Feature request: scheduled playback

[rickz]

As owner of a DishPlayer 7200 for two years, I now await arrival of a shiny new PVR 721 from Dish Depot.  From the beginning of my PVR experience, I have desired one particular feature: scheduled playback (or deferred broadcast).

What's that?  It's the ability of the PVR to automatically replay a recorded show at a later time, either once-only or repeating, with selectable auto-erase.  PVR's already tune to channels automatically for live viewing or recording, so scheduled playback should be a fairly easy enhancement.

We have several small children who watch TV at various times throughout the day, and we would like the PVR to skew the network program schedule in a predictive and automatic manner.  Examples:

Do you live on the west coast, and want to record a children's show at 5:00am from the eastern satellite channel for replay at 7:00am when your kids are awake?  Do you want it erased?  No problem.  At 7:00am, the box 'tunes' to the recorded show automatically, plays it, then erases it.

Do you want to record Survivor at 8:00pm, watch CSI live, and re-play Survivor automatically at 10:00pm (while simultaneously recording ER, perhaps)?  No problem.  At 10:00pm, the box 'tunes' automatically to the recorded Survivor show and plays it.

Thanks for reading!

Rick -Z-
happy with E*

[Mark Lamutt]

Welcome to DBSTalk Rick! :hi:

That's a really interesting suggestion, and not one I've heard before.

[Geronimo]

Some things I can do for myself. As a Dishplayer owner I think that the programmers at DISh and Web TV have highr priorities.

But hey it does sound way cool.

[Scott Greczkowski]

I can see it now, after a hard day laying in bed, when I am awoken by the TV which automaticly turned on, on the screen, in my dazed confusion I have lost grip with reality. I feel like I am in the Twilight Zone... That is until I realize that I am not in the Twilight Zone but actually I am watching it.

Welcome to the world of Automatic Playback.... Welcome to the Twilight Zone. :D

[Pat A]

I would like to see this scheduled playback idea linked with the IR blaster to allow automated archiving to vcr (or dvd). I hate having to do this manually. It would be great to be able to set scheduled archive events to happen at off times when no one is watching TV.

[Jacob S]

This would also be good for those that want to record to a vcr certain shows in a certain order so you can dump the shows directly to vcr freeing up space. There could be an indicator of the shows that were dumped to vcr and even erase it afterwards automatically or even have an enhancement to automatically record to vcr once the hard drive gets down to a low amount of space left on it. One would have to leave the vcr on though in order for this to work.

[rickz]

Originally posted by Geronimo
Some things I can do for myself. As a Dishplayer owner I think that the programmers at DISh and Web TV have highr priorities.

But hey it does sound way cool.

Indeed, this feature would only have a chance of being added to the newer PVR's.  Consider the feature many of us already use: scheduled reminders.  If you use this function to automatically tune to a channel for viewing live TV, you could easily do the same for viewing recorded TV.

This feature simply makes the watching of recorded TV work just like the experience of watching live TV.  The show just comes on without you doing anything.  This works especially well if you want to watch a particular recorded program immediately after a live program (or even after another recorded program), in that sequence, every occurance. 

Want to rearrange the sequence of PBS, Disney, daytime dramas, and news shows for you and the kids?  Want the channels to change automatically all day?  Easy.

Want the 6:00pm showing of Hannity & Colmes to pop on the tube at 7:00pm after the local news every day instead of you having to wait until 11:00pm for the repeat?  Easy.

Want to watch Tuesday's American Idol performance show on Wednesday immediately before the Idol results show, beginning 9:00pm, without doing anything?  Have both record and play back automatically.  Easy.

Want a break at any time?  Hit Pause. :-)

Rick -Z-

 

[Filip1]

Rick, Sorry but to me this sounds like a waste of the Dish programmers time. With the bugs and features still needed, I think I and everyone else can hit play any time they want. Your idea doesn't take into account the very nature of the pvr. Whatever you watch before the scheduled showing, could take, would take, an unknown amount of time depending on how much you fast forward, repeat, or pause for a variety of reasons that make a pvr so convenient. For now just hit play when you feel like watching any show that you have recorded and let's leave dish to use their fairly limited resources to perfect what is already out there.

[ScottK]

I can't see using scheduled playback for timeshifting, but it would be handy to be able to schedule a number of events to play successively for batch-dumping to tape. It could be very useful.

I'd also like the ability, when setting a timer, to select PVR and VCR both, so that I can PVR it for myself, and hand off the tape to a friend or relative who asked me to tape something for them...

[dbronstein]

I agree with ScottK, it would be nice for dumping things to tape. But just scheduling a time to watch shows completely misses the point of a PVR.

Dennis

[SteveinDanville]

rickz, wait until you see how easy it is to jump into your PVR recordings list, pick a show, hit play, then hit start over. We're talking nano-seconds here. There are TONS of other things that need to be tweaked before this percolates to the top of the list! I love my 721, and at the risk of sounding like an ad, you'll never be able to watch regular TV again. I hate traveling on business now because I know I'm going to have to watch whatever dreck is on the TV in my room, plus commercials!!! Can't wait to get home...

[smammon]

Originally posted by SteveinDanville
rickz, wait until you see how easy it is to jump into your PVR recordings list, pick a show, hit play, then hit start over. We're talking nano-seconds here. There are TONS of other things that need to be tweaked before this percolates to the top of the list!

Actually I asked for just this thing in the last "requested features" thread. In a different way - a dupe to tape feature. Select a PVR entry and shedule it to record to vcr. It would be just as easy to include an "auto tune" option.

I often have friends ask me to record a show for them or maybe want to archive a movie or even a batch of shows to tape. Would be really useful to do this in the wee hours...

Also the upside is that 90% of the needed code is already written.

[rickz]

Originally posted by dbronstein
I agree with ScottK, it would be nice for dumping things to tape. But just scheduling a time to watch shows completely misses the point of a PVR.


The point of a PVR is what exactly?  The point of a PVR is {insert your favorite use}.   I have a use that parents of young children may understand.

Most people use PVR's in a manner no different than the way they have used VCR's for many years. The only difference is the convenience and quality of the experience.  No tapes.  Great capacity.  Slick playback controls.  Commercial skip.  'Season pass', live pause, and similar unique functions add to the usefulness, but a PVR is still a fancy digital version of VCR+ for many people.  We regularly record shows and play them back later when desired.  We even keep episodes on the drive for viewing when needed (a convenient episode of The Wiggles is useful for getting the little ones under control).  Those of you who archive shows to tape or disc are doing no different than those who have kept libraries of tapes from the beginning of Beta and VHS.

Real timeshifting is when the process is transparent to the user, as if the recorded program is being tuned in 'live' at a pre-deternined future time.  Using current software, most of us - me and my wife included - always find the recorded program in Personal TV and hit {Play}.  There are times, however, when you may want the box to drive itself.

When my three little daughters are watching Disney, PBS, and other kids shows, we have the PVR tune itself.  My wife has often desired the ability to shift the schedule around, re-sequencing the shows in the desired order.  Scheduled playback would accomplish this.  Giving little kids the illusion of an established broadcast schedule has some real benefits.  Parents may understand this.  Operators of retirement homes, hospitals, and schools may undestand this.  THAT is the power of personal TV - timeshifting the broadcast schedule, with or without user intervention.

In the meantime, I hope the developers at E* continue their efforts on all of the other feasible requests I have read.  I'm tracking my 721 as it rolls along with Brown Santa, and will soon put my 7200 on eBay.

Thanks to all for the comments.  :-)

Rick -Z-

 

[Karl Foster]

Originally posted by smammon


Actually I asked for just this thing in the last "requested features" thread. In a different way - a dupe to tape feature. Select a PVR entry and shedule it to record to vcr. It would be just as easy to include an "auto tune" option.

I often have friends ask me to record a show for them or maybe want to archive a movie or even a batch of shows to tape. Would be really useful to do this in the wee hours...

Also the upside is that 90% of the needed code is already written.

Ultimatetv has had this feature since it was introduced (I know that it won't work with E*), and it works well. It has an IR cable that goes from the back of the UTV unit and attaches to the VCR and automatically starts recording on the VCR at the time the UTV tells it to. I rarely use this feature as I rarely use a VCR any more, but it works when I do use it. This doesn't work for playback, only for recording shows that are on at that time. It also disables the second tuner.

[dbronstein]

Originally posted by rickz
The point of a PVR is what exactly?  The point of a PVR is {insert your favorite use}.   I have a use that parents of young children may understand.

I have a young child and using a PVR that way is a waste, IMO. The point of the PVR is to timeshift, like you said, but to watch the recorded shows at any time, not just to reschedule them.

You said:

"Giving little kids the illusion of an established broadcast schedule has some real benefits. Parents may understand this."

I'm sorry, but I don't see the benefit. I don't want my son to get into the habit of having to watch at certain times to see his favorite shows. I don't want him to think he has to stop whatever activity he's doing to go watch TV or he's going to miss the show. I want him to understand that he can watch a certain amount of TV each day and he'll be able to see his shows whenever he watches.

It would be really nice to be able to select multiple shows for sequential playback, but just on demand.

Dennis

[Bill D]

Here is a funny story about kids and PVR's. Sometimes when my 4 year old gets up, he comes into my room says hi and goes downstairs. Once I get myself down there I find that he has fired up the 721 and TV, and gotten into the PVr menu and he recognizes some of his shows in the PVR. He can't read yet so there are times when he needs me to find a show for him. He hates watching live TV, because he can't skip the commercials. It's all very amusing to see..
I agree let them watch what they want when they want, I certainly don't want them to stop playing or coloring to watch TV.
I do like the idea of being able to tell the 721 to delete a program after XX of days. But also think there are soooo many other feature and bugs that can be addressed first..

[bearklaw]

Originally posted by dbronstein

It would be really nice to be able to select multiple shows for sequential playback, but just on demand.


That is a feature I would like, primarily for the kids. Just the other day my wife was sick and I was working at home. I wanted to plunk the 4 year old down to watch a few recorded shows in a row so I could get some work done, but of course I had to pick the next show every half hour. Would have been great if I could have selected 2-3 to play sequentially.

Wouldn't you know it, we had just got the kids to understand that you can't pause live TV like a tape, and then got a PVR and really confused them.

-BearKlaw

[Adrian_R]

Originally posted by Bill D
I do like the idea of being able to tell the 721 to delete a program after XX of days.

My apologies if you already answered this, but why would you need this feature, since unprotected programs will automatically get erased when the drive is full and a new recording is happening?

[dbronstein]

Originally posted by Adrian_R
My apologies if you already answered this, but why would you need this feature, since unprotected programs will automatically get erased when the drive is full and a new recording is happening?

Because they clutter up your PVR listings. I don't particularly need this feature, but I can see where it would be useful. Someone mentioned in another thread that they record the evening news every day, but don't always get around to watching. Since they're not going to watch it the next day ore the next week, it would be convenient to just have it delete itself.

Dennis

[rickz]

Originally posted by dbronstein  
It would be really nice to be able to select multiple shows for sequential playback, but just on demand.

This would be a very acceptable and useful alternative to my original idea (though I'd still like to see it).  If my wife could tag and play a group of recorded shows in a desired sequence, this would provide a stream of replayed programming with no intervention.   It would be simple and effective, and would also serve the needs of those who archive to tape or disc.

Rick -Z-

[Bill D]

Originally posted by Adrian_R


My apologies if you already answered this, but why would you need this feature, since unprotected programs will automatically get erased when the drive is full and a new recording is happening?

As mentioned it's a matter of clutter, especially without any folders. The evening news is a good example, as is somethig like Letterman, or what I would use it for daily kids recordings. Rather then clean up every few days, these would just go away on there own.
Also that means that if there was something I didn't protect it would go by accident.

[Nick]

Originally posted by Scott Greczkowski I can see it now, after a hard day laying in bed, when I am awakened by the TV which automatically turned on, on the screen, in my dazed confusion I have lost grip with reality. I feel like I am in the Twilight Zone... That is until I realize that I am not in the Twilight Zone but actually I am watching it.

Welcome to the world of Automatic Playback.... Welcome to the Twilight Zone. :D Speaking of which, I have just returned from secretly infiltrating the CBU (Commercial Broadcast Underground). While there, I learned that there is a secret diabolical plot to force regimentation of television viewing on an unwitting general public. According to my sources, CBNs (Commercial Broadcast Networks) are secretly plotting to air telecasts in the same time slots day after day, and week after week. The purpose, of course is that through repetition and training, the viewership will sit down and watch the same program in the same time slot on the same day every day or every week.

This is an evil plot designed to hypnotize free Americans into allowing themselves to be controlled and influenced by the dark forces of the CBN. Through the use of suble audio cues, (trigger phrases) such as "stay tuned", "same time, same station next week", and "don't touch that dial!" unseen CBN announcers, using special low frequency voice techniques, can direct TV viewers and control viewing habits.

Through use of these devious methods, Americans have been seen leaving work early, leaving parties and grocery shopping prematurely, and even stranding small children at little league events in order to mindlessly drive home to be in front of the TV by a certain time. There they sit, frozen, staring blankly at the TV screen awaiting further subliminal instructions.

What's THAT you say? This is not new? It's been going on for over 50 years? AAARRRGGGH! I'm too late!!! Run for your lives! It's every man, woman and child for themselves!

SAVE YOURSELVES! Buy and USE a PVR! :eek2: