. not what performance aspect would decay with a higher limit. And I didn't find it absurd when I had 50 SLs and a full HD and my unit slowed to a crawl when these units first came out. I don't have more than 40 SL's on any of my unit today, and haven't pushed the 50 limit barrier in a while...
cartrivision
05-05-08, 04:50 AM
I believe the machine gets guide data every hour, and it probably searches through all new data every time it come in.
He simply said it was performance based.. not what performance aspect would decay with a higher limit. And I didn't find it absurd when I had 50 SLs and a full HD and my unit slowed to a crawl when these units first came out. I don't have more than 40 SL's on any of my unit today, and haven't pushed the 50 limit barrier in a while...
Well barring occasional changes to the first 24 hours of data (which will be rare), the changes don't have to be processed more than once a day, giving them a whole day to process the list against each new day’s worth of program data, so I repeat.... it is absolutely absurd to have a performance issue with greater than 50 SLs. Tivo boxes reprocess the whole list whenever you reorder the priority of items within the list (and makes you wait until they finish before you can continue doing anything else), and they complete the whole process in a just few minutes for a list larger than 50, so DirecTV’s inability to do in 24 hours what Tivo’s competent software engineers can do in a matter of minutes, is way beyond absurd. Somebody should lose their job for accepting such incompetence.
It’s no wonder these incompetent clowns gave us the current crippled SL function that doesn’t fully process a new addition to the list immediately after it is added. Obviously their scheduler algorithm was designed by people who have absolutely no clue on how to do it properly. When you can't do in 24 hours what others are able to do in minutes, something is way wrong.
grover517
05-05-08, 06:51 AM
Replay's Software.....thats the feature I want.
And the stability they had.
I second this! I had a Directv HD DVR for about a month and sent it back. For those of you that think they are just the "bees knees", well I am happy for you, really I am. But I just can't justify investing hundreds of dollars (and still leasing) to replace my ReplayTV's that, in my opinion, have it all over the D* version of a DVR with the exception of being an HD recorder.
Being the owner of 4 ReplayTV's (mitigates the dual tuner issue by far), I will gladly view my recorded shows in SD just to keep all the features that the ReplayTV provides.
The auto commercial skip is what got Replaytv sued and not the Internet video sharing. However, the 30 second skip, although more a little more crude, accomplishes the same thing, so go figure.
Here is just a few reasons I will keep my ReplayTV's for the forseeable future.......
1. Simple, intuitive, quick and easily navigatable menus. My 77 yr old mother who doesn't like ANYTHING new, fell in love with her's within a day. So much so, that she ditched her VCR, and within a month, asked for a second ReplayTV in her Bedroom. I also have a 3 yr old nephew that has no problems playing his cartoons when he comes over, even from another room. (The current setup of menus on the D* version is in my opinion, a nightmare)
2. Room to Room Ethernet Streaming in "real time". Not the buffering type that Tivo's used (we shall see how D*'s version works when they get around to enabling it)
3. Internet Video Sharing - can only send a show to one person at a time, and then that person cannot "resend" it. Or as another poster mentioned, the site Poopli. These are GREAT options in that if for some reason (power outage, cancelled the wife's soap so you could record a sporting event, etc) you missed an episode, you can still get it either from a "friend" or from poopli. (never gonna happen on D*'s units). Why isn't slingbox getting sued from existance since this is basically allowing the same thing??? I can let my buddy watch a recorded baseball game from my slingbox, but I can't send him a show on his DVR???
4. Remote "unit" scheduling (would you like to schedule this to record on the xxx unit?)
5. Live Buffer size up to the available space on the hard drive. Were talking hours and possibly days depending on the size of the harddrive's available space. Not an hour, or back to the beginning of the show.
6. No 50 item limit on categories, channels, or whatever you wish to call them. You can program too many on a ReplayTV where it might start affecting performance speed (menu's and such), but I have never had one crash or lock up because I had too many, and we are talking in the 100's.
7. Open source software that will allow me to configure a file server (raid) on my network to appear as another ReplayTV (DVR). I can then archive shows (even automatically), movies, or anything else I wish (entire 10 seasons of Stargate SG-1 for example). I can then choose to either stream them back from all Replay's on my network, any PC on my network, or thru a slingbox. I can even copy shows or movies to my laptop when traveling. And the shows on my computer's harddrive don't get "lost" because I had to upgrade/replace the harddrive in my Replay when they just wore out from overuse! (IE: DirecTV's version - lose all your shows recorded on a given DVR regardless if on the internal or external drive if it fails and needs to be replaced).
8. When in combination with a Slingbox, I have access to all shows on all replay's and file server in my house from anywhere I can get an internet connection.
9. Lifetime subscriptions so I don't have a monthly fee.
10. Doesn't care if my "feed" is OTA, Satellite, Cable, or whatever. And don't need a separate unit (AM21) to do so.
10. And last but not least, ROCK SOLID STABILITY! I have owned Replay's for over 6 years, and have absolutely NEVER had one lock up for any other reason than having a hard drive bite the dust. And within a couple hours, was back up and running after repairing it myself on the kitchen table.
And all this from an 8 year old device!
In my opinion, Directv should quit trying to reinvent the wheel and build from the Replaytv software as a whole now that they own the rights to the software.
If they offered something close to a ReplayTV, I would be all over them. But for now, I will just enjoy my TV at MY convenience, and at the place I choose without restrictions. Even though it is only SD.
Of course, this is just my opinion.
It’s no wonder these incompetent clowns gave us the current crippled SL function that doesn’t fully process a new addition to the list immediately after it is added. Obviously their scheduler algorithm was designed by people who have absolutely no clue on how to do it properly. When you can't do in 24 hours what others are able to do in minutes, something is way wrong.Kind of harsh criticism, IMO. Don't forget, it was years before the vaunted TiVo programmers revamped the program database and scheduler. Prior to version 6.x, rebuilding the TO DO LIST after scheduling a new Season's Pass or re-ordering the Priority list could take up to 15 minutes with 30-40 Season's passes. To their credit, they got that down to about 15 seconds with the 6.x database re-write, but it was a long time coming. /steve
Concerning DirecTV hardware versus the HTPC-style DVR systems out there, it seems like you have two choices:
1) Watch shows in HD
2) Watch shows on DVR technology from this century
Once the HDPC comes out, the HR20 is obsolete as far as I'm concerned. Unfortunately even then we will be locked into Vista Media Center which isnt as good as the Linux-based options.
This thread is devoted to expressing wishes for incorporating Replay TV features into the DIRECTV feature set, so the fine details and/or arguments about DIRECTV's current 50 series link limit should be taken to the thread below, which is dedicated to discussion of the 50 series links limit:
http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=74660
Doug Brott
05-05-08, 11:03 AM
Yes, please keep this thread on topic .. off-topic posts are subject to deletion in this thread.
RobertE
05-05-08, 11:10 AM
Does anyone have a true list of minor/major features that Replay had that the +DVR series does not? I've never used/had one so don't know what they were like.
Here is my wish list.
1. Reliably record shows that you set up.
2. Be able to view them and see video and audio all the time.
3. MRV
inkahauts
05-05-08, 04:02 PM
I am thinking that they should have a detailed look at how Replay mines the data in their guides for recordings. I believe it searches all guide data 15 min before the hour every hour to decide what to record.... And unless the newest units out there do it... Mine don't have to do lists... And I never really needed them...
I will see if I can put together a full feature list of replay functionality later on...
mrshermanoaks
05-08-08, 09:04 PM
What about having the ability to send a recorded show to your second home that is on the same account. I'm just saying there are situations where it would be helpful....
It would be helpful in situations like we're seeing now with blank/gray recordings. Almost feel like DirecTV owes me whatever fee it would cost to download those episodes.
calidelphia
05-08-08, 11:20 PM
Did Replay ever have an HD DVR?
While I truly enjoyed my ReplayTV for the few years that I used it, mine was far from rock solid. It had a glitch that would turn the sound off on it's own every couple weeks or so and it took 30 or so minutes of turning outputs on and off over and over to get it working again.
Anyhow, one feature I really liked was that online booking gave you a realtime look at what was scheduled on your DVR. So you didn't just send a request and hope it worked. You got to see what was scheduled for recording, find conflicts, move things around, etc. It was really nice.
And unless the newest units out there do it... Mine don't have to do lists... And I never really needed them...Without TODO LISTS, how do you determine if you've got your recordings properly prioritized? With 40 items in my PRIORITIZER, it's not an easy task to stay on top of packed prime-time week nights, especially when shows like Dancing... can run 60, 90 or 120 minutes on different weeks and many popular shows randomly start 2 minutes before or 2 minutes after the hour. /steve
Does anyone have a true list of minor/major features that Replay had that the +DVR series does not? I've never used/had one so don't know what they were like.
Here's a link to some Replay features ReplayTV Features (http://www.digitalnetworksna.com/dvr/5500/features.asp)
My Favorites:
Room-to-Room Streaming - Watch It Anywhere
Watch and Record Anywhere
Resume a Show Anywhere
grover517
05-09-08, 05:40 AM
Did Replay ever have an HD DVR?
Unfortunately, no they didn't. After the MPAA basically sued Sonic Blue out of existance because of their automatic commercial advance/skip, and subsequently bought by D and A Holdings (Denon/Marantz), and now DirecTV, there was no more hardware development.
ReplayTV basically became a software company. Unless you want to consider a USB flash drive that allowed you to use their software with Hauppauge’s WinTV/PVR tuner cards and turn a pc into a pseudo ReplayTV "hardware development".
Here's a link to some Replay features ReplayTV Features (http://www.digitalnetworksna.com/dvr/5500/features.asp)Seems like we have at least one other REPLAY-related request already on the Wish List:
Jump Anywhere: You can jump to anywhere in a show by pressing a number followed by QuickSkip. It's great for skipping to the 4th quarter of a game, or to your favorite part of a movie.Our Wish List request reads:
OPTION to jump ahead or back in a recording by pressing "3-FF", e.g., to jump ahead 3 minutes, or "1-5-RW" to jump back 15 minutes.
/steve
Room-to-Room Streaming - Watch It Anywhere
Watch and Record Anywhere
Resume a Show AnywhereSome form of these are also on our current Wish List, in the form of:
Multi-Room Viewing via the Ethernet Port.
Watch programs remotely over the Internet - like a Slingbox, but without the extra hardware.
/steve
LarryKeith
05-21-08, 12:06 PM
I consider ReplayTV Zones a nice feature. We mainly use the Season Premiere and Series Premiere zones to catch new shows. This way we don't have to keep up on when the shows premiere. It automatically records premieres that don't conflict with already scheduled shows.
Manual Timed Skip would be nice as previously mentioned. There are many times that I would like to skip a certain number of minutes into a show ( for example to show someone else a scene that occurs 38 minutes into an episode).
The Setup menu is easier to use on ReplayTV.
IVS (Internet Video Share) would be a welcomed feature. As previously mentioned, I don't think it would be too difficult for them to check that the account receiving the show is subscribed to the channel for the show being sent. Currently VOD won't let you request a show from a channel you don't subscribe to. Maybe it could be changed to me similar to VOD. You can see the shows that your friends have recorded and request them. I use poopli to request shows that don't record for some reason on our replays or D-HDDVR. It is nice to have when storms come through and disrupt the dish signal.
I also like being able to select which day to record a series. I want to record American Gladiators on Monday nights only, not when they show it again on Friday night. (just as an example).
I consider ReplayTV Zones a nice feature. We mainly use the Season Premiere and Series Premiere zones to catch new shows. This way we don't have to keep up on when the shows premiere. It automatically records premieres that don't conflict with already scheduled shows.
Manual Timed Skip would be nice as previously mentioned. There are many times that I would like to skip a certain number of minutes into a show ( for example to show someone else a scene that occurs 38 minutes into an episode).
The Setup menu is easier to use on ReplayTV.
IVS (Internet Video Share) would be a welcomed feature. As previously mentioned, I don't think it would be too difficult for them to check that the account receiving the show is subscribed to the channel for the show being sent. Currently VOD won't let you request a show from a channel you don't subscribe to. Maybe it could be changed to me similar to VOD. You can see the shows that your friends have recorded and request them. I use poopli to request shows that don't record for some reason on our replays or D-HDDVR. It is nice to have when storms come through and disrupt the dish signal.
I also like being able to select which day to record a series. I want to record American Gladiators on Monday nights only, not when they show it again on Friday night. (just as an example).:welcome_s to the forum, Larry. Except for the Setup menu being easier, all the items you mention are already on our current (http://www.sizethis.com/index.php?module=survey&survey=28) Wish List, or are do-able with current s/w.
E,g, you can currently create a KEYWORD AUTORECORD for season premiere or series premiere and just place it low enough in the PRIORITIZER that shows you don't want to be "bumped" won't be.
And if American Gladiators has the correct GUIDE info, you can currently capture the Monday night showing by specifying "First Run Only" in your Series Link. If not, we have a Wish List request to specify which day a show may be recorded on.
/steve
inkahauts
05-21-08, 05:36 PM
Without TODO LISTS, how do you determine if you've got your recordings properly prioritized? With 40 items in my PRIORITIZER, it's not an easy task to stay on top of packed prime-time week nights, especially when shows like Dancing... can run 60, 90 or 120 minutes on different weeks and many popular shows randomly start 2 minutes before or 2 minutes after the hour. /steve
I didn't see this post until now... If a show is on a SL and isn't going to be recorded, when you see it in the guide, it will have its R circles in the guide, but they will have an X over them. Also, you set the priority of each show still, and you can always see that priority in your playlist. Shows can be grouped in many different ways in the playlist, and one of the ways is in the order of their priority.
I didn't see this post until now... If a show is on a SL and isn't going to be recorded, when you see it in the guide, it will have its R circles in the guide, but they will have an X over them. You're assuming one looks at the GUIDE for this purpose. :) I rarely do, because I might unknowingly have 3 shows I expect to record between 8PM and 9PM on channels 2, 300 and 600. It's not possible to see the recording status of all 3 on a single GUIDE screen, like you can by simply viewing the TODO list. /steve
inkahauts
05-22-08, 03:46 AM
You're assuming one looks at the GUIDE for this purpose. :) I rarely do, because I might unknowingly have 3 shows I expect to record between 8PM and 9PM on channels 2, 300 and 600. It's not possible to see the recording status of all 3 on a single GUIDE screen, like you can by simply viewing the TODO list. /steve
I'm not saying that a to do list isn't good to have. In fact, that was probably the one thing that they didn't have that I think they could have added.
Of course, the replay never missed a show for me, and I be having it prompt me every time I ask it to record something that will conflict, which one it actually wanted me to record, I was pretty certain that things would get recorded by priority without problem.
Of course, the replay never missed a show for me, and I be having it prompt me every time I ask it to record something that will conflict, which one it actually wanted me to record, I was pretty certain that things would get recorded by priority without problem.Ya. I know exactly what you mean, because I had the same experience with the HR10 DirecTiVo. I managed the SEASON'S PASSES through the PRIORITY LIST and not the TO DO LIST, which I rarely (if ever) looked at. /steve
/steve
hfgarris
05-22-08, 12:36 PM
After years of watching my 6 networked ReplayTVs, I am now switching over to HR21s to get HD capability. It appears most of my Replay wishlist has already been covered in this thread and I hope some or all these features are added soon to the D* recorders.
One other feature I like, is the "segment advance" that was on the replay. When watching a show which is broken into segments by commercial breaks (i.e. Letterman, Tonight Show, etc), it was easy to single button jump to the next segment (after the next commercial break) of the show.
I also like the "programmed jump" where entering a number of minutes, then jump would take you deep into the show instantly. A simple "55-jump" would go almost to the end of a hour show from the beginning.
I really like "automatic commercial skip", but I doubt we will EVER see that in a video product again. It is unfortunate that the lawsuit seemed to erroneously suggest that the Replay didn't "record" the commercials at all (impossible without time warping <G>) which may have caused the harsh rulings. Of course, the commercial material was recorded in full, but could be effortlessly skipped over on playback. It wasn't perfect, but when it worked it was GREAT! Especially on commercial overloaded shows like American Idol ... the show would fade out -- 'blip' -- show fade in again.
Internet sharing is also treading on thin ice for the future. I have had my butt saved on more than one occasion by "poopli.com" when I missed a show due to power outage, local pre-empting, or my own mistake. A simple request to the poopli site was always rewarded by a sympathetic user sending my replay the show I had missed.
Remote streaming allowed me to dedicate each Replay to a single network for recording (CBS on one, NBC on another, etc) since we could watch any Replay from the Replay we were sitting at. This prevented "missed shows" due to scheduling conflicts from the networks shifting the start/stop times by 2 minutes which would cause a 2 minute "conflict" with the next scheduled recording on another channel and cause it not to be recorded. Possibly the cause of many "missed show" complaints found here?
The Replay would also catch a show which was shifted an hour earlier or later than normal. If you had a show scheduled to record all episodes, it would still catch it if they showed it in an adjacent time slot for one episode, or made it 2 hours one week rather than 1.
-howard
One other feature I like, is the "segment advance" that was on the replay. When watching a show which is broken into segments by commercial breaks (i.e. Letterman, Tonight Show, etc), it was easy to single button jump to the next segment (after the next commercial break) of the show.I really like "automatic commercial skip", but I doubt we will EVER see that in a video product again. It is unfortunate that the lawsuit seemed to erroneously suggest that the Replay didn't "record" the commercials at all (impossible without time warping <G>) which may have caused the harsh rulings. Of course, the commercial material was recorded in full, but could be effortlessly skipped over on playback. Both of these concepts are possible if the technology to implement this Wish List request is brought to the HR2x platform: Up to FFX3, automatically switch to PLAY at the end of a commercial block.
I also like the "programmed jump" where entering a number of minutes, then jump would take you deep into the show instantly. A simple "55-jump" would go almost to the end of a hour show from the beginning.Already on the current Wish List: OPTION to jump ahead or back in a recording by pressing "3-FF", e.g., to jump ahead 3 minutes, or "1-5-RW" to jump back 15 minutes.
Internet sharing is also treading on thin ice for the future. I have had my butt saved on more than one occasion by "poopli.com" when I missed a show due to power outage, local pre-empting, or my own mistake. A simple request to the poopli site was always rewarded by a sympathetic user sending my replay the show I had missed.
Never gonna hapen, IMHO. :)
Remote streaming allowed me to dedicate each Replay to a single network for recording (CBS on one, NBC on another, etc) since we could watch any Replay from the Replay we were sitting at. This prevented "missed shows" due to scheduling conflicts from the networks shifting the start/stop times by 2 minutes which would cause a 2 minute "conflict" with the next scheduled recording on another channel and cause it not to be recorded. Possibly the cause of many "missed show" complaints found here?
Will depend on how (http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=104052) DirecTV implements MRV, but we do have a Wish List request intended to address the "2 minute" problem: When a scheduled recording's start or end time will slightly conflict with scheduled recordings in a different time slot, do not cancel any recordings. Record one as a "partial".
The Replay would also catch a show which was shifted an hour earlier or later than normal. If you had a show scheduled to record all episodes, it would still catch it if they showed it in an adjacent time slot for one episode, or made it 2 hours one week rather than 1.Already a feature of the HR2x platform. :)
For those who haven't yet let DirecTV know how they value the above Wish List requests, please do so here (http://www.sizethis.com/index.php?module=survey&survey=28). TIA. /steve
Nicholsen
05-22-08, 03:09 PM
Concerning DirecTV hardware versus the HTPC-style DVR systems out there, it seems like you have two choices:
1) Watch shows in HD
2) Watch shows on DVR technology from this century
Once the HDPC comes out, the HR20 is obsolete as far as I'm concerned. Unfortunately even then we will be locked into Vista Media Center which isnt as good as the Linux-based options.
Morphy -- Without going too far OT, is there a thread or source of info on the HDPC. I agree that the HD options to D* subscribers are unsatisfactory, and am looking for an upgrade, even if it takes some $$ and requires some effort.
Devo1237
05-22-08, 03:57 PM
You know what feature I really like from my ReplayTV 5040 (besides the commercial skip that will never happen) is the ability to go to any minute of a recorded program by typing it in and hitting "jump." For example if I'm in the first inning of a game and want to skip to later, I just time in a time code (say 2-1-5-JUMP) and I'm taken to 2 hours 15 minutes into the program. It's also great if you want to go back to a certain part of a program to show someone or something, and it sure beats fast-forwarding through the whole thing to get back to a great ending or something.
I understand that Replay got sued for automatic commercial skip. But my HTPC running BeyondTV post-processes shows and puts marks in the recorded shows that act as commercial skip. (85% accurate - there are occasionally mistakes on where the commercials start and stop) Two questions for Replay folks:
1. Did Replay do this as the program was being recorded?
2. Why do PC DVR software packages like BeyondTV and SageTV not get sued for commercial skip?
grover517
05-22-08, 05:18 PM
I understand that Replay got sued for automatic commercial skip. But my HTPC running BeyondTV post-processes shows and puts marks in the recorded shows that act as commercial skip. (85% accurate - there are occasionally mistakes on where the commercials start and stop) Two questions for Replay folks:
1. Did Replay do this as the program was being recorded?
2. Why do PC DVR software packages like BeyondTV and SageTV not get sued for commercial skip?
1. No, the commercial skip was only active when playing back a previously recorded show or when watching the live buffer in a delayed mode at least 3 minutes behind. It marked the beginning and end of commercial blocks while the recording process was occuring.
Replay got around it by making it a manual process in their next version (5xxx series) by just making the user press a remote button (Commercial Advance) instead of it being an automatic option in the Setup menu.
2. Probably because MythTV is basically an open source product that doesn't have a big company behind it (ie: Money!). As for BeyondTV, your guess is as good as mine.
Another possibility is that MythTV or BeyondTV are not big enough yet for them to get in a huff over. Neither are producing an "out of box" solution like Replay did, so they figure it will be limited enough in scope not to worry too much about it. Kinda like when file sharing first started out. Until it became a widely, and easily obtainable option for free music, they didn't really take any actions.
However, if D* was to implement it in the form that Replay did originally, I am sure it would again raise eyebrows with the networks and back to court they would go.
Devo1237
05-22-08, 05:38 PM
Replay got around (the lawsuit) by making it a manual process in their next version (5xxx series) by just making the user press a remote button (Commercial Advance) instead of it being an automatic option in the Setup menu.
In that case, I REALLY want that "Commercial Advance" button! Seriously, I'll take that over DLBs and MRV and all that other stuff.
JerseyBoy
05-22-08, 07:39 PM
I agree with most of the requests above. I would also like to have the subcategories for searching like the Replay Zones. We have some of that in the search by keyword which is some cases is better and some cases useless depending on what you are searching for.
With the Replay Zones they had categories such as Family, Movies, Sitcoms, Sports etc.. Each of those would have subcategories. For example some of the subs for Sitcoms would be Now Showing, Family Matters, Co-Worker, Britcoms, Cultcoms and several more.
I have never found a good way on the HR2x using the keyword search to find all the Britcoms currently in the guide.
David MacLeod
05-23-08, 04:46 AM
have never found a good way on the HR2x using the keyword search to find all the Britcoms currently in the guide.
aren't they all on BBC? if so can't adding the channel to the search work?
sorry, OT.
With the Replay Zones they had categories such as Family, Movies, Sitcoms, Sports etc.. Each of those would have subcategories. For example some of the subs for Sitcoms would be Now Showing, Family Matters, Co-Worker, Britcoms, Cultcoms and several more.
I have never found a good way on the HR2x using the keyword search to find all the Britcoms currently in the guide.If these sub-tags are available in the TMS GUIDE data, then there's no reason DirecTV couldn't keyword SEARCH them as well. Since I don't see them in the current GUIDE data, I would guess that either DirecTV is choosing to limit which searchable TMS data tags are being stored, or these tags are not normally part of the data, and DISH is paying TMS (or someone else) to further edit the data and insert these add'l subcategories. /steve
JerseyBoy
05-23-08, 09:55 AM
aren't they all on BBC? if so can't adding the channel to the search work?
sorry, OT.
Besides BBCA in my area they are also on some of the local non network channels. Also I just tried your suggestion, I put the channel in the keyword and selected genre as comedy and it did not find any. I checked my todo list and there are ones that search should have found.
David MacLeod
05-23-08, 10:08 AM
Besides BBCA in my area they are also on some of the local non network channels. Also I just tried your suggestion, I put the channel in the keyword and selected genre as comedy and it did not find any. I checked my todo list and there are ones that search should have found.
darn, thought I was onto something there.
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