suggestion: PLEASE don't clear the buffer on a channel change!

[dragonthc]

how many times have you been watching a show from the buffer, like an hour ago. and then you accidentally change the channel or your dog jumps on the bed and stomps on your tivo remote?

the buffer clears and you lose the whole show you were watching.

it would be great if the buffer didn't clear unless by confirmation.

you could add a setting to confirm all channel changes or confirm channel changes with a buffer of more than x minutes.

or add a confirmation to clear the buffer and make this setting optional.

[megazone]

Never actually. But I only watch recordings and never LiveTV. ;-)

But a confirmation has been requested for years - if you change the channel while behind in the buffer it should warn you about the flush and make you confirm it is OK.

[Stormspace]

Never actually. But I only watch recordings and never LiveTV. ;-)

But a confirmation has been requested for years - if you change the channel while behind in the buffer it should warn you about the flush and make you confirm it is OK.

There's an even worse thing. If you are watching the buffer and live tv goes over the top of the hour, hitting the tivo button and then Live TV will flush the buffer even if the channel hasn't changed instead of allowing you to come back to the show you were watching.

Happened to me at least twice in the last week. Of course I know better now.

[feetonthepegs]

dragonthc --

You are absolutely right.

I have thought of this many times and could not understand why the buffer does not remain.

I would think that the programers would have actually had to take extra steps to get the buffer to clear.

The worst is when you acidently change the channel and then everything is gone.

[ethos42]

I don't even need a confirmation... Just don't clear the buffer. If I switch channels by accident and quickly switch back, just record what was displayed on the TV for the last 30 minutes.

LEAVE MY BUFFER ALONE!!!!

[Sparky77]

I agree 1000%. A 30-minute buffer should be a 30-minute buffer.
What does it matter if I changed channels?
Except for the painful "D'oh!" when you realize you just lost your buffer.

[nageek]

I don't understand why this thread has not received more attention!

TiVo has a setup mode. Why not just add some user configurable buffer options. 30 min buffer / 60 min buffer / buffer as much as space allows; Clear buffer on channel change / Don't clear buffer on channel change / Confirm clear buffer on channel change if viewing more than x min behind; How about a channel lock option that will not allow a channel change until unlocked.

If these types of changes have been requested for years, then why not implement them?

[Videodrome]

The buffer should have a timeout like 3mins. So if you change back, it just adds it on. So if you accidentally change, the old buffered data sits around. Tivo is the king in either too much confirmation or none at all. I hate how netflix will always cancel out with just a left button, why couldn't they make it pause, then ask do you want to leave netflix or continue watching. There is a confirmation for everything else..

[eskovan]

I can definitely guess why they haven't and probably won't do this. Unlike people here, the vast majority of regular sheeple would simply find it maddeningly confusing if they suddenly found themselves watching say HBO when their tuner says they're supposed to be on NBC. The fact that they're watching HBO from 30 minutes ago would be lost on them.

I've seen people get really confused just by the 30-minute buffer alone. Panicking that its now 8:02pm yet the TiVo hasn't seemed to have started recording their 8pm show!

Add a dual tuner to all this and its time to turn and run!

[emp]

I can definitely guess why they haven't and probably won't do this. Unlike people here, the vast majority of regular sheeple would simply find it maddeningly confusing if they suddenly found themselves watching say HBO when their tuner says they're supposed to be on NBC. The fact that they're watching HBO from 30 minutes ago would be lost on them.
wouldn't it be worse if they were watching HBO and then pressed the Tivo button and then hit live TV and then realized that they can't watch what they were just watching? I think that would be more confusing and annoying...

I think I've seen Tivo keep your spot in live tv if you pause and then hit the tivo button. Can't check this right now cuz my tivo power supply is blown and waiting for a new one. I think as far as changing channels and keeping the buffer, people may be confused cuz there would be a "hole" in your buffer. Keeping the buffer after hitting the tivo button is definitely expected behavior, changing channels should warn you just like changing a channel when something is recording.

[Airhead315]

I have an idea for this implementation that doesnt cause the problem eskovan mentioned. Why not just maintain the last 30 minutes of each tuner with some sort of channel code. If you switch back to a channel you were watching in the past 30 minutes the buffer is shown from the beginning of the buffer saved for that channel, if you rewind to where you left off and play the Tivo should notify you with a simple on screen display when you hit the point at which you changed channels it could read something like "This data was not recorded due to a channel change." It should then automatically skip to when you changed back to the channel.

So imagine the following timeline

|---------------------------------------|
^--channel change

Buffer for original channel
|-------------------- |

Buffer for new channel
| -- |

You then switch back and the buffer for the original channel becomes
|--------------------==-----------------|

While watching this channel, when the user encounters the equal signs the Tivo explains that it could not record this period of time due to a channel change.