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Since the HD GUI, my HR24 is worse & here's how:

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l727
3K views 33 replies 9 participants last post by  Jerry_K 
#1 ·
With the new GUI, many things have changed for the worst. Nothing is better (I don't consider the new Black UI to be impressive, sorry).

Here is what has happened to my once perfect HR24.

1. Now, when I pause a live show, then after a few seconds/minutes hit play, it jumps back a couple seconds and then plays. It used to just continue precisely from where paused. Is this a new "feature" or something wrong with my system.

2. When fast forwarding or rewinding at the slowest setting, and then when I hit play, sometimes it plays right where I hit play, other times it'll jump back a few seconds. So if I fast forward 4 seconds then hit play, it jumps me back 3 for a net gain of 1. These are rough approximations but you get the idea, and it happens most but not all of the time.

3. When watching TV, live or recorded, once every couple hours I'll get a 1-second audio glitch/cut-out. My box NEVER used to do that.

4. When I hit play on a saved show in my list, it would start instantly with the hold GUI. Now theres a 2-3 second delay from when you hit play to when the GUI switches to the beginning of the show.

Any one else with an HR24 noticed these changes?

Before this GUI, I gave the DVR a 10/10. Nows, it's a 7/10 for me. Very disappointing.
 
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#3 ·
mikeap said:
With the new GUI, many things have changed for the worst. Nothing is better (I don't consider the new Black UI to be impressive, sorry).

Here is what has happened to my once perfect HR24.

1. Now, when I pause a live show, then after a few seconds/minutes hit play, it jumps back a couple seconds and then plays. It used to just continue precisely from where paused. Is this a new "feature" or something wrong with my system.

2. When fast forwarding or rewinding at the slowest setting, and then when I hit play, sometimes it plays right where I hit play, other times it'll jump back a few seconds. So if I fast forward 4 seconds then hit play, it jumps me back 3 for a net gain of 1. These are rough approximations but you get the idea, and it happens most but not all of the time.

3. When watching TV, live or recorded, once every couple hours I'll get a 1-second audio glitch/cut-out. My box NEVER used to do that.

4. When I hit play on a saved show in my list, it would start instantly with the hold GUI. Now theres a 2-3 second delay from when you hit play to when the GUI switches to the beginning of the show.

Any one else with an HR24 noticed these changes?

Before this GUI, I gave the DVR a 10/10. Nows, it's a 7/10 for me. Very disappointing.
1. If you are behind in the buffer, it will play exactly where paused. if you are not behind in the buffer, it will jump back slightly. This behavior is not new with the HD GUI.

2. Again, this behavior is not new with the HD GUI. It is variable based on the exact place in the stream, and the number of I-frames. (I'm not competent to explain the subtleties of Mpeg-4 triplay. Maybe someone else will chime in.)
 
#4 ·
1. By virtue of pausing, you are ALWAYS behind in the buffer. You can't be paused for ANY amount of time and still be live, so that doesn't make any sense.

2. No, in the past I could fast forward and hit play, and it stopped right where it was. I did it ALL the time during ball games for years, so it is pretty apparent now that it doesn't do it as accurate any more. Since I'd do it weekly, I have noticed it rather quick and accurately.
 
#5 ·
mikeap said:
1. By virtue of pausing, you are ALWAYS behind in the buffer. You can't be paused for ANY amount of time and still be live, so that doesn't make any sense.

2. No, in the past I could fast forward and hit play, and it stopped right where it was. I did it ALL the time during ball games for years, so it is pretty apparent now that it doesn't do it as accurate any more. Since I'd do it weekly, I have noticed it rather quick and accurately.
1. Obviously, after you pause, you are behind in the buffer. However, the behavior is different depending on whether you were in the buffer at the moment that you hit pause.

2. I have only seen the behavior you described in MPeg2 recordings and when passing the pause button instead of play. However, I use FF1 or REW1 so seldom, that It is possible that the behavior has charged over the years.
 
#6 ·
Well I just did it again. Was watching the NFL game LIVE. Hit Pause. Counted to 12, hit play, and it jumped back a few seconds. It was pretty obvious b/c I paused it right when the player fumbled, so I KNEW the fumbled happened, and when I hit play 12 seconds later, he had not yet fumbled, he was about 1-2 seconds before fumbling.
Like I said, the HR24 with old GUI never did this.

This is beyond annoying. Other people must be seeing this if they try my experiment above, right?
 
#7 ·
mikeap said:
Well I just did it again. Was watching the NFL game LIVE. Hit Pause. Counted to 12, hit play, and it jumped back a few seconds. It was pretty obvious b/c I paused it right when the player fumbled, so I KNEW the fumbled happened, and when I hit play 12 seconds later, he had not yet fumbled, he was about 1-2 seconds before fumbling.
Like I said, the HR24 with old GUI never did this.

This is beyond annoying. Other people must be seeing this if they try my experiment above, right?
What you are describing is the correct functionality and what doglover described.
 
#11 ·
Seriously? Ok, well, here's goes the obvious. I pause the game right before something happens, and I want to show someone it, then as I hit play, what I said was about to happen doesn't and we have to watch what already happened.
Scenario 2, I'm trying to sync a game with the radio so I can listen to the radio call, I pause it and when I hear the announcers saying what I see on my screen, I unpause, but woops, I'm 2 seconds behind before I'm where I thought I was.

AND MORE OBVIOUSLY, no other device in the world does that. iPod, CD Player, DVD Player, Tape Deck, Blu Ray, DISH Network, TIVO, so why the hell can't Directv just pause like all of the above?
 
#12 ·
Still don't see the big deal.

So, you pause it to show someone something that's about to happen. They can't see the 1-2 seconds right before? Are they really going to say "I thought you wanted me to see a fumble? But instead you showed him taking half a step and then fumlbing. Way to ruin it." :confused:

As for scenario #2, the radio call would be LIVE, wouldn't it? No need to pause the game at all, just watch live too.

I think you're just trying to make up things to complain about.
 
#13 ·
I am totally underwhelmed by trickplay and double play on the HR34 (old gui) and HR24 (HD gui). Really bad compared to TiVo.

I had to reset the HR24 this morning. No audio on the 600 channels.

I hope all this is not a portent of things to come. One thing I really enjoyed about the DirecTiVos and the Series 3 Tivos was never ever missing a recording, never ever having to reboot, and when you pushed a remote button the action occurred properly and instantaneously. Part of that constant functionality on the DirecTiVos was hacking them with 6.2.a and never letting DTV update them from that point forward. TiVo updates on the Series 3 never caused problems.
 
#14 ·
Jerry_K said:
I am totally underwhelmed by trickplay and double play on the HR34 (old gui) and HR24 (HD gui). Really bad compared to TiVo.

I had to reset the HR24 this morning. No audio on the 600 channels.

I hope all this is not a portent of things to come. One thing I really enjoyed about the DirecTiVos and the Series 3 Tivos was never ever missing a recording, never ever having to reboot, and when you pushed a remote button the action occurred properly and instantaneously. Part of that constant functionality on the DirecTiVos was hacking them with 6.2.a and never letting DTV update them from that point forward. TiVo updates on the Series 3 never caused problems.
For the record, my trickplay and DP work great, I haven't missed a recording in years, have never had to reboot, and button pushes are instantaneous with both my Harmony and the stock D* remote (on various CE software versions, there has been a lag, but the box is receiving the command instantaneously as is evidenced by the lights on the front of the box).
 
#15 ·
Again, this post was not to have my feelings or beliefs validated by a baseball fan in texas. It was to see if other boxes are doing it and it's "normal but crappy" or my box needs fixing/replacing. Maybe once I get my HR24 figured out I'll run my preference of cars, food, women past you to make sure you validate them.

P.S. NO SIRIUS RADIO STREAMED THROUGH SONOS IS NOT LIVE. See, stop assuming we all live clones of your life.
 
#16 ·
Trust me, I could tell after your first post that your life is nothing like mine - nor will it ever be.

That being said, I'd be more than happy to help validate other things in your life if you'd like (free of charge). Just post a pic of your car and your lady and I'll share my thoughts.
 
#17 ·
spartanstew said:
Trust me, I could tell after your first post that your life is nothing like mine - nor will it ever be.

That being said, I'd be more than happy to help validate other things in your life if you'd like (free of charge). Just post a pic of your car and your lady and I'll share my thoughts.
That post speaks VOLUMES for itself. Have a good day.
 
#18 ·
No more of this back and forth. Discuss the topic and not each other. Got a problem take it PM or, if appropriate, report the post...but don't respond to it.

Mike
 
#19 ·
mikeap,

I tried the pause and play on "live" show.

HR34 with old gui, pause wait play exact frame starts up as when paused.

HR24 with new gui pause wait play and it jumps back a second or two.

Both are brand new units. Both have lots of room on the hard drive. Neither respond well to trick play. Lots of glitches with delays and funny 30 slips sometimes showing frames sometimes not. All of trick play is very slow from key press to action on both machines. Guide scrolling is faster on new gui. Both are slow to build a database when you highlight the channel and ask it to display programs on that channel in the future.

With programs I know reside on the "other" machine the trick play delays are much longer and the likelihood of no frames during 30 second slip is very high. Button press to accomplishment of 30 seconds forward can take up to a count of twelve to execute. Both machines exhibit this behavior on streamed content to/from the other machine.
 
#20 ·
mikeap said:
Really? Directv thinks its helpful to rewind you 1-2 seconds when you hit play after hitting pause?

And even if this is a new "feature", it didn't happen under the old GUI.
It did it under the old GUI on my HR20 and HR23. I always found it a nice feature when skipping commercials. Most of the time you arent going to hit play the exact second the commercial ends so the "backup" backup of a couple of seconds is nice.

Now when simply hitting pause and then play, neither my HR20 nor HR23 backup at all.
 
#21 ·
Thanks Jerry for posting useful facts. Very helpful and proves exactly what I was saying.

This kind of factual, science based info is way more helpful than guesses or tx dogma.

Sounds like Directv still has a lot of under-the-hood repairs to make to performance of the new boxes. But pretty sad that they now have the only device that can't continue from Exactly where it was after un-pausing, unlike Dish, TiVo, old GUI HR34, iPod, VCR, etc.
 
#22 ·
Xsabresx said:
It did it under the old GUI on my HR20 and HR23. I always found it a nice feature when skipping commercials. Most of the time you arent going to hit play the exact second the commercial ends so the "backup" backup of a couple of seconds is nice.

Now when simply hitting pause and then play, neither my HR20 nor HR23 backup at all.
X
If I pause with the new GUI and hit unpause a few seconds later, picks right up but if I hit pause, wait approx 10 or more seconds and then unpause, then it jumps back. So it's not even predictable. That's what makes it more frustrating
 
#23 ·
Actually what the OP is experiencing is the DVR jumping to the closest i-frame. While MPEG4 is much more efficient, there are fewer of the index type frames. I don't know all the exact terminology, I'm sure that someone who gives 2 shakes about it will be along and point out every inaccuracy in my statements. This behavior has been around since D* went to MPEG4...You are less likely to see this on OTA recordings as they are still MPEG2, much less efficient but actually better for trickplay functions due to having more of those index type frames. That is probably why some see it on old and new firmware, because it has nothing to do with the firmware, its has everything to do with MPEG4 stream differences. IF the index frame happens to be at the spot you pause it, there will be no jump back.
 
#24 ·
Fortunately so far my lovely wife has not complained about the new interface with the exception of the guide which she hates. I told her about the channel info trick and so far I think that has placated her a bit.

I will see what happens when she finally learns the buttons on the remote. As it is now it takes her a long time to find the right button, so she hasn't noticed that button pushes and execution are not tied well in time. She hardly ever uses the TiVo dual buffer, and so she has no idea that Double Play just does not work. I am the dual buffer user in the family. I told her that if she wanted to switch back and forth among shows, not to pause them live. Hit record and use them that way. At least with the HR34 you are likely to have a couple free tuners to do that. Although there have been five times now when I looked and all five tuners were recording.
 
#26 ·
CCarncross said:
Actually what the OP is experiencing is the DVR jumping to the closest i-frame. While MPEG4 is much more efficient, there are fewer of the index type frames. I don't know all the exact terminology, I'm sure that someone who gives 2 shakes about it will be along and point out every inaccuracy in my statements. This behavior has been around since D* went to MPEG4...You are less likely to see this on OTA recordings as they are still MPEG2, much less efficient but actually better for trickplay functions due to having more of those index type frames. That is probably why some see it on old and new firmware, because it has nothing to do with the firmware, its has everything to do with MPEG4 stream differences. IF the index frame happens to be at the spot you pause it, there will be no jump back.
Please give me channels/programs upon which to test this theory with the old and new gui.
 
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