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This topic comprises 2 pages: 1 2
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Author
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Topic: Tivo and stuff
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David Buckley
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 525
From: Oxford, N. Canterbury, New Zealand
Registered: Aug 2004
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posted 02-15-2005 09:23 PM
I (when I lived in the UK) had a UK TiVo, and know some stuff about them. Things may have changed since then.
quote: Brad Miller
*If I "record" a show on the PVR, will it be recorded using the same compression that DirecTV is encoding in, or will it have to re-encode thus losing quality?
The latter. On TiVo you select how lousy the recording is (from three steps, IIRC) and the lousier the quality, the more time you get per disk.
quote: Brad Miller
*Is there a model PVR out there that if I say "record this show" will AUTOMATICALLY fire it up a minute or two early and record for a minute or two later? Or do I have to TELL it to do that every time?
TiVo. To record a show regularly you set a "season pass". You can configure that TiVo starts a few minutes early and ends a few minutes late, but there is a gotcha. If you have a show scheduled 7pm-7:30pm, and another 7:30 to 8pm, with no overlap, that works. if you specify start early and/or finish late, then the second show will not be recorded, even (get this) if they are on the same channel...
TiVo also learns what sort of programs you like, and if its got nothing better to do and disk space to spare it will speculatively record them for you. If it needs the space, the speculatively recorded programs get wiped, so there isnt a downside.
quote: Brad Miller
*Can I drop a 120 or 200 gig drive in one of those things, or is there more to extending the capture time?
Yep, you can replace the existing drive and/or add another drive, the instructions on how to do it are on the 'net. Basically, you need to "bless" the drive so TiVo recognises it. This involves taking the drive out and putting it temporarily in a PC.
quote: Brad Miller
*Can the PVRs change the channel on the satellite receiver?
Qualified yes. If TiVo knows about your box, then you can tell TiVo you have this box, and then the program guide includes tha channels it receives, and TiVo will control the box automatically. An IR blaster is supplied in the box.
quote: Brad Miller
*Does anyone know what the codec being used by DirecTV and Dish actually is?
Nope.
quote: Brad Miller
*What is the state of HD recording? Has Jack Valenti's gang royally fucked things up for everyone yet, or can I actually record an HD broadcast? I also have a D-VHS deck (JVC 30000)
If they haven't then they will continue to work till they do so.
In the UK, the TiVo is now only marketed as the Sky Plus satellite receiver, basically a twin tuner satellite box with integrated PVR. They have announced that HDTV playback will require a telly or projector that has a HDMI or DVI with HDCP interface. This basically extends digital rights management down to the telly, so you supposedly cant record the digital stream.
Somehat humorously, the Sky plasma telly doesnt have a compatible interface, so to use the Sky HDTV service you need to buy a non-Sky telly :-)
TiVo is a fabulous thing. You cant explain them to people, but once you have one it truly revoutionises yoiur TV viewing. Here in NZ there is no TiVo; that would be really bad except the telly is so crap it turns out that no TiVo isnt so bad after all.
The TiVo program guide is marketed as optional. It isnt. Without the PG TiVo is almost useless.
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David Stambaugh
Film God
Posts: 4021
From: Eugene, Oregon
Registered: Jan 2002
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posted 02-15-2005 09:37 PM
I have some answers, but not all. I have a first-generation TiVo, have had the same unit since TiVo was introduced. TiVo rocks.
*If I "record" a show on the PVR, will it be recorded using the same compression that DirecTV is encoding in, or will it have to re-encode thus losing quality?
My understanding is HD-Tivo with DirecTV-HD can record the DirecTV HD signal without mucking with it at all. I'm not sure what it does with OTA (over-the-air) local HD broadcasts. In regular analog TiVo you can select Best-Medium-Low picture quality on a per-recorded-show basis.
*Is there a model PVR out there that if I say "record this show" will AUTOMATICALLY fire it up a minute or two early and record for a minute or two later? Or do I have to TELL it to do that every time?
If you create a "Season Pass" for a show (say, "Record every new (non-repeat) episode of this show"), you can tell TiVo to always start/end the recording of that show a little early/late. I don't think there's a global setting for that though, unless it's a feature on newer models. My TiVo didn't have the +/- feature when it was new -- It was added in a later software upgrade (which happens automagically). Of course you can always do that with a one-off recording too.
*Can I drop a 120 or 200 gig drive in one of those things, or is there more to extending the capture time?
You could with the old TiVos like mine, although I'm not sure if there was an upper limit in drive size. There's tons of how-to info out there.
*Can the PVRs change the channel on the satellite receiver?
My TiVo could change the channels on my Sony sat receiver. But you should probably confirm the specific sat rcvr. There might be some really dumb ones that don't have the required interface.
*Does anyone know what the codec being used by DirecTV and Dish actually is?
Nope.
*What is the state of HD recording? Has Jack Valenti's gang royally fucked things up for everyone yet, or can I actually record an HD broadcast? I also have a D-VHS deck (JVC 30000)
From what I've read, there is little or no copy-management going on right now. But isn't it just a matter of the content distributors toggling a bit in the data stream and wham, it's copy protected. Bastards! I also read an article that said Hollywood doesn't want to distribute anything in true HD over the air or via cable. They're prepared to start cheating on the resolution as soon as they think they're losing money or whatever goes on in their twisted logic.
Hope that helps at least some.
EDIT: Comcast (my cable provider) swears they don't compress the HD broadcasts at all. I can't tell any difference in video quality between what Comcast delivers and what I get from an antenna. This past weekend, FOX broadcast some NASCAR race in HD and I was surprised that I couldn't see any noticeable motion artifacts. That was from cable. Contrast that with the Olympics, where anything that moved turned into a mosaic -- It was truly awful to look at. So a LOT seems to depend on what the original broadcaster is doing. It's not just the downstream carriers that can mess things up, or cheat.
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Chris Hipp
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1462
From: Mesquite, Tx (east of Dallas)
Registered: Jul 2003
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posted 02-15-2005 10:54 PM
http://www.weaknees.com/
You can get stuff from them to upgrade with. I replaced the 40gb that mine came with with a 120gb without buying enything but the drive. However, if you want to use multiple drives you will need a kit. Also, if you buy the drives from the above link, they are basically just a plug and play type thing, so you would not have to go through the trouble of reformatting the drive.
I dont know much about compression or anything like that but I know some models have options for the quality of the recording. Low, Medium, High I guess. Obviously the lower the quality the less space it takes. On my Mom's Tivo, even the high quality does not look as good as a normal on air show. My tivo, however, does not have any options for this and the recordings look just like a regular show.
An HD tivo is going to run over $1k. I thought that I saw one at frys for around $600 but I must have been mistaken because I cannot find it anywhere online.
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