Native Resolution - where's the delay?

1496 Views 14 Replies 9 Participants Last post by joekun, Oct 12, 2006

cal87

Discussion Starter · Oct 11, 2006

Another native resolution question.

I have played with native resolution a little bit after each software update. I change back since the delay of up to 6-8 seconds changing channels is just too long. I plan to hook up to a VP50 soon, so I would like to eventually use it.

I have noticed that the biggest delay seems to be as the HR20 locks in. The resolution lights on the receiver jump around until it finally settles on the correct resolution. Once it settles in, my display only takes 1-2 seconds to display the picture, which I can certainly live with.

If I am reading the jumping lights right, the biggest delay is coming from the HR20 itself. There would be hope that a firmware update could speed this up. Anyone else notice the same or have other input?

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CerpinTaxt

· #2 · Oct 11, 2006

I still don't understand how this works. I set the box to 1080i (on a sony XBR3 TV)and no matter what channel I'm on the resolution light does not change...even when I go from an HD channel to a SD chanell. But when I set the box to 480i or 480p, the directv menus look sharper and crisper and I don't seem to lose any picture quality.

I guess my question is, how should I set up the box so it detects what resolution should be selected on any given channel?

Is my TV upconverting EVERYTHING to 1080i?

...so confused

litzdog911

· #3 · Oct 11, 2006

If you set the HR20 to output 1080i, then the HR20 is converting everything to 1080i and your TV should only see 1080i video on its input. If your TV's native display resolution is 1080i, then your TV doesn't need to perform much, if any, additional conversion.

If you set the HR20 to output "native mode", then the HR20 outputs the native resolution of the original broadcast and your TV must convert the video to its native dispaly resolution.

CerpinTaxt

· #4 · Oct 11, 2006

litzdog911 said:
If you set the HR20 to output 1080i, then the HR20 is converting everything to 1080i and your TV should only see 1080i video on its input. If your TV's native display resolution is 1080i, then your TV doesn't need to perform much, if any, additional conversion.

If you set the HR20 to output "native mode", then the HR20 outputs the native resolution of the original broadcast and your TV must convert the video to its native dispaly resolution.

thanks...I am going to just turn native "off" on the DVR and watch everything in 1080i. Now i just need to get back there and change out the component cable for an HDMI cable.

tonyd79

· #5 · Oct 11, 2006

CerpinTaxt said:
thanks...I am going to just turn native "off" on the DVR and watch everything in 1080i. Now i just need to get back there and change out the component cable for an HDMI cable.

Most people report little or no difference between component and HDMI, so if changing it is a pain, you don't have to. Unless you have another reason (like you need the component input for a DVD player or something).

cawgijoe

· #6 · Oct 11, 2006

CerpinTaxt said:
thanks...I am going to just turn native "off" on the DVR and watch everything in 1080i. Now i just need to get back there and change out the component cable for an HDMI cable.

Thats what I did. The 6 - 8 seconds in Native mode was just too long. Now I'm down to a reasonable 1 - 3 seconds between channel changes. The picture looks great on all channels this way.

CerpinTaxt

· #7 · Oct 11, 2006

tonyd79 said:
Most people report little or no difference between component and HDMI, so if changing it is a pain, you don't have to. Unless you have another reason (like you need the component input for a DVD player or something).

Yeah, I probably will wait. I just got all the wires zip tied and hidden. I definitley don't want to go through that again unless there's going to be a big improvement in picture quality.

CerpinTaxt

· #8 · Oct 11, 2006

cawgijoe said:
Thats what I did. The 6 - 8 seconds in Native mode was just too long. Now I'm down to a reasonable 1 - 3 seconds between channel changes. The picture looks great on all channels this way.

Did you change out the component cable for an HDMI cable too? If so, did you notice any improvement?

Ryan Rhino

· #9 · Oct 11, 2006

Same problem here... I just went into the resolution options in the guide and turned all but either 720p or 1080i off. This stops the native search w/ each channel change. In my case 720p seems to offer a slightly better picture than 1080i.

CerpinTaxt

· #10 · Oct 11, 2006

Ryan Rhino said:
Same problem here... I just went into the resolution options in the guide and turned all but either 720p or 1080i off. This stops the native search w/ each channel change. In my case 720p seems to offer a slightly better picture than 1080i.

I'm so stupid! I didn't realize you could select different / multiple settings through the menu. I've just been pressing the "res" button on the box which seems to lock you into that particular setting.

bhigh8

· #11 · Oct 11, 2006

i had the H20 for a week and it switched through Native way faster. like in 2 seconds. its about 6 at least with the HR20.

joekun

· #12 · Oct 11, 2006

i had the H20 for a week and it switched through Native way faster. like in 2 seconds. its about 6 at least with the HR20.

The H20 isn't a DVR and so it doesn't need to buffer to the HDD before displaying the program. When you watch even live shows on a DVR you are watching them off of the HDD (delayed slightly) and so whatever you're watching needs a few seconds to buffer before being displayed. It seems highly likely that only a portion of that 6 seconds would be for switching resolutions while the rest is used to write video/audio to the HDD.

cal87

Discussion Starter · #13 · Oct 11, 2006

So back to my original question, is it true that most of the delay is the HR20 itself, as the H20 can do the switching faster? Can it be improved with firmware?

matto

· #14 · Oct 12, 2006

joekun said:
The H20 isn't a DVR and so it doesn't need to buffer to the HDD before displaying the program. When you watch even live shows on a DVR you are watching them off of the HDD (delayed slightly) and so whatever you're watching needs a few seconds to buffer before being displayed. It seems highly likely that only a portion of that 6 seconds would be for switching resolutions while the rest is used to write video/audio to the HDD.

that's ridiculous. if you were correct, it would take 4 seconds to change channels.

joekun

· #15 · Oct 12, 2006

that's ridiculous.

What is ridiculous about it? Do you dispute that fact that what you are watching has to be written to the HDD before it can be played back? I've been using various DVRs for more than 6 years and one of the complaints back in the day was that channel surfing took to long due to buffering.

I didn't say that the channel change could not be sped up, I don't know how much is buffered to the drive before playback begins and how much time is used for changing resolutions, but it is buffered (how else would you be able to do an instant replay if you weren't watching from the drive?).

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