HD-PVR 4 Second Delay

[toricred]

For those of you successfully using the HD-PVR with SPDIF:

1. Are you using fixed aspect ratio (720p)?

2. Do you still need the 4 second delay when tuning the channel?

[HelenWeathers]

Originally Posted by toricred

For those of you successfully using the HD-PVR with SPDIF:

1. Are you using fixed aspect ratio (720p)?

2. Do you still need the 4 second delay when tuning the channel?

I am using 720p fixed output with my DirecTV/HR PVRs.
I've never had to use the delay after tuning. Perhaps the fixed output makes it unnecessary.

What I do use is the time_to_start_into_tv_file_playback (set @ 4000) to avoid the audio pop I get with DD 5.1 via S/PDIF at the beginning of my HD PVR recordings.

[HuMan321]

Isn't the 4 second delay when tuning a channel the default in later versions of Sage?

[stanger89]

Originally Posted by toricred

For those of you successfully using the HD-PVR with SPDIF:

1. Are you using fixed aspect ratio (720p)?

I'm running 1080i (no switching option on Dish).

2. Do you still need the 4 second delay when tuning the channel?

Mine usually worked before I changed it but I had one channel (The Weather Channel) that wouldn't record properly without a delay.

It should be noted that I don't think the stability is any better with the delay (not any significant crashing either way) but the recording reliability is better.

It should also be noted that the 4 second delay is I think a largish conservative figure, I'm sure you could play with it and find a smaller one that works, especially if you're not using native output on your STB.

You also might want to look at the setups here:
http://forums.sage.tv/forums/showthread.php?t=43767

Originally Posted by HuMan321

Isn't the 4 second delay when tuning a channel the default in later versions of Sage?

Yes it is.

[razrsharpe]

Originally Posted by toricred

For those of you successfully using the HD-PVR with SPDIF:

1. Are you using fixed aspect ratio (720p)?

2. Do you still need the 4 second delay when tuning the channel?

I run at 1080i with SPDIF and 1.0.53 drivers (not the latest). At one point I upgraded to the latest and decreased the 4.0 sec to 2.0 sec (at the same time) but my HDPVR started acting up and required daily reboots. I don't know if it was decreasing the time or upgrading the drivers that made my system unstable. Reverted both and it's rock solid again. I go weeks/months? without rebooting the hdpvr.

[bhyman1]

Originally Posted by toricred

For those of you successfully using the HD-PVR with SPDIF:

1. Are you using fixed aspect ratio (720p)?

2. Do you still need the 4 second delay when tuning the channel?

1) I'm using 1080i

2) Yes. It solves quite a few annoying issues.

[Taddeusz]

I'm using a variable resolution. 480i, 720p or 1080i

I actually have my delay set to 7.5sec because it can actually take up to that long for my cable box to change the channel and then for the HDPVR to sync to the signal. Part of the reason for this is that when my STB gets a one or two digit channel number over FireWire it waits for further input before changing. Whatever I do I can't get leading zeros to be sent.

[myoung84]

My sage properties file has the 4 second delay as a default, as well as the HD PVR magic=yes.

[martin]

I upgraded to version 6.6.2 before I added two new HD-PVR's. I had to remove one of my two PVR-500 cards to make room for a firewire card to control a pair of DCT6200 cable boxes. I uninstalled 6.5.9 first before installing 6.6.2, but I didn't delete my Sage.properties file, so that got upgraded in place carrying forward my new settings.

Here is what I find in my current Sage.properties:

mmc/encoders/-1674637831/delay_to_wait_after_tuning=4000
mmc/encoders/-1674637831/video_capture_device_name=Hauppauge HD PVR Capture Device
mmc/encoders/-431556906/delay_to_wait_after_tuning=0
mmc/encoders/-431556906/video_capture_device_name=Hauppauge HD PVR Capture Device
mmc/encoders/1642691032/delay_to_wait_after_tuning=0
mmc/encoders/1642691032/video_capture_device_name=Hauppauge WinTV PVR PCI II Capture
mmc/encoders/551195575/delay_to_wait_after_tuning=0
mmc/encoders/551195575/video_capture_device_name=Hauppauge WinTV PVR PCI II Capture
mmc/encoders/551195576/delay_to_wait_after_tuning=0
mmc/encoders/551195576/video_capture_device_name=Hauppauge WinTV PVR PCI II Capture
mmc/encoders/551195577/delay_to_wait_after_tuning=0
mmc/encoders/551195577/video_capture_device_name=Hauppauge WinTV PVR PCI II Capture

I have had some stability problems with the halt error, I think with the second HD-PVR only.

My question is why did one HD-PVR get the default 4000 ms delay, but the other did not? Should I change the other to use 4000? Why didn't the second pair of PVR-500 tuners get removed when I deleted them from the Setup Video Sources GUI?

[sleonard]

Delay_to_wait is a per device setting. You must set it on each HD-PVR.

The properties file list all tuners whether or not they are setup as video sources.

S

[toricred]

Also tuners that have been configured at one time aren't removed from the sage.properties file when they no longer exist on the system. I've gotten into the habit of manually removing the lines associated with tuners that are no longer in the system, but I really don't think it matters.