Version 6 Channel Changing Issue

[mike1961]

Ever since I upgraded to Version 6 I now see the "channel change" which I never saw before and it's quite annoying.

In other words - suppose I'm at the guide and I select say channel 7 but say the STB was last on channel 2. Then I see channel 2 for about 1/2 second and then the channel changes. This never happened before version 6.

Any ideas what I can do and why this is now happening. I understand what is happening - it's showing the default channel first and then making the channel change rather than making the channel change and then showing the TV.

Mike

[Lucas]

I saw this with all previous versions as well!

[rickgillyon]

It's always been this way for me, the channel changes are at the start of the recordings (but in the padding so I don't often see them).

[Narflex]

If you really want to try to remove this, you can try increasing these property values. Try the second one first. If that doesn't get you what you want, then try increasing both of them. They're in milliseconds:

videoframe/local_encoding_to_playback_delay=2000
videoframe/time_to_start_into_tv_file_playback=3000

[mike1961]

Thanks, I'll try that. One more thing related to channel changing and this is really bizarre. In the prior versions, every so often I would get a quick quarter of a second or so "blip" in a movie or a show. Now, I know what is happening but I don't know why. Whenever it happens, it almost always seems to happen on the hour. Sage is tuning the channel to the SAME station. It happened last night. I was watching The Tonight Show and for no reason it tried to change the station to the same station on my STB. It's not an IR problem because all my STB's are tuned through the serial cable.

I'm not sure if this is related, but since version 6 beta, my wife says that she will be watching a show and when it is over the channel will just turn to a completely different channel. I have not seen that yet but the other issue has existed in all prior versions. If it were not for the mpeg4 compatibility, I would be strongly tempted to revert back to version 5 for a while but I just love that feature. Great job on that one - excellent.

One other thing, it starting to seem like it is just too many clicks or selects just to watch a show when it is in a group.

Thanks,
Mike

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by mike1961

Sage is tuning the channel to the SAME station.

This option is in Detailed Setup -> Customize -> Always tune channel. The dialog gives some info, but this option can be useful in those cases where the IR signal failed to change the channel properly for the previous show.

One other thing, it starting to seem like it is just too many clicks or selects just to watch a show when it is in a group.

There's no difference there -- use Right to enter the group, then use Play to start playback of a highlighted video. Or, you can use Select on either a group or an individual video for additional options. (Group options are new.)

- Andy

[rickgillyon]

Setup->Detailed Setup->Customize->Always Tune Channel

If yes, will tune channel between shows on the same channel. If you set it to No, always use Sage, don't use the STB remote or Sage may not be on the channel it thinks it is...

(Damn, must type faster... )

[ke6guj]

Originally Posted by mike1961

Thanks, I'll try that. One more thing related to channel changing and this is really bizarre. In the prior versions, every so often I would get a quick quarter of a second or so "blip" in a movie or a show. Now, I know what is happening but I don't know why. Whenever it happens, it almost always seems to happen on the hour. Sage is tuning the channel to the SAME station. It happened last night. I was watching The Tonight Show and for no reason it tried to change the station to the same station on my STB. It's not an IR problem because all my STB's are tuned through the serial cable.

If it happens on the hour, or half-hour, it is usually Sage changing the recording to the next show, since each show gets its own recording. If the EPG timeline doesn't exactly match the actual broadcast timeline, it may happen during the middle of a recording. FOr instance, if Leno runs 5 minutes late, you'll see a blip at the end of the scheduled time, and then Sage'll start recording Conan.

There also may be extra "blippy-ness" if the STB is trying to retune the channel as well at the same time Sage is changing recordings. If you are using serial, and don't missing channel changes, then you can tell Sage not to retune the channel for every program. If it on the correct channel already, it won't retune. That would remove any delay from the STB, and also limit the STB's UI from popping up in the recording.

edit: no kidding, too slow, must not answer door while posting

[rickgillyon]

Originally Posted by ke6guj

no kidding, too slow, must not answer door while posting

It's after midnight here, if the doorbell rings I'm sending the wife!

[sainswor99]

Originally Posted by rickgillyon

It's after midnight here, if the doorbell rings I'm sending the wife!

Note to self: find where rickgillyon lives. Ring doorbell after midnight


(couldn't resist).

[rickgillyon]

Originally Posted by sainswor99

Note to self: find where rickgillyon lives. Ring doorbell after midnight

Chances are it would be a long trip!

[mike1961]

Originally Posted by ke6guj

FOr instance, if Leno runs 5 minutes late, you'll see a blip at the end of the scheduled time, and then Sage'll start recording Conan.

That is EXACTLY what has been happening for months now and it was kind of annoying. Now I understand why it does that. For me, being that I use SERIAL to change my channels and not IR, it seems like there would be no need to change the channel to the same channel after each show (so long as Sage always knows which STB is on what channel).

Does it make sense that most using IR would probably set it to YES but using serial one would be more likely to set it to NO?

Thanks,
Mike

[rickgillyon]

Originally Posted by mike1961

Does it make sense that most using IR would probably set it to YES but using serial one would be more likely to set it to NO?

I think it's more a case of: if you use your STB remote to change channels sometimes, you need to set it to YES, but if you always us Sage it can be NO, as Sage will know when it needs to change.