View Full Version : HR20 Wish List Survey
Doug Brott
10-24-06, 02:41 PM
See the results of the HR20 Wish List Survey (rev 1) (http://www.sizethis.com/index.php?module=results&survey=1)
Note: This version of the HR20 Wish List Survey was closed on 16-Feb-2007. Please look for the next generation HR20 Wish List.
Welcome to the HR20 Wish List Survey - The unofficial feature request list
The survey consists of a number of items that have been suggested by folks here at DBStalk.com. You can rate each item from lower to higher with the lowest value being one (1) and the highest value being five (5). The value displayed in the results section is the average of all of the values entered.
The HR20 Wish List Survey is evolving as new ideas are hatched and old ideas are implemented. For this reason, I have adopted the following guidelines for changes to the Survey so that the process is constructive for both the participants and for folks at DirecTV that may review it.
Guidelines
The Survey will typically be updated each Friday morning (PST).
Additions to the list
Prior to 26-Jan-2007, any new item suggested was added to the list.
Beginning 26-Jan-2007, the following guidline will be used instead:
With the exception of a "killer" feature, all new item requests will be automatically added to The Back Burner. Features/Items will make their way off of The Back Burner and onto the main list by popular demand. This will be done by having a "Call for Poll" where there must be a First (the Call) and a Second within a 24 hour time period before a Poll will be created on DBStalk.com. The Poll will simply ask if the feature/item should be moved from The Back Burner onto the main list. The Poll should be a 3-day poll to give sufficient time for voting, and a link to the poll should be placed in this thread for reference. A simple majority (50% or higher) will move the item from The Back Burner onto main list. Items will be added to the HR20 Wish List Survey during the Friday updates.
Removals from the list
Each new item will get at least 15 days on the HR20 Wish List Survey. These items are easy to identify by the http://www.redh.com/hr20/themes/default/images/newleft.gif icon. After 15 days, the following guidelines will be used. An item will be removed from the list as soon as practical if it can be determined that the item is no longer necessary (e.g. DirecTV fixed it or someone discovers a suitable workaround). With the addition of The Back Burner, items are less likely to be removed entirely from the HR20 Wish List Survey if they are low-scoring. However, if in the first 4 weeks, an Item fails to maintain a score of 2.0 or higher, it will be removed completely from the HR20 Wish List Survey. In addition, if an item marked "unlikely to be implemented" fails to maintain a score of 2.5 or higher, it will be removed completedly from the HR20 Wish List Survey. Items will be removed from the HR20 Wish List Survey during the Friday updates.
The Back Burner
Begining 26-Jan-2007, there will be a new type of item on the HR20 Wish List Survey called The Back Burner. This is simply a holding area for any item that consistently scores below a 3.0 for a 4 week time period. While some of these items may be nice to have, there is a poor response from the community to have these items added to the HR20. These items are not removed from the list, but, instead, put on the back burner for future reference. As some of the more important items from the main list become new features of the HR20, The Back Burner items may become more desired. Simply follow the Additions guideline above for getting them back onto the main list. Non-new items on The Back Burner must spend 4 weeks off of the HR20 Wish List Survey before they can be considered again for the main list.
Wording adjustments
The wording of an item may be changed for clarification.
Changes To the List
2007
February: 09-Feb-2007 (http://www.dbstalk.com/showpost.php?p=825101&postcount=679), 02-Feb-2007 (http://www.dbstalk.com/showpost.php?p=816147&postcount=673)
January: 26-Jan-2007 (http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?p=807441#post807441), 19-Jan-2007 (http://www.dbstalk.com/showpost.php?p=796396&postcount=600), 12-Jan-2007 (http://www.dbstalk.com/showpost.php?p=786329&postcount=554), 05-Jan-2007 (http://www.dbstalk.com/showpost.php?p=776855&postcount=539)
2006
December: 29-Dec-2006 (http://www.dbstalk.com/showpost.php?p=769575&postcount=498), 22-Dec-2006 (http://www.dbstalk.com/showpost.php?p=764005&postcount=479), 15-Dec-2006 (http://www.dbstalk.com/showpost.php?p=754222&postcount=428), 08-Dec-2006 (http://www.dbstalk.com/showpost.php?p=745531&postcount=360), 01-Dec-2006 (http://www.dbstalk.com/showpost.php?p=737709&postcount=320)
November: 24-Nov-2006 (http://www.dbstalk.com/showpost.php?p=731038&postcount=281), 17-Nov-2006 (http://www.dbstalk.com/showpost.php?p=724875&postcount=236), 10-Nov-2006 (http://www.dbstalk.com/showpost.php?p=718015&postcount=190), 08-Nov-2006 (http://www.dbstalk.com/showpost.php?p=715270&postcount=175), 03-Nov-2006 (http://www.dbstalk.com/showpost.php?p=710684&postcount=131)
October: 27-Oct-2006 (http://www.dbstalk.com/showpost.php?p=703443&postcount=66)
The HR20 Wish List Survey started on 24-Oct-2006
Click here (http://www.redh.com/hr20/index.php?module=changes&op=_list) to see all of the changes that have been made to the list.
jsevinsk
10-24-06, 03:02 PM
It's hard to put 62 items in order of preference. Why don't you eliminate the rank selector, and for each of the five buttons, make the left button mean "I don't care if I get this or not" and the right button mean "I better get this, or I'll set the building on fire."
dtvmiami
10-24-06, 03:08 PM
Click Here --> HR20 Wishlist Survey (http://www.redh.com/hr20)
I do not work for DirecTV, and I have NO CONTACTS at DirecTV, so while this list may prove useful to someone at DirecTV, there is no implication that this survey will EVER be used by DirecTV. This is for informational purposes only and your data entry will be immediately added to the results page.
Simply Brilliant! Perhaps D* could use someone like u. A well deserved sticky. Nothing but props for this "HR20 Wishlist Survey" Hopefully the masses will take their time to fill this out and D* will hear our pleas and take action.
Personally, i'm printing this and will 1st rank from 1-62, then will place a value on each one. It's obvious you took your time to make this survey possible, so I took will take my time to fill out accordingly. TY:D
Doug Brott
10-24-06, 03:09 PM
It's hard to put 62 items in order of preference. Why don't you eliminate the rank selector, and for each of the five buttons, make the left button mean "I don't care if I get this or not" and the right button mean "I better get this, or I'll set the building on fire."
I toyed with the idea of not including RANK on initial deployment. I agree that it's tough with 62. I do think RANK would be more appropriate if the list could be paired to a smaller number (30?).
After more data is entered, it may become clear that a simple 1-5 preference VALUE method is the best choice. I'm going to let it sit for a few days before I make that decision.
Doug Brott
10-24-06, 03:14 PM
Simply Brilliant! Perhaps D* could use someone like u. A well deserved sticky. Nothing but props for this "HR20 Wishlist Survey" Hopefully the masses will take their time to fill this out and D* will hear our pleas and take action.
Personally, i'm printing this and will 1st rank from 1-62, then will place a value on each one. It's obvious you took your time to make this survey possible, so I took will take my time to fill out accordingly. TY:D
Thanks.
One other thing I forgot to mention. I was originally going to have the wishlist entry items randomly show up (that's still probably the "right" way), but with more data, I expect the same items to start showing up higher in the list for everyone (can you say "Dual Buffers"). Since there are so many choices, the wishlist entry items will appear in the same order that they are currently ranked .. This MIGHT NOT be exactly the same as your printout, but it's going to be much closer than if I made them random.
dtvmiami
10-24-06, 03:45 PM
Thanks.
One other thing I forgot to mention. I was originally going to have the wishlist entry items randomly show up (that's still probably the "right" way), but with more data, I expect the same items to start showing up higher in the list for everyone (can you say "Dual Buffers"). Since there are so many choices, the wishlist entry items will appear in the same order that they are currently ranked .. This MIGHT NOT be exactly the same as your printout, but it's going to be much closer than if I made them random.
I C.
I think what's important here is, what will end up in the top, cause those will be what the masses are 'wishing' for. Thus, regardless of entry items showing up random or not the end result is that most won't deny the desire of the top 3.
Keep it the ranking system, for without it the survey could end up in virtual tie with several features. America loves to pay attention who's #1 and the runner-ups will get airtime as well,lol.
Whatever decision you take, we should back you up on it. If someone thinks they can do a better survey, they have right to. And i'd back them up as well. I'm all for users empowering ourselves and persuading D* to implement features that would just simple spoil us.
tiger2005
10-24-06, 03:46 PM
Great Job! Hopefully D* will take this survey and do some serious evaluation on it. It can be nothing but useful to them.
dervari
10-24-06, 03:50 PM
It already has the ability to change defaults for series recordings, doesn't it?
Doug Brott
10-24-06, 03:53 PM
It already has the ability to change defaults for series recordings, doesn't it?
I don't know .. I took the list from a different source and some of it may be inaccurate. If it does have this ability, then I will put it on my purge list.
Great idea! Do you think D* will listen though! I hope they will, we need dual buffers. I did not tell my wife and she was watching a show on Food and HGTV at the same time and switched channels and lost her spot, bad news in my house. Anyways, great idea. Thanks for your time.
Capmeister
10-24-06, 04:08 PM
I don't know .. I took the list from a different source and some of it may be inaccurate. If it does have this ability, then I will put it on my purge list.
I created the list you used. ;) I merely cut and pasted the requests of the forum users. I didn't verify if some things were already possible.
And COOL utility! Thanks for going to the hard work and putting the list to use!
Milominderbinder2
10-24-06, 04:12 PM
Love the survey!
Two suggestions are already features of the HR-20.
The ability to mark and delete multiple items in the MyVOD list [drawnad]
We documented this feature in the HR-20 Tips and Tricks:
http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=67933
The steps are on p. 4 under MyVOD.
Likewise, this request is alredy a feature:
The ability to change the default options on series link [RobertE]
p. 4 under Record Defaults.
Just found another one that is alreadty a feature:
An option to list channels in column and time in rows, so I can get a quick glance of what is coming in the next a few hours on one particular channel. [Dusty]
p. 3 under Search Tips - 4 clicks.
At least two requests appear to also already be features. I will check.
-Craig
Doug Brott
10-24-06, 04:17 PM
Love the survey!
Two suggestions are already features of the HR-20.
#61 The ability to mark and delete multiple items in the MyVOD list [drawnad]
We documented this in the HR-20 Tips and Tricks:
http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=67933
The steps are on p.4 under MyVOD.
Likewise, this request is alredy a feature:
#20 The ability to change the default options on series link [RobertE]
p. 4 Record Defaults.
-Craig
Thanks for the update. I'll remove these once I create a merge & purge function so that I can maintain data integrity for the remaining items in the list.
Earl Bonovich
10-24-06, 04:47 PM
I have should have responded when I sticked the thread.
Thanks again for doing this...
Earl Bonovich
10-24-06, 04:48 PM
Not to be a bug-a-boo...
But isn't:
"Live buffer continues recording the last channel while watching a recorded show "
currently working in the latest version?
Doug Brott
10-24-06, 05:11 PM
Not to be a bug-a-boo...
But isn't:
"Live buffer continues recording the last channel while watching a recorded show "
currently working in the latest version?
I can check when I get home this evening, but perhaps someone else can confirm.
Several folks over the last few weeks have suggested a one step or one button option on the remote or menu to turn Closed Captioning on and off. Would that belong on this list? Also maybe instructions somewhere on what the CC secondary options mean.
houskamp
10-24-06, 05:33 PM
ability to backup setting to a pc over ethernet (when port becomes active). Would help with dead boxes :)
And ota of course
Milominderbinder2
10-24-06, 06:08 PM
Several folks over the last few weeks have suggested a one step or one button option on the remote or menu to turn Closed Captioning on and off. Would that belong on this list? Also maybe instructions somewhere on what the CC secondary options mean.
I too very much use Closed Captioning even though it is technicallly Closed Captioning for the Hearing Impared. I claim I am not hearing impared. My wife claims I don't listen. Oh well...
I use CC for shows like ER where they talk so fast and use jargon, it is the only way I can understand them. I also use it when there are others in the room talking and I can't hear the TV.
Right now the steps are difficult to get to Closed Captioning:
Press MENU
Click Help & Settings
Click Setup
Click Display
CLOSED CAPTIONING - and then set it up and exit.
It is about 10 clicks that are hard to remember. It used to be a single button.
Worse, you are supposed to choose between many channels of Closed Captioning when in reality, typically only the first channel works.
This is important and not user friendly.
mocciat
10-24-06, 06:28 PM
I too very much use Closed Captioning even though it is technicallly CLosed Captioning for the Hearing Impared. I claim I am not hearing impared. My wife claims I don't listen. Oh well...
I use CC for shows like ER where they talk so fast and use jargon, it is the only way I can understand them. I also use it when there are others in the room talking and I can't hear the TV.
Right now the steps are difficult to get to Closed Captioning:
Press MENU
Click Help & Settings
Click Setup
Click Display
CLOSED CAPTIONING - and then set it up and exit.
It is about 10 clicks that are hard to remember. It used to be a single button.
Worse, you are supposed to shoose between many channels of Closed Captioning when in reality, typically only the first channel works.
This is important and not user friendly.
Cool survey
kilobravo
10-24-06, 07:51 PM
Didn't see anyone asking for streaming via the Ethernet port which would definitely be at or near the top of my own personal wish list.
911medic
10-24-06, 08:03 PM
I believe you can already sort the MyVOD list, but it doesn't stick. You have to do it each time you go in there.
Also, I'd like to see a feature where if you select a future program in the guide, you can set the machine to "auto-tune" to that channel when the show starts. My old E* PVR had that feature, and it was very useful.
I'd also like the ability to delete items from the history.
Capmeister
10-24-06, 09:55 PM
I too very much use Closed Captioning even though it is technicallly CLosed Captioning for the Hearing Impared. I claim I am not hearing impared. My wife claims I don't listen. Oh well...
I just leave it on all the time. My brother is deaf and so I'm too used to it to not have it.
Also, they have the other choices for CC2, and so on because, by law, they must.
DVRaholic
10-25-06, 04:42 AM
I believe you can already sort the MyVOD list, but it doesn't stick. You have to do it each time you go in there.
Why is this ?? It should stick when you choose it. The wife is not happy about this one :(
Great survey. Another suggestion would be able to change the size of the fonts on the banner. The font size is a little too small for my liking.
911medic
10-25-06, 07:50 AM
Why is this ?? It should stick when you choose it. The wife is not happy about this one :(I don't know. I'd rather have it sorted by name than by record date each time I open it, but it just doesn't work that way...
bcowan12
10-25-06, 09:54 AM
It's hard to put 62 items in order of preference. Why don't you eliminate the rank selector, and for each of the five buttons, make the left button mean "I don't care if I get this or not" and the right button mean "I better get this, or I'll set the building on fire."
I didn't even notice that we were supposed the set the rank too. I thought those were just item numbers, so left them as is and only set the values.
I treated the survey exactly as you suggest. If I "must have it", I gave it a 5. If I "don't care at all" I gave it a 1.
SockMonkey
10-25-06, 10:02 AM
Great survey. Thanks for posting it. Although, I have to admit that I just didn't feel like ranking so many items so I didn't. I just selected importance of each feature. :eek2:
Thanks for taking the time to build the survey. And thanks to the folks who compiled the list.
Bob
Radio Enginerd
10-25-06, 10:14 AM
Great survey. Thanks for posting it. Although, I have to admit that I just didn't feel like ranking so many items so I didn't. I just selected importance of each feature. :eek2:
Thanks for taking the time to build the survey. And thanks to the folks who compiled the list.
Bob
If that's the case, as it looks like a few have done this, then the data from your survey has a high percentage of error. Still a great survey but I agree with others, the ranking needs to go. Level of importance should be the key to the survey.
eengert
10-25-06, 10:21 AM
A few of the items on the list are bugs, IMO, so I put those at the top of my ranks, but I'm not sure they should be part of a wishlist (if in fact the list is accurate about these bugs). As far as I'm concerned, the following would be bugs and shouldn't need to be on a wishlist:
- Live buffer continues recording the last channel while watching a recorded show
- Standardize the # of seconds the Replay button jumps back, as currently it seems to vary.
Those were my thoughts when I took the survey. My suggestion would be to remove those two items from the wishlist and include them in bug reports, but it's not my survey and it's probably not a huge deal either way. But it did surprise me that given that they are present on the list, that some people actually ranked dual buffers over them! To me it's more important to have the basic functions working properly before asking for features like dual buffers (which I'd love to have, but certainly not at the expense of the two items I listed above). Take that for what's it's worth to you. But thanks for putting this together...it's worth the time it takes to fill it out if D* sees and considers it.
I agree the ranking is most likely not producing valid data. I did attempt to rank, but only on a very general level. If something was very unimportant to me, I ranked it at the bottom. If it was very important, I ranked it at the top. Each time I did that, it did rearrange the rest of the list but I did not go back in and try to re-adjust. As a result, something I ranked as important early on would have gotten shuffled down the list as I subsequently ranked important items at the top. Ditto the bottom. The end result is that my rankings are only accurate to the extent that if I wanted it I expect it will be in the top half of the list, and if I didn't want it, it would be in the bottom half of the list. To rank 60+ items properly, you would have to go through the list quite a few times.
I did a lot better job on the 1-5 scale of importance.
Carl
outerub
10-25-06, 10:28 AM
It's hard to put 62 items in order of preference. Why don't you eliminate the rank selector, and for each of the five buttons, make the left button mean "I don't care if I get this or not" and the right button mean "I better get this, or I'll set the building on fire."
Here ! Here ! :)
Doug Brott
10-25-06, 11:35 AM
I agree the ranking is most likely not producing valid data. I did attempt to rank, but only on a very general level. If something was very unimportant to me, I ranked it at the bottom. If it was very important, I ranked it at the top. Each time I did that, it did rearrange the rest of the list but I did not go back in and try to re-adjust. As a result, something I ranked as important early on would have gotten shuffled down the list as I subsequently ranked important items at the top. Ditto the bottom. The end result is that my rankings are only accurate to the extent that if I wanted it I expect it will be in the top half of the list, and if I didn't want it, it would be in the bottom half of the list. To rank 60+ items properly, you would have to go through the list quite a few times.
I did a lot better job on the 1-5 scale of importance.
Carl
Carl, just quoting you because yours was most recent, but it is a recurring theme.
I absolutely agree that the rankings are a PITA. It's also making me decide how to implement a ranking system if I add new items to the list (deletions aren't so bad).
I'll whip out a new version soon with the RANK removed from the survey.
One question for folks who have participated - Are you going through the entire list, or just selecting the items that are important to you? I'm currently defaulting the value to (3) which is in the middle, but I'm thinking about defaulting it to (1). If it's not important enough to change, then it's probably not valuable enough to value in the middle.
SockMonkey
10-25-06, 12:10 PM
One question for folks who have participated - Are you going through the entire list, or just selecting the items that are important to you?
I went through the entire list and picked a rating based on each item.
I noticed the 3 default, and in fact left a lot of items at 3 just because they were not of particular interest to me. If I really did not like or care about something, it got a 1 or 2. If I really did like or care about something, it got a 4 or 5. Otherwise I pretty much just passed it by.
I don't know how difficult it would be to implement, but if you could default to no rating at all, then only count responses that are posted, you would probably get a more accurate poll.
Carl
Didn't see anyone asking for streaming via the Ethernet port which would definitely be at or near the top of my own personal wish list.
I agree, this is at the top of my wish list as well.
emerson42
10-25-06, 02:17 PM
I was in the middle of doing this when it went down apparently. Filled the whole thing out then got a message about maintenance when I submitted. Took quite a while to do too.
Well, guess there were upgrades going it. Regardless, great survey and thanks for putting it together.
Doug Brott
10-25-06, 02:45 PM
I was in the middle of doing this when it went down apparently. Filled the whole thing out then got a message about maintenance when I submitted. Took quite a while to do too.
Systems back up and I don't plan on making adjustments that might require this again.
I've made the following changes:
- I've removed the RANK from the survey because it was just too much of a problem
- I've also removed the default setting for each item, so if you don't make a selection, it won't be counted
- There are a couple of additional results options now for getting recent results more easily
- I've imposed a 30-minute wait limit between submissions (based on your IP number), but feel free to enter data as often as you like, otherwise. If you really, really want to try to increase or reduce a score, have at it.
- I've removed two of the items as noted here in this thread. They can be found at the bottom of the results page as an Obsolete item. Their final value is noted there.
- I've added one item to the list. If you have already participated and want to voice your opinion on this item, feel free to either fill out the entire survey again or find the following line on the page and answer only that line .. The number of items you respond to is up to you.
One button on/off for Closed Caption [kenmoo]
rkester
10-25-06, 03:34 PM
Nice. ONce you are done, you can see how your ideas rank and how other people think of what should be improved. Excellent job!
Milominderbinder2
10-25-06, 03:35 PM
Thank you for changing the default values and removing the rankings.
Please see the UNOFFICIAL HR-20 Tips and Tricks.
http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=67933
Requests for two of the existing features were removed.
The ability to mark and delete multiple items in the MyVOD list [drawnad]
==> See p. 4 under MyVOD.
The ability to change the default options on series link [RobertE]
==> See p. 4 under Record Defaults.
These three requested features do exist as well. Maybe they should be better, but they are not new features to add.
An option to list channels in column and time in rows, so I can get a quick glance of what is coming in the next a few hours on one particular channel. [Dusty]
==> See p. 3 under Search Tips - It's 4 clicks.
Live buffer continues recording the last channel while watching a recorded show [PoitNarf]
==> See Check Live TV While Watching a Recording on p. 3.
The ability to sort or filter the MyVod list [PoitNarf, Alan Gordon]
==> See p. 4 MyVOD to sort by Groups, Title, Date, Channel, etc.
We have a work-around for this:
The ability to suspend Season Passes/Series Links rather than deleting them [sactoken]
==> See p. 4 under Recording. You can’t suspend recording but you can set First Run Only and to only save 1 Episode. So instead of no shows, you will have one.
We also have a workaround for Dual Live Buffers [drawnad]
It takes a couple of keystrokes to set up but at least it works. (p. 3 - Watch 2 shows.)
Thank you for the work you are putting into this. I liked reading your blog at redh!
-Craig
yamaham
10-25-06, 03:58 PM
good job Doug, thanks for the effort
Doug Brott
10-25-06, 04:49 PM
These three requested features do exist as well. Maybe they should be better, but they are not new features to add.
An option to list channels in column and time in rows, so I can get a quick glance of what is coming in the next a few hours on one particular channel. [Dusty]
==> See p. 3 under Search Tips - It's 4 clicks.
OK, I misread this myself anyway. I assumed :rolleyes: that this was to have a listing like the TiVo Guide, but after I read it for the 17th time I realized my mistake. Based on what it says (now that I understand my own cut & paste) and your Tip Sheet, I agree that this item can become obsolete on my survey.
Live buffer continues recording the last channel while watching a recorded show [PoitNarf]
==> See Check Live TV While Watching a Recording on p. 3.
I wasn't able to give this a good test-drive yesterday, but since (1) Earl thinks this works and (2) your Tip Sheet says it's true, then I'm going to assume that this item can become obsolete as well.
The ability to sort or filter the MyVod list [PoitNarf, Alan Gordon]
==> See p. 4 MyVOD to sort by Groups, Title, Date, Channel, etc.
Fair enough on this one. I'll obsolete it.
We have a work-around for this:
The ability to suspend Season Passes/Series Links rather than deleting them [sactoken]
==> See p. 4 under Recording. You can’t suspend recording but you can set First Run Only and to only save 1 Episode. So instead of no shows, you will have one.
Not sure of the right answer on this one. Your work-around is probably sufficient but I'm going to leave it on my list for now.
We also have a workaround for Dual Live Buffers [drawnad]
It takes a couple of keystrokes to set up but at least it works. (p. 3 - Watch 2 shows.)
I'm going to disagree on this one. IMHO, his workaround requires too much effort on the part of the person using the box. Every time you want to do this, you have to set a program to record and then delete it when you are finished. This introduces a lot of human-induced variables and is prone to being a best problematic. Besides, this seems to be the MOST requested feature :D . It stays.
Thank you for the work you are putting into this. I liked reading your blog at redh!
-Craig
Thanks for your feedback, and thanks for the kind comments.
Doug Brott
10-25-06, 06:00 PM
Didn't see anyone asking for streaming via the Ethernet port which would definitely be at or near the top of my own personal wish list.
Could you expand on "streaming via the Ethernet?" I'm not quite certain what you mean as that statement seems too generic.
Milominderbinder2
10-25-06, 08:36 PM
Doug,
Thank you again for your work on this.
Two wise poets once wrote:
"So often times it happens that we live our lives in chains
And we never even know we have the key."
-Henley/Frey
We had the key to 5 of the locks and didn't know it.
The problem is that the HR-20 Owners Manual is written like a novel. Never does it just lay out steps to do a task. So even experienced users miss key features.
The work-arounds are no replacement for missing features. But in two cases we at least have alternatives.
I hope the DBStalk users will keep trying new ideas and sharing their tips. Together we can harness the power of hundreds of people brainstorming together.
Please keep the ideas coming!
- Craig
Does anyone know if dual buffers will come in the near future?
Does anyone know if dual buffers will come in the near future?
Best guess: Near, no. Future, probably. (they know it is high on the list of requested features, but they have their hands full at the moment)
Could you expand on "streaming via the Ethernet?" I'm not quite certain what you mean as that statement seems too generic.
I think he means streaming shows from one HR20 to another, some kind of Tivo Multi Room viewing. At least that is what I would like :D
Slip Jigs
10-26-06, 09:10 AM
My one suggestiong would be to include "Side-stretch" as a format option.
Doug Brott
10-26-06, 09:24 AM
I think he means streaming shows from one HR20 to another, some kind of Tivo Multi Room viewing. At least that is what I would like :D
This is one of the things I was thinking with the "streaming" comment. I'll go ahead and add Multi-Room Viewing in, but I believe that this will be available in a different product at a later date. It's still probably a good data point.
great thread working on the list now although wish it was 1-5 on each but ill get it done....can sum it up in trwo words
DUAL BUFFERS
WOULD HAVE BOUT THE SONY WITH THE pip IF I KNEW I WAS NOT GETTING DUAL BUFFERS...
911medic
10-26-06, 09:55 AM
My one suggestiong would be to include "Side-stretch" as a format option.Really? You mean like the TNTHD stretch-o-vision? I personally find that unwatchable. What do you like about it?
jbongiovi
10-26-06, 10:55 AM
Hope I'm not showing my ignorance, but I haven't found a central location where the HR20's version of "season passes" is stored where you can edit recording options, etc., as you could with the HR10.
So my vote is for the equivalent of a "season pass" screen with the option for editing, etc.
SkyFlash
10-26-06, 10:56 AM
First, is an option of the live buffer NOT clearing when I change channels. The buffer would then hold the last 90 minutes of whatever it was I was whatching regardless of channel.
Second, since this might be difficult to resolve if I changed channels somewhere back in the buffer (should the system add the new channel content to the end of the buffer or at the point where I am watching?) the system should warn you that you aren't watching live TV and buffered content will be lost when changing channels and do you really want to do that?
Sometimes I'll set the channel I want to watch at the start of a program and then go do something else. I'll come back and rewind the buffer and start watching. Then when I get to a commercial I'll forget I'm in the buffer and channel surf until the commersial's over at which time I realize I lost my show. Yes, I know I could record it but this is for less important shows.
xx Max Power xx
10-26-06, 01:00 PM
Thanks for hosting the survey. I wish I had been reading when you were asking for question inputs. I just want some basic usability features back (from Tivo). Understanding that both DVRs have strengths and weaknesses and that searches could always be better...
Ability to select the second tuner is my #1 required feature. Often I'll turn on the TV and it's on a tuner that's currently recording. I'll want to check out Sports Center, but I can't flip over to the other tuner.
#2, is that I need it to be more stable. I had to restart the Tivo 1 time in almost 2 years. I have reset this thing twice this week...
A low level "nice to have" was the ability to skip to the has marks in a program, but skipping to a time input would be a similar benefit.
Another low level "nice to have" would be 1x FF be more like the Tivo's, where you can actually watch a fluid picture. Really good for watching baseball when you just don't have the time....
Thanks for hosting the survey. I wish I had been reading when you were asking for question inputs. I just want some basic usability features back (from Tivo). Understanding that both DVRs have strengths and weaknesses and that searches could always be better...
Ability to select the second tuner is my #1 required feature. Often I'll turn on the TV and it's on a tuner that's currently recording. I'll want to check out Sports Center, but I can't flip over to the other tuner.
#2, is that I need it to be more stable. I had to restart the Tivo 1 time in almost 2 years. I have reset this thing twice this week...
A low level "nice to have" was the ability to skip to the has marks in a program, but skipping to a time input would be a similar benefit.
Another low level "nice to have" would be 1x FF be more like the Tivo's, where you can actually watch a fluid picture. Really good for watching baseball when you just don't have the time....
I agreed with the last comment, but the new ox3e version 1x ff is more fluid and i watched baseball with it a couple of nights ago; and i watched the entire yankee season with tivo in 1xff!!!!!!!!!
Earl Bonovich
10-26-06, 04:32 PM
A low level "nice to have" was the ability to skip to the has marks in a program, but skipping to a time input would be a similar benefit.
Another low level "nice to have" would be 1x FF be more like the Tivo's, where you can actually watch a fluid picture. Really good for watching baseball when you just don't have the time....
Skip to Tick is there...both forward and reverse.
Hold the FF button for 3 seconds, and it will skip to tick forward
Hold the RW Button for 3 seconds, and it will skip to tick in reverse.
Hold the 30s Slip button for 3 seconds to jump to the end
Hold the jump back 3 sconds to jump to the start.
And the Fluid picture... is pretty good for MPEG-2 based recordings (both HD and SD)... it is the MPEG-4 ones that are choppy and not so fluid...
Slip Jigs
10-26-06, 05:07 PM
Really? You mean like the TNTHD stretch-o-vision? I personally find that unwatchable. What do you like about it?
I guess it's just a preference - I can set the ratio to that on the TV, but thenbecause I rezzed up the signal out of the HR20, then the menus are stretched out (same as any TV setting for that matter)
But when the HR20 does the stretching, croppiing, whatever, it doesn' mess with the menu ratios.
As far as the stretch goes - it gives me a full screen and only distorts the sides, not the center. It's not true full screen of course, but I find it preferable to the linear stretch or even the pillar box.
Brilliant thread. Thanks for doing this, although I am disappointed that my favorite feature is not getting higher vote.
Who wants faster FF? What about 4X and 5X FF? I may be able to live without fast FF if we have true 30sec skip, but for current version, I found the FF speed way too slow.
Radio Enginerd
10-26-06, 08:03 PM
Brillaint thread. Thanks for doing this, although I am disappointed that my favorite feature is not getting higher vote.
Who wants faster FF? What about 4X and 5X FF? I may be able to live without fast FF if we have true 30sec skip, but for current version, I found the FF speed way too slow.
Ahhhhh, I agree... I would LOVE a true 30 sec skip but a close second would be a faster FF.
Possible Wish List Item. I would love to be able to have the GUI display in 4:3 while the HR-20 is configured for 16:9. You ask why? So I can use the image scaller in my overpriced plasma to adjust 4:3 broadcasts instead of the HR-20. I can't imagine this would be difficult to do consider the GUI is already written to run in 4:3 should you configure the HR-20 to run in 4:3...
My TV will currently do it, but the GUI gets all cropped since the HR-20 is configured to display 16:9. Probably not a high demand item, but I thought I'd throw it out there!
tigerpaw78
10-26-06, 09:12 PM
One item I didn't see and haven't seen many posts on is an option to choose the guide format like the SD tivo has. The hard way to check what's on "tonight" vs the tivo guide that has two panes, the left pane shows the channels, the right pane shows the next 4 to 6 hours (based on how long the shows are) for the channel selected on the left pane. IMO that is the sweetest guide anyone could design, and I sorely miss it. I'd like to see how others feel about this lack of feature.
I've seen the HR20 similar quide but it just takes to long to populate for each channel to be usable like the tivo guide.
I share the view that a faster FF should be on the list, and making MPEG4 1xFF fluid enough to watch.
and BTW I did the survey with 1 for not important, 5 for the must haves with a couple of 3's for the stuff I'd like to see but not as much as the must haves.
Thanks for the vehicle to measure these features!
tonyd79
10-26-06, 10:30 PM
Great survey.
Almost seems like more market research than DirecTV did.
Fantastic survey!! DirecTV should really pay attention to this. Great ideas and great gauge of what people really want.
Doug Brott
10-27-06, 12:48 PM
Guidelines were originally in this post. I've moved them to the first post (http://www.dbstalk.com/showpost.php?p=699858&postcount=1) in the thread
MCEAGLE
10-27-06, 12:59 PM
1) Fix Caller-ID so that it is functional
2) Correct Lip-Sync
3) Fix Audio Drop-Out
4) Correct Pixelation
5) Correct Screen Freeze
In other words, get the basic, core functionality right before you start working on the touchy-feely stuff:(
SockMonkey
10-27-06, 01:09 PM
1) Fix Caller-ID so that it is functional
2) Correct Lip-Sync
3) Fix Audio Drop-Out
4) Correct Pixelation
5) Correct Screen Freeze
In other words, get the basic, core functionality right before you start working on the touchy-feely stuff:(
All problems I have experinced since I got my HR20 about 1 month ago. But I can say that I have not had these problems since the last update. And I was having major problems with lip-sync for a while there. Hopefully my problems don't return with the next software update.
Doug Brott
10-27-06, 01:16 PM
HR20 Wish List Changes 27-Oct-2006
Additions to the List
27-Oct-2006 TiVo style guide grid [tigerpaw78]
27-Oct-2006 Include side/smart stretch as a format option [Slip Jigs]
27-Oct-2006 Do not clear Live Buffer when changing channels - keep old-channel content [SkyFlash]
27-Oct-2006 Faster Fast Forward (4x, 5x, etc.) [Dusty, Radio Enginerd, tigerpaw78]
26-Oct-2006 Multi-Room Viewing via the Ethernet Port
25-Oct-2006 One button on/off for Closed Caption
25-Oct-2006 Show keep/delete message when stopping a recording in the last few minutes of a show
Note: OTA not added because I have every belief that it will be available soon
Removals from the list
25-Oct-2006 (2.939) An option to list channels in column and time in rows, so I can get a quick glance of what is coming in the next a few hours on one particular channel.
25-Oct-2006 (3.265) The ability to change the default options on series link
25-Oct-2006 (3.994) Live buffer continues recording the last channel while watching a recorded show
25-Oct-2006 (3.167) The ability to sort or filter the MyVod list
25-Oct-2006 (2.932) The ability to mark and delete multiple items in the MyVOD list
Doug Brott
10-27-06, 01:22 PM
Hope I'm not showing my ignorance, but I haven't found a central location where the HR20's version of "season passes" is stored where you can edit recording options, etc., as you could with the HR10.
So my vote is for the equivalent of a "season pass" screen with the option for editing, etc.
I believe that you are looking for the Prioritizer which is DirecTV's name for the "Season Pass Manager." Check out the Unofficial Tips & Tricks thread (http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=67933) for more information.
Doug Brott
10-27-06, 01:27 PM
Ability to select the second tuner is my #1 required feature. Often I'll turn on the TV and it's on a tuner that's currently recording. I'll want to check out Sports Center, but I can't flip over to the other tuner.
This is on the Wish List as "Dual Live Buffers." There would implicitly need to be a way to switch between buffers if they existed. Hopefully when they implement it that choose the down arrow (like TiVo).
#2, is that I need it to be more stable. I had to restart the Tivo 1 time in almost 2 years. I have reset this thing twice this week...
It's understandable that you want the box to work. Obviously, no one wants to reboot their box every few days, so this is something that I simply expect to be fixed as well. I have not had to reset one of my boxes a single time since the latest update. I did reset my other HR20 when it got into a weird state. I'm not going to add this to the Wish List, though.
SockMonkey
10-27-06, 01:31 PM
HR20 Wish List Changes 27-Oct-2006
Additions to the List
27-Oct-2006 Do not clear Live Buffer when changing channels - keep old-channel content [SkyFlash]
Question... how is this different from Dual Live Buffers?
Bob
Doug Brott
10-27-06, 02:08 PM
Question... how is this different from Dual Live Buffers?
Bob
I almost didn't add this one because, personally, I will be voting a 1 for this one every single time. However, I want to be fair. (not that I'm trying to sway your vote or anything ;) ).
Do not clear Live Buffer when changing channels - keep old-channel content would mean that you would ALWAYS have 90 minutes of material buffered regardless of whether or not you changed channels or not. Certainly, you could not change history and put it on a different channel back in time, but you could rewind through your viewing history.
Again, not something I want, but it is a valid suggestion.
SockMonkey
10-27-06, 02:13 PM
Okay, so I see... basically, if you went to the beginning of the 90 minutes and started watching from there, you'd see all your channel changes and such. Okay, I see. Yeah, not something I'd want, but I can certainly see why some might want it.
On a semi-related topic... do you all think that the buffer size will remain at 90 minutes if they go to dual live buffers? I personally do not. I can see it dropping to 45 minutes each (or possibly even the old 30 minute tivo size). I wouldn't really mind if they got smaller because I just want dual live buffers, but it would be nice to have dual live 90 minute buffers. :D
Bob
Doug Brott
10-27-06, 02:21 PM
On a semi-related topic... do you all think that the buffer size will remain at 90 minutes if they go to dual live buffers? I personally do not. I can see it dropping to 45 minutes each (or possibly even the old 30 minute tivo size). I wouldn't really mind if they got smaller because I just want dual live buffers, but it would be nice to have dual live 90 minute buffers. :D
Don't know. The HDD is fairly well sized, so they may stick with the same buffer size. I also think that it will drop to a smaller size, but I suspect that the original reasoning for the larger size was to make sure you could catch ALL of an hour long show that may be just finishing up. You couldn't really do that with the TiVo.
With the TiVo, I've found that the 30-minute buffer would actually put 43 minutes of programming into a recording if you pressed the red record button. In other words, the real buffer is larger than the usable buffer. TiVo kept all of the real buffer to give you as much as possible. DirecTV may do something similar for the HR20.
Radio Enginerd
10-27-06, 03:44 PM
I almost didn't add this one because, personally, I will be voting a 1 for this one every single time. However, I want to be fair. (not that I'm trying to sway your vote or anything ;) ).
Do not clear Live Buffer when changing channels - keep old-channel content would mean that you would ALWAYS have 90 minutes of material buffered regardless of whether or not you changed channels or not. Certainly, you could not change history and put it on a different channel back in time, but you could rewind through your viewing history.
Again, not something I want, but it is a valid suggestion.
Is it fair to assume that if/when dual buffers get activated this feature would go away? I'm just thinking that's a ton of overhead when you talk about 2 independent buffers. I understand the suggestion for sure but no sure how to put it in action and keep track of it if/when dual buffers are installed.
Monty23
10-27-06, 03:59 PM
One thing I really miss from the TiVo is when you are fast forwarding and you hit play the TiVo will back up a few seconds automatically to compensate for your reaction time. I know this is a TiVo patent. However, would it be in violation of the TiVo patent if the HR20 had a user adjustable backup option. Like you could set it to back up say 3 seconds if you're on FF1, mabey 5 seconds for FF2 ect. It would be neat it you could program it yourself for a preset delay.
Monty23
10-27-06, 04:02 PM
I wanted to manually record the upcoming HDNET test patterns that will play on 11-12-2006. I had no problem setting up the recording on my HR10-250 but the HR20 won't let me schedule out that far. I wish for being able to enter any date well into the future instead of only about a week.
Monty23
10-27-06, 04:05 PM
I wish for a "Failed Recording Warning". When the HR20 is going to mess up a recording or delete it while I'm away I wish it would give me a warning ahead of time so I can have my TiVo record it instead..... ;)
jsevinsk
10-27-06, 04:06 PM
One thing I really miss from the TiVo is when you are fast forwarding and you hit play the TiVo will back up a few seconds automatically to compensate for your reaction time.
As a workaround, when coming out of FF mode, instead of pressing Play, I press the "back up 6 seconds" button... and again... and maybe again.
Doug Brott
10-27-06, 04:08 PM
I wish for a "Failed Recording Warning". When the HR20 is going to mess up a recording or delete it while I'm away I wish it would give me a warning ahead of time so I can have my TiVo record it instead..... ;)
:lol:
Monty23
10-27-06, 04:10 PM
As a workaround, when coming out of FF mode, instead of pressing Play, I press the "back up 6 seconds" button... and again... and maybe again.
I've tried that many times and it works very inconsistently. It sometimes does not back up at all or very little, and sometimes too much. Through the many years with TiVo I can almost always hit the right spot every time but the HR20 is way too inconsistent for that. Also, the HR20's FF view is real choppy and makes it difficult to know when you're at the right spot. As is with many things it is a compromise for proper functioning.
jbongiovi
10-28-06, 02:44 AM
I believe that you are looking for the Prioritizer which is DirecTV's name for the "Season Pass Manager." Check out the Unofficial Tips & Tricks thread (http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=67933) for more information.
Thanks. I played with the Prioritizer for a bit but it didn't seem to give me the same functionality. I'll go back to it again and play some more. Thanks for the input.
Milominderbinder2
10-28-06, 07:49 PM
In the prioritizer, the ability to page up/down to move series links by 5 positions instead of 1 [pdvale]
A programmer might read this as page up or down to move five positions and say it already does this.
Do you mean that you want to promote or demote the rank by 5 ranks by pressing page up/down when you are on the ranking arrows?
-Craig
Click here for:
UNOFFICIAL HR-20 Tips and Tricks (http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=67933)
HR-20 Installation and Initial Setup Tips (http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=67769)
My biggest issue with the HR20 is the fact that it doesn't automatically jump back after I've used FF at 3x speed. My understanding is that TiVo has a patent on this technology, but whenever I'm watching a show, I need to hit replay about 6-7 every time I want to end FF. I have a Pronto remote and have built it into a Macro, but it's still a pain. Also, when it jumps back those 6-7 times, I end up seeing too much of the show. I kept my TiVo and have watched a few shows and this is such a pleasant feature. Hopefully there will be some answer to this.
How about bookmarks automatically created @ 15 minute intervals for each recorded program. I can never get 15 minute skip to work.
jasonblair
10-30-06, 12:08 PM
I didn't see "Doesn't cost $300" on your wishlist. That's my wish. Put it in your survey
mtnagel
10-30-06, 12:32 PM
My biggest issue with the HR20 is the fact that it doesn't automatically jump back after I've used FF at 3x speed. My understanding is that TiVo has a patent on this technology, but whenever I'm watching a show, I need to hit replay about 6-7 every time I want to end FF. I have a Pronto remote and have built it into a Macro, but it's still a pain. Also, when it jumps back those 6-7 times, I end up seeing too much of the show. I kept my TiVo and have watched a few shows and this is such a pleasant feature. Hopefully there will be some answer to this.I don't remember if this was in the the list, but I think a combination of making the replay longer than 6 seconds and making the FF not drop so many or any frames. On my Directivo unit, when you were FFing, it was so much clearer, so it was easier to see when the show started after commercials, but on the HR20, it seems like sometimes I'm a minute or two into the show by the time I see the first frame of it and by the time my mind processes it to actually stop it. Like you, I sometimes need 6-7 presses of the replay to get back.
CerpinTaxt
10-30-06, 02:03 PM
I'd like to see an option to turn off ALL the lights on the front of the box.
I'd like to see an option to turn off ALL the lights on the front of the box.
The blue circle already can be dimmed or turned off. On box, press left and right cursors at same time. I believe 4 presses turns it off. Just note if box is restarted, you will have to do it again.
CerpinTaxt
10-30-06, 02:13 PM
The blue circle already can be dimmed or turned off. On box, press left and right cursors at same time. I believe 4 presses turns it off. Just note if box is restarted, you will have to do it again.
thanks, but i already knew that. the power light and res lights don't turn off with that option. i have resorted to putting some little rubber things on there and then colored them black with a marker...not the most professional looking solution. at night the damn blue lights STILL shine through.
perilous
10-30-06, 02:21 PM
GREAT SURVEY!!! Thanks to all for setting up and maintaining!!! ;)
texasbrit
10-30-06, 02:30 PM
The TiVo patent on automatically backing up at the end of a fast-forward is pretty broad. It covers fixed back-up, back-up dependent on the fast-forward speed, and user-defined back-up. So I think we are not going to get that feature in any shape or form....
Milominderbinder2
10-30-06, 05:23 PM
I had a chance today to speak with a contact at D* who helps relay customer concerns to the programmers. I asked about some of our requests for new features for the HR-20. In no way can these replies be seen as an official statement.
I was able to cover these feature requests (in bold) and answers (in italics).
1 Dual Live Buffers. It already has Dual Live Buffers. It records two shows at once.
My note:Maybe we need to call this Automatic Dual Live Buffers?
2 A true 30 second skip instead of slip. This is a legal issue not technical. Will not happen.
4 Faster Fast Forward (4x, 5x, etc.) HD pixilation is the problem. We are looking at it.
6 Ability to manually remove channels you don't get or don't want from your lineup.
We know. Search results show channels you don’t receive. It’s an issue we are looking at.
8 Guide data stored on the HD for quick recover after a reset. It’s in RAM because the guide will be updating 3200 channels twice every 30-minutes.
33 Remember active program Weather settings after reboots. This is the same quesiton and answer. See the RAM vs hard drive question
11 Picture in Picture - have both tuners display on the screen at the same time.
Difficult to process two HD feeds at the same time.
12 Standardize the # of seconds the Replay button jumps back. Being fixed.
14 Show keep/delete message when stopping a recording in the last few minutes of a show.
I will see if we can splash the keep/delete any time in the last 5 minutes. The easy workaround now is to press and hold Advance to get the keep/delete message.
16 The ability to specify the time or day to record a series... eg. a weekly show is on at 3pm and replayed at 11pm - option to record the 11pm one That’s what manual record does.
32 The option of not recording more than 1 episode in 24-hour period. You have it . Use manual record.
17 An option to record by name over all channels rather than a fixed channel.
You have this already! It is AutoRecord. Do your search. Set up the scheduler & choose AutoRecord in the upper right. Click it and say, Record All. It’s like Wishlists across all channels.
19 Soft buffering of the last minutes of one show with the first minutes of the following show on the same channel. Manual record is the workaround. True soft buffering is tricky.
20 30-second slip counter should countdown 30-second intervals. I will forward. Good idea.
21 Undelete - the ability to (possibly) restore a deleted program. We know it would be a great feature. People think that Undelete is as easy as in Word. It’s not.
22 TiVo style guide grid. 55 Suggestions No way. Those are owned by TiVo.
23 A confirm delete after hitting DASH-DASH. Users wanted Double Dash to be fast. Screen refresh may be slow - users Double Dash again & deleted two shows. We are reviewing.
25 The ability to suspend Season Passes/Series Links rather than deleting them.
Mark this as done. Set Series Link to Keep 1 Episode. The last show will be waiting for you.
26 More info on show (Cast, Writers, etc.) when pressing the info button. That’s a TiVo thing. The HR-20 shows the satellite downlink info. TiVo sends added info over the phone lines that we do not.
27 The ability to have the MyVOD list display more shows. MyVOD already displays all. Mark this as DONE.
27 Better search logic (AND, OR, NOT)
The UI is already too complicated. Boolean logic is not simple.
29 Series Link option to record HD, SD, or Both. You can already record just an HD channel or on an SD channel or AutoRecord and you will get both.
35 User-sorted channel listings - a favorites list with channels sorted to your preference
On MyVOD we have a “List by” option. We could look at putting that as a Guide Search option. The module is writen and tested.
35 Info about the recorded format type MPEG2 or MPEG4. It was a big deal showing the percent usage but this is TMI (too much information) for most users.
39 Actual list of disk usage in MBs/GBs %, per program as well. Didn’t we just have this question? We have to balance this against the clutter in MyVOD.
38 Include side/smart stretch as a format option. Users hate 4:3 480 stretched to 16:9 720 or 1080. HD providers add pillars to pad SD content. You can’t automatically remove most pillars.
45 A mode on the HR20 that would "stretch plus" a 480i signal that has been upconverted to 720p or 1080i. Isn’t this the same question you just asked about the Zoom?
43 In the prioritizer, the ability to page up/down to move series links by 5 positions instead of 1. It already does this!
46 More favorites lists. Again the trade-off is complexity. Would a drill-down be OK?
47 Save recorded programs until specific dates, not just until the HD fills up or I manually delete it. Is the added complexity worth the functionality for most users?
48 The ability to hide certain folders based on content (R-rated, MA, etc.) Parental Controls already block titles in the Guide. Would blocking titles in MyVOD do the same thing?.
49 A way to set the Guide font size. 56 Skins/Themes - User settings, colors, favorites, etc.
Is it worth the menu complexity? People don’t understand the font options in Closed Captioning.
50 Set HR20 to use both IR and RF at the same time. Why do you want this? We already have the fix if you want to control two receivers from one remote.
51 Revert-to channel - the ability to have a tuner go back to a specified channel after it finishes recording something. It does stay on your channel unless you record 2 shows at once.
52 Intelligent record to VCR/DVD. Before DVRs, Sony did this. The receiver would wake up the VCR and tell it to record. It did a 3 second info splash as a header. At the end, it would turn off the VCR. Your HR-20 combines this into one digital box and does it beautifully You already can. Before you go to bed, set up the DVD recorder to record and have the HR-20 play the show.
53 Ability to tell the unit how much space to give to HD/SD/Showcases.
How complicated do you want to make this?
57 The ability to get guide info from more than two DMAs (up to five). [Alan Gordon]
Technically everyone is in one DMA. This is not a technical issue, it is provider contracts.
58 One button on/off for Closed Caption. CC is buried to reduce tech support issues of turning it on accidentially.
62 Closed Captioning enabled during 1X FF. CC & FF first need to work on their own.
61 The ability to turn PIL (Picture in List) off. If it distracts you hit Pause then Guide.
63 The ability to queue shows for playback at a certain time When a show is done just hit List and watch the next one!
64 A clock on the face of the box. People avoid electronics with clocks flashing 12:00 AM.
Other questions asked:
When will we get OTA?
Trying for next release. Official answer is before year-end
Will there be a new release this Wednesday?
No. e3 is not out to all receivers yet. e3 has to be out to everyone first.
Will you get the Dolby On/Off fixed?
I think that will be done for the next release.
Sorry, I did not have time to ask about the other 20 items on our wish list.
I ask these favors:
A. Please don’t shoot the messenger.
B. Please note this source is just a worker who forwards requests to engineering and hears what engineering has to say back.
Take care,
- Craig
Craig,
Thanks much for the info, most interesting and you covered a LOT of ground.
It would be nice if you could do this again sometime after the next or a few more updates.
Doug Brott
10-30-06, 06:40 PM
Craig,
Thanks for taking the time to do this. I just got back in from a cross-country trip today. I gave your list a once-over and there are some compelling arguments for some items to be removed (exists, suitable workaround, etc.). I will review those tomorrow. It was also interesting to note that the comments got a little more terse as it went along, but that was probably due to the sheer quantity. Also, there were some cases where I thought there was misinterpretation. I'll review those comments in particular and make a case for changing the wording to be more accurate so that they are not misinterpreted.
Thanks again.
mocciat
10-30-06, 06:55 PM
cool
gr8reb8
10-30-06, 07:54 PM
So nothing about having the ability to turn off the "searching for SAT" message when watching a pre-recorded program?
Milominderbinder2
10-30-06, 09:27 PM
Doug,
It is interesting that you noted that there was a little more tension today as we went along.
Last week I had asked about a few of the features and many more today. Some of our requests diminished the credibility of the others.
For instance, asking for things that they just legally can’t do strikes a nerve every time. They want to do them too. In many of the cases the modules are already written.
Plus the development and testing costs of a new feature are trivial compared to the bigger costs:
- another page in the manual
- another section in a training book
- more calls to tech support
- more confusion for users
So a new feature had better drive incremental sales - lots of incremental sales.
When we were done this morning my contact asked me,
Which of these features are so good it could be the focus of a TV commercial?
I am going to go take the survey again asking myself that question about each feature.
Again, thank you for doing this,
- Craig
BTW - My first answer was Undelete. A toddler would be holding the remote happily pushing buttons. A dad is running saying “Nooo.” The voice-over says: “Undelete - just one more reason why you love D*.”
My wishlist:
1) Working, bug-free software.
2) See 1.
3) Don't waste time on new features until you fix the ones in the unit already.
Doug Brott
10-31-06, 12:19 AM
Hi Craig,
I totally understand the bigger issues. I merely created a vehicle by which we could get some kind of measure of what folks really want to see. Some of these may not be technically feasible (PIP might be one of those), but that doesn't change the fact that actual users want to see that as a feature. It doesn't surprise me in regards to the exchange because, human nature as it is, nobody really wants to answer that many questions. Whoever you spoke to appears to have been both professional and knowledgeable. I appreciate the time taken by everyone.
dvrblogger
10-31-06, 05:24 AM
How about bookmarks automatically created @ 15 minute intervals for each recorded program. I can never get 15 minute skip to work.
just hold down the FF button for a few seconds it should jump 15 minutes then release and press again to continue to next bookmark.
Leftcoastdave
10-31-06, 10:21 AM
I didn't read this entire thread but I did take the survey. Here are two that drive me nuts that I have not seen on the list.
(1) Undo Folders or Groups. I want the option to list my playlist in pure chronological order. At least on Tivo, when they offered folders, I had the option to group or not group.
(2) Return to last entry in VOD list. If I select the 5th or 6th item in the VOD for playback, when I am finished or if I leave the recording early and wish to delete it, don't return me to the top of the VOD list every time, return me to the last entry I accessed.
CerpinTaxt
10-31-06, 10:38 AM
I didn't read this entire thread but I did take the survey. Here are two that drive me nuts that I have not seen on the list.
(1) Undo Folders or Groups. I want the option to list my playlist in pure chronological order. At least on Tivo, when they offered folders, I had the option to group or not group.
(2) Return to last entry in VOD list. If I select the 5th or 6th item in the VOD for playback, when I am finished or if I leave the recording early and wish to delete it, don't return me to the top of the VOD list every time, return me to the last entry I accessed.
as long as you don't bring up any other menu or guide screen, you can press the "back" button and it will take you directly to the show you were just watcing in VOD.
bagleyb
10-31-06, 11:11 AM
I would like for the cursor to wrap to the bottom when you reach the top in the guide menu.
For example, I hit guide once, and then want to get to HD channels. Since the arrow up is pretty much right next to the guide button, it's easier to hit that twice, than move to the page down button that is lower and to the right.
Right now, if I hit it twice, it goes to the top of the screen, and stops.
mtnagel
10-31-06, 11:18 AM
I didn't read this entire thread but I did take the survey. Here are two that drive me nuts that I have not seen on the list.
(1) Undo Folders or Groups. I want the option to list my playlist in pure chronological order. At least on Tivo, when they offered folders, I had the option to group or not group.There is a sort option in some menu. I'm not in front of the HR20, but that option is in there. In fact, I believe there are quite a few sort options. Even more than the Tivo's.
(2) Return to last entry in VOD list. If I select the 5th or 6th item in the VOD for playback, when I am finished or if I leave the recording early and wish to delete it, don't return me to the top of the VOD list every time, return me to the last entry I accessed.You can also press Stop and that will take you to the show you were just watching. Although I've found if I have a grouping, then this doesn't work because the group will be collapsed. They should fix that. But if you only have a single entry on the list, Stop should work.
CerpinTaxt
10-31-06, 11:26 AM
You can also press Stop and that will take you to the show you were just watching. Although I've found if I have a grouping, then this doesn't work because the group will be collapsed. They should fix that. But if you only have a single entry on the list, Stop should work.
It seems to me the "Stop" button is a waste of space if "Exit" does the same thing.
I don't understand why there's not a "slow motion" button. Pausing and advancing one frame at a time requires too many button pushes.
SockMonkey
10-31-06, 11:32 AM
I don't understand why there's not a "slow motion" button. Pausing and advancing one frame at a time requires too many button pushes.
There is... press and hold the PLAY button for about 3 - 4 seconds and you'll enter slow motion mode.
joejhawk
10-31-06, 12:15 PM
The TiVo patent on automatically backing up at the end of a fast-forward is pretty broad. It covers fixed back-up, back-up dependent on the fast-forward speed, and user-defined back-up. So I think we are not going to get that feature in any shape or form....
Are we sure this is a Tivo patent or is this just a rumor? I have an HD DVR from Brighthouse and it does it. I can't believe that if a cable company is violating their patent they wouldn't go after them.
If it's possible, this is 2nd on my wishlist under dual buffers. Actually 3rd after dual buffers and work properly!
Hi All,
Sorry if this has already been mentioned.
I've noticed in MyVOD list that the cursor jumps out of a folder group when you are deleting shows from that group even if there is one program left from that folder group. In other words instead of highlighting the last program you were on in the list - the cursor jumps to the top of the list (or somewhere else).
I've seen this in other menu areas also. I’d like to see some sticky logic in their menus and lists so you end up in a more logical place when you move around in the menus and lists structure.
I’d also like to be able to “left” cursor out of menus instead of cursor down several times and selecting “Done” to exit.
CerpinTaxt
10-31-06, 12:43 PM
There is... press and hold the PLAY button for about 3 - 4 seconds and you'll enter slow motion mode.
oh, well that's better than nothing. one day i'm going to read the owners manual:D
mtnagel
10-31-06, 12:45 PM
Are we sure this is a Tivo patent or is this just a rumor? I have an HD DVR from Brighthouse and it does it. I can't believe that if a cable company is violating their patent they wouldn't go after them.
If it's possible, this is 2nd on my wishlist under dual buffers. Actually 3rd after dual buffers and work properly!I just found this blog that talks about the Tivo auto correction patent (http://www.pvrblog.com/pvr/2005/03/is_microsoft_vi.html) (note the blog was written in March 2005). The link for the patent isn't coming up, but it's interesting to read the comments. Some are claiming that their VCR's had a similar function way before Tivo every came out.
Here's a summary of the patent since the US patent site isn't working now (http://www.freepatentsonline.com/6850691.html).
Edit: What the heck does this mean The invention adapts to the user by remembering how much the user corrects after he stops the fast forward or reverse mode. Correction factors are calculated using the user's corrections and adjusting the correction factors if the user continues to make corrections. I wonder if that's true. I've never heard that before. I wish it would have adapted to me, but it seems that I had to adapt to it. I always had to wait a split second longer than when I would have pressed it so that it didn't go back too far. Although with multiple people using it, that would certainly screw up their calcuation for determining this.
eengert
10-31-06, 02:48 PM
...Also, there were some cases where I thought there was misinterpretation...
Quite a few cases of misinterpretation, it seems. Hopefully we can clarify these and take them back to this D* contact without severely pissing him/her off. :)
"1 Dual Live Buffers. It already has Dual Live Buffers. It records two shows at once."
Clarification: We mean two live buffers that you can toggle between on screen like on the Tivo.
"2 A true 30 second skip instead of slip. This is a legal issue not technical. Will not happen."
Can it at least be faster?
"32 The option of not recording more than 1 episode in 24-hour period. You have it . Use manual record."
This isn't a good answer, IMO. Manual record should be a last resort.
"17 An option to record by name over all channels rather than a fixed channel.
You have this already! It is AutoRecord. Do your search. Set up the scheduler & choose AutoRecord in the upper right. Click it and say, Record All. It’s like Wishlists across all channels."
Clarification: This only works for Keyword searches. We need Autorecord for Title searches.
"25 The ability to suspend Season Passes/Series Links rather than deleting them.
Mark this as done. Set Series Link to Keep 1 Episode. The last show will be waiting for you."
Again, this is merely a workaround.
"27 The ability to have the MyVOD list display more shows. MyVOD already displays all. Mark this as DONE."
Clarification: I think this means to display more lines in MyVOD. I think people are used to seeing a full-screen list on Tivos. Not sure how this would be implemented though, unless you gave the option to turn off the PIL.
"43 In the prioritizer, the ability to page up/down to move series links by 5 positions instead of 1. It already does this!"
Clarification: I need to test this, but I don't think it does what we meant. We want to be able to highlight the arrow(s) that move the SL up and down in the priority list and instead of moving up/down one slot at a time, page up/down 5 slots at a time.
"61 The ability to turn PIL (Picture in List) off. If it distracts you hit Pause then Guide."
Clarification: I don't think this has to do with being distracted. I think people want the option of more space to display guide or MyVOD lists.
eengert
10-31-06, 02:57 PM
Will there be a new release this Wednesday?
No. e3 is not out to all receivers yet. e3 has to be out to everyone first.
Is that true? I thought E3 was released for everyone late last week?
joejhawk
10-31-06, 03:45 PM
I just found this blog that talks about the Tivo auto correction patent (http://www.pvrblog.com/pvr/2005/03/is_microsoft_vi.html) (note the blog was written in March 2005). The link for the patent isn't coming up, but it's interesting to read the comments. Some are claiming that their VCR's had a similar function way before Tivo every came out.
Here's a summary of the patent since the US patent site isn't working now (http://www.freepatentsonline.com/6850691.html).
Edit: What the heck does this mean I wonder if that's true. I've never heard that before. I wish it would have adapted to me, but it seems that I had to adapt to it. I always had to wait a split second longer than when I would have pressed it so that it didn't go back too far. Although with multiple people using it, that would certainly screw up their calcuation for determining this.
I think what it is saying is that it adapts to the speed of the FF (ie if you are FF at 1 it jumps back 5 seconds, if you FF at 3 it jumps back 20 seconds). I don't think there's any way it can adapt to your reflexes otherwise you're right everyone in the house would have to have their own remote.
I'm no patent attorney but this looks pretty easy to overcome. OK D*, you now have my blessing you can give this to us!:lol:
mtnagel
10-31-06, 03:58 PM
I think what it is saying is that it adapts to the speed of the FF (ie if you are FF at 1 it jumps back 5 seconds, if you FF at 3 it jumps back 20 seconds). I don't think there's any way it can adapt to your reflexes otherwise you're right everyone in the house would have to have their own remote.I doubt this is the way it works, but I'm reading it to mean that if you are FFing at 3x and you pass the beginning of the show by 30 secs (how it would know the beginning of the show, I'd have no idea) everytime, it would change the auto correction to 30 seconds instead of the default for FFing at 3x. That's definitely how it reads, but I've never heard that before, so I know it doesn't work like that. Although imagine if they could do it (and everyone had their own remote or could somehow log in so that it knew who was doing the FFing). That would rock :D
I'm no patent attorney but this looks pretty easy to overcome. OK D*, you now have my blessing you can give this to us!:lol:They have my blessing too.
Doug Brott
10-31-06, 07:09 PM
I had a chance today to speak with a contact at D* who helps relay customer concerns to the programmers. I asked about some of our requests for new features for the HR-20. In no way can these replies be seen as an official statement.
I was able to cover these feature requests (in bold) and answers (in italics).
Milominderbinder Quoted text in default color - my reply in Sienna (Brown).
Misunderstanding, may require rewording
1 Dual Live Buffers. It already has Dual Live Buffers. It records two shows at once.
27 The ability to have the MyVOD list display more shows. MyVOD already displays all. Mark this as DONE.
43 In the prioritizer, the ability to page up/down to move series links by 5 positions instead of 1. It already does this!
51 Revert-to channel - the ability to have a tuner go back to a specified channel after it finishes recording something. It does stay on your channel unless you record 2 shows at once.
63 The ability to queue shows for playback at a certain time When a show is done just hit List and watch the next one!
61 The ability to turn PIL (Picture in List) off. If it distracts you hit Pause then Guide.
57 The ability to get guide info from more than two DMAs (up to five).
Technically everyone is in one DMA. This is not a technical issue, it is provider contracts.
50 Set HR20 to use both IR and RF at the same time. Why do you want this? We already have the fix if you want to control two receivers from one remote.
------------------------------------------------
Suitable workaround exists. Will be obsoleted.
16 The ability to specify the time or day to record a series... eg. a weekly show is on at 3pm and replayed at 11pm - option to record the 11pm one That’s what manual record does.
32 The option of not recording more than 1 episode in 24-hour period. You have it . Use manual record.
25 The ability to suspend Season Passes/Series Links rather than deleting them.
Mark this as done. Set Series Link to Keep 1 Episode. The last show will be waiting for you.
------------------------------------------------
Suitable workaround MAY exist
17 An option to record by name over all channels rather than a fixed channel.
You have this already! It is AutoRecord. Do your search. Set up the scheduler & choose AutoRecord in the upper right. Click it and say, Record All. It’s like Wishlists across all channels.
29 Series Link option to record HD, SD, or Both. You can already record just an HD channel or on an SD channel or AutoRecord and you will get both.
------------------------------------------------
No suitable workaround, IMHO. Stays on Wish List. This doesn't mean that DirecTV will ever fix it, just that it is on the list. I will use the guidelines that I published earlier to remove any items like this, but it is likely that some of these will never come off of the list.
19 Soft buffering of the last minutes of one show with the first minutes of the following show on the same channel. Manual record is the workaround. True soft buffering is tricky.
2 A true 30 second skip instead of slip. This is a legal issue not technical. Will not happen.
8 Guide data stored on the HD for quick recover after a reset. It’s in RAM because the guide will be updating 3200 channels twice every 30-minutes.
33 Remember active program Weather settings after reboots. This is the same quesiton and answer. See the RAM vs hard drive question
11 Picture in Picture - have both tuners display on the screen at the same time.
Difficult to process two HD feeds at the same time.
27 Better search logic (AND, OR, NOT)
The UI is already too complicated. Boolean logic is not simple.
21 Undelete - the ability to (possibly) restore a deleted program. We know it would be a great feature. People think that Undelete is as easy as in Word. It’s not.
22 TiVo style guide grid. 55 Suggestions No way. Those are owned by TiVo.
26 More info on show (Cast, Writers, etc.) when pressing the info button. That’s a TiVo thing. The HR-20 shows the satellite downlink info. TiVo sends added info over the phone lines that we do not.
38 Include side/smart stretch as a format option. Users hate 4:3 480 stretched to 16:9 720 or 1080. HD providers add pillars to pad SD content. You can’t automatically remove most pillars.
45 A mode on the HR20 that would "stretch plus" a 480i signal that has been upconverted to 720p or 1080i. Isn’t this the same question you just asked about the Zoom?
46 More favorites lists. Again the trade-off is complexity. Would a drill-down be OK?
47 Save recorded programs until specific dates, not just until the HD fills up or I manually delete it. Is the added complexity worth the functionality for most users?
48 The ability to hide certain folders based on content (R-rated, MA, etc.) Parental Controls already block titles in the Guide. Would blocking titles in MyVOD do the same thing?.
49 A way to set the Guide font size. 56 Skins/Themes - User settings, colors, favorites, etc.
Is it worth the menu complexity? People don’t understand the font options in Closed Captioning.
52 Intelligent record to VCR/DVD. Before DVRs, Sony did this. The receiver would wake up the VCR and tell it to record. It did a 3 second info splash as a header. At the end, it would turn off the VCR. Your HR-20 combines this into one digital box and does it beautifully You already can. Before you go to bed, set up the DVD recorder to record and have the HR-20 play the show.
64 A clock on the face of the box. People avoid electronics with clocks flashing 12:00 AM.
35 Info about the recorded format type MPEG2 or MPEG4. It was a big deal showing the percent usage but this is TMI (too much information) for most users.
39 Actual list of disk usage in MBs/GBs %, per program as well. Didn’t we just have this question? We have to balance this against the clutter in MyVOD.
53 Ability to tell the unit how much space to give to HD/SD/Showcases.
How complicated do you want to make this?
58 One button on/off for Closed Caption. CC is buried to reduce tech support issues of turning it on accidentially.
------------------------------------------------
No suitable workaround, but It's nice to see that DirecTV is reviewing a fix for these items
4 Faster Fast Forward (4x, 5x, etc.) HD pixilation is the problem. We are looking at it.
6 Ability to manually remove channels you don't get or don't want from your lineup.
We know. Search results show channels you don’t receive. It’s an issue we are looking at.
12 Standardize the # of seconds the Replay button jumps back. Being fixed.
20 30-second slip counter should countdown 30-second intervals. I will forward. Good idea.
23 A confirm delete after hitting DASH-DASH. Users wanted Double Dash to be fast. Screen refresh may be slow - users Double Dash again & deleted two shows. We are reviewing.
35 User-sorted channel listings - a favorites list with channels sorted to your preference
On MyVOD we have a “List by” option. We could look at putting that as a Guide Search option. The module is writen and tested.
62 Closed Captioning enabled during 1X FF. CC & FF first need to work on their own.
14 Show keep/delete message when stopping a recording in the last few minutes of a show.
I will see if we can splash the keep/delete any time in the last 5 minutes. The easy workaround now is to press and hold Advance to get the keep/delete message.
I had a chance today to speak with a contact at D* who helps relay customer concerns to the programmers. I asked about some of our requests for new features for the HR-20. In no way can these replies be seen as an official statement. (Q&A followed)
I know that these answers can't be seen as an official statement and are really just the response from a single person, but what struck me as I read through many of the replies was this basic attitude: "It works the way WE designed it and that's the way it is. Just because you don't like the way we designed it doesn't mean that we're going to change it." In other words, "We don't really care what the customer wants, we designed it the way we want." Many of the replies that basically state that "it already does that" offer a way to do something that is not very intuitive or isn't the functionality that is desired, but a work around to achieve (maybe) the same or only similar functionality, instead of admitting that it doesn't really do that. Sometimes it's really obvious that this person has never used a TiVo of any kind. It also bothers me that this is a person "who helps relay customer concerns to the programmers." It looks like a lot of the customer concerns are being filtered by this person's idea of what's important and what's not.
I also really resent the replies that in essence say, "The general public is too dumb/confused to understand how to (insert function here)" or "The menu is already too confusing". Then why not have an advanced menu that allows more sophisticated users wanting more control and more options an option to enable this? Lots of programs have this and the DVR is just running a program.
Let's face it, when DirecTV designed the HR20, they weren't just designing a DVR (that's been done by lots of different companies), they were designing a DVR to replace a TiVo DVR. I would think that one of their primary design considerations was to have it function as close as possible to how the HR10 functioned. By that I don't mean have it operate exactly the way a HR10 does, but it should do all of the (non-patented) functions that the HR10 does, and when they find a better way to do something, then do it that way. I really like how easy it is to schedule a one-time recording, a Season Link, and change the priority in the Prioritizer. I like a lot of the added features and functionality, but I really miss some of the more obvious things that were left out. And the response to customers requesting something that's more like the HR10 functionality instead of how the DirecTV engineers designed it shouldn't be "let them eat cake!"
houskamp
10-31-06, 09:28 PM
Had the same feeling when I read the responces.... This is how we want it to work and the coustomer doesn't matter... I hope that isn't the motto of all the D* people.. they may just start thinking 'it works fine for us in the lab don't worry about the problems others are having'
just my opinion... hope we don't start another flame post,we have enough already..
Enrique B Chamorro
10-31-06, 11:30 PM
One feature I miss from my old TIVO.
When I used to pause, the time bar would go away after a while and you would only see the paused picture on the full screen.
Then with the single frame advance, you could move one frame at a time with the whole screen filled with the frozen image.
The HR20 keeps the time bar at the bottom of all paused images and single frame advances.
CerpinTaxt
11-01-06, 07:18 AM
One feature I miss from my old TIVO.
When I used to pause, the time bar would go away after a while and you would only see the paused picture on the full screen.
Then with the single frame advance, you could move one frame at a time with the whole screen filled with the frozen image.
The HR20 keeps the time bar at the bottom of all paused images and single frame advances.
I believe while paused, you can press the "exit" button to clear the buffer bar and then advance one frame at a time with noting but the frozen image.
Enrique B Chamorro
11-01-06, 09:18 AM
THANKS!!
I will try it tonight!
CerpinTaxt
11-01-06, 10:04 AM
THANKS!!
I will try it tonight!
Something I just learned from some nice person here is that even though there is no dedicated slow motion button, you can hold down the play button for 3 seconds for slow motion. You might have already known that though.
Reggie3
11-01-06, 10:22 AM
I guess one suggestion (Did not remember seeing this) is to have more GUI commands - like the delete button being dash dash - should be displayed on the screen - so one does not have to remember the sequence to accomplish a task.
hfhlt004
11-01-06, 05:10 PM
I guess one suggestion (Did not remember seeing this) is to have more GUI commands - like the delete button being dash dash - should be displayed on the screen - so one does not have to remember the sequence to accomplish a task.
What else is the dash button used for? Educated me. Why doesn't it just say delete?
btmoore
11-01-06, 05:19 PM
What else is the dash button used for? Educated me. Why doesn't it just say delete?
Assuming the standard convention for OTA sub-channels 11-1, 11-2, 11-3 for example, the dash will be used so you can type in the exact ASTC sub-channel you want. Since OTA is not enabled the dash currently is only use for the Dash Dash to do a quick delete.
Doug Brott
11-01-06, 05:21 PM
What else is the dash button used for? Educated me. Why doesn't it just say delete?
I'm pretty sure that it will be used for changing to OTA High Def sub channels.
hfhlt004
11-01-06, 06:59 PM
Assuming the standard convention for OTA sub-channels 11-1, 11-2, 11-3 for example, the dash will be used so you can type in the exact ASTC sub-channel you want. Since OTA is not enabled the dash currently is only use for the Dash Dash to do a quick delete.
Thanks for the info. I am one of the persons who has deleted two programs while waiting for the first dash dash to take effect. I am learning...........slowly, but don't spend a lot of time laboring over these issues. I want to spend more time watching my recordings.
I think activating the OTA function is more important than many other annoyances mentioned in these forums. I currently have my OTA antenna into my TV. It will be nice when able to integrate it into the HR20.
Guitar Hero
11-02-06, 05:18 AM
I have two wishes; one that was already discussed.
OK, this was answered, but I think it's being too quickly overlooked.
We need a button for instant CC activation! Can't you give us the option of programing a button to do this for us? Therefor, those that want it can have it, and those that don't want it wont have it.
We need a "Edit" function for stored programs on the HDD. For example; let's say you record a 4 hour block of '80s music videos and you want to save certain videos and get rid of the rest. This would be possible with an "Edit" function. Use the "Record" button to active the edit mode at the beginning of a music video, and then turn it off and the end of the music video by pushing the "Record"button again, thus tagging and then saving all that that has been tagged. Multiple areas of the 4 hour recording can be saved and stored this way. This would work for other types of programming, as well. Saving highlights of a sporting event, saving a favorite actor interview from a TV talk show, saving a funny clip from a movie vs. saving the entire movie, etc. Also include the option to relabel the show title once edited and stored.
Bad Rex
11-02-06, 02:43 PM
My biggest issue with the HR20 is the fact that it doesn't automatically jump back after I've used FF at 3x speed. My understanding is that TiVo has a patent on this technology, but whenever I'm watching a show, I need to hit replay about 6-7 every time I want to end FF. I have a Pronto remote and have built it into a Macro, but it's still a pain. Also, when it jumps back those 6-7 times, I end up seeing too much of the show. I kept my TiVo and have watched a few shows and this is such a pleasant feature. Hopefully there will be some answer to this.
Don't know if I'd call this my biggest issue with the HR20, but I really miss it. It adds at least 5 secs to every commercial break. For me, that will add up to about 5 minutes a week and over 4 hours a year of doing absolutely nothing but fiddling with the replay button. Thanks D*! :rolleyes:
Don't know if I'd call this my biggest issue with the HR20, but I really miss it. It adds at least 5 secs to every commercial break. For me, that will add up to about 5 minutes a week and over 4 hours a year of doing absolutely nothing but fiddling with the replay button. Thanks D*! :rolleyes:
damn, I never looked at it that way--now I'm pissed too :D
Doug Brott
11-03-06, 10:31 AM
One feature I miss from my old TIVO.
When I used to pause, the time bar would go away after a while and you would only see the paused picture on the full screen.
Then with the single frame advance, you could move one frame at a time with the whole screen filled with the frozen image.
The HR20 keeps the time bar at the bottom of all paused images and single frame advances.
I believe while paused, you can press the "exit" button to clear the buffer bar and then advance one frame at a time with noting but the frozen image.
I have confirmed that this is correct.
Milominderbinder2
11-03-06, 10:41 AM
I believe while paused, you can press the "exit" button to clear the buffer bar and then advance one frame at a time with noting but the frozen image.
Great Tip! I will include it in the upcoming Version 2.7 of the HR-20 Tips and Tricks.
I don't want to promise anything but the new version may be out Wednesday...
Seriosly, I use this feature all of the time. The time bar never turns off when you are going Slow Mo or frame-by-frame. This turns it off. I never thought to include it in the Tips.
Take Care,
- Craig
Doug Brott
11-03-06, 11:13 AM
HR20 Wish List Changes 03-Nov-2006
Additions to the List
Vote for these now
03-Nov-2006 Simple edit functionality to reduce the size (on disk) of a recorded program
03-Nov-2006 The ability to left-cursor out of menus in addition to selecting Done
03-Nov-2006 wrap the cursor to the bottom or top when reaching the top or bottom of a menu pane
03-Nov-2006 Return to last entry on MyVOD rather than starting at the top each time
03-Nov-2006 The option to list programs on MyVOD without putting them in folders
03-Nov-2006 Turn off "searching for satellite" message when watching a program from MyVOD
03-Nov-2006 The ability to set manual recordings for a date well into the future rather than a week or so
03-Nov-2006 Fast Forward autocorrection
Chopping Block
These items are currently receiving a significantly negative score (less than 2). If these items continue to receive a significantly negative score through next Friday, then they will be removed from the list next week. Vote for these items NOW if you want them to stay on the Wish List.
(1.992) Ability to add and playback MP3s [Gotchaa]
(1.893) The ability to play slide show of movies or video (perhaps via USB) [Kentstater]
(1.889) The ability to turn PIL (Picture in List) off. [plehrack]
(1.843) A clock display on the face of the HR20 box [RobertE]
(1.810) Closed Captioning enabled during 1X FF [Dusty, Capmeister]
(1.664) The ability to queue shows for playback at a certain time [HiDefGator]
Removals from the list - Suitable Workaround
03-Nov-2006 (3.263) The ability to specify the time or day to record a series... eg. a weekly show is on at 3pm and replayed at 11pm - option to record the 11pm one
Manual Record appears to be a suitable workaround
03-Nov-2006 (3.025) The ability to suspend Season Passes/Series Links rather than deleting them.
Suitable Workaround work-around:
==> See p. 4 under Recording. You can?t suspend recording but you can set First Run Only and to only save 1 Episode. So instead of no shows, you will have one. Check out the Unofficial Tips & Tricks (http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=67933)
Removals from the list - Significantly Negative
None
Changes to wording
The ability to have the MyVOD list display more shows on the screen at the same time
- previously - The ability to have the MyVOD list display more shows
The ability to turn Picture-in-List off to prevent spoiling a broadcast that may still be in progress
- previously - The ability to turn PIL (Picture in List) off
The ability to get guide info from more than two DMAs (up to five) to support significantly viewed channels as well as multiple over-the-air DMA sources
- previously - The ability to get guide info from more than two DMAs (up to five)
Milominderbinder2
11-03-06, 11:21 AM
Doug,
Here is a feature that we can already do!
The ability to start slow motion from a paused state [pattcap]
The HR-20 allows the user to PAUSE and then with a single key press choose to:
>> - Go Frame-by-frame forward
<< - Go Frame-by-frame backwards
PLAY - PLAY at regular speed
SLOW - Press and hold PLAY for 3 second to play in slow motion just as always!
Just like Preggo, “It’s In There!”
This request as stated is done but I think that they mean this instead:
An option to Autorecord by nameTitle over all channels rather than a fixed channel [toy4two, joekun]
I think that these ideas are just trying to find ways to get more information on screen at one time. We just want an option to have more channels or recordings listed on screen. We can be consolidated:
A way to change the font size of the guide [Dusty]
The ability to have the MyVOD list display more shows [runopenloop]
The ability to turn PIL (Picture in List) off. [plehrack]
They can be consolidated into a single feature request:
Allow an option to show more channels in Guide or recordings in MyVOD: Smaller fonts? Turn off PIL (Picture in List)? [Dusty, runopenloop, plehrack]
I think that these two feature requests will both be addressed by dual live buffers:
Dual Live Buffers [drawnad]
Do not clear Live Buffer when changing channels - keep old-channel content [SkyFlash]
They could be consolidated into:
Dual Live Buffers [drawnad, SkyFlash]
Could these requests be consolodated?
Include side/smart stretch as a format option [Slip Jigs]
A mode on the HR20 that would "stretch plus" a 480i signal that has been upconverted to 720p or 1080i [ShapeGSX]
Into:
Add a Format option to (zoom, side/smart stretch, stretch plus, upconvert) 480 to 720 or 1080. [Slip Jigs, ShapeGSX]
EDIT: The Obsolete items are already there! Sorry Doug. When you get the survey results, just click CHanges to see the 7 removed items and the 16 added items. I missed that before.
Finally please keep the removals from list maybe in your sticky note so that people do not start coming back asking for these same features that already exist.
25-Oct-2006 (2.939) An option to list channels in column and time in rows, so I can get a quick glance of what is coming in the next a few hours on one particular channel.
25-Oct-2006 (3.265) The ability to change the default options on series link
25-Oct-2006 (3.994) Live buffer continues recording the last channel while watching a recorded show
25-Oct-2006 (3.167) The ability to sort or filter the MyVod list
25-Oct-2006 (2.932) The ability to mark and delete multiple items in the MyVOD list
Thanks for your work,
- Craig
CerpinTaxt
11-03-06, 11:23 AM
"Turn off "searching for satellite" message when watching a program from MyVOD"
I think this should only be displayed when you have actually lost the signal. I get it all the time when all my channels are coming in just fine while watching live TV. The fact that it comes up during a RECORDED program is just dumb. If it has to pop up, at least give us the option to clear it. I know you can do the sig test, but that's too much work and it will cancel your current recording.
Andrew_J_M
11-03-06, 11:40 AM
I think that these ideas are just trying to find ways to get more information on screen at one time. We just want an option to have more channels or recordings listed on screen. We can be consolidated:
A way to change the font size of the guide [Dusty]
The ability to have the MyVOD list display more shows [runopenloop]
The ability to turn PIL (Picture in List) off. [plehrack]
They can be consolidated into a single feature request:
Allow an option to show more channels in Guide or recordings in MyVOD: Smaller fonts? Turn off PIL (Picture in List)? [Dusty, runopenloop, plehrack]
I think that turning off Picture-In-List and Picture-In-Guide has another purpose - that is to remove the possibility of "spoiling". If I'm recording a race I don't want P-I-L when I'm looking for something to watch until the race ends.
I would also like an option to auto-mute when in List or Guide, perhaps in any area except actually watching a show.
Andrew_J_M
11-03-06, 11:48 AM
From the survey:
"Return to last entry on MyVOD rather than starting at the top each time [Leftcoastdave] "
That is working now, as of 0xE3.
"A confirm delete after hitting DASH-DASH. [rkester] "
I would prefer to use two different buttons rather than the same button twice, just like the Tivos (yes, the Tivo UI does sometimes get it right).
Milominderbinder2
11-03-06, 11:54 AM
Doug, now that we have the clarification, this option is in fact already done.
The ability to turn Picture-in-List off to prevent spoiling a broadcast that may still be in progress [plehrack]
The HR-20 gives you two options for the Picture in List (PIL)
Press LIST and the PIL will continue so that you can keep watching.
Press PAUSE then LIST and the PIL will stop right where you left off.
We already have the same two options when you go into GUIDE as well:
Press GUIDE and the PIL will continue so that you can keep watching.
Press PAUSE then GUIDE and the PIL will stop right where you left off.
If you elect the PAUSE LIST or GUIDE option, the best part is that when you come back out of the MyVOD or GUIDE , your program is already queued up waiting for you.
This feature option has always been there. I will get it documented better in the next Tips release.
-Craig
Doug Brott
11-03-06, 12:04 PM
"Return to last entry on MyVOD rather than starting at the top each time [Leftcoastdave] "
That is working now, as of 0xE3.
I just tried this and it didn't work. Perhaps the wording needs to be changed or maybe I'm misunderstanding something.
I pressed LIST to bring up MyVOD. I scrolled down to a show and started watching it. I then pressed EXIT to leave the show and go back to live TV. I then pressed LIST again and the cursor was at the top of MyVOD rather than on the show I just watched.
Andrew_J_M
11-03-06, 12:04 PM
Doug, now that we have the clarification, this option is in fact already done.
The ability to turn Picture-in-List off to prevent spoiling a broadcast that may still be in progress [plehrack]
The HR-20 gives you two options for the Picture in List (PIL)
Press LIST and the PIL will continue so that you can keep watching.
Press PAUSE then LIST and the PIL will stop right where you left off.
We already have the same two options when you go into GUIDE as well:
Press GUIDE and the PIL will continue so that you can keep watching.
Press PAUSE then GUIDE and the PIL will stop right where you left off.
If you elect the PAUSE LIST or GUIDE option, the best part is that when you come back out of the MyVOD or GUIDE , your program is already queued up waiting for you.
This feature option has always been there. I will get it documented better in the next Tips release.
-Craig
I don't think that is really any more than a temporary work-around. It doesn't give you any extra "real estate" and assumes that you are going from watching a show to the guide or list.
Whenever I switch my A/v receiver to a different DVR I always hit list first on that DVR so that I don't go into a running show, nor do I get hit with high volume when I don't expect it.
CerpinTaxt
11-03-06, 12:08 PM
I just tried this and it didn't work. Perhaps the wording needs to be changed or maybe I'm misunderstanding something.
I pressed LIST to bring up MyVOD. I scrolled down to a show and started watching it. I then pressed EXIT to leave the show and go back to live TV. I then pressed LIST again and the cursor was at the top of MyVOD rather than on the show I just watched.
rather than pressing list again, press the "back" button.
Doug Brott
11-03-06, 12:12 PM
Doug, now that we have the clarification, this option is in fact already done.
The ability to turn Picture-in-List off to prevent spoiling a broadcast that may still be in progress [plehrack]
The HR-20 gives you two options for the Picture in List (PIL)
Press LIST and the PIL will continue so that you can keep watching.
Press PAUSE then LIST and the PIL will stop right where you left off.
We already have the same two options when you go into GUIDE as well:
Press GUIDE and the PIL will continue so that you can keep watching.
Press PAUSE then GUIDE and the PIL will stop right where you left off.
If you elect the PAUSE LIST or GUIDE option, the best part is that when you come back out of the MyVOD or GUIDE , your program is already queued up waiting for you.
This feature option has always been there. I will get it documented better in the next Tips release.
-Craig
Yes, this will work in numerous cases. However, the most notable case where this can be problematic is for sporting events. I'll give you an example. I want to watch a Football game on Saturday, but I have some yard work to do first. I start the HR20 recording at the beginning of the game, shut off the TV and start my yard work. After I finish the yard work, I return to the TV, press the LIST button so the video is not on the screen (TiVo method) and then turn the TV on to find my program in the list. With the HR20, I could also press PAUSE to make sure that the action and audio have stopped. However, the video of the unfinished game is still there in the upper right hand corner. Since the score of a game is typically shown almost all of the time, there is a very high likely hood that the score is on the screen, thus potentially spoiling part of the game for me.
It's great that the screen exists, but I sure would like to be able to turn it off sometimes so that no audio or video would be displayed when in the list or guide.
Andrew_J_M
11-03-06, 12:14 PM
When there is a conflict between two shows because they overlap by a short time I would like the option to allow either the second show to start recording late or for the earlier show to stop recording early, possibly based on the Prioritiser.
So for example if show A is from 8:00 - 9:01, B is from 8:00-9:00, C is from 9:00 - 10:00 and D from 9:00 - 10:00 it would give the option of a) ending A early, b) starting C late or c) starting D late.
Currently either C or D wouldn't record.
Kapeman
11-03-06, 03:34 PM
I know that these answers can't be seen as an official statement and are really just the response from a single person, but what struck me as I read through many of the replies was this basic attitude: "It works the way WE designed it and that's the way it is. Just because you don't like the way we designed it doesn't mean that we're going to change it." In other words, "We don't really care what the customer wants, we designed it the way we want." Many of the replies that basically state that "it already does that" offer a way to do something that is not very intuitive or isn't the functionality that is desired, but a work around to achieve (maybe) the same or only similar functionality, instead of admitting that it doesn't really do that. Sometimes it's really obvious that this person has never used a TiVo of any kind. It also bothers me that this is a person "who helps relay customer concerns to the programmers." It looks like a lot of the customer concerns are being filtered by this person's idea of what's important and what's not.
I also really resent the replies that in essence say, "The general public is too dumb/confused to understand how to (insert function here)" or "The menu is already too confusing". Then why not have an advanced menu that allows more sophisticated users wanting more control and more options an option to enable this? Lots of programs have this and the DVR is just running a program.
Can you say. "GATEKEEPER!".
I loathe it when people that are supposed to be liasons turn into information filters.
Especially when they don't have an understanding of the subject matter.
The programmers could be working away happily not knowing what the customers really want.
mtnagel
11-03-06, 03:53 PM
I just tried this and it didn't work. Perhaps the wording needs to be changed or maybe I'm misunderstanding something.
I pressed LIST to bring up MyVOD. I scrolled down to a show and started watching it. I then pressed EXIT to leave the show and go back to live TV. I then pressed LIST again and the cursor was at the top of MyVOD rather than on the show I just watched.
rather than pressing list again, press the "back" button.Or Stop.
Milominderbinder2
11-05-06, 08:57 AM
Or Stop.
In most cases, you really want to use BACK to leave a recorded show and go back to MyVOD.
If you are in MyVOD and press STOP, it not only stops playing your recording, it reutrns you to live TV. This is especially bad if you are behind an hour watching a game. STOP does not return you down into MyVOD where you left off. STOP puts you back to the first listing in MyVOD.
This is in Version 2.6 of HR-20 Tips and Tricks and will be better documented in Version 2.7.
- Craig
mrshermanoaks
11-05-06, 08:57 PM
New item for the wishlist survey:
Increase the number of entries in the Prioritizer
Currently, once you hit 50 series links, you're done - no more. Ridiculous.
imakestoomuchsenseandiamn
11-05-06, 09:31 PM
stupid, do not erase any of them, let them all stay so we can see all the opinions people have, elimanting them, does not aloow newcomers to vote on these ones you have emiANATED,
COME ON think
talbain
11-05-06, 11:29 PM
lol i'm not reading all that...
mtnagel
11-06-06, 06:32 AM
In most cases, you really want to use BACK to leave a recorded show and go back to MyVOD.
If you are in MyVOD and press STOP, it not only stops playing your recording, it reutrns you to live TV. This is especially bad if you are behind an hour watching a game. STOP does not return you down into MyVOD where you left off. STOP puts you back to the first listing in MyVOD.
This is in Version 2.6 of HR-20 Tips and Tricks and will be better documented in Version 2.7.
- CraigStop does not take you to the first listing. It takes you to the one you are playing. At least on mine it does.
And yes it shows live tv, but when going between two games, I just hit mute and then switch to the other game without looking at the tiny window.
911medic
11-06-06, 07:15 AM
stupid, do not erase any of them, let them all stay so we can see all the opinions people have, elimanting them, does not aloow newcomers to vote on these ones you have emiANATED,
COME ON thinkWow. Now THERE's a humorous post! LOL
My daughter has Adelphia in Pittsburgh that is now being bought by Comcast.
While playing a recording in her list - I hit play again to see how far along I was into the program. The time bar came up, but to my surprise the program went into slow motion. Tapping play again it went back to play and tapping again went back to slow. This simple toggle was a lot more eloquent than what we have on the H20 and much better than smashing the key down for 3 seconds and waiting and hoping it will respond. Can we have this and also something similar for the skip to tick and skip to end functions!
If they can do this on an otherwise mediocre Scientific Atlanta DVR surely we can do as good or better on the H20 software.
Milominderbinder2
11-06-06, 10:18 AM
When you are in MyVOD, the ► PLAY button is the WHERE AM I? button. Press EXIT - to clear the time bar.
We use this all the time to see how far we are into a show. Please don't ask that the WHERE AM I button sometimes be the SLOW button! We have gotten really comfotable with the SLOW feature being the press and hold ► PLAY.
- Craig
mrshermanoaks
11-06-06, 10:35 AM
When you are in MyVOD, the ? PLAY button is the WHERE AM I? button. Press EXIT - to clear the time bar.
We use this all the time to see how far we are into a show. Please don't ask that the WHERE AM I button sometimes be the SLOW button! We have gotten really comfotable with the SLOW feature being the press and hold ? PLAY.
All I know is that it's a little silly to ask you to know 3 second ahead of where you want to slow motion. It's kinda like asking you to know 3 seconds before you want to exit FF - by the time you hit the button, you've probably overshot what you wanted to see.
Doug Brott
11-06-06, 10:42 AM
Doug,
Here is a feature that we can already do!
The ability to start slow motion from a paused state [pattcap]
The HR-20 allows the user to PAUSE and then with a single key press choose to:
>> - Go Frame-by-frame forward
<< - Go Frame-by-frame backwards
PLAY - PLAY at regular speed
SLOW - Press and hold PLAY for 3 second to play in slow motion just as always!
Just like Preggo, “It’s In There!”
I have removed The ability to start slow motion from a paused state from the list
This request as stated is done but I think that they mean this instead:
An option to Autorecord by nameTitle over all channels rather than a fixed channel [toy4two, joekun]
I've updated the wording to read An option to autorecord by title over all channels rather than a fixed channel.
Doug Brott
11-06-06, 10:50 AM
stupid, do not erase any of them, let them all stay so we can see all the opinions people have, elimanting them, does not aloow newcomers to vote on these ones you have emiANATED,
COME ON think
I've posted my guidelines. Nothing is being hidden from you. The items that are significantly negative are clearly not desired by the survey participants. If it's not wished for, it doesn't need to be on the wish list.
If you want it to stay on the list, vote more positive for an item.
When you are in MyVOD, the ► PLAY button is the WHERE AM I? button. Press EXIT - to clear the time bar.
We use this all the time to see how far we are into a show. Please don't ask that the WHERE AM I button sometimes be the SLOW button! We have gotten really comfotable with the SLOW feature being the press and hold ► PLAY.
- Craig
I have the RC32 remote in the RF mode. Sometimes I have to hold for a good bit longer than 3 seconds before the unit responds to get to slow motion and more often than not I can't get the unit to respond to skip to tick or skip to end w/o pressing those buttons down several times for which seems like a lot longer than 3 sec to me. Maybe I'll try going back to the IR mode.
Is anyone else getting intermittent responses to skip to tick and skip to end in RF mode? I would just like single key presses on one key or a sequence of two keys to preform these functions.
CerpinTaxt
11-06-06, 11:25 AM
I have the RC32 remote in the RF mode. Sometimes I have to hold for a good bit longer than 3 seconds before the unit responds to get to slow motion and more often than not I can't get the unit to respond to skip to tick or skip to end w/o pressing those buttons down several times for which seems like a lot longer than 3 sec to me. Maybe I'll try going back to the IR mode.
Is anyone else getting intermittent responses to skip to tick and skip to end in RF mode? I would just like single key presses on one key or a sequence of two keys to preform these functions.
mine is very intermittent too...almost never works the first time.
joejhawk
11-06-06, 11:30 AM
I have the RC32 remote in the RF mode. Sometimes I have to hold for a good bit longer than 3 seconds before the unit responds to get to slow motion and more often than not I can't get the unit to respond to skip to tick or skip to end w/o pressing those buttons down several times for which seems like a lot longer than 3 sec to me. Maybe I'll try going back to the IR mode.
Is anyone else getting intermittent responses to skip to tick and skip to end in RF mode? I would just like single key presses on one key or a sequence of two keys to preform these functions.
VERY inconsistent! VERY irrirating!
Milominderbinder2
11-06-06, 11:50 AM
Would you like to see the current survey results?
Maybe you want to know what requests have been removed?
Here are these links and more:
Take the Wishlist Survey (http://www.redh.com/hr20/index.php)
Changes & Deletions Made to Wishlist (http://www.redh.com/hr20/index.php?module=changes)
All Time Survey Results (http://www.redh.com/hr20/index.php?module=results)
Survey Results From Just Today (http://www.redh.com/hr20/index.php?module=results&op=_list&l=day)
Survey Results From Just the Past Week (http://www.redh.com/hr20/index.php?module=results&op=_list&l=week)
Maybe these should be in the first note in the thread? I know that is getting long but some (including me) did not realize that all of this was already there.
Again, great job.
- Craig
crockett
11-07-06, 11:12 AM
O.k. I did a search and can't find this request or feature that might already be there.
I use search a lot. When I spot something I can't press record on it twice to set up a series link. If you press record it just toggles the "R" on and off instead of going "R", "RRR", "Blank".
To set up a series link, I've been backing out of search, locating that program in the guide and pressing record twice while in the guide.
Is there an easier way to set up a series link on programs found using the search functions?
Thanks.
SockMonkey
11-07-06, 11:50 AM
Last night I was playing some saved recordings for my son and I had a thought about a few new features I'd like to see. I checked the survey list for them, but didn't see them there yet. So, for your consideration, a couple new features.
First, I'd like to see the ability to playback all items in a particular folder (or possibly the ability to select multiple items to playback). So, let's say you had 3 episodes of "Lost" that you haven't watched... select the lost folder and have them play in a selected order (maybe record date from oldest to newest). Or have them play in a specified order (for example if they reran one that you missed for some reason and the record date was not the actual order of the show episodes).
Second, I'd like to see the ability to automatically have playback of a recording automatically repeat or a selected list or group of shows (see above) repeat. I personally can't see myself watching shows over and over again, but my 2 and 3 year old certainly would. Some of the short 5 minute shows they watch (ie: Thomas the Tank Engine on PBS Sprout) would be nice to be able to select the 5 episoodes I have saved and put them on repeat.
Just a few thoughts. If I somehow missed these on the current wish list, I apologize.
Bob
joejhawk
11-07-06, 12:13 PM
First, I'd like to see the ability to playback all items in a particular folder (or possibly the ability to select multiple items to playback). So, let's say you had 3 episodes of "Lost" that you haven't watched... select the lost folder and have them play in a selected order (maybe record date from oldest to newest). Or have them play in a specified order (for example if they reran one that you missed for some reason and the record date was not the actual order of the show episodes).
Or stated another way..."I would like the ability to play 4 episodes of Dora and go back to bed for 2 hours."
I like this one, good suggestion!!
SockMonkey
11-07-06, 12:19 PM
Or stated another way..."I would like the ability to play 4 episodes of Dora and go back to bed for 2 hours."
:lol: LOL!!! HA HA HA... And use the repeat function and sleep for 4 hours. :righton:
I like this one, good suggestion!!
Thanks, glad someone else sees the value in them! :D
Bob
Andrew_J_M
11-07-06, 01:22 PM
First, I'd like to see the ability to playback all items in a particular folder (or possibly the ability to select multiple items to playback). So, let's say you had 3 episodes of "Lost" that you haven't watched... select the lost folder and have them play in a selected order (maybe record date from oldest to newest). Or have them play in a specified order (for example if they reran one that you missed for some reason and the record date was not the actual order of the show episodes).
I think the Sky+ DVR allows you do that so that you can archive a group of shows to tape or DVD. Good feature.
Milominderbinder2
11-07-06, 02:27 PM
Update:
I took back some of our clarifications and also got updates on some of the previous feature requests from last week's call.
First, I want to note that our Wishlist is a positive way of criticizing. Instead of saying, “You are fat,” we are saying “Let's go to the gym!” We want people who work on the products to take ownership. Saying their product does not do something is like criticizing their baby.
300 of us missed that eight of our Wishlist features already existed. We also had two other requests that as worded already existed.
Finally, if we can show that a feature does exist and all we want is for it to work better, that may be more easily accepted. It may also be easier to tweak an existing feature than to write a new module. How we word our requests is important.
Here are my notes from my follow-up conversation the 6th.
When is the next update?
The chance of an update the 8th is low. Beyond that I can’t tell you.
When will we get Over the Air
Last week the Level 1 CSR OTA script was changed regarding the question:
"When will we get Over The Air?"
Since September the answer had been:
"By the end of this year"
Now it is:
"You will have OTA by December 1st."
OTA updates will start sooner because they need 1 week to cycle the updates through all of the HR20's. No more everyone in a night. They did e3 over a full week. Then they need another week for the units that missed the first time.
A confirm delete after hitting DASH-DASH. [rkester]
I have an update on double dash. Users want this to be as fast as possible. Yes the display response may not be fast enough and the user may double dash again inadvertently deleting two shows. You will be seeing faster screen updates. If you want a confirmation use Select – Delete. If you want speed, double dash.
The ability to left-cursor out of menus in addition to selecting Done [Mark_M]
The left cursor out of menus does work in certain places such as when you have made a first level selection in the Mini Guide. Are you saying that you want the left arrow to work like the Back button in all menus?
Wrap the cursor to the bottom or top when reaching the top or bottom of a menu pane [bagleyb]
It was a conscious decision that you do not wrap to top or wrap to bottom. The top item is typically the PIL gold frame [Picture In List]. Tests showed that users had trouble with wrap.
Show keep/delete message when stopping a recording in the last few minutes of a show [mtnagel]
The software pops the delete splash based on the file-end flag coming back from the drive. This change would be more than just changing a variable. It requires changing the flag.
Faster Fast Forward (4x, 5x, etc.) [Dusty, Radio Enginerd, tigerpaw78]
This is still in the current manual. There never was a 5x. The fifth press returned to PLAY. 4x is on the list but putting it back right now makes the pixilation and reliability problems worse. Some OTA is even worse with higher data flow. First we have to make sure that 3x is stable and does not pixilate high content OTA.
Ability to manually remove channels you don't get (HBO, Showtime, Starz, etc) or don't want (SD channels that have HD versions) completely from your channel lineup. [joekun, gdiddy]
The original spec was that Search by would use your selected Custom channel filter. I do not have an answer yet as to why that changed.
More favorites lists [RobertE, PoitNarf]
Is your bigger issue that you want Search By to use your Custom1 or Custom2?
Undelete - the ability to (possibly) restore a deleted program [rrbhokies]
It appears that this cannot be added to the HR20. Is there any DVR that can reliably undelete one file while two others are being streamed? That’s quite a DMA trick.
The ability to hide certain folders based on content (R-rated, MA, etc.) [Alan Gordon]
The simple answer might have been just to apply the same Parental Controls in MyVOD as in the Guide. However, Parental Controls for stored files is different than Parental Controls filter on listings in the Guide. It was not considered at design.
A way to change the font size of the guide [Dusty]
(I explained that what we really want is more stuff on the screen.)
No one wants to add more to the screens at this time. User tests show we are already busy enough. More content also takes more time to populate and slows response.
Actual list of disk usage in MBs/GBs %, per program as well [Gotchaa]
This is just a matter of not displaying more of the header info. I don’t think this is passed to MyVOD. Also we are back to the issue of overloading users with screen content. The HR20 is already perceived as having too many menu options.
An option to Autorecord by title over all channels rather than a fixed channel [toy4two, joekun]
Autorecord should work on Search by Title just like it does for Search By Person or Keyword. It could have been overlooked.
Doug Brott
11-07-06, 02:44 PM
Craig,
Thanks again for the time. I'm assuming that you pointed your contact to the list. Clearly some of the items are technically impossible which means that they will not be implemented. We're just a bunch of folks out here in user-land that are trying to get our voice heard. I'm still going to manage the list in the same manner - if its wished for, it should be on the wish list :).
I also agree that the wish list is not a mechanism for criticizing the past, but more a way to help improve the product going forward.
mtnagel
11-07-06, 04:58 PM
Show keep/delete message when stopping a recording in the last few minutes of a show [mtnagel]
The software pops the delete splash based on the file-end flag coming back from the drive. This change would be more than just changing a variable. It requires changing the flag.Thanks for asking about that. I didn't realize it was added to the list.
I don't really understand the answer. Is he saying it's impossible to do or difficult to implement now?
I'm not sure how Tivo does it. I wonder if it uses a set time, like say if you are in the last 5 minutes, to bring up the Delete message or if it's a percentage, like in the last 10%. Either way would be fine.
Or course I've learned to deal with it with the HR20. If I want to delete it, I just use the stop or back button to take me back to my list and then use the 2x dash. But if I want to save a program for my wife, I don't want to leave it at the end for her, so I always make sure to skip to beginning before exiting. With tivo, I just pressed list or live tv and it would ask to keep or delete and I would hit keep and then it would start at the beginning for her. Tivo seems better, but I could get used to my work around.
mikepatt
11-07-06, 06:04 PM
New item for the wishlist survey:
Increase the number of entries in the Prioritizer
Currently, once you hit 50 series links, you're done - no more. Ridiculous.
I agree. I just took the survey and this definately should be added.
Mike
Milominderbinder2
11-07-06, 06:05 PM
Doug,
If we ask for a new feature, they have every right to say, “We will look at additions later.”
If we say, please enable the features you promised on the box, in the manual, and at the investor’s meetings, we have stronger position. To do that we need to use their exact words and cite where they are from.
Here are four existing features promised in the manual that do not work as promised.:
Enable Faster Fast Forward as shown in the owner’s manual on page iv.
–► The manual states that there is a 4x Fast Forward. Please enable it.
The Replay button does not consistently jump back 6 seconds per manual page iv.
–►Please make Replay consistently go back 6 seconds as promised.
EDIT: THE NEXT TWO ITEMS HAVE BEEN CLARIFIED:
Allow Autorecord after a Search by Title as described in the manual on pp. 20 & 31 [toy4two, joekun]
–►”Programs that match a Search (see Search, page 31) can be scheduled to autorecord. p. 20.
–►”You can find a program by Title, Person, Keyword or Channel.” p. 31.
–► Enable the promised search by Title and then Autorecord.
Enable Parental Controls in MyVOD as defined in the owner’s manual on page 34:
–►Parental Control must apply to MyVOD™ as well as the Guide.
–►Otherwise the parent's groups need to know about this before Christmas.
–►This is a slight change from:
"The ability to hide certain folders based on content (R-rated, MA, etc.)" but does not requrie a new module or a second set or parental controls.
Here are two features promised at the 02/22/06 Investor Meeting:
Rollout Hard drive expansion device to increased storage without need to replace the original DVR as a consumer installable device – Investor Day 2/22/06 Slide 41.
–►Please enable this feature.
–►Use their words instead of: “Enable eSATA port to allow more recording time”
Rollout DIRECTV in the Digital Home: “DIRECTV 2 Go” – Investor Day 2/22/06 Slide 45.
–►Please enable this feature.
–►Use their words instead of:” Multi-Room Viewing via the Ethernet Port”.
Four of our requests are just tweaks of existing features.
Allow Easier Access to Dual Live Buffers
–►Just set up an internal macro on the down arrow to do this. We have given them the keystrokes.
EDIT: THIS ITME HAS BEEN CLARIFIED:
Apply Current Channels as a filter during Search By
–►This just would use the existing filter instead of “Ability to remove channels…”
Show delete/keep popup when stopping in the last few minutes of a recording.
–►This is a tweak, not a new feature.
In Search By Title add the colon “:” to be able to search for shows like CSI: NY
–►It is one of the most popular shows and the HR20 can’t search for it or CSI: Miami
–►This is just a character on an existing screen.
I for one would like to see them start by giving the six features already priomisedabove as well as OTA.
What do you think?
- Craig
Herdfan
11-07-06, 06:19 PM
[The ability to left-cursor out of menus in addition to selecting Done [Mark_M]
The left cursor out of menus does work in certain places such as when you have made a first level selection in the Mini Guide. Are you saying that you want the left arrow to work like the Back button in all menus?
Yes! Not only that, but maybe have the Right Arrow double as the INFO button. Just like on a TiVo.
Wrap the cursor to the bottom or top when reaching the top or bottom of a menu pane [bagleyb]
It was a conscious decision that you do not wrap to top or wrap to bottom. The top item is typically the PIL gold frame [Picture In List]. Tests showed that users had trouble with wrap.
So we don't get this feature because the Beta Testers were stupid?:confused:
I would love to see this one addressed:
Return to last entry on MyVOD rather than starting at the top each time [Leftcoastdave]
Not only does it remind you what you were watching last, (yeah, sometimes you forget) but it's also just plain cumbersome to scroll all over again.
mtnagel
11-07-06, 07:51 PM
I would love to see this one addressed:
Return to last entry on MyVOD rather than starting at the top each time [Leftcoastdave]
Not only does it remind you what you were watching last, (yeah, sometimes you forget) but it's also just plain cumbersome to scroll all over again.I feel like I've answered this several times today. The answer is in this thread (http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?p=714862).
Basically,
-if you press play to watch the show from MyVOD, the Back button should take you to the list with the show you are watching highlighted and it will still be playing in the window
-if you press play to watch the show from MyVOD, the Stop button should take you to the list with the show you are watching highlighted, but it will take you to live in the window if you are watching a show that is still recording. Or it will be live tv tuned to the last channel you are watching if it was recorded (I think)
-if you select a show in MyVOD by using the select button and then selecting play on the screen, back and stop will take you back to the info screen with the play, delete, etc. options. Not sure on what plays in the window.
Milominderbinder2
11-08-06, 12:00 AM
I would love to see this one addressed:
Return to last entry on MyVOD rather than starting at the top each time [Leftcoastdave]
Not only does it remind you what you were watching last, (yeah, sometimes you forget) but it's also just plain cumbersome to scroll all over again.
This and and a dozen other undocumented tips are in the HR-20 Tips. Click the link below.
- Craig
Yes, this will work in numerous cases. However, the most notable case where this can be problematic is for sporting events. I'll give you an example. I want to watch a Football game on Saturday, but I have some yard work to do first. I start the HR20 recording at the beginning of the game, shut off the TV and start my yard work. After I finish the yard work, I return to the TV, press the LIST button so the video is not on the screen (TiVo method) and then turn the TV on to find my program in the list. With the HR20, I could also press PAUSE to make sure that the action and audio have stopped. However, the video of the unfinished game is still there in the upper right hand corner. Since the score of a game is typically shown almost all of the time, there is a very high likely hood that the score is on the screen, thus potentially spoiling part of the game for me.
It's great that the screen exists, but I sure would like to be able to turn it off sometimes so that no audio or video would be displayed when in the list or guide.
Possible workaround:
Assuming you are not recording 2 games (or any 2 channels that you don't want to see in the middle, I suppose), you can just change the channel before turning the TV on. (for programs being recorded at least... assuming no BSOD) :)
bagleyb
11-08-06, 08:35 AM
[QUOTE=Herdfan;So we don't get this feature because the Beta Testers were stupid?:confused:[/QUOTE]
There are at least 5 menus that do wrap. Favorites, channels I receive, HD Channels and whatever the other guide options are called. Granted, they're really all just a subset of the same thing, but they still wrap none the less. Just looking for a little consistency.
Doug Brott
11-08-06, 08:37 AM
HR20 Wish List Changes 08-Nov-2006
Removed from list
08-Nov-2006 - Final Value of 3.893 from 84 Responses - Created 03-Nov-2006
Turn off "searching for satellite" message when watching a program from MyVOD
Available with Software Release 0xEB - www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=69545
I feel like I've answered this several times today. The answer is in this thread (http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?p=714862).
Basically,
-if you press play to watch the show from MyVOD, the Back button should take you to the list with the show you are watching highlighted and it will still be playing in the window
-if you press play to watch the show from MyVOD, the Stop button should take you to the list with the show you are watching highlighted, but it will take you to live in the window if you are watching a show that is still recording. Or it will be live tv tuned to the last channel you are watching if it was recorded (I think)
-if you select a show in MyVOD by using the select button and then selecting play on the screen, back and stop will take you back to the info screen with the play, delete, etc. options. Not sure on what plays in the window.
This and and a dozen other undocumented tips are in the HR-20 Tips. Click the link below.
- Craig
I want to thank you guys and apologize for missing the other thread. That back button sure is helpful. However, since it's a wishlist survey thread, I must confess to still wishing for the List button to perform this behavior as well. It's definitely less of a big deal though, since there is another way. I could get used to it.
mtnagel
11-08-06, 09:03 AM
I want to thank you guys and apologize for missing the other thread. That back button sure is helpful. However, since it's a wishlist survey thread, I must confess to still wishing for the List button to perform this behavior as well. It's definitely less of a big deal though, since there is another way. I could get used to it.No need to apologize. I guess my response could be construed as a little snippy when I didn't mean it at all. It will definitely take some getting used to, but I think I'm mostly there. I think some people it will take longer, like if my parents ever switched. I know I would get daily calls on how things work, but they have had a Dtivo for probably 5 years now.
Doug Brott
11-08-06, 10:05 AM
Enable Faster Fast Forward as shown in the owner’s manual on page iv.
–► The manual states that there is a 4x Fast Forward. Please enable it.
The Replay button does not consistently jump back 6 seconds per manual page iv.
–►Please make Replay consistently go back 6 seconds as promised.
Allow Easier Access to Dual Live Buffers
–►Just set up an internal macro on the down arrow to do this. We have given them the keystrokes.
Craig,
I made adjustments to the wording for the items above.
Kapeman
11-08-06, 10:47 AM
I still have a problem with the pat answer of: "That's what manual recordings are for."
Not having to do manual recordings: "That's what a DVR is for."
gr8reb8
11-08-06, 11:45 AM
One more wish:
I would like the option to disable the screen saver. Perhaps it could be an option turned on or off in the display menu.
Update:
The ability to left-cursor out of menus in addition to selecting Done [Mark_M]
The left cursor out of menus does work in certain places such as when you have made a first level selection in the Mini Guide. Are you saying that you want the left arrow to work like the Back button in all menus?
Yes. I would at a minimum want this every place you have to cursor down to "Done" to go back, e.g. when selecting a recording to play from you MyVod list and you change your mind and decide not to watch it.
If I could have the ultimate design I would have LEFT cursor take you back to where you just came from and the RIGHT cursor move you back into where you just left. Sort of like the scrolling (or rolling) menu trees similar to way the IPod and Tivo menus work. IMHO, I think the cursor keys would be more intuitive for moving forward and backward in menus than just depending on the Back, Exit, Previous, and similar buttons.
Doug Brott
11-08-06, 12:06 PM
IMHO, I think the cursor keys would be more intuitive for moving forward and backward in menus than just depending on the Back, Exit, Previous, and similar buttons.
I would like to echo this sentiment.
I think I saw someone request that the screensaver have an on/off switch, which might be an option, but how about having the caller ID wake up the screensaver?
nocaster
11-09-06, 07:51 AM
This is probably a long shot, but how about iPod compatability. You plug in your iPod to the USB jack and play your files via a GUI on the HR20.
Doug Brott
11-09-06, 08:20 AM
This is probably a long shot, but how about iPod compatability. You plug in your iPod to the USB jack and play your files via a GUI on the HR20.
That request is already on the list as noted below. Unfortunately, it is not fairing as well as you might have hoped. Time to vote?
63 (2.231) Ability to add and playback MP3s [Gotchaa]
SockMonkey
11-09-06, 10:13 AM
That request is already on the list as noted below. Unfortunately, it is not fairing as well as you might have hoped. Time to vote?
63 (2.231) Ability to add and playback MP3s [Gotchaa]
I think he may have meant the ability to playback videos stored on a 5G Video iPod. Maybe this item on the survey could be updated to include video playback and not just MP3? Or perhaps it's a seperate item. Even though I don't see it happening, I think it's a good idea.
Bob
nocaster
11-09-06, 10:25 AM
I think he may have meant the ability to playback videos stored on a 5G Video iPod. Maybe this item on the survey could be updated to include video playback and not just MP3? Or perhaps it's a seperate item. Even though I don't see it happening, I think it's a good idea.
Bob
Well, what I really meant was the ability to use an iPod as a slave type device like many car stereos do. Basically, you plug in the iPod and a GUI front end displays your music info on screen and you browse and play your files via remote. This would be a great way to play iPod files on a home theater. The HR20 basically becomes the GUI for the iPod. A friend of mine uses the USB port on his cable DVR to charge his iPod.
dervari
11-09-06, 03:49 PM
I would like to see the date and time of the episode when I hit INFO while watching a recorded program, not the current date and time.
Doug Brott
11-10-06, 04:21 PM
When there is a conflict between two shows because they overlap by a short time I would like the option to allow either the second show to start recording late or for the earlier show to stop recording early, possibly based on the Prioritiser.
So for example if show A is from 8:00 - 9:01, B is from 8:00-9:00, C is from 9:00 - 10:00 and D from 9:00 - 10:00 it would give the option of a) ending A early, b) starting C late or c) starting D late.
Currently either C or D wouldn't record.
I believe that the following Wish List item is the same thing:
Negative padding - the ability to start a recording late and/or end it early [mbuser]
Doug Brott
11-10-06, 05:01 PM
HR20 Wish List Changes 10-Nov-2006
I made a significant number of changes to the list this week. Please take the survey again as I try to better focus the information.
- I have added categories to each item on the list and tried to sort them appropriately. If you take the survey now, the items are broken into categories. Reports are now available for All categories combined (what you saw before) or by 10-Nov-2006 category
- I have removed some of the items from the list to try and better focus the information. If there is an up swell of support for any of the items that have been removed, then it's easy to put it back onto the list. Otherwise, it stays off.
- I have combined some similar items into a single item. This is for readability and again, to better focus the information.
- I have again made some modifications to the wording. Check out the Changes page on the Wish List for more information
- I have added a checkbox to remember your choices. Now you can re-enter the form after the 30-minute wait and not have to fill in all of the bubbles again. Make sure you check the checkbox or the data will be erased like before. This is only good for a browser session, so if you close your browser, the information will be lost.
Additions to the List
10-Nov-2006 Increase the number of items in the prioritizer - the current limit is 50
Combination of existing Items into a single item
10-Nov-2006 The ability to load/play multimedia files from an external source (iPod, PC, etc.)
- Ability to add and playback MP3s
- The ability to play slide show of movies or video (perhaps via USB)
10-Nov-2006 Save Guide/Interactive data on HDD for easy recovery after reset
- Guide data stored on the HD for quick recover after a reset
- Remember your settings for the Weather active program across reboots
10-Nov-2006 Option to view more technical information about a recording (MPEG2 or MPEG4, disk usage, etc.)
- Info about the recorded format type MPEG2 or MPEG4
- Actual list of disk usage in MBs/GBs %, per program as well
- Ability to tell the unit how much space to give to HD/SD/Showcases
10-Nov-2006 More functional search (ignore "The" and "A" at start of title, better search logic - AND, OR, NOT, include colon character)
- Treat words like "The" and "A" at the beginning of a title as optional during a search
- Better search logic (AND, OR, NOT)
- Better search - use letters from remote keypad, include symbols like colon
Chopping Block
Nothing this week
Removed from the list
06-Nov-2006 The ability to start slow motion from a paused state
08-Nov-2006 Turn off "searching for satellite" message when watching a program from MyVOD
10-Nov-2006 The ability to queue shows for playback at a certain time
10-Nov-2006 A clock display on the face of the HR20 box
10-Nov-2006 Set HR20 to use both ir and rf at the same time
10-Nov-2006 Revert-to channel - the ability to have a tuner go back to a specified channel after it finishes recording something
10-Nov-2006 A way to change the font size of the guide
10-Nov-2006 Skins/Themes - User settings, colors, favorites, etc.
10-Nov-2006 Simple edit functionality to reduce the size (on disk) of a recorded program
10-Nov-2006 Series links should be locked and not modifiable in the program guide, even for one episode
10-Nov-2006 Series Link option to record HD, SD, or Both
10-Nov-2006 A confirm delete after hitting DASH-DASH.
10-Nov-2006 The option of not recording more than 1 episode in 24 hour period
10-Nov-2006 In the prioritizer, the ability to page up/down to move series links by 5 positions instead of 1
10-Nov-2006 The ability to get guide info from more than two DMAs (up to five) to support significantly viewed channels as well as multiple over-the-air DMA sources.
10-Nov-2006 Ability to transfer settings to a new or replacement HR20 (perhaps via USB)
10-Nov-2006 a mode on the HR20 that would "stretch plus" a 480i signal that has been upconverted to 720p or 1080i
10-Nov-2006 Include side/smart stretch as a format option
Milominderbinder2
11-10-06, 10:10 PM
HR20 Wish List Changes 10-Nov-2006
I made a significant number of changes to the list this week. Please take the survey again as I try to better focus the information.
Wow! Is this great or what?
- Craig
Monty23
11-10-06, 10:43 PM
I am not seeing the proper format in the survey on my computer. The high to low scoring scale is aligned vertically and therefore doesn't indicate which end is higher up on the scale.
DjCalvin
11-13-06, 05:04 PM
Here is a suggestion, im not too sure how to put it in a surveyable question though. Feel free to mess with the wording.
If I search for a Show: say Lost.
I get lost, it shows me one on BN4 and the other on WBZ4 (i forgot the chans sorry)
I select the WBZ4 (HD one) when I go to do series Link, It then again prompts me with multiple channel options. (but it doesnt say bn4 or wbz4 now.)
The catch is, the info says HDTV at the end of the description, So if the description is long, HDTV gets cut out.
If they could move HDTV to the front, or Make an icon for HDTV when trying to set up a series link, that would save a bit of an annoyance. (i have to go redo the series links for HDTV)
Brott - Thanks for all your hard work.
Another request to add to this list please.
Make "Keep Until I Delete" (KUID) work at the users option, not the HR20's option. I wish it would work exactly like the Tivo did.
Right now if you Autorecord a search for KUID, say 3 episodes, and the HR20 finds a fourth episode it will delete the oldest KUID. I was watching a documentary on the Science channel set up as KUID, I manually stopped playing half way through the program and went out for an hour and to my surprise the HR20 found and recorded something else that matched my search while I was out and deleted the program that I hadn't finished watching. Unfortunately that program isn't coming up in the guide so I couldn't tell it to re-record.
I won't go until the details, but according to these threads Earl explains that that is the way D* designed this to work which is totally counterintuitive to the way I would and I'm guessing most of you would want this to work
http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=68835&highlight=keep+until+I+delete
http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?p=679117&highlight=keep+until+I+delete#post679117
terrylmc
11-14-06, 02:57 PM
I would like to see the 30 Second slip configurable to the fast forward speed. I think its currently going at 2X, It would be nice to be able to configure to use 3X or 4X also to speed things up.
Milominderbinder2
11-15-06, 07:27 AM
I would like to forward this idea from another thread:
In a GUI when you do things like scroll the guide rather refresh the screen or that subsection of the screen with the new data, it is an Animation. For example, right now when you page down on the guide, you have to wait until the top item moves all the way down to the bottom. It would be crisper and more responsive is they just wrote the new data the the screen. Why do you care to watch the guide data you are no longer interested in move down the screen, you are only interested in the new guide data you are requesting, time and CPU cycles are wasted by animating that on the screen. Even if the CPU impact was minimal, it would still be a faster user experience because you would not have to watch the data scroll. The same is true for all the menus in the HR20, but the guide is what need the crispness.
Please add this feature to the wishlist:
The option to turn off Guide/List/Menu Animation for better Ease of Use
Reasons:
-Animation is what makes the Guide and MyVOD (MyPlaylist) seem sluggish.
-Animation requires at least 15 screen redraws for each Guide page down or up, left or right.
-Animation sluggishness causes Double-Dash users to delete extra programs in LIST.
-In the Guide, pressing the right arrow 12 times moves you 6 hours ahead. It takes 12 seconds. Without animation it would take less than 1 second.
- Craig
wberryment
11-15-06, 08:22 AM
If I hit FF thru a comerical on my SD Tivo and then watch for the commericals to end (i.e. when the show I'm watching starts again) I hit the Play button and it falls back about 2-3 seconds which is just enough to start playing the show I'm watching right at the point that it starts again. With the HR20-700 I do the same thing and when I see that the show is starting again I hit play but at that point I'm already 3-4 seconds into the show then I have to hit rewind and play again to try to get it to start right at the point that it comes out of the commerical. Maybe there is a trick that I'm just not seeing. The 30 Sec skip seems to me, to be more trouble than it's worth because you have to keep hitting it and if you don't hit it at the right time in the last commercial then you could get thrown 15 to 20 seconds into the show and again you have to rewind and play and back and forth to get it to start right at the appropriate spot.
Wayne
mtnagel
11-15-06, 08:52 AM
Wayne, try hitting the replay button after FFing through commercials. But quite honestly, you will find that you are much more than 3-4 seconds into the show. On HD material, if I use 3x, it takes me at least 6-10 replays (which is 36-60 seconds into the show). With 2x, it takes me 2-3 replays (which is 12-18 seconds). But of course, you could have lightening fast reaction time. Hope that helps. Oh, and welcome!
Oh and supposedly, the new version of software (just rolled out to the west coast last night, so it may take awhile to get to you) makes the FFing smoother, so that might make it easier to recognize when the commercials end and the show starts, but we'll have to see what the left coasters say about that for now.
Oh yeah again. If you didn't know, that's a TiVo patent, so you will never see it on the HR20. The best we can hope for is better FFing and using the replay button.
Doug Brott
11-15-06, 04:12 PM
I've modified the HR20 wish list to include additional information. You can now see how the value is moving for each item on the list. I compare the value of the most recent 10 items with the overall value of an item. If the recent values are higher, you will see an up arrow. If the recent items are lower, then you will see a down arrow. This should give you some idea of the current trend of each item on the list. Here is a sample of the screen with the up/down arrows.
http://www.dbstalk.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=6601&stc=1&d=1163628266
Earl Bonovich
11-15-06, 04:14 PM
Another option... maybe a nice green check mark, for those items that have been added... with a tool-tip stating which version it was added in.
And maybe a nice red-X for those items, that have been confirmed that have little to no chance of ever beeing added.
Doug Brott
11-15-06, 04:23 PM
Another option... maybe a nice green check mark, for those items that have been added... with a tool-tip stating which version it was added in.
Unfortunately, I haven't versionized the adding/removing of an item. You can see when it was done by looking at the Changes page (which is rather verbose). Perhaps a NEW icon or other indicator for items that are 1 or 2 weeks old. I do store the creation date of an item, so this would not be difficult to calculate.
And maybe a nice red-X for those items, that have been confirmed that have little to no chance of ever being added.
You mean like the TiVo guide ;)
I can add this feature to the Wish List. I will go ahead and work on the changes to make this happen. It would help me greatly if someone else could plow through the list and point out the items that are unlikely to be modified (legal issues, technical reasons, etc.). If you want to include some wording as to why it is unlikely to be modified, I will make it so the comments show up on the screen.
Doug,
In addition to "In all menus, the Left Arrow should function like the BACK button" which is already on the Wishlist I would like to see added:
"In all menus, the Right Arrow should function like the SELECT button"
Having both of these features would allow you to move forward in menus using the RIGHT button and move backwards using the LEFT button in addition to doing the same functions with the BACK and SELECT buttons.
Maybe this could be just a reword of the existing wishlist item instead of a new one.
"In all menus, the Left Arrow should function like the BACK button and the RIGHT Arrow should function like the SELECT button"
Doug Brott
11-16-06, 08:48 AM
Maybe this could be just a reword of the existing wishlist item instead of a new one.
"In all menus, the Left Arrow should function like the BACK button and the RIGHT Arrow should function like the SELECT button"
I think this would be appropriate.
Doug Brott
11-16-06, 09:37 AM
Quoted from another thread (http://www.dbstalk.com/showpost.php?p=723496&postcount=323)
Having said that however, I think that DirecTV should put a hidden, "Easter Egg" screen in the setup where if we do all the "right" things to get to this screen, we can click on a checkbox or something to inform DirecTV that we want to be an "Early Adopter". If we do so, then we get early access to the staggered updates, too and although we'd retain our right to report bugs to them, we would lose our right to complain as we then chose to download the early version of the software and they did not force it upon us.
I'll add this to the HR20 Wish List tomorrow. It will read like this:
A way to opt-in to software updates that have not yet been released nationally.
Doug Brott
11-16-06, 02:56 PM
And maybe a nice red-X for those items, that have been confirmed that have little to no chance of ever beeing added.
Ok, I've added this functionality in to the HR20 Wish List. Perhaps you, or another kind soul, could check my work on the results page (http://www.redh.com/hr20/index.php?module=results&op=_list). I may have left some items off of the "unlikely" list or added some items that should not be there.
SockMonkey
11-16-06, 03:00 PM
Last night I was playing some saved recordings for my son and I had a thought about a few new features I'd like to see. I checked the survey list for them, but didn't see them there yet. So, for your consideration, a couple new features.
First, I'd like to see the ability to playback all items in a particular folder (or possibly the ability to select multiple items to playback). So, let's say you had 3 episodes of "Lost" that you haven't watched... select the lost folder and have them play in a selected order (maybe record date from oldest to newest). Or have them play in a specified order (for example if they reran one that you missed for some reason and the record date was not the actual order of the show episodes).
Second, I'd like to see the ability to automatically have playback of a recording automatically repeat or a selected list or group of shows (see above) repeat. I personally can't see myself watching shows over and over again, but my 2 and 3 year old certainly would. Some of the short 5 minute shows they watch (ie: Thomas the Tank Engine on PBS Sprout) would be nice to be able to select the 5 episoodes I have saved and put them on repeat.
Just a few thoughts. If I somehow missed these on the current wish list, I apologize.
Bob
Maybe these just got overlooked. Is there a reason why these don't qualify for inclusion in the survey? A few people responded that they liked the idea.
Bob
Doug Brott
11-16-06, 03:13 PM
Maybe these just got overlooked. Is there a reason why these don't qualify for inclusion in the survey? A few people responded that they liked the idea.
Bob
I made a number of changes last week that impacted my decision regarding these particular items. I actually removed an item that resembled your request to help focus the list a little better, so I did not add these in at the time. That being said, you are correct that other people showed interest in these items. In addition, you (being the squeaky wheel :) ) are driving the point home, so I will add your request in tomorrow when I make other changes.
Thank you for your suggestions and my apologies for not including them last week.
SockMonkey
11-16-06, 03:15 PM
Squeak, squeak... :lol:
Thanks Doug!
Bob
Milominderbinder2
11-16-06, 03:41 PM
"ability to select multiple items to playback...and repeat"
Maybe these just got overlooked. Is there a reason why these don't qualify for inclusion in the survey? A few people responded that they liked the idea.
Bob
Bob, the first 460 voters rated this one of the lowest priorities. The workaround is to do a manual record of a block of PBS or Disney or similar shows. In our DMA, you can get about 3 1/2 hours. Here is the note from the Changes tab in the survey:
10-Nov-2006 - Final Value of 1.972 from 460 Responses - Created 23-Oct-2006
Submitted by: HiDefGator The ability to queue shows for playback at a certain time
10-Nov-2006 Significantly negative response
Sorry about that...
I think the focus for a while will be on correcting problems and increasing ease of use and making the interface more intuitive.
When considering adding a new feature, the projected incremental revenue stream is compared against the added complexity of the interface, additional tech support hours, licensing & legal issues, etc.
Take Care,
- Craig
SockMonkey
11-16-06, 03:51 PM
Bob, the first 460 voters rated this one of the lowest priorities. The workaround is to do a manual record of a block of PBS or Disney or similar shows.
How is that the same as playing back multiple episodes of the same show that air over multiple days? So for an exact example...
My son loves the cartoon "Buzz Lightyear of Starcommand." I have a Series Link set up to record all and save 5 episodes. So, on any given day we have 5 in the play list. I would like to be able to go in and select all 5 and then select "Play" and have each play one after the other in order. This would allow me to do something else while he sits in front of the "electronic babysitter." :rolleyes:
Right now, when one show ends, I have to get the remote, tell the HR20 to keep the show (not delete) and then go back to the play list, select the next one, and select play. I want it to just start playing the next one in line.
Maybe I'm just not understanding something about your suggested workaround of setting up a manual record. :confused:
I totally understand the desire to get other stuff working correctly first, but I thought this was a wishlist... not a fix-it list. Trust me, my main desire is to have "True" dual buffers. That's my number one wish.
Bob
Stuart Sweet
11-16-06, 03:59 PM
Great survey. I've looked through it several times.
With regard to the Tivo-style grid guide, this is already there, just not as good. If you go to the guide and highlight the channel name, then push INFO, you get a multi-line list of just that channel.
I realize it's not as fast as the grid guide, and changing from one channel to another is a lot harder than the old grid guide, but it is there.
I understand the desire of those out there to have a quick, TiVo-style grid guide but perhaps the line item could be reworded.
Thanks
Doug Brott
11-16-06, 04:13 PM
Great survey. I've looked through it several times.
With regard to the Tivo-style grid guide, this is already there, just not as good. If you go to the guide and highlight the channel name, then push INFO, you get a multi-line list of just that channel.
I realize it's not as fast as the grid guide, and changing from one channel to another is a lot harder than the old grid guide, but it is there.
I understand the desire of those out there to have a quick, TiVo-style grid guide but perhaps the line item could be reworded.
Thanks
IMHO, the current HR20 version of the guide really isn't the same as the Tivo-Style Guide. There are similarities, but the differences outweigh the similarities in my mind. I'll try it out tonight just to verify my thinking.
I'm all for rewording this item, though. I tried to come up with some nice wording without using the word TiVo, but I just couldn't do it. If anyone would like to take a stab a changing the wording, I'm all ears.
Stuart Sweet
11-16-06, 04:19 PM
Much appreciated sir.
Milominderbinder2
11-16-06, 05:47 PM
Doug,
In addition to "In all menus, the Left Arrow should function like the BACK button" which is already on the Wishlist I would like to see added:
"In all menus, the Right Arrow should function like the SELECT button"
Having both of these features would allow you to move forward in menus using the RIGHT button and move backwards using the LEFT button in addition to doing the same functions with the BACK and SELECT buttons.
Maybe this could be just a reword of the existing wishlist item instead of a new one.
"In all menus, the Left Arrow should function like the BACK button and the RIGHT Arrow should function like the SELECT button"
This is a great suggestion! D* should like it as well because it is just asking to make the user interface easier. There would be nothing to add in the manual. It is intuitive. Also, there is no legal hurdle involved. All you are asking that existing functions be mapped to additional buttons that are deactivated at that time. There is no new module to write. Just change the call.
- Craig
Milominderbinder2
11-16-06, 06:13 PM
0xEF Feature Updates...
Enable Parental Controls in My Playlist as defined in the owner's manual on page 34
I was told by a contact today that the Parental Control were now supposed to apply to My Playlist as well as the Guide! Has anyone had a chance to try this?
Make the Replay Button consistently jump back 6 seconds per manual page iv
We need to hear back from more users but for my HR20, 0xEF fixed this problem.
30 second slip counter should also countdown 30-second intervals
I wanted this feature more because it was taking so long to Slip. Now that we are at double speed, there is no time to see how many Slips are left. I am watching the commercials to see if the game or show has come back on early.
The ability to jump to any point in the show by entering the number of minutes
Again, I was voting for this one due to the frustration of how slow the FFW function was. Now that FFW4 is 4.5 times as fast as FFW3 and does 15 minutes in 10 seconds. it is just not an issue. Plus I can already jump 15 minutes at a time. Does anyone really want to jump, say, 17 minutes ahead? Why? The more I thought about it, this would take away an intuitive feature I really like. Currently when I enter a number, I go to that channel on the HR20 or almost any TV.
A true 30 second skip instead of slip
The HR20 now has a better Skip than Skip. TiVo's backdoor Skip is blind. The HR20's Slip is almost as fast and is not blind. TiVo now has to catch up with the HR20. It should now be under the TiVo Wishlist as, "a true 30 second slip instead of skip."
What does everyone else think?
- Craig
Doug Brott
11-16-06, 07:05 PM
Unfortunately, there is someone trying to game the data today. I noticed because Dual Buffers was showing up much lower than the #1 ranking it deserves. I looked at a recent entry and sure enough some poor soul gave a value of 5 lowest ranked items and a value of 1 for all other items.
I'm not going to make any changes to the current format because everyone has an opportunity to do the same thing for their choices as this gamer has done. I will just ask folks to vote more often. The more valid data entered into the system will water down the invalid data.
Thanks.
mtnagel
11-16-06, 07:09 PM
0xEF Feature Updates...
Enable Parental Controls in My Playlist as defined in the owner's manual on page 34
I was told by a contact today that the Parental Control were now supposed to apply to My Playlist as well as the Guide! Has anyone had a chance to try this?
- CraigWhat do you mean by this? Things that are blocked show up as "block title" and the description doesn't show up in My Playlist as they have since I got the unit over a month ago. I don't notice anything different about parental controls.
mtnagel
11-16-06, 07:11 PM
I will just ask folks to vote more often.
Thanks.That's just as bad. I know the survey changes, but is there a way to limit it to one person? Maybe for each change. Just because you can vote a ton of times doesn't mean the people that want something to go higher (or lower) won't vote more. Unless there is a limit.
houskamp
11-16-06, 07:12 PM
parental controls: take the cord to the tv with you when you leave :lol:
p.s. Had my own cord when I was young :D
mtnagel
11-16-06, 07:16 PM
parental controls: take the cord to the tv with you when you leave :lol:
p.s. Had my own cord when I was young :DNice! It definitely was easier when I was a kid. I remember being at a friend's house with HBO (when there was only 1) and we would wake up and sneak downstairs and watch the pron :) None of this v-chip crap :D
(sorry to be OT)
Doug Brott
11-16-06, 07:37 PM
That's just as bad. I know the survey changes, but is there a way to limit it to one person? Maybe for each change. Just because you can vote a ton of times doesn't mean the people that want something to go higher (or lower) won't vote more. Unless there is a limit.
I thought about this when I first created the survey. Folks feelings change as the software progresses. Something that may have been more useful in the past may decrease in value for someone. Without allowing folks to take the survey again, there is no way for them to voice these changes.
This HR20 Wish List Survey is a collective effort of a somewhat fixed number of people. The data has a life of its own and moves at the whims of all of the participants. I do think the overall rankings are representative of the collective group. I also suspect that the data collected in this survey provides valuable information to DirecTV that would otherwise be unavailable to them.
mtnagel
11-17-06, 06:30 AM
I thought about this when I first created the survey. Folks feelings change as the software progresses. Something that may have been more useful in the past may decrease in value for someone. Without allowing folks to take the survey again, there is no way for them to voice these changes.
This HR20 Wish List Survey is a collective effort of a somewhat fixed number of people. The data has a life of its own and moves at the whims of all of the participants. I do think the overall rankings are representative of the collective group. I also suspect that the data collected in this survey provides valuable information to DirecTV that would otherwise be unavailable to them.I replied to your PM, but I just wanted to say here, keep up the good work. Sory if my post came off as too negative.
Doug Brott
11-17-06, 08:47 AM
I replied to your PM, but I just wanted to say here, keep up the good work. Sory if my post came off as too negative.
No worries here at all. I didn't find anything negative about your comments. I really do appreciate the feedback that I have received.
0xEF Feature Updates...
The ability to jump to any point in the show by entering the number of minutes
Again, I was voting for this one due to the frustration of how slow the FFW function was. Now that FFW4 is 4.5 times as fast as FFW3 and does 15 minutes in 10 seconds. it is just not an issue. Plus I can already jump 15 minutes at a time. Does anyone really want to jump, say, 17 minutes ahead? Why? The more I thought about it, this would take away an intuitive feature I really like. Currently when I enter a number, I go to that channel on the HR20 or almost any TV.
A true 30 second skip instead of slip
The HR20 now has a better Skip than Skip. TiVo's backdoor Skip is blind. The HR20's Slip is almost as fast and is not blind. TiVo now has to catch up with the HR20. It should now be under the TiVo Wishlist as, "a true 30 second slip instead of skip."
What does everyone else think?
- Craig
I totally agree. D* did a teriffic job on this last go round with the 4xFF and the 30s slip. I am really liking the 30s slip. For me it is even better than a true 30s skip.
Marshall
11-17-06, 09:50 AM
Movie Ratings:
As one that likes to watch movies, it would be great if they add movie ratings to the guide. Also it is a feature that Tivo doesn't have.
Menu Changes:
The menu needs some restructuring.
First off, setup is for those items that you do just once. The family never goes into setup because of the fear of screwing something up. Most people learn that set up is a restricted area. Setup on your; TV, Computer, DVD Player, and other devices is an area where the wife and kids know they should never venture too.
The Play List, Scheduler, To Do list, & Prioritizer should all go under one group. Call it VOD or Recordings but there should be 1 group where you can see your playlist, set up / change your schedule, check the to do list to make sure it is there, and set your priorities. These are functions that everyone performs. The kids, wife, etc. They shouldn't be under setup.
Guide
8 lines of data please! Tivo does it superimposed over the picture and it is still very readable.
When you go on the Channel ID. Press select to see the list not Info.
Page up and Down - rather then scroll a page up and down it should page up and down. It would be much faster.
When you press the guide, go to the guide. Change the guide view/filter elsewhere. Most people settle in on one guide view.
Controls
The contols have to be simple to use and uniform throughout.
Back and Exit can be confusing for the average person. You don't quite know which one to use. While the system has many neat features; hold down a key to jump forward, press the dash, etc.. The fact is, unless these features show on the screen, the average person will never know these features exist.
I like the system. It has great potential. Navigation can be confusing. While it has many neat features they need to follow the "KISS" model. "Keep It Simple Stupid"
Doug Brott
11-17-06, 10:12 AM
What do you mean by this? Things that are blocked show up as "block title" and the description doesn't show up in My Playlist as they have since I got the unit over a month ago. I don't notice anything different about parental controls.
Unless I am misinterpreting what you have said, this sounds like confirmation that the parental controls have been corrected.
mtnagel
11-17-06, 10:22 AM
Unless I am misinterpreting what you have said, this sounds like confirmation that the parental controls have been corrected.But I don't think anything was wrong with them (besides what I posted in the issues thread and that has not been corrected).
I like that it blocks the title. Although, I have noticed that a movie with an R rating, which is blocked in my settings, doesn't block out the title. Pretty much seems that only MA things do. I guess it's not bad that she sees the title of an R movie though.
Doug Brott
11-17-06, 10:23 AM
Doug,
In addition to "In all menus, the Left Arrow should function like the BACK button" which is already on the Wishlist I would like to see added:
"In all menus, the Right Arrow should function like the SELECT button"
Having both of these features would allow you to move forward in menus using the RIGHT button and move backwards using the LEFT button in addition to doing the same functions with the BACK and SELECT buttons.
Maybe this could be just a reword of the existing wishlist item instead of a new one.
"In all menus, the Left Arrow should function like the BACK button and the RIGHT Arrow should function like the SELECT button"
I thought about this some more and, unfortunately, I don't think the RIGHT button can be used in this way. There are times when you are in the left MENU pane and you need to move over to the the right INFORMATION pane (the larger pane). So, you cannot ALWAYS use the right arrow in this manner.
Clemsole
11-17-06, 10:23 AM
Get busy and build the unit with all the nice features, you could be rich.
mtnagel
11-17-06, 10:29 AM
I just read the manual on pages 34-36 and that is how it has worked since I got it a month ago. So Milo, what have you been told the changes are?
tim1970
11-17-06, 10:36 AM
I have something to add to the wishlist. How about being able to re-name a recording. That way you can set up recordings from late night cinemax or showtime, and have it show up in the now playing list as newest high-tech gadgets or something else that the wife would never want to watch. This would be a real marriage saver :D
Tim
I thought about this some more and, unfortunately, I don't think the RIGHT button can be used in this way. There are times when you are in the left MENU pane and you need to move over to the the right INFORMATION pane (the larger pane). So, you cannot ALWAYS use the right arrow in this manner.
I know exactly what you are saying and totally agree. Using some intelligence in their design I still would like to see the RIGHT arrow work in menus areas where you are not moving between left and right panes.
Instead of:
"In all menus, the Left Arrow should function like the BACK button and the RIGHT Arrow should function like the SELECT button"
Could we say this:
"In all menus, the Left Arrow should function like the BACK button and in menus that don't have a right screen pane, the RIGHT Arrow should function like the SELECT button"
Milominderbinder2
11-17-06, 10:58 AM
0xEF Feature Updates...
Enable Parental Controls in My Playlist as defined in the owner's manual on page 34
I was told by a contact today that the Parental Control were now supposed to apply to My Playlist as well as the Guide! Has anyone had a chance to try this?
My source was wrong. Parental Controls still do not do what they are promised to do on page 34 of the HR20 manual:
Parental Controls enables parents to place certain restrictions on just who’s watching what, and require a passcode to view restricted programming. Whether it’s for mature content or spending amounts, you’re always able to keep limitations where you want them for the whole family.
D* just goofed. The team who was doing the Guide included Parental Controls. The team doing MyVOD did not.
Parental Control were supposed to be corrected with 0xEF but were not. My source was wrong this time. Sorry about that.
- Craig
Andrew_J_M
11-17-06, 11:06 AM
I have something to add to the wishlist. How about being able to re-name a recording. That way you can set up recordings from late night cinemax or showtime, and have it show up in the now playing list as newest high-tech gadgets or something else that the wife would never want to watch. This would be a real marriage saver :D
Tim
I don't know if that is feasible but I like the idea, though not for the same reason ;) . By renaming recordings they could be grouped differently, so there could be groups for "The Wife's" which would hold Oprah, Dr Phil and The View, "The Husbands" containing F1, Nascar and Dr Who and "Ours" for everything else.
Janice805
11-17-06, 11:16 AM
I totally agree with MARSHALL, Guide, Controls, etc. are very screwy and should be changed. Very un-user friendly and every time I use the HR20 I have lots of trouble navigating. Hopefully, you e-mailed your suggestions to Direct TV.?
Doug Brott
11-17-06, 11:23 AM
HR20 Wish List Changes 17-Nov-2006 - Complete List (http://www.redh.com/hr20/index.php?module=changes&op=_list)
Additions to the List
17-Nov-2006 The HR20 should not delete any program marked as "keep until I delete" even if the "keep at most" number is exceeded for a Series Link or Autorecord program
17-Nov-2006 The option to turn off Guide/List/Menu Animation for better Ease of Use
17-Nov-2006 A way to opt-in to software updates that have not yet been released nationally
17-Nov-2006 The ability to select multiple recordings and then show them back-to-back without touching the remote
17-Nov-2006 The ability to auto-repeat a recording when it gets to the end
17-Nov-2006 Rename - the ability to change the title of a recording on My Playlist
17-Nov-2006 In the GUIDE, pressing SELECT while hovering over the channel name block should bring up guide info for that channel (currently only INFO does)
17-Nov-2006 In all menus, the Left Arrow should function like the BACK button and in menus that don't have a right screen pane, the RIGHT Arrow should function like the SELECT button
Removed from the list
16-Nov-2006 Enable Faster Fast Forward as shown in the owner's manual on page iv
17-Nov-2006 Make the Replay Button consistently jump back 6 seconds per manual page iv
17-Nov-2006 A true 30 second skip instead of slip
17-Nov-2006 30 second slip counter should also countdown 30-second intervals
17-Nov-2006 The ability to jump to any point in the show by entering the number of minutes
Chopping Block - will be removed if significantly negative again next Friday
1.845 Suggestions
Milominderbinder2
11-17-06, 11:31 AM
HR20 Wish List Changes 17-Nov-2006 - Complete List (http://www.redh.com/hr20/index.php?module=changes&op=_list)
Doug, yet again, great work. Thank you for taking the time to help us with this.
- Craig
mtnagel
11-17-06, 12:26 PM
My source was wrong. Parental Controls still do not do what they are promised to do on page 34 of the HR20 manual:
Parental Controls enables parents to place certain restrictions on just who’s watching what, and require a passcode to view restricted programming. Whether it’s for mature content or spending amounts, you’re always able to keep limitations where you want them for the whole family.
D* just goofed. The team who was doing the Guide included Parental Controls. The team doing MyVOD did not.
Parental Control were supposed to be corrected with 0xEF but were not. My source was wrong this time. Sorry about that.
- CraigCan you explain what you are talking about? What does the manual say it does that the HR20 doesn't do?
As far as I can tell, the HR20 reacts basically as I would expect it based on the manual.
My only issue (which I posted in the issues thread) is that if you pad a show that is blocked, you need to enter in the password to start the recording, but it will also stop before the padded part and prompt for the password again. Kind of minor, but a bug nonetheless.
Also, I don't see anything in the manual about displaying "Blocked Title" instead of the real title's name in the guide and MyPlaylist, but that's what it has done since I got it a year ago.
Please clarify what the HR20 doesn't do that the manual says it does.
mtnagel
11-17-06, 12:28 PM
Also, while I was browsing the manual, I came upon this Press the GUIDE key twice to skip the Channel Categories screen.So I wonder if that means they will never change it to one press brings the guide up.
Display Dolby Digital & HD labels in the quick info guide.
mtnagel
11-18-06, 07:45 AM
0xEF Feature Updates...
Enable Parental Controls in My Playlist as defined in the owner's manual on page 34
I was told by a contact today that the Parental Control were now supposed to apply to My Playlist as well as the Guide! Has anyone had a chance to try this?
- CraigWhat do you mean by this? Things that are blocked show up as "block title" and the description doesn't show up in My Playlist as they have since I got the unit over a month ago. I don't notice anything different about parental controls.
My source was wrong. Parental Controls still do not do what they are promised to do on page 34 of the HR20 manual:
Parental Controls enables parents to place certain restrictions on just who’s watching what, and require a passcode to view restricted programming. Whether it’s for mature content or spending amounts, you’re always able to keep limitations where you want them for the whole family.
D* just goofed. The team who was doing the Guide included Parental Controls. The team doing MyVOD did not.
Parental Control were supposed to be corrected with 0xEF but were not. My source was wrong this time. Sorry about that.
- CraigCan you explain what you are talking about? What does the manual say it does that the HR20 doesn't do?
As far as I can tell, the HR20 reacts basically as I would expect it based on the manual.
My only issue (which I posted in the issues thread) is that if you pad a show that is blocked, you need to enter in the password to start the recording, but it will also stop before the padded part and prompt for the password again. Kind of minor, but a bug nonetheless.
Also, I don't see anything in the manual about displaying "Blocked Title" instead of the real title's name in the guide and MyPlaylist, but that's what it has done since I got it a year ago.
Please clarify what the HR20 doesn't do that the manual says it does.I guess someone has me on ignore. Yippee!
mgcsooner
11-18-06, 02:44 PM
How about an auto channel change option (refers to it as autotune)---like watch this show, then that show etc---E* has it as an alternative to record, and I used it a lot.
Milominderbinder2
11-18-06, 11:50 PM
I guess someone has me on ignore. Yippee!
Matt,
I do not have you on ignor!
0xEF was supposed to make Parental Controls do what the manual says on page 34:
Parental Controls enables parents to place certain restrictions on just who’s watching what, and require a passcode to view restricted programming. Whether it’s for mature content or spending amounts, you’re always able to keep limitations where you want them for the whole family.
The team that did Guide remembered to include Parental Controls.
The team that did MyVOD (now My Playlist) forgot to include Parental Controls. No titles are Blocked as they are supposed to be in MyVOD.
Parental Controls are supposed to always keep limitiations whether you are looking at live or future program listings in the Guide or shows already recorded in MyVOD.
Parental Controls are currently broken and can be easily repaired. The code is already written.
mtnagel
11-19-06, 08:00 AM
Matt,
I do not have you on ignor!
0xEF was supposed to make Parental Controls do what the manual says on page 34:
Parental Controls enables parents to place certain restrictions on just who’s watching what, and require a passcode to view restricted programming. Whether it’s for mature content or spending amounts, you’re always able to keep limitations where you want them for the whole family.
The team that did Guide remembered to include Parental Controls.
The team that did MyVOD (now My Playlist) forgot to include Parental Controls. No titles are Blocked as they are supposed to be in MyVOD.
Parental Controls are supposed to always keep limitiations whether you are looking at live or future program listings in the Guide or shows already recorded in MyVOD.
Parental Controls are currently broken and can be easily repaired. The code is already written.As I said in my first quote to your post, since I got the unit over a month ago, things that should be blocked have always shown up in MyVOD/Playlist as blocked title and no description (I do believe R movies aren't blocked, but MA things are definitely, such as South Park and Nip Tuck).
ETA: I just saw that TV shows that are blocked based on the letters like D, S, L, V for TV-14 don't show as blocked title in My Playlist. So it looks like only TV MA things show up as blocked title in My Playlist. Don't know if this was the intended behavior.
Milominderbinder2
11-19-06, 03:26 PM
As I said in my first quote to your post, since I got the unit over a month ago, things that should be blocked have always shown up in MyVOD/Playlist as blocked title and no description (I do believe R movies aren't blocked, but MA things are definitely, such as South Park and Nip Tuck).
ETA: I just saw that TV shows that are blocked based on the letters like D, S, L, V for TV-14 don't show as blocked title in My Playlist. So it looks like only TV MA things show up as blocked title in My Playlist. Don't know if this was the intended behavior.
Thanks, Matt. That is exactly the bug in Parental Controls in My Playlist.
- Craig
mtnagel
11-20-06, 06:12 AM
Thanks, Matt. That is exactly the bug in Parental Controls in My Playlist.
- CraigAh. Weird that they would put in the "blocked title" for MA stuff and forget about the other ratings.
mgcsooner
11-20-06, 07:46 AM
How about the ability to Mark and delete from the TODO list. It is rediculous having to do them one at a time--in a 4 step sequence to complete. It is easy to set up recordings incorrectly and a real pain to delete.
How about the ability to change the default initial settings of the series link, instead of having to customize each one? I typically use the same settings for just about all of my SL's. I like the fact that I can create one with two clicks from the guide, but then I have to change each one I create to basically the same settings.
mtnagel
11-20-06, 07:50 PM
How about the ability to change the default initial settings of the series link, instead of having to customize each one? I typically use the same settings for just about all of my SL's. I like the fact that I can create one with two clicks from the guide, but then I have to change each one I create to basically the same settings.That's in there. I believe in the menu somewhere. I'm not in front of my unit.
Stuart Sweet
11-20-06, 09:21 PM
That's in there. I believe in the menu somewhere. I'm not in front of my unit.
Read here:
http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=68238
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