Options
Recording series
![[Deleted User]](https://wf.vanillicon.com/v2/f2776397c31183908d96fab2058f7c0a.svg)
[Deleted User]
Posts: 12 Forum Member
I have a had a TIVO 1 in the past and never had any issues recording series but I cannot seem to rely on the Humax, am I doing something wrong or is there a way around this.
Let me explain. In most cases it seems OK, though it does seem to forget the odd few episodes for some reason.
However if I ask it to record all instances of say BBC Horizon it just doesn't. It will record one maybe two or three but then it forget. I suspect it is because the title is something like Horizon: Life on Mars. So it then records this episode but not the next one Horizon:Defeating the Hackers. I suspect it is seeing them as seperate programmes not related as a series. If so why does it ask me whether I want to record the whole series?
Let me explain. In most cases it seems OK, though it does seem to forget the odd few episodes for some reason.
However if I ask it to record all instances of say BBC Horizon it just doesn't. It will record one maybe two or three but then it forget. I suspect it is because the title is something like Horizon: Life on Mars. So it then records this episode but not the next one Horizon:Defeating the Hackers. I suspect it is seeing them as seperate programmes not related as a series. If so why does it ask me whether I want to record the whole series?
0
Comments
It's down to the broadcasters to decide which programmes form part of a series. This is done by two codes (known as CRID's - Content Reference Identifiers). The broadcaster creates the same series crid for each episode in a series and a different crid for each episode (this means you don't record repeat showings of the same episode - unless its a Channel 5 programme who don't have a clue how it's supposed to work). Sometimes there are repeat showings of a series airing at the same time as a new series, to record both you need to set one from each series to record them all.
The title doesn't matter, ITV scheduled a re-run of the older Bond movies as one series. all had a different name. The only ambiguity is the containing series folder is named after the first one recorded (could this be your issue ? )
Sometimes the broadcasters screw up the codes resulting in missing episodes.
Sometimes you get a differeny episode on BBC SD regions showing at the same time (typically Scotland may have a different one), in this case you get two episodes scheduled at the same time, which if you have another recording can lead to hard to explain recording clashes.
If you check the epg you should see the recording flag on every episode in a series that will be recorded.
If you have a Humax box you can see the actual crids via a hidden menu option.
Tonights Top Gear on BBC2-HD lacks a series crid (broadcaster screw up) on both Freeview and Freesat
Checking the Horizon codes now for you, I will post the results.
Only 1 episode currently in the epg
Programme
Horizon: The Power of the Placebo
Synopsis
Science series. Horizon explores why placebos work, despite containing no active ingredient, and explains how we could all benefit from their hidden power. [HD] [AD,S]
Start
Mon Feb 17 21:00:00 2014 GMT
Also: Mon Feb 17 21:00:00 2014 GMT on BBC 2 England
Also: Tue Feb 18 23:20:00 2014 GMT on BBC 2 England
Also: Tue Feb 18 23:20:00 2014 GMT on BBC TWO HD
Also: Mon Feb 17 21:00:00 2014 GMT on BBC 2 NI
Also: Mon Feb 17 21:00:00 2014 GMT on BBC 2 Scotland
Also: Mon Feb 17 21:00:00 2014 GMT on BBC 2 Wales
Also: Tue Feb 18 23:20:00 2014 GMT on BBC 2 Wales
Duration
01:00:00
Type
News/Current affairs (2)
CRID
fp.bbc.co.uk/23VDCZ
Series CRID
fp.bbc.co.uk/TR6ZW4
How come the TIVO never had this problem?
Oh and what is the hidden menu?
Not sure which version of the Tivo you are referring to.
The original TIVO was a analogue (PAL) device that had an ADC (analogue digital converter) that could digitise analogue PAL transmissions and hence record these to hard disc. The requirement to digitally compress these inevitably reduced the quality. This is similar to a DVD recorder that can do the same process. There was no proper series recording capability, it was purely based on a crude comparison of the recording file names. It would have totally failed to record the Bond Movies for instance.
The latest (digital) version of the TIVO from Virgin Media has 3 tuners, it has a similar, but more sophisticated search algorithm.
Digital pvrs simply record the digital data as is, there is no recompression, recordings are 100% identical as a result.
I have a friend who has a TIVO, it would drive me round the bend. You can specify an interest, say programmes like Escape To The Country etc. It will record anything similar (YUK). It records anything that resembles the original title (most of which anyone remotely interested would already have seen
As to the hidden menu, without any knowledge of which Humax pvr you actually have how do you expect more detailed information ?
You could use the internet to actually help yourself, access to the hidden menus on Humax boxes is freely available provided you specify which one.
The compression quality was superb, all but indistinguishable from the broadcast signal.
"There was no proper series recording capability"
I beg to differ the TIVO worked much much better than my Humax Freesat+ in this regard. With the TIVO I NEVER missed an episode.
"It would have totally failed to record the Bond Movies for instance."
Rubbish. Could and did.
"I have a friend who has a TIVO, it would drive me round the bend. You can specify an interest, say programmes like Escape To The Country etc. It will record anything similar (YUK). It records anything that resembles the original title (most of which anyone remotely interested would already have seen )"
The ability to specify an interest and have the TIVO "learn" what you liked was one of the things I miss most. If you have not tried it do not knock it. I have lost count of the number of times I came in to find the TIVO had recorded something that I never knew was on but it had decided I would like and it was very often spot on. If you found that it was recoding something you did not like then you gave it the thumbs down on the remote and it learnt not to record that particular series next time. If however it started recording something you liked then give it the thumbs up and if it could it would record it (that is if it did not clasj with a series etc that you had specified to record. Besides you could turn it off the feature if you so wished.
Similarly specifying that you liked a particular actor/director etc and having it record anything it found was a bonus greatly missed as it dragged up some gems I had totally missed.
Oh and if you started watching something and decided you wanted to record it then it would record it all from the beginning, if it was in the buffer. Why the hell does the Humax insist on recording from the point were the signal is "live" when you could be half an hour behind that point (of course it would not now record the start?)
Why does it make it so hard to change the channel when you are watching buffered TV or the channel you are changing to is just about to change the programme?
If I could I would get a new TIVO in a second, sadly there is no Virgin around here.
Which Humax are you referring to? (I can only assume the Foxsat)
The HDR1000/1010s records all the program providing the start is within the 2 hour buffer, and if you've also got the previous program in the buffer too you can scroll back and record that as a separate program also.
Not too sure what you mean about being hard to change channel while watching buffered tv as you just change channel by either entering a channel number,pressing up or down, or via the guide.
As for series recording, all Freesat+ and Freeview+ boxes work in the same way and they are totally reliant on the broadcasters using the correct CRID data.
With Freeview + Freesat the broadcasters don't have the same incentive. The commercial broadcasters make money from adverts and with a PVR people skip adverts. It is in their interest that people watch live. Why spend lots of money fixing the guide data.
On the whole there's nothing wrong with the guide data on Freesat or Freeview, it's only really Channel 5 that doesn't use it properly along with accurate recording.
Anyhow doesn't TiVo season pass require a sub?
Afaik the broadcasters did not provide any series data for PAL analogue broadcasts only PDC control for analogue recorders. In any case the Virgin Tivo box is a completely different animal to the analogue Tivo boxes, one of these would now be totally useless.
The first decent twin tuner DVB-T (digital) pvr was the Topfield 5800. I still have one in 100% working order.
The TiVo guide data is not supplied OTA. A TiVo pvr downloads the guide data from a server. That guide data contains metadata, including that for series. The TiVo metadata, even in 1998, was richer than that used later for Freeview+ or Freesat+.
Yes the Virgon TiVo is different - after ten years I would hope so. For one thing it is a dedicated cable machine that only works on with the Virgin cable network.
The Series 1 TiVo on the other hand can control external stb's so continue to work with Freeview, Freesat, Sky and Cable. Far from being useless many are still in use today.
I have a TF5800 too, although it is now retired to the loft. It arrived without any Freeview+ functionality (that didn't exist at the time) and it was several years before the TF5810 was launched with series link etc This was later retrofitted to the TF5800, albeit with a bad implementation.
The TF5800 had one good feature - it supported 3rd party apps. IMHO without those it wasn't that good pvr.
In general I find the BBC very good, C4 and ITV fairly good. The less said about Channel 5 the better...
Yes, or rather it did. The guide data for the UK Series 1 TiVo's is now supplied free by an active user community over at altepg.com
For the 10 years or so TiVo supplied the Series 1 UK data it was either a one-off £200 charge or £10 per month (Sky copied the £10 a month fee for Sky+). That was the point I was making - if people are paying TiVo for the TiVo epg data service then TiVo have an incentive to get the guide data right.
In the long term charging end-users a monthly fee didn't prove a good business model, at least in the UK. With Virgin TiVo the guide data fee can be hidden as part of the general pay-tv subscription.
Before that there were a number of TAPs that would do pattern matches on titles. Not as good for a series as Freeview+ but still quite effective.
A lot does come down to personal opinion. As someone who has both a TiVo and a Toppy IMHO the Series 1 TiVo is superior in they way it handles series. This is mostly down to having richer metadata available in the guide data.
The Toppy scores points for being a dual-tuner machine but the TiVo is more flexible in working with DTT, Sat or Cable. Both unfortunately are now outdated with the advent of HD and On-Demand.
I understand for some people the Toppy still does what they want. That's great. For others a Series 1 TiVo still records series as it always could.
Unfortunately it looks like Microsoft are moving away from Media Center. With Windows 8 Media Center is sold as an optional app and development on it seems to have ceased. While I expect to get a few more years out of Media Center at some point I'm going to have to move. What to I don't yet know.
A tad confused, how can a series one Tivo record anything from broadcast TV in the UK, other than manually via an analogue input?.
Please explain.
It has PAL tuner(s) ?
It may be able to record from a DVB-T box analogue outputs, how can it record a full series ?
How can it respond to a Freeview/Freesat+ Accurate Recording signal indicating a overrun for some reason on the start of the broadcast ?
How is this valid to how every Freesat+/Freeview+ box is expected to work ?
What is this to do with the original rant that happened to be pointed at Humax boxes, which confirm better than most to the Freeview/Freesat+ specification ?
Sorry that the OP is disappointed, a small amount of research would hae identified how all current free boxes on each platform work, and have worked for many years.
Simple question, what will the OP replace his/her box with that
1 Is Free
2 Records HD
3 Has two tuner recording capability
4 If it's a Humax box can view many third channels and even record third channels after one recording has finished you can record the third ?
5 What relevance has the OP's post to the current digital DVB-T/DVB-T2/DVB-S/DVB-S2 position ?
I am not sure.
The thing that disapoints me the most about the HUMAX is that the ergonomics are far worse than a product that came out the best part of a decade before it.
The ergonomics as you put it are nothing to do with the Humax box, it is down to the specification of the Freesat/Freeview broadcast specification. If the spec which all boxes have to conform to does not include the somewhat freeform identification of what conforms to your idea of what forms part of a series, that is not down to any individual box maker.
If you have a Foxsat-hdr connected to a home network, then you are in luck. There is a add on to the standard software that adds similar capability and much more to the capability of the box, including the capability to stream recordings to other kit connected to your own network.
Could you watch a HD programme in HD in full HD remotely on say a HD Android tablet, without affecting what the the viewers watching the main box output, I can
Can you export HD recordings to a PC and watch them anywhere. including on a plane ? I can
Sorry you are somewhat locked into the 20th century, this pensioner embraces the 21st century
It also has RGB scart input and an IR emitter. This can be used to record from and control DTT, Sat, or Cable sources.
Already answered. The TiVo gets its guide data from a server. That guide data contains metadata, including series information.
It doesn't.
I don't understand what you are asking. A Freeview or Freesat box works in one way. A TiVo works in a different way. Both record series.
Better ask the poster but it looks to me they were simply explaining they preferred the way a TiVo handled series recording. Why did you then assert a Series 1 TiVo cannot record series? Why did you also assert they no longer work at all?
I have no particular axe to grind as to which is "best" system. I just find it somewhat strange that someone who doesn't have a TiVo insists on telling someone who does they cannot be recording series, or in fact recording anything at all.
Denis Healeys first rule of holes - "If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging"
As there is no longer a source of PAL TV in the UK it's seems reasonable to state that a first generation Tivo is unable to operate as a live TV pvr, which is it's primary function.
How would you get on if there was no internet connection.
I already said it could be used as digital recorder in the same way as DVDR with only a built in PAL tuner. It's not operating as a pvr then is it ?
In the same way as an analogue tv (or VCR) can still work - using a STB. The TiVo can switch channels on the STB as required. Obviously you can't watch a different live programme from the same source at the same time, but you can watch the current programme in delay mode for example, or watch a previously recorded programme.
The old Tivos used a dial up connection to get their data, although you could fit an Ethernet port to allow it to connect that way. As has been previously stated, although the official data for UK Tivos is no longer available, it can still be obtained (for free) from altepg.
As it's only an analogue recorder it's operating essentially just like a VCR - certainly any vaguely modern definition of PVR requires it to directly record the incoming digital datastream (and I'd prefer it to require twin recording capability as well, but that's perhaps pushing it a bit?).