HR2x and R22 0x0290 - Discussion

[Stuart Sweet]

This is the discussion thread for all MPEG-4 DVRs, software versions 0x0290.

Release notes:
http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=143221

Please feel free to discuss all aspects of this release in this thread. However, while a certain amount of ranting is expected, forum rules are still in effect and we ask that you refrain from personal attacks and statements you cannot defend.

[wmccain]

The on-screen message that came with this release says that you can now "enter letters the same way as a on cellphone". Unfortunately, I do not have a cellphone and I have been unable to find any further explanation.

With a normal telephone, a traditional way that letters are entered (with, for example, voice-response units) is to enter two digits for each letter. The first digit is the one with multiple letters (on the telephone keypad), the second digit is the position of the letter on its key. For eacmple "21" is "A", "22" is "B" and "23" is "C".

Is this what they have in mind?
What they are referring to is something that some call Tripple Tap. If you look at your remote keypad or a touch tone phone you will see the letters and numbers. For A you hit 2 for B you hit 22 for C you hit 222 for D you hit 3 for E you hit 33 etc. First hit on a number registers the first letter second the second and so on.Well, now ... that's about the STUPIDEST method I ever heard of! What IDIOT dreamed that one up?

The obvious fault with this "triple tap" method is that it requires a TIMEOUT. That is, the program doing the processing cannot tell if you meant to enter "A" with a single tap until it waits to see if you are going to tap the same key again. And the number of digits needed to be entered per letter varies from one to four ... whereas with the "traditional" method that I described, there are always EXACTLY two digits entered per letter (hence no requirement for any messy timeout logic, and no unnecessary processing delay either).

William C. McCain
Palo Alto, California

[gdn]

No lockups, but both DVR's (HR21-100 and HR22-100) rebooted in the 5:30 PM CT and then new software around 7:30. Confirmed the 1080p on both TV's are working. Is there any 1080p program left around on an On Demand channel where we can see the real goodness or we out of luck for a few weeks?

** Update - the KDS60A2000 does not support the 1080p/24. I'd followed some advice in another thread and pushed the Info button while it trying to resolve the resolution. If you do that it will come back and say it supports the 1080p - when it really doesn't. Without pushing info - HR22 - correctly reports no 1080p/24 support - I've since confirmed via Cnets review of the TV - that 1080p/60 is the only 1080p it supports.

[Tom Robertson]

Well, now ... that's about the STUPIDEST method I ever heard of! What IDIOT dreamed that one up?

The obvious fault with this "triple tap" method is that it requires a TIMEOUT. That is, the program doing the processing cannot tell if you meant to enter "A" with a single tap until it waits to see if you are going to tap the same key again. And the number of digits needed to be entered per letter varies from one to four ... whereas with the "traditional" method that I described, there are always EXACTLY two digits entered per letter (hence no requirement for any messy timeout logic, and no unnecessary processing delay either).

William C. McCain
Palo Alto, California
I'm guessing you never sent a text message from a basic cellphone. I know people who can triple tap almost as fast as I can use all my fingers on a PC keyboard. :) (Then again, they send or receive 3,000 messages each month.)

BTW, you can use the arrow key to move over, bypassing the timeout logic. And the timeout is only required for two or more sequential letters from the same key.

Cheers,
Tom

[rynberg]

Ugh, very frustrated.

First the national lockup problem, then a prime time software update (doh!), and now this:

all of my recordings will only play back in 480p. Every time I try to watch them in 1080i, the HR20-100 will not settle on 1080i, it keeps flickering between resolutions. Live TV is fine at 1080i.

This is the first time I've ever had a problem with any software with this box.

[wmccain]

I'm guessing you never sent a text message from a basic cellphone.You would be correct. I did own a cellphone, once. It was around 1991-92 or so, and the "mobile phone" came standard in a Lincoln Mark VIII that I owned back then. I actually activated the phone for a year, then gave it up (in 12 months, I used it exactly twice).

[In those days there were only two cell phone companies in my area, Cellular One and GTE. Neither of them seem to be around anymore. Obviously, it's a "fly-by-night" business!]

The phone itself looked almost exactly like a standard handset. And it didn't have any kind of "text messaging" ...

BTW, you can use the arrow key to move over, bypassing the timeout logic.Arrow key? On a telephone? What in the world would THAT be used for?

Bill

[mrshermanoaks]

I'll be spending the next few days trying to rebuild my Prioritizer and ToDo list because it all DISAPPEARED.

Not only is it lousy that it erased all of my settings, but it also reset all the guide data, meaning I can't even rebuild the list now - I have to wait for the next day or two for all the guide data to re-populate.

Every time they get me back to the point where I am comfortable with this box, somehow they manage to piss me and my wife off in some huge way.

[Dorv]

My box crashed on trying to update. Unable to make any recordings this evening at all. Didn't arrive home until late, at which point I couldn't reboot/cut on the machine at all. After leaving it unplugged for several minutes and plugging it back in, it finally rebooted. Asked if I wanted to update, and then rebooted into software update mode.

Pissed as hell that this happened right before primetime and screwed all my recordings.

[Tom Robertson]

You would be correct. I did own a cellphone, once. It was around 1991-92 or so, and the "mobile phone" came standard in a Lincoln Mark VIII that I owned back then. I actually activated the phone for a year, then gave it up (in 12 months, I used it exactly twice).

[In those days there were only two cell phone companies in my area, Cellular One and GTE. Neither of them seem to be around anymore. Obviously, it's a "fly-by-night" business!]

The phone itself looked almost exactly like a standard handset. And it didn't have any kind of "text messaging" ...

Arrow key? On a telephone? What in the world would THAT be used for?

Bill

Actually both companies exist but have been merged into other telco companies (likely several times by now.) :) 1991 isn't exactly what I'd call fly by night....

"That" would be used for easier maneuvering thru menus on the phone. Even basic cell phones have many options and features these days. As do many landline phones that have more than just dial capability, now that I think about it. :)

Cheers,
Tom

[excalibur26]

My box crashed on trying to update. Unable to make any recordings this evening at all. Didn't arrive home until late, at which point I couldn't reboot/cut on the machine at all. After leaving it unplugged for several minutes and plugging it back in, it finally rebooted. Asked if I wanted to update, and then rebooted into software update mode.



Similiar situation with me. I thought my new HR21 had died. Everything, eventually, sorted itself out.

[wmccain]

As do many landline phones that have more than just dial capability, now that I think about it.You know, THERE is an idea that I have mused about before (privately) ... why not offer cell-phone-type capabilities (texting, camera, Internet, etc.) on landline phones? Nobody does so, as far as I know!

Despite my disdain for cellphones, I'm no technophobe ... and my landline phone system is "state of the art" (a Panasonic hybrid digital/analog PBX, with dozens of digital "feature phones", with backlit LCD screens, all over the house). My phones have LOTS of buttons, even a "jog wheel", but nothing that could be called an "arrow key".

And despite the fact that (after the mergers that you mentioned) the two leading cellphone companies are also the two leading landline companies, NEITHER of them, to the best of my knowledge, has ever offered even the most "basic" (your term) cellphone features for their landline customers. Very odd ... you would think that SOMEBODY would have thought of that YEARS ago. (Perhaps they have, and their "market studies" have shown that there is "no market".)

I'm semi-retired now, 65 years on this planet, and I rarely leave the house (not disabled or anything, just a "stick-in-the-mud"). Hence a cellphone is of no value to me. But I was a software engineer for 30 years, and "semi-retired" means that I now have the time to work on my OWN ideas. At this time, my major project is a Wi-Fi-based application that runs on the iPhone/iPod touch (which I test on two of the latter devices, my application makes no use of the "phone" capabilities). Again, a technophobe I am not ... but picky I am.

Bill

[Number2]

Took the update tonite, and both my HR21-700 lost all recordings and prioritizer list. This is the very 1st time it has happened to me.. so I'm kinda pissed right now. Is there any way to recover the shows I have recorded? I also checked with my friend a couple of miles away, and his HR21-700 also lost everything..

[inkahauts]

I'll be spending the next few days trying to rebuild my Prioritizer and ToDo list because it all DISAPPEARED.

Not only is it lousy that it erased all of my settings, but it also reset all the guide data, meaning I can't even rebuild the list now - I have to wait for the next day or two for all the guide data to re-populate.

Every time they get me back to the point where I am comfortable with this box, somehow they manage to piss me and my wife off in some huge way.

Took the update tonite, and both my HR21-700 lost all recordings and prioritizer list. This is the very 1st time it has happened to me.. so I'm kinda pissed right now. Is there any way to recover the shows I have recorded? I also checked with my friend a couple of miles away, and his HR21-700 also lost everything..


Do any of you happen to have an eSata drive hooked up? If so, maybe you need to reset the unit and get it to rerecognize it...

As for the guide being flushed... Thats so that the guide data can be reloaded with the additional names and info for the info for programs... It wouldn't really be such a big deal if your units hadn't had all its prioritizer wiped out...

[wingrider01]

You know, THERE is an idea that I have mused about before (privately) ... why not offer cell-phone-type capabilities (texting, camera, Internet, etc.) on landline phones? Nobody does so, as far as I know!

Despite my disdain for cellphones, I'm no technophobe ... and my landline phone system is "state of the art" (a Panasonic hybrid digital/analog PBX, with dozens of digital "feature phones", with backlit LCD screens, all over the house). My phones have LOTS of buttons, even a "jog wheel", but nothing that could be called an "arrow key".

And despite the fact that (after the mergers that you mentioned) the two leading cellphone companies are also the two leading landline companies, NEITHER of them, to the best of my knowledge, has ever offered even the most "basic" (your term) cellphone features for their landline customers. Very odd ... you would think that SOMEBODY would have thought of that YEARS ago. (Perhaps they have, and their "market studies" have shown that there is "no market".)

I'm semi-retired now, 65 years on this planet, and I rarely leave the house (not disabled or anything, just a "stick-in-the-mud"). Hence a cellphone is of no value to me. But I was a software engineer for 30 years, and "semi-retired" means that I now have the time to work on my OWN ideas. At this time, my major project is a Wi-Fi-based application that runs on the iPhone/iPod touch (which I test on two of the latter devices, my application makes no use of the "phone" capabilities). Again, a technophobe I am not ... but picky I am.

Bill

Try VOIP phones, have all the capablities of cell phones and a whole lot more. Currently have the capablity to setup a softphone on my pc, start a video conference call on either the deskphone or the softphone, answer an incoming call on a wireless with the same DID number, the softphone, the deskphone, or have it ring my cell phone.

BTW had a cell phone in my car way before 1991, and it was not supported by either of the 2 hpne companies you mentioned, was Southwestern Bell. it look like a normal wall phone and drew dial tone.

[patsrule316]

I have an hr20-700 and an hr21-700, both with an e-sata hard drive hooked up.

The hr-20 rebooted on its own around 6:15-6:30 last night. Everything went fine. The HR-21 was unresponsive. I did a red-button reboot and it came back to life. Thankfully, I didn't loose any recordings.

[Toyo]

I recieved the download around 8:00 last night. Everything went perfect on both of my 21's. My Panny plasma TH-42PZ77U is not even a year old and it does not support 24p. It was the tops at the time of purchase. I feel alot of people out there are going to now discover there 1080P has limitations. I already knew about mine, however I wasnt happy about it once I discovered it months ago.

The 1st black recording I had ever in my D* history of over 15 years happened Monday night. Our favorite show, Boston Legal was nothing but black. My wife and I were very unhappy to say the least.

Just get ready for the on slaught of people here discovering there 1080P has limitations!

[Deezul]

Ugh, very frustrated.

First the national lockup problem, then a prime time software update (doh!), and now this:

all of my recordings will only play back in 480p. Every time I try to watch them in 1080i, the HR20-100 will not settle on 1080i, it keeps flickering between resolutions. Live TV is fine at 1080i.

This is the first time I've ever had a problem with any software with this box.

Re-do the Satellite setup. that's what I had to do to get 1080i back on recorded shows.

And I agree this one is the worst one yet. I tried a reboot box, RBR, and the sat setup before I got everything back to "normal"

[wmccain]

BTW had a cell phone in my car way before 1991, and it was not supported by either of the 2 hpne companies you mentioned, was Southwestern Bell.It was a "regional thing" — in those days, the U.S. was carved up into territories, and (typically) each territory had exactly two franchised cell carriers. In my case (San Francisco Bay Area), it was Cellular One and GTE.

I'm still not sure what became of them. No doubt, via merger they became part of the half-dozen or so cell carriers that we have today. But which ones? If I had stayed with Cellular One, I would probably know — but I didn't, so I don't.

it look like a normal wall phone and drew dial tone.Don't ALL phones, including cell phones, have a dial tone? The cell phone in my Lincoln (early 1990s) certainly did!

Bill

[nn8l]

I'm not at home in front of my dvr (have to work to pay the dtv bill) but can someone explain how the soft padding works?

[paulman182]

All of my HR20s and the R22 were locked up last night when I got home at 8PM.

Red button resets and the download got the HR20s working, but the R22 is still non-functional.

I might be able to re-do the satellite setup and see what that does, but the box is acting really screwy.

[aeffen]

Well I turned the box on this morning and actually shook it and all of a sudden the ota's appeared.
Still no luck on getting it to recognize my kds60a3000 as capable of doing 1080p which I believe it is.

On the esta issue, I had to turn off my freeagent and then turn it back on and do a menu reboot to get it recognized.:)

[hiker]

Now you can see the song titles on XM channels when screen saver cuts in. There is a small moving window with the titles. Is this different from pre-290 releases? Great new feature except I am now heading for the dramamine. :D

[eneg]

Okay, my TV supports 1080p/24.
My DVR agrees.

Where can I download some 1080p material???

Thanks,

Eneg

[HiDuck]

New Features
• Play DVR recorded programs from your PC using DIRECTV2PC

So is this ready to be used or has it just been built in for future release? If it is ready to be used I can't seem to find a place to set it up on my computer at directv.com.

[jefe1018]

Diretcv has finally outdone themselves!! This was by far, the worst experience I've had in my 10+ years of being a customer. My wife calls me at work and says both DVRs are resetting and something isn't right. Mind you, it's 5:00pm. Great idea to do this in the middle of the day. After several minutes, one HR 21 appears to have made it through unscathed. The other, in the living room, had all recordings wiped out. I spent 50 minutes on the phone with technical support trying to find my recordings with no luck. Final the rep admits there is no way to recover my recordings and reads the prepared statement about how she's sorry for the inconveinence, and that their technicians were being proactive in running this update to alleviate problems with unrespnsive remotes. Neither one of my DVRs was having any issues. My wife and I had about 40 hours of recordings we had yet to watch. All I got was a bunch more I'm sorrys from the rep, another read of the prepared statement, and a $75 credit to my account from her supervisor.
As upset as I am, my wife makes me look calm and reserved. She wants to know why we spend over $100 a month for such a crappy service. I've been defending Directv for years, but I think this may be the end for me. The lack of communication, the timing of the update, and the end result for what sounds like a lot of us, have soured me beyond belief. 1080p will probably be a better experience, but the price I had to pay is too much. It's not worth the heartache.

[Roquefort]

This is the discussion thread for all MPEG-4 DVRs, software versions 0x0290.

Release notes:
http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=143221



Came home from work yesterday to discover that 0x290 had been pushed. HR21-700 is behaving fine (although audio output has seemingly been turned down...) and has now a NETWORK SERVICES sub-menu (under SETUP-NETWORK).

What is it for?? I have been using DOD quite successfully since it became available. Does it have something to do with it?

There is nothing in the Release Notes about it. Any idea?


Curious Al.
:scratch:

[billsharpe]

The update timing was terrible! :nono2:

I tried to turn on the receiver last night at 5:30 to watch local news. No response using the remote.

Pushed the power button on the receiver. No response.

Pushed the red reset button. No response.

Pulled the plug for a minute, then replugged. No response.

Pulled the plug again and waited 15 minutes. Finally the receiver powered on.

By this time, though, I was watching local news OTA via the TV set. I watched the blue lights circling for about 40 minutes -- yes, 40, not 4. Eventually the lights glowed steady. I switched to the DirecTV feed, which was now working. No recordings lost -- at least they are still listed. ToDo list still intact. System test showed new software downloaded at 6:16 pm.

Previous updates occurred in the middle of the night. Why the change to early evening? :confused:

I've got FiOS for TV and phone. I'm now considering it seriously for TV.

[mbuser]

The prerelease notes in the CE thread included a "grey screen" notation, but the official release notes do not. Does this release include a fix for the grey/black screen problem? I hope so.

[Alebob911]

It was a "regional thing" — in those days, the U.S. was carved up into territories, and (typically) each territory had exactly two franchised cell carriers. In my case (San Francisco Bay Area), it was Cellular One and GTE.

I'm still not sure what became of them. No doubt, via merger they became part of the half-dozen or so cell carriers that we have today. But which ones? If I had stayed with Cellular One, I would probably know — but I didn't, so I don't.

Don't ALL phones, including cell phones, have a dial tone? The cell phone in my Lincoln (early 1990s) certainly did!

Bill

Software engineer for 30 years and doesn't have any ideas about cell phone technology?? I have never had a cell phone that had a "dial tone". Instead of complaining about the "latest" technology, I take some time during your semi retirement and learn about it.

[tkrandall]

A question about 1080p24. My Sammy HLS-6187W reportedly does not support 1080p24 input or output. So what options do I have with the 1080p24 material that will be available? Output from the DVR as 1080i (i.e. 1080i60)?

[rahlquist]

A question about 1080p24. My Sammy HLS-6187W reportedly does not support 1080p24 input or output. So what options do I have with the 1080p24 material that will be available? Output from the DVR as 1080i (i.e. 1080i60)?

If you choose to say purchase a 1080p PPV, then the DVR will play it at the max resolution your set supports. If your TV wont do 1080p then it will try 1080i.

[tkrandall]

It (my TV) will do 1080p, as in 1080p/60, but not 1080p/24, according to what I have read. So can the HR20 convert the material to 1080p/60, or can it and does it convert it to 1080i/60?

[bpratt]

It (my TV) will do 1080p, as in 1080p/60, but not 1080p/24, according to what I have read. So can the HR20 convert the material to 1080p/60, or can it and does it convert it to 1080i/60?
It appears that currently D* only supports 24 frame per second for 1080p. In the future they could support upconverting 1080p/24 to 1080p/60 by using the same method used when 24 fps movies are converted to 60 fps for TV viewing.

They take the first frame of the 24 fps and send it 2 times, the next frame is sent 3 times, the next frame 2 times, the next frame 3 times...... repeated for 24 frames, gives you 60 frames.

[Stuart Sweet]

Yes, that's a simple form of 3:2 pulldown.

[whereami]

So from a clarity standpoint, is the 1080p/24 better than 1080i/60, if that's what D* is currently supporting?

[evan_s]

So from a clarity standpoint, is the 1080p/24 better than 1080i/60, if that's what D* is currently supporting?

Really ends up being a complicated question. The short answer is 24p is great for movies that where shot that way originally if everything used in the process can handle them correctly and your TV can actually display the content as an even multiple of 24p, eg 48p, 96p or 120p. If your tv doesn't support displaying 24p content as an even multiple it doesn't end up mattering too much since it's going to have to go through a 2:3 telecine at some point in the process no matter what. For the same reason 60p output doesn't make any sense. Even tho it's possible for 120p set to display 24p as a proper multiple a lot of the sets don't do it properly. They convert it up to 60i with a telecine process and then convert that to 120p which doesn't eliminate the judder and does 2 conversions.

For video shot at 1080i60 converting it down to 24p would be bad and 1080i60 is the best way to pass the video down the chain.

[trainman]

I'm still not sure what became of them. No doubt, via merger they became part of the half-dozen or so cell carriers that we have today. But which ones? If I had stayed with Cellular One, I would probably know — but I didn't, so I don't.

GTE = Verizon Wireless
Cellular One = AT&T Wireless (as far as I can tell -- the various acquisitions and mergers here are a little complicated)

But this is DBSTalk, not CellPhoneTalk, so, uh, how about that 0x0290 software?

[Rich]

I was actually quite happy when all seven of my HRs started rebooting at the same time. I had experienced a lockup on one of my 20-700s with a 2TB eSATA on it earlier in the evening and thought I was going to start experiencing problems with the compatibility of the 20-700 and the eSATA.

Worried about this for about two hours and suddenly they all started rebooting. And from the screen messages, I could see that an NR was coming. Oh, joy. The problem wasn't my huge eSATA.

My wife had a fit. All she could see was missing the shows that she records for herself and I don't backup. Who schedules a NR at 7:45pm on a Tuesday night? Talk about poor planning. But, by 8:00, all seven HRs were running properly, no lost shows. Close tho. Too close. Really bad timing. Must have been a awfully good reason.

Pretty funny tho, listening to my wife diagnose the "problem". Must be the wind, so she runs outside expecting the dish to be flapping around on the roof. Then she blamed the multi-switch, then she finally blamed me because I was laughing at her.

Anyhow, everything got recorded on time and everything looks good and I got a great laugh out of the whole thing. She calmed down right away when the sets came back up.

Rich

[ShinerDraft]

Our 21 is on a table beside the door to our bedroom. I heard it buzzing like crazy even though it was off & nothing was recorded. I figured that I was in the process of hearing my hard drive crash or 290 was coming down the pipe.

5:00pm-6:00pm *is* an awfully odd time to push out a software update. Fortunately, it didn't affect me but I imagine that DTV will have *alot* of upset calls on that one.

I'm looking forward to getting home & playing with this. I've had 2 big issues with my HR20 and was told that this update would correct them.

[dvdmth]

Yesterday's Wheel of Fortune was still in the To Do List this morning. The show did record, although the first few minutes were cut off due to the software update. I didn't miss anything, though, because I also have a Comcast DVR which I set to record the show as a back-up (after reading about the DVR troubles on this forum). I must admit that it was quite funny to see a program scheduled to record "yesterday" on the HR21...

Last Wednesday, Comcast in Denver pushed out a software update on their DVR's. The update actually went out at 11 PM, but they didn't allow anything to record from around 9 PM through midnight. I wasn't recording anything at the time, but a neighbor was and she was not exactly thrilled about it. I guess what's good for Comcast is good for DirecTV (it sometimes pays to have both, if you can afford it).

EDIT - I guess it was two Wednesdays ago (there was a baseball game last Wednesday).

[reber1b]

Took the update tonite, and both my HR21-700 lost all recordings and prioritizer list. This is the very 1st time it has happened to me.. so I'm kinda pissed right now. Is there any way to recover the shows I have recorded? I also checked with my friend a couple of miles away, and his HR21-700 also lost everything..

Same thing happened with both my HR20-700's. My playlists showed statements that said I had no recorded shows (or something of that nature}. After throwing a major snit fit, I did menu resets on both units, pulling the plug at the black screen, and after they rebooted, everything was back to normal. One other thing I did was unplug both eSATA drives. After a minute or so, I repowered the eSATA's then the HR20's. For all I know, this was not necessary, but I did it anyway.

[billsharpe]

One feature supposedly implemented in the new software:
• Unsubscribed channel s are colorized as ‘unsubscribed’ in guide
needs more work.

Some of my unsubscribed channels are marked but by no means all of them. HBO, for example, is marked, but HDNet is not, yet I get a "channel not purchased" screen if I try to view it.

[TimeShifter]

I thought I had read in the CE discussion on this release that it included support for having RF and IR enabled at the same time. I could be completely mistaken. As far as I can tell, this isn't supported. Anyone happen know anything about this?

Thanks!

[thumperr]

So from a clarity standpoint, is the 1080p/24 better than 1080i/60, if that's what D* is currently supporting?

Neither is better or worse. The chip that does the scaling for the 3:2 pull down is really the determining factor in the picture quality of 24fps (frames per second) video. 24fps is the frame rate for DVD and Blu-ray. one of the reasons HD-DVD owners loved their players was the quality of the chip that did the upconverting and 3:2 pulldown. Sharp has TVs that are 120hz so as to elimanate the need for the 3:2 pulldown. (other manufacture may now have this also). this way at 24fps, every frame is displayed 5 times. and with OTA that is 60fps each frame is displayed twice.

Also 1080i and 1080p are seperate from 60fps and 24fps. You can have 1080i/24fps (early HD-DVDs and Blu-ray discs) and you can have 720p/60fps (ABC, ESPN).

You could spend days at avsforum.com reading about the various output formats.

[Dirk]

Very pleased so far. My box updated at 12:35 AM right after all of my programs stopped recording. Also DirecTV2PC is working great for me. I would like other options like scheduling and the ability to delete shows after watching them but I'm sure that is coming.

Well I just found out it won't let me play my FOX from OTA for some reason. Hmmm.

[clueless]

It was a "regional thing" — in those days, the U.S. was carved up into territories, and (typically) each territory had exactly two franchised cell carriers. In my case (San Francisco Bay Area), it was Cellular One and GTE.

I'm still not sure what became of them. No doubt, via merger they became part of the half-dozen or so cell carriers that we have today. But which ones? If I had stayed with Cellular One, I would probably know — but I didn't, so I don't.

Don't ALL phones, including cell phones, have a dial tone? The cell phone in my Lincoln (early 1990s) certainly did!

Bill

At least in my area Cellular One was bought by AT&T Wireless which was later bought by Cingular which as later bought by AT&T. :confused: I expect AT&T to eventually spin off their wireless to some company named Cellular One so we can go full circle.

[wmccain]

But this is DBSTalk, not CellPhoneTalk, so, uh, how about that 0x0290 software?Yeah, well, how about it?

I was glad to see the introduction of DIRECTV2PC. Not because I have any use for it (which I don't) but because it just "has to be" 1/2 of MRV (Multi-Room Viewing). That is, now that an HR21 can stream a TV show OUT over IP, the "other half" of MRV is to be able to stream a TV show IN over IP.

I could sure use MRV. As it is, the Female Unit goes around and schedules all of her favorite shows to record on all three DVRs.

Bill

[wmccain]

In the future they could support upconverting 1080p/24 to 1080p/60 by using the same method used when 24 fps movies are converted to 60 fps for TV viewing.Not with the current platforms (HR2x). The video chips in these boxes do not have the bandwidth for 1080/60p (which requires TWICE the bandwidth of 1080/60i).

A little perspective on 1080/24p would be useful here. This mode actually requires LESS bandwidth than 1080/60i (20% less bandwidth, to be exact). And the HR20 has ALWAYS supported 1080/24p for OTA recording. That's because 1080/24p is actually one of the 18 standard formats in the ATSC specification for terrestrial (OTA) digital broadcasting. All ATSC tuners are REQUIRED to support 1080/24p!

(Not that any OTA broadcaster has ever actually broadcast in that format. Or ever will. Even though 1080/24p is the "natural format" for movies, it would be disruptive for broadcasters to use it, since they also broadcast video-originated material such as news and sports. Hence broadcasters can be expected to stick to the two standard high-def video-oriented formats, 1080/60i and 720/60p.)

Prior to 0x0290, the HR20 could (in principle, not in practice) record an OTA broadcast in 1080/24p (all programming is recorded in the format in which it is received). On playback, such a broadcast would be converted to 1080/60i (via 2/3 pulldown, the standard way that movies have been converted to video since the dawn of time).

What is new in 0x0290 is that the receiver can now (optionally) "skip the conversion to 1080/60i" and send the recorded 1080/24p material directly to a compatibile TV over HDMI. And the receiver can now accept 1080/24p programming over the Internet for "Video On Demand" — and in the future, it is quite conceivable that some PPV movies might be broadcast in 1080/24p. This "new support" is actually a "bandwidth saver" for DirecTV, and that is especially helpful in the case of material delivered over the Internet.

Only the very latest TV sets (such as LCDs with 120Hz capability) can actually process 1080/24p over HDMI. (The fast 120Hz video refresh is not really a requirement, but they chose that because it is the least common multiple of 24 and 60. In fact, the "real issue" is that older sets cannot SYNC to an INPUT vertical refresh rate as low as 24Hz. If they could, it would be okay to display the material at an OUTPUT vertical refresh rate of 48Hz or 72Hz.)

So, what are you missing if your TV set cannot display 1080/24p? Not much, really. Any such programming will be passed to your TV set as 1080/60i and all current TV sets have "inverse 2/3 pulldown" circuits that effectively reconstruct the fields into frames — so what you actually "see" is (effectively) 1080/60p. The only difference between that and 1080/24p is slightly uneven display times of alternate frames (they will alternate between 2/60 second and 3/60 second). This phenomena is known as "micro-judder", and most people can't even "see" it. I know I can't.

By the way, the exact same issue arises with high-def DVDs (Blu-ray). Nearly all movies on Blu-ray are recorded at 1080/24p. Newer Blu-ray players with newer TV sets can actually display them at 1080/24p. But in most cases, the player outputs either 1080/60p or 1080/60i (which the TV set displays as 1080/60p).

Hope this helps!

Bill

[TerpEE93]

Yeah, I have to agree with the timing of the update. My box rebooted at about 6:20pm last night, causing me to miss the weather segment on the local news (the only reason I watch!), then the software d/l during primetime... Killed my viewing experience yesterday.

I'm glad to be rid of 0x254, but couldn't the software update have happened a little later in the evening? I'm curious what the motivation for a primetime update was.

[Drew2k]

I thought I had read in the CE discussion on this release that it included support for having RF and IR enabled at the same time. I could be completely mistaken. As far as I can tell, this isn't supported. Anyone happen know anything about this?

Thanks!
Sorry, there is no feature in the software for any HR2x receiver that permits both IR and RF to work simultaneously.

[Titan25]

So from a clarity standpoint, is the 1080p/24 better than 1080i/60, if that's what D* is currently supporting?

All of the previous comments were correct...however, it should be noted that ALL 1080p sets operate in either 1080p/60 or 1080p/120 (with only some newer flat panels supporting the latter at the moment).

So 1080p/24 WILL be converted to 1080p/60 or 1080p/120 by the TV, no matter what DirecTV does.

[pablo]

What's with these lock-ups? My DVR was locked-up again, and I discovered that only too late. The new episode of Fringe did not record.

[rynberg]

Ugh, very frustrated.

First the national lockup problem, then a prime time software update (doh!), and now this:

all of my recordings will only play back in 480p. Every time I try to watch them in 1080i, the HR20-100 will not settle on 1080i, it keeps flickering between resolutions. Live TV is fine at 1080i.

This is the first time I've ever had a problem with any software with this box.

Well, finally got things to work. After multiple soft and finally a hard reset, it let me select 480p, start playing a recorded show and then switch to 1080i. After the first program worked, successive shows started fine at 1080i. Problem solved, but quite disappointed with Directv's performance yesterday.

All that said, the new guide speed is a nice improvement. And I like the changes to the Prioritizer.

[William_K_F]

On my HR20, I got the message about 1080p and other features being added and also found the 'upgrade' to my recordings (all deleted) and my record series prioritizer items (all deleted). Seems to me that DirecTV should credit me back some subscription days for the faulty service.

[rynberg]

...however, it should be noted that ALL 1080p sets operate in either 1080p/60 or 1080p/120 (with only some newer flat panels supporting the latter at the moment).



Nitpicking, but not entirely true, as there are Pioneers and others that do a simple 3 multiple to 72 Hz or a 4 multiple to 96 Hz. There is a difference between showing multiples of a 24 Hz signal to reduce image flutter and converting it to 60 Hz (which requires 2/3 pulldown).

[PRMan]

Playing video from my PC across the network just brings up endless Parental Notifications. I can get rid of them by doing a Parental off for 4 hours, but the videos also have no sound at all.

What's DIRECTV2PC?

[wmccain]

All of the previous comments were correct...however, it should be noted that ALL 1080p sets operate in either 1080p/60 or 1080p/120 (with only some newer flat panels supporting the latter at the moment).Well ... not exactly.

I've heard that there are some plasma sets that display 24p at 48Hz or 72Hz. But I have not confirmed it.

However, I am sure about the Sony VPL-VW200 projector. This projector uses SXRD panels (Sony's version of LCoS, which you can "think of" as being "like LCD, but without the screen-door effect"). The VPL-VW200 is rated at a 120Hz refresh rate, and, indeed, it does use that rate to do motion-adaptive de-interlacing of video-originated material.

But for film-originated material, and 24p in particular, the VPL-VW200 uses a vertical refresh rate of 96Hz. That is because 96Hz is an even multiple of 48Hz, which 120Hz is not. Why does that matter? Because the VPL-VW200 has several "film modes" that actually insert dark frames in an attempt to emulate the "flicker" of a real film projector!

(For the uninitiated: movie film runs at an "input rate" of 24 fps, i.e. 24Hz in "electronics terminology". But film projectors SHUTTER each frame TWICE, so the "output rate" of a real film projector is 48Hz. This is done to prevent overheating of the movie film. And, of course, a mechanical shutter necessarily "blanks" for almost as long as it "shows" — which is useful for its heat control side-effect.)

Another exception that I know about is the so-called "HTPC". Many people use computers to show movies, after the frames have been reconstructed by "inverse 2/3 pulldown" (also known as "inverse telecine"), at 72Hz rather than 60Hz. They do this in order to prevent the "micro-judder" effect — that is, at 72Hz all frames are shown for an equal duration, which is 3/72 = 1/24 second. To do this, you need a TV monitor or projector that can handle a 72Hz refresh rate — but those are not hard to find.

Bill

[TheRatPatrol]

Now you can see the song titles on XM channels when screen saver cuts in. There is a small moving window with the titles. Is this different from pre-290 releases? Great new feature except I am now heading for the dramamine. :D
Yes it is a new feature, and its great! Its about time, E* has had this feature on theirs for a while now.

[schneid]

Well ... not exactly.

I've heard that there are some plasma sets that display 24p at 48Hz or 72Hz. But I have not confirmed it.

However, I am sure about the Sony VPL-VW200 projector. This projector uses SXRD panels (Sony's version of LCoS, which you can "think of" as being "like LCD, but without the screen-door effect"). The VPL-VW200 is rated at a 120Hz refresh rate, and, indeed, it does use that rate to do motion-adaptive de-interlacing of video-originated material.

But for film-originated material, and 24p in particular, the VPL-VW200 uses a vertical refresh rate of 96Hz. That is because 96Hz is an even multiple of 48Hz, which 120Hz is not. Why does that matter? Because the VPL-VW200 has several "film modes" that actually insert dark frames in an attempt to emulate the "flicker" of a real film projector!

(For the uninitiated: movie film runs at an "input rate" of 24 fps, i.e. 24Hz in "electronics terminology". But film projectors SHUTTER each frame TWICE, so the "output rate" of a real film projector is 48Hz. This is done to prevent overheating of the movie film. And, of course, a mechanical shutter necessarily "blanks" for almost as long as it "shows" — which is useful for its heat control side-effect.)

Another exception that I know about is the so-called "HTPC". Many people use computers to show movies, after the frames have been reconstructed by "inverse 2/3 pulldown" (also known as "inverse telecine"), at 72Hz rather than 60Hz. They do this in order to prevent the "micro-judder" effect — that is, at 72Hz all frames are shown for an equal duration, which is 3/72 = 1/24 second. To do this, you need a TV monitor or projector that can handle a 72Hz refresh rate — but those are not hard to find.

Bill

When I push 1080p/24 via my HTPC to my Sammy plasma the display Info says it is displaying 1080p/24.

[circadianswing]

Yes it is a new feature, and its great! Its about time, E* has had this feature on theirs for a while now.

About time?? I think when the banner is done displaying, the silly XM Graphic should be replaced with a fluid visualizer, which you can set a time delay to go to screensaver. They can do it on a cell phone, I'm sure they can do it on my HD DVR!

:nono2:

[80 HD]

Two months ago after Directv put the ads on the guide between the channels I started having problems with my pause and fast forward (not sure if it had anything to do with the ads being new, but that's when it started). You would change to a channel and couldn't pause for 15 seconds. Once paused, you would hit play again and it would jump back 15 seconds. Directv sent me a new receiver and guess what.. no fix. They even paid the local directv guys to come out and look at it and they said "I don't know why it's doing that". They brought three guys in my living room, reset the box and while the box was resetting (which I could have done myself) the directv guy says to me as it's loading the guide that "mine does this everytime I turn it on"... referring to the guide reloading and taking 5 minutes. Nice. The guy that is there to help me fix mine has issues with his own that he can't fix. They really needed three idiots to come out and waste my time to tell me this. Anyway, they said "can't help you". So I went on just dealing with the pause problem.

Well, I got the new update. This is the second time the box reset this month and recording were lost. OK, I'll deal with that I thought. Well after yesterdays update I notice my locals video is skipping and a line going down the screen. 40 minutes on with the "tech support", he states "we'll need to escalate the issue". So I say, "right now" and he says "no, they will call you.... it can take up to 2 week." So I have no locals. I complain and he takes off 15 bucks in the next three months.

Anyway, I'm hating Directv and am going to try to get out of my contract and possibly try to call corperate office. I don't know if they even realize the joke of what directv is now. It never used to be this way. I've had Dish Network 6 years ago and have had nothing but good things from them.

[Maruuk]

Glad they did something about the ridiculous hold-down tick advance which hardly ever worked, though why not just dedicate a couple of soft buttons to it without needing to be already in FF or REW? And while they were eliminating the "hold-down" insanity for advance to tick, why not replace the worst ever problem: the hold-down for slo-mo? Which makes it useless. Just dedicate a soft button there too.

I see they haven't addressed the brutal trick play issues on AM21 recordings at all. So many times during a sports playback I've hit :30 advance a couple of times for ads, and it suddenly puts me at the end of the game, instantly ruining the entire viewing experience. To paraphrase Joe Vogler:

"The fires of hell are frozen glaciers compared to my hatred for the current DTV hardware/software. And I won't be buried under their damn guide banners. I will die a free Tivo owner...and they'll have to pry it out of my cold, dead hands."

[texasbrit]

When I push 1080p/24 via my HTPC to my Sammy plasma the display Info says it is displaying 1080p/24.
I think what it is telling you is that it is RECEIVING 1080p/24. Not the same thing.

[k0rww]

This is the discussion thread for all MPEG-4 DVRs, software versions 0x0290.

Release notes:
http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=143221

Please feel free to discuss all aspects of this release in this thread. However, while a certain amount of ranting is expected, forum rules are still in effect and we ask that you refrain from personal attacks and statements you cannot defend.

I had expected some fast forwarding changes, e.g. the left/right arrows jumping to the tick mark. I really miss the jump to beginning/end of the HR10-250.

Any idea if fast forwarding changes will make it into the next release?

[fornold]

I had expected some fast forwarding changes, e.g. the left/right arrows jumping to the tick mark. I really miss the jump to beginning/end of the HR10-250.

Any idea if fast forwarding changes will make it into the next release?

Isn't this what you are asking for? http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=143289

[Pyroto]

Don't ALL phones, including cell phones, have a dial tone? The cell phone in my Lincoln (early 1990s) certainly did!


The cell phones offered by Jitterbug (Jitterbug.com) do have a dial tone.

Jitterbug is a cell phone and service provider that caters to older consumers.

Now back to the topic at hand...

Yes, lockup here too, oh and resetting of the lights on the front. Otherwise, no problems.

[k0rww]

Isn't this what you are asking for? http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=143289

You're right, I missed it and I did look. I like to watch Fox News, but I skipped to the beginning of the 90 minute buffer to avoid about 50% commercials.

Thank you!

[Tubaman-Z]

Other than on dbstalk, how will the general public find out about the non-visual enhancements to 0x290? I dbl-checked and I received no msg from D* on my DVR.

[scb2k]

All of the previous comments were correct...however, it should be noted that ALL 1080p sets operate in either 1080p/60 or 1080p/120 (with only some newer flat panels supporting the latter at the moment).

So 1080p/24 WILL be converted to 1080p/60 or 1080p/120 by the TV, no matter what DirecTV does.

I have a TV that supports 1080P however directv says My TV can't support it... :(

[beejpowers]

(For the uninitiated: movie film runs at an "input rate" of 24 fps, i.e. 24Hz in "electronics terminology". But film projectors SHUTTER each frame TWICE, so the "output rate" of a real film projector is 48Hz. This is done to prevent overheating of the movie film. And, of course, a mechanical shutter necessarily "blanks" for almost as long as it "shows" — which is useful for its heat control side-effect.)


Sorry, I couldn't let this go.
The 48hz rate of a film projector is 1/24 sec film projection, 1/24 sec shutter close/film advance
It has nothing to do with overheating the film. It has to do with the brains interpolation of moving images.
Here is a good explanation of how that part of the projector actually works.
http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/movie-projector3.htm

[beejpowers]

Has anyone noticed the awesome change to Prioritizer?
Now it displays
Show Name(number of upcoming episodes).... Channel number Call Letters

So you can really easily see what is going on. I guess it really only makes a difference if you have season passes for a show on multiple channels.

But a welcome change none the less. :)

[todbnla]

When the prompt came up to download the update we opted to delay it several times to not interfere with our recording and when we finally allowed it, it went well and I really cant say I have any issues, I have all of my stuff just like before. So far, so good. :)

Now if they can make an update that actually allows you to delete shows that you don't want in the to do list and make them STAY away, that would be a good fix! :lol:

[oldengineer]

Pardon my ignorance but how does the screensaver on XM stations work? I've been listening to 50s on 5 for quite a while and all I see is a static image with a "Youre listening to ......." caption and a message window which pops up when a new song starts.

[Gunnyman]

My Sony KDS-55A3000 supports 1080p/24.
My HR22-100 doesn't think so. Anything I can do?

[Dad61]

I got a phone call this morning from Directv apologizing for problems Tuesday. I had no significant problems w/my HR-22 except that I can no longer dim or shut of the "circle of blue". The other problem that really has me baffled is that my 52 in Sharp Aquos doesn't recognize Directv's version of 1080p. What is the difference between Direc's version and let's say my BlueRay/HD players version of 1080p? Can anyone explain this for me? Very curious about this. I may have found the answer. Does it have to do with 1080p/24 vs 1080p/60? or 1080p/120? There is nothing in the specs for the TV that says anything about 24/60/72/120, does anyone know where this info can be found?

[Rich]

Sorry, I couldn't let this go.
The 48hz rate of a film projector is 1/24 sec film projection, 1/24 sec shutter close/film advance
It has nothing to do with overheating the film. It has to do with the brains interpolation of moving images.
Here is a good explanation of how that part of the projector actually works.
http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/movie-projector3.htm


Sorry, I couldn't let this go. :lol:

The brain interprets the moving images. I can't find a definition of "interpolation" that fits the context of your post. I did understand what you meant.

How's that for nitpickin? :lol:

(I just know someone will come up with some obscure dictionary that will agree your use of the word.)

Rich

[Titan25]

When I push 1080p/24 via my HTPC to my Sammy plasma the display Info says it is displaying 1080p/24. Sammy plasmas show the INPUT, not the output. I can drive mine with 1080p as well, and that is what the Info screen shows, but it's a 768p display, so I KNOW it's not DISPLAYING 1080p.

[Titan25]

Well ... not exactly.

I've heard that there are some plasma sets that display 24p at 48Hz or 72Hz. But I have not confirmed it.

However, I am sure about the Sony VPL-VW200 projector. This projector uses SXRD panels (Sony's version of LCoS, which you can "think of" as being "like LCD, but without the screen-door effect"). The VPL-VW200 is rated at a 120Hz refresh rate, and, indeed, it does use that rate to do motion-adaptive de-interlacing of video-originated material.

But for film-originated material, and 24p in particular, the VPL-VW200 uses a vertical refresh rate of 96Hz. That is because 96Hz is an even multiple of 48Hz, which 120Hz is not. Why does that matter? Because the VPL-VW200 has several "film modes" that actually insert dark frames in an attempt to emulate the "flicker" of a real film projector!

(For the uninitiated: movie film runs at an "input rate" of 24 fps, i.e. 24Hz in "electronics terminology". But film projectors SHUTTER each frame TWICE, so the "output rate" of a real film projector is 48Hz. This is done to prevent overheating of the movie film. And, of course, a mechanical shutter necessarily "blanks" for almost as long as it "shows" — which is useful for its heat control side-effect.)

Another exception that I know about is the so-called "HTPC". Many people use computers to show movies, after the frames have been reconstructed by "inverse 2/3 pulldown" (also known as "inverse telecine"), at 72Hz rather than 60Hz. They do this in order to prevent the "micro-judder" effect — that is, at 72Hz all frames are shown for an equal duration, which is 3/72 = 1/24 second. To do this, you need a TV monitor or projector that can handle a 72Hz refresh rate — but those are not hard to find.

Bill

I'll defer to you on these special cases, but the vast majority of 1080p TVs will upconvert to 1080p/60 (using reverse 2:3) or 1080p/120 (by displaying each frame for 5 refreshes). Obviously, the latter is simpler and so will, in the real world, deliver a better result. One of the problems with lots of HDTVs is the high degree of variability in the quality of their pulldown engines.

[Steve]

Sorry, I couldn't let this go. :lol:

The brain interprets the moving images. I can't find a definition of "interpolation" that fits the context of your post. I did understand what you meant.

How's that for nitpickin? :lol:

(I just know someone will come up with some obscure dictionary that will agree your use of the word.)Well, if you do a Google search for "define: interpolate", the first explanation that come up is: "To compute intermediate values." Based on that, I guess what beejpowers was trying to say was that our brains ignore the gaps between the frames, effectively recreating what is "missing", so we see the scene uninterrupted.

That said, I'm not sure my brain is capable of working that fast! :lol: /steve

[pelley]

I got a phone call this morning from Directv apologizing for problems Tuesday.

I got an automated call today also, but it was apologizing for problems on Sunday, December 16! (?!) Which was last year, whatever.

Anyway, I have a Sony HDTV that supports 1080P, and it works fine on the Blu-Ray but I also got the error message. I tried the Info button trick and it works, but the TV still says it's in 1080i mode. Is only certain programming in 1080P? Where can I test it?

[Rich]

Well, if you do a Google search for "define: interpolate", the first explanation that come up is: "To compute intermediate values." Based on that, I guess what beejpowers was trying to say was that our brains ignore the gaps between the frames, effectively recreating what is "missing", so we see the scene uninterrupted.

That said, I'm not sure my brain is capable of working that fast! :lol: /steve

Wow, I didn't really expect to see a definition from something that obscure. That's the second time in about a month I've questioned a word and both times they turned up in "computer" dictionaries.

That definition was from unitelegypt.com's technical glossary. Egypt! Kudos on the level of obscurity! :lol:

I thought he used the word correctly when I read his post the first time, but when I looked for it in my dictionaries, they seemed to be making it synonymous with "interject", which didn't sound right either, so... :confused:

I don't know if you noticed my question to a poster about him being a "Six Sigma Green Belt". I didn't get an answer and when I looked today the thread was closed. Wickepedia was no help. So last night my wife says to me, "I'm getting my Green Belt Six Sigma (might have been Sigma Six) certification Wednesday".

Small world, huh? :lol:

[JMCecil]

That said, I'm not sure my brain is capable of working that fast! :lol: /steve
interpolation relies on (or is because of, depending on how you look at it) the fact that our "personal processor" is slow

[Igor]

It is not the processor, it is the I/O.

[JMCecil]

It is not the processor, it is the I/O.
You mean EYE/O

[Igor]

You mean EYE/O

:lol:

[dennisj00]

I hate to say it but your brain has been interpolating every frame of analog TV for years!

[Steve]

I hate to say it but your brain has been interpolating every frame of analog TV for years!Too much TV, apparently! :lol:

[Steve]

I hate to say it but your brain has been interpolating every frame of analog TV for years!Too much TV, apparently! My parents warned me. Shoulda listened. :lol: /steve

[wmccain]

Sorry, I couldn't let this go. The 48hz rate of a film projector is 1/24 sec film projection, 1/24 sec shutter close/film advance. It has nothing to do with overheating the film. It has to do with the brains interpolation of moving images. Here is a good explanation of how that part of the projector actually works.
http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/movie-projector3.htmI stand by what I said. The "How Things Work" article glosses over this detail, but in typical high-power film projectors, the rotating shutter opens twice (and closes twice) on each frame.

It is a misconception that this helps the brain see a (smoothly) moving image. That is partly true, but only partly. If the film projector could hold a frame open for (say) 90% of the 1/24 second that the frame is available, and close for (say) 10% of that interval (during which time the frame advance would also happen, of course), then the brain would see a nice, smooth, moving image, with very little flicker.

(LCDs can actually do this. There is no need for an LCD to really "blank" at all, between images. Modern LCDs can (in principle) hold an image indefinitely, and can smoothly update an entire screen in under 10 ms.)

Unfortunately, if a high-power film projector were to show a frame for 90% of 1/24 second, it would, in fact, overheat the film. And if it blanked for long enough to prevent overheating, the human brain would indeed see a choppy, flickering image. So the "compromise" design is to open the shutter twice and close it twice, thus allowing the frame to be seen for long enough, during the 1/24 second that it is available, to give a smooth moving image with low flicker. Without burning the film.

Bill

[wmccain]

Wikipedia says:

Modern shutters are designed with a flicker-rate of two times (48 Hz) or even sometimes three times (72 Hz) the frame rate of the film, so as to reduce the perception of screen flickering.

While this confirms my assertion that each frame is shown twice, it omits the very real fact that heating the film is a design consideration. And it is a bit misleading to imply that increasing the number of flickers (blanking intervals) reduces their noticeability. In fact, it is decreasing the duration of each blanking interval that reduces their noticeability — and increasing their number is one way to reduce their (individual) duration.

Bill

[Drew2k]

Has anyone noticed the awesome change to Prioritizer?
Now it displays
Show Name(number of upcoming episodes).... Channel number Call Letters

So you can really easily see what is going on. I guess it really only makes a difference if you have season passes for a show on multiple channels.

But a welcome change none the less. :)Yes, this is a great addition to the Prioritizer. :)

[Jewduh]

Has anyone noticed the awesome change to Prioritizer?
Now it displays
Show Name(number of upcoming episodes).... Channel number Call Letters

So you can really easily see what is going on. I guess it really only makes a difference if you have season passes for a show on multiple channels.

But a welcome change none the less. :)

Here, Here! listing the channel number is a huge help!:goodjob:
With so many shows playing on different channels these days.

[kruegs]

Anyone know what the Diagnostic "Completion Code" is under this new SW? It shows up in the Info/Test screen. I have never seen that in older releases.

[babzog]

HR22-100

Still slow as molasses. At least 1 (often 2-3s) from remote button press to receiver doing anything. This is just awful!

"Skip to tick" and "jump to end" don't work quite right - both take forever (and require multiple button presses to do anything. The "jump to end" requires me to hold >| for 1-2s, then I need to click it again to actually get it to go to the end, then I have to click it once again to finish off the remaining few seconds of show before the Delete/Keep prompt comes up. What "feature" would cause this behavior? The R15 never acted this poorly!

[Steve]

Wikipedia says:

Modern shutters are designed with a flicker-rate of two times (48 Hz) or even sometimes three times (72 Hz) the frame rate of the film, so as to reduce the perception of screen flickering.

While this confirms my assertion that each frame is shown twice, it omits the very real fact that heating the film is a design consideration. And it is a bit misleading to imply that increasing the number of flickers (blanking intervals) reduces their noticeability. In fact, it is decreasing the duration of each blanking interval that reduces their noticeability — and increasing their number is one way to reduce their (individual) duration.For those that may not be aware, Wikipedia articles are not vetted by professional editors and or fact checkers. Anyone can basically post anything they like, and unless the sources are reliable and footnoted, until someone knowledgeable about a particular topic has the time or inclination to correct any erroneous facts in the article, it appears to be fact to the novice.

I'm not saying the article Bill read was wrong, just pointing out that the facts about Wikipedia, and that Bill may want to correct it if he feels it's misleading. :)

/steve

[Rich]

For those that may not be aware, Wikipedia articles are not vetted by professional editors and or fact checkers. Anyone can basically post anything they like, and unless the sources are reliable and footnoted, until someone knowledgeable about a particular topic has the time or inclination to correct any erroneous facts in the article, it appears to be fact to the novice.

I'm not saying the article Bill read was wrong, just pointing out that the facts about Wikipedia, and that Bill may want to correct it if he feels it's misleading. :)

/steve

I've been trying to make that point since Wackypedia started up. I do use it, but after reading the electrical info, I don't take what I read as Gospel. But there it is in print, so folks think it is all factual. But that's just my interpolation of the situation. :lol:

Rich

[joeinwap]

HR22-100
"Skip to tick" and "jump to end" don't work quite right - both take forever (and require multiple button presses to do anything.

Are you referring to this feature:

"During FF or RW, LEFT/RIGHT arrows SKIP-TO-TICKS."

[Steve]

Are you referring to this feature:

"During FF or RW, LEFT/RIGHT arrows SKIP-TO-TICKS."Actually, that's an old Wish List request that wasn't quite implemented the way we asked for it. Under 0x0290, during RW or FF, REPLAY or ADVANCE will skip to ticks. You still need to press and hold those same keys to jump to beginning or end.

We have an existing Wish List request that during FF or RW, UP ARROW and DOWN ARROW will jump to beginning or end.

If you like that idea, you can vote for it at the link below.

:welcome_s to the forums, by the way. :) /steve

[mikep554]

I just realized something that (I think) has been happening on my HR21-700 since 0x0209 came out.

I record both The Daily Show w/Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report on Comedy Central. I have realized that the two separate recordings overlap by about a minute. The recording of The Daily Show now includes about a minute of Colbert, and The Colbert Report has about a minute of the end of The Daily Show.

Even more interesting is that I think I was listening to some music on one of the 800-series channels while the two shows were being recorded, so the software must have been doing this without using the second tuner (which would be silly, since the data is already available from the first tuner).

Now, a complaint. I have parental controls set up, and re-runs of South Park come on after The Colbert Report. So at the end of Colbert, instead of getting a "keep/delete" prompt, I get a "ratings exceeded/unlock" prompt. After choosing to unlock and type in my code, I get about a minute of South Park, and then I am prompted to delete or not.

Kind of irritating, since I now have to hit "stop" at the end of Colbert, before the line between Colbert and South Park gets crossed. But I'm happy to see them working on a feature for all those networks that don't start shows on time.

Am I crazy, or is this a new feature?

[Steve]

I just realized something that (I think) has been happening on my HR21-700 since 0x0209 came out.

I record both The Daily Show w/Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report on Comedy Central. I have realized that the two separate recordings overlap by about a minute. The recording of The Daily Show now includes about a minute of Colbert, and The Colbert Report has about a minute of the end of The Daily Show.

Even more interesting is that I think I was listening to some music on one of the 800-series channels while the two shows were being recorded, so the software must have been doing this without using the second tuner (which would be silly, since the data is already available from the first tuner).

Now, a complaint. I have parental controls set up, and re-runs of South Park come on after The Colbert Report. So at the end of Colbert, instead of getting a "keep/delete" prompt, I get a "ratings exceeded/unlock" prompt. After choosing to unlock and type in my code, I get about a minute of South Park, and then I am prompted to delete or not.

Kind of irritating, since I now have to hit "stop" at the end of Colbert, before the line between Colbert and South Park gets crossed. But I'm happy to see them working on a feature for all those networks that don't start shows on time.

Am I crazy, or is this a new feature?It is. It's called "auto-padding". See this thread: http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=143291&highlight=padding

The parental control prompt is intentional, so kids don't inadvertently see part of a show you've blocked. Not sure how they can do it differently, except maybe to add a "delete now" option to the "ratings" prompt. I don't use PC's, so I'm not sure if that's possible. /steve

[jdspencer]

Yes, this is a great addition to the Prioritizer. :)Now we just need a quicker way to get to the Prioritizer. :)
Or have I missed something?

[gcisko]

Well, now ... that's about the STUPIDEST method I ever heard of! What IDIOT dreamed that one up?

The obvious fault with this "triple tap" method is that it requires a TIMEOUT. That

Uh yeah... Unfortunately "triple tap" is pretty much a standard. The fact that your reply seems to indicate you never heard of it says alot.

Nice pic BTW... Whoa!

[gcisko]

Now we just need a quicker way to get to the Prioritizer. :)
Or have I missed something?

Nope. Just do it with a universal you can program.

[gcisko]

[In those days there were only two cell phone companies in my area, Cellular One and GTE. Neither of them seem to be around anymore. Obviously, it's a "fly-by-night" business!]


Sorry to say but celluar one is still around... Huh.

[David MacLeod]

But I'm happy to see them working on a feature for all those networks that don't start shows on time.


this is where I seem to differ from most people, I'm not a fan of trying to make the unit correct what is a purposeful network induced error. but thats a whole other discussion :)

[rjf]

• PREV button to switch between two playback programs

how does this work?

edit-- nevermind, i found it on my original D* remote. i'm using a harmony remote and never programmed that one.

[harsh]

Sorry to say but celluar one is still around... Huh.While the trademark is being volleyed about, the Cellular One partnership of old hasn't existed for some time. It is now more of a franchise.

[Steve]

this is where I seem to differ from most people, I'm not a fan of trying to make the unit correct what is a purposeful network induced error. but thats a whole other discussion :)Big +1 to that. /steve

[mikep554]

It is. It's called "auto-padding". See this thread: http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=143291&highlight=padding

The parental control prompt is intentional, so kids don't inadvertently see part of a show you've blocked. Not sure how they can do it differently, except maybe to add a "delete now" option to the "ratings" prompt. I don't use PC's, so I'm not sure if that's possible. /steve

How about turn off auto-padding if it is going to run into a show that is going to hit against parental controls? Or maybe if playback is within the auto-pad region when the parental control prompt needs to come up, just give a keep/delete prompt?

I'm thinking there will be some confused people out there who don't understand why they are getting parental control prompts and the end of a show that shouldn't be running into the limits.

But again, overall I'm happy with the feature.

[Deezul]

I'm thinking there will be some confused people out there who don't understand why they are getting parental control prompts and the end of a show that shouldn't be running into the limits.

But again, overall I'm happy with the feature.

I don't like that parental controls kick in after a show's "regular schedule" is over. I have some Sunday evenings shows padded to add 30-60 minutes due to football overages. After the first hour, even if it's in the middle of a show, parental controls. D* should just change the parental controls so that they are identical to the HR10 - turning them off temporarily ALWAYS is for four hours, not just for a show.

And how come if I turn off parental controls of a show marked as "Blocked Title" and I can watch the show, but if I hit INFO, it still says "Blocked Title" and won't provide show information? This only seems to happen with TV-MA shows, but it is very annoying.

[Rich]

Since Saturday, I've watched quite a few football games and the Auto Correct feature is not working on any of the four HRs I used. I use the 30 second slip to jump thru commercials and can usually jump from play to play using that button, but not this weekend and the Monday night game was just as bad.

Rich

[California King]

I just want to add that ever since I got this software, I'm getting absolutely no problems! I used to get a lot of blank recordings, occasional A/V being out of sync, and the time being too late, but now, I'm actually impressed that this software fixed all those problems! For once...good job DirecTV! Now just work on making the darn thing run faster, with no lag between button presses, and I will be happy! That, and a GUI upgrade would be perfect!