Tivo prioritizing HD vs SD [Text View]

View Full Version : Tivo prioritizing HD vs SD

TerpBE

11-03-2006, 04:11 PM

I just got my S3 hooked up today, and I have a question about how to do something. I want to keep the latest edition of "Action News", so I set up a title wishlist for "Action News", keep 1 episode. I'm using a wishlist instead of a season pass because there is "Action News 5:00" ""Action News 5:30", etc.

The problem is, Action news airs on both a HD and SD channel simultaneously. It looks like Tivo is choosing to record the SD version instead of the HD. Is there any way I can force Tivo to record the HD channel instead of the SD one, besides deleting the SD one from my channel line-up?

hookbill

11-03-2006, 04:14 PM

kido

11-03-2006, 04:18 PM

why not set up a manual scheduled recording for the HD channel?

SoBayJake

11-03-2006, 04:25 PM

The problem is, Action news airs on both a HD and SD channel simultaneously. It looks like Tivo is choosing to record the SD version instead of the HD. Is there any way I can force Tivo to record the HD channel instead of the SD one, besides deleting the SD one from my channel line-up?
Are they the same channel/call sign? TiVo is probably picking up whatever channel has the lower number, which for most everyone, is the SD channel. I just removed the SD channels from my lineup (which I know you don't want to do).

I don't do much (if any) non-primetime recording, so I rarely watch anything upconverted from SD to HD. Therefore, I'm not wasting space on shows like that. Do you record a lot of non-HD shows that are upconverted?

TerpBE

11-03-2006, 04:27 PM

why not set up a manual scheduled recording for the HD channel?
Because I just want the most recent episode of Action News, whether it's at 5:00, 5:30, 6:00, 11:00, etc. If I set a manual recording for each airing of the news, I'd have 7-8 episodes saved at all times. I just want one.

Maybe I'll delete the SD channels from my channel list. As far as I know they have all of the same programming as their HD equivalents.

TerpBE

11-03-2006, 04:30 PM

Do you record a lot of non-HD shows that are upconverted?
I record a lot shows on HD channels that aren't HD shows. I just assumed they were being broadcast at 480i, but are they being upconverted? I'll have to compare file size of the same show on SD vs HD channels and see.

mportuesi

11-03-2006, 04:38 PM

I record a lot shows on HD channels that aren't HD shows. I just assumed they were being broadcast at 480i, but are they being upconverted? I'll have to compare file size of the same show on SD vs HD channels and see.

It depends on the TV station. Some stations transmit SD broadcasts as 480i, other stations upconvert everything, including SD broadcasts to the HD format they've standardized on (720p or 1080i) before transmission.

wmcbrine

11-04-2006, 03:38 AM

Almost all stations with HD capability upconvert everything. In fact, I know of no counterexamples. There's no reason they couldn't switch resolutions, but they don't. The closest thing is some PBS affiliates, which turn off their HD subchannel during the day and turn on other, SD, subchannels; but even they use different subchannel numbers for SD and HD -- they never change the resolution on a subchannel.

Some stations also have SD simulcasts on a second subchannel. And of course, a few digital stations broadcast all their programming only in SD. But if you know of a station that actually switches resolutions on a single subchannel, I'd like to hear about it.

You can easily tell whether a recorded program is 4:3 SD, or a 16:9 HD upconvert -- just try toggling the aspect ratio (does nothing on HD). This might not help distinguish 16:9 SD, but that's essentially nonexistant. You could also try the old resolution backdoor from the HR10-250 -- I think it was select, play, select, instant replay, select. DirecTV made them take it out of the HR10-250, but I see no reason they wouldn't keep it in the Series 3.

snathanb

11-04-2006, 07:09 AM

You can easily tell whether a recorded program is 4:3 SD, or a 16:9 HD upconvert -- just try toggling the aspect ratio (does nothing on HD).

Not always, if you purposefully set your TV type to 4:3, the aspect button will stretch 16:9 SD upconverted programs, as well as full 16:9 HD. It is useful for stretching letterboxed SD upcoverts for those of use who are concerned with burn-in on projection tvs.

Dajad

11-04-2006, 08:31 AM

Because I just want the most recent episode of Action News, whether it's at 5:00, 5:30, 6:00, 11:00, etc. If I set a manual recording for each airing of the news, I'd have 7-8 episodes saved at all times. I just want one.

No you won't... unless you set up 7-8 manual recordings a day. Here's what I do. I enjoy the BBC News. It's on every hour of the day from the top of the hour to the bottom. I don't want my TiVo recording BBC over and over and over as would be the case with a Wishlist. I usually watch it once in the morning and once at night to get caught up.

So I set up my TiVo to manually record the 7:00 a.m. showing and the 6:00 pm showing and to keep at most one of each. In this way I get the latest twice a day and don't ware out my TiVo by having it record the damn thing day in and day out as would be the case with a Wishlist recording.

...Dale

slydog75

11-04-2006, 08:34 AM

Can't you just specifiy on the wishlist to record HD content? I don't have a S3, but I can do that on my HD DirecTivo.

TerpBE

11-04-2006, 09:33 AM

You can easily tell whether a recorded program is 4:3 SD, or a 16:9 HD upconvert -- just try toggling the aspect ratio (does nothing on HD).
Thanks for the tip. I guess now I'm going to change a lot of my season passes to the SD channels.

Leo_N

11-04-2006, 09:42 AM

Can't you just specifiy on the wishlist to record HD content? I don't have a S3, but I can do that on my HD DirecTivo.

For some reason they haven't included this yet in the S3.

jfh3

11-04-2006, 12:23 PM

It looks like Tivo is choosing to record the SD version instead of the HD.

Not exactly. SD vs HD has nothing to do with it. Tivo will select the lower number channel first. (This is almost always the "SD" version, so same net effect).

Is there any way I can force Tivo to record the HD channel instead of the SD one, besides deleting the SD one from my channel line-up?

No. But it's on my wish list for future releases. :)

MichaelK

11-04-2006, 01:53 PM

Not exactly. SD vs HD has nothing to do with it. Tivo will select the lower number channel first. (This is almost always the "SD" version, so same net effect).

...

dont assume that if it's important to you.

If the S3 is like the HR10-250 (or any of the directivo's for that matter) then there is certainly pattern but it's not necessarily lowest channel number. On the directivo units the box definately preferred certain channels all the time but they weren't always the lowest channel number. Just a guess but I think it might be lowest frequency as opposed to lowest channel- so if your cable company has a channel on frequency 10 that maps to channel 100 and another channel on frequency 11 that maps to 99, I suspect the tivo will prefer 100 over 99 since the "real channels" are inverted.

For people with analog cable- analog will probably always win since usually analog is frequencies 2-70 or so and then digital is above that.

But for people with digital SD simulcast who knows what the hec might happen...

jfh3

11-04-2006, 06:47 PM

For people with analog cable- analog will probably always win since usually analog is frequencies 2-70 or so and then digital is above that.

But for people with digital SD simulcast who knows what the heck might happen...

You mean ADS? The digital frequency that replaces the analog version in ADS will be the SD version, not the HD one. And, since ADS uses the number of the analog equivalent channel, Tivo will STILL pick up SD before HD, even though both are digital.

CrispyCritter

11-05-2006, 07:15 AM

You mean ADS? The digital frequency that replaces the analog version in ADS will be the SD version, not the HD one. And, since ADS uses the number of the analog equivalent channel, Tivo will STILL pick up SD before HD, even though both are digital.But what evidence do we have that TiVo uses the channel number to sort by? Other threads (eg duplicate channel ids) show that TiVo has to keep some sort of internal id for a station that is not readily visible, since channel number is not unique.

Perhaps it's sorted by lowest actual frequency (as seen on the diagnostic screen)? That's something that is generally increasing, but not always. I don't think we have enough information yet to decide.

MichaelK

11-07-2006, 09:53 AM

But what evidence do we have that TiVo uses the channel number to sort by? Other threads (eg duplicate channel ids) show that TiVo has to keep some sort of internal id for a station that is not readily visible, since channel number is not unique.

Perhaps it's sorted by lowest actual frequency (as seen on the diagnostic screen)? That's something that is generally increasing, but not always. I don't think we have enough information yet to decide.

exactly-

on the directivo units (Sd and HD) the channel number you see wasn't always lower for the preferred channel.

so the actual frequency MIGHT be the decider.

for example on a hypothetical ADS system.
1-70 analog
71-80 HD mapped to 100 and above.
90- and above mapped to 1-70.

An HD channel on 71 that maps to 100 MIGHT trump an SD digital version located at channel 90 that maps to channel 10.

I dont know at all what happens, but people should experiment with their own setups to see what the pattern is. WIth directv at least, once i figured out the pattern then it never changed.