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TiVo Universal Padding
Can anyone confirm if this basic feature is available yet on Tivo?
If it's not can anyone confirm that if you set a series link that the padding you add for the first programme is carried over to the next ones?
If it's not then series link is pointless at the moment if you have to monitor your planned recordings and manually add padding.
If it's not can anyone confirm that if you set a series link that the padding you add for the first programme is carried over to the next ones?
If it's not then series link is pointless at the moment if you have to monitor your planned recordings and manually add padding.
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Not sure about the series recording answer.
I think the best and easiest method is to leave series link settings pre-populated with your last used settings (5 mins end time, max 4 episodes, etc) with focus on "Use these settings"
So unless you need to change settings just click 'OK'
Box not here until Friday so those instructions still a bit alien to this V+ user.
Thanks for the info .
I see
Well you can add padding on Tivo - it's just you have to do it for each recording separately at the mo
Iain
i dont think the Tivo EPG actually changes in 'real time' at all - just few times per day - i think that's why its a problem - although i stand to be corrected as the man said in the orthopaedic shoes
Is it me or do these 2 posts disagree with each other?
I really hope Iain is right as manual padding for one offs is not too much hassle as long as the series links work once you've done the first one.
My V+ ignores padding every time it records 2 shows at the same time which is why I'm sick of it and why I was able to get Tivo with no install charge so it would be ironic if Tivo was also not able to do it right
i assumed Jethro is counting a series link as one recording, but mentioned it as well as it was a bit ambiguous.
Iain
EPG needs to be improved, trying to watch Law & Order on C5 on friday night and because it's been shown on another channel, it does not show as New and I end up having to delete about 10 episodes a week.
Also due to a clash Criminal Minds today was not going to record, but it could not find the correct repeat of this episode, took the padding off 2 recordings and got CM back.
If you go into the settings menu you have something called overlap protection that can help with this problem.
It will drop a few minutes of lower priority recording but will still record the programme.
Would have a 500Gb V+ that worked over this box though.
There does not appear to be a COPY feature , it locks my local ITV which is in the 900's as an adult channel and there are far too many options for simple basic use.
The millions who love Sky+ is for its simplicity but while Tivo is cleverer and will appeal to the more tech minded viewer , the majority who get confused easily won't give Tivo a second look
V+ does not operate a dynamic EPG so if a programme overruns then your recording will stop before the programme ends - ie it will stop at the originally published end of record time. It's so basic but Vm chooses not to do this whereas Freeview+ boes do and I believe that Sky+ also does. I'd love to know why VM chooses not to provide such a basic function whereby recordings are actually recorded in full regardless of whether the programme is running late or over-runs.
Sky can do it because they control both the platform and most of the channels that required it (Sky Sports being the main ones). It's easy for them to report last minutes changes and overruns to be updated on the EPG. The EPG is also broadcast over the same satellite that everyone is tuned to, so the EPG is dynamic in as much as your box can reload it from source whenever it likes.
Virgin do not run any of the channels. They use a third party to populate and maintain the EPG. EPG data has to come from each channel separately. So, Sky Sports have to report an overrun to Virgin's third party, which then have to update the EPG. This then has to be pushed out to all the boxes across several regional cable networks.
EPG data has to be compiled from hundreds of places.
Also to complicate it, TiVo is based in the US where they dont have the feature at all (presumably because it's even more complicated to do across the country and different timezones).
So, TiVo boxes update the EPG every couple of hours. Whilst this will therefore pick-up changes, it's not going to pick up the football match over-running by 15 minutes. Because to do that would require Sky/BBC to report the new data, the third party to receive and process it, and the data to be pushed out to all boxes within a few minutes. The cable network and way it's run just isn't really up to it.
Freeview is much simpler again because it's only a handful of channels from a few operators.
A Sky box isn't routinely tuned to the main EPG - as it has its own transponder and would use one of the two tuners. There is, however, a subset of the EPG which is replicated on EVERY transponder - to power what Sky calls the "search and scan" facility - and "dynamic EPG" must be implemented using this.
I have seen, on Sky, this feature used most extensively by the BBC - so there MUST be a facility for broadcasters external to Sky to update their current EPG entries remotely. As the BBC can and do use this facility with Sky they would I am sure do the same with VM (if it was possible!)
As you say, BKM it's mostly the BBC which is affected by overrunning programmes because the BBC broadcasts more sport than ITV.
Also, as you say, I also think it's not as complicated as 1111 makes it out to be. I don't think it makes any difference whatsoever if dynamic EPGs don't exist in the US. They exist in the UK on Sky and FV so if Sky and FV can do it then VM will be able to and they could have insisted that it was in place but they seem to have made a decision not to do so.
The VM TiVos seem to use a similar model, even though they are networked. I think the TiVo fundamentals really haven't changed much over the last 11 years. They are either unwilling or unable to change it. I wonder if they simply lack the programmer resources. They've not even updated all the menus to HD in the year or so since series 4 was released in the USA.