Padding Missing?

Started by The_Hawk, March 08, 2012, 07:14:54 PM

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jeisner

#75
Another reply from Humax after I told them that even with the power hungry PSS OFF mode it still is not reliable..

QuoteWe have many testing boxes and one of our box that had the block as series, although we had 20 mins padding at the front and at the back, the back padding didn't get recorded.
However, other 'The Block' has been recorded with no problem with correct padding.
It is possible that event information from IceTV on 'The Block' was not correct.

Will you kindly wait until next week for us to carry out testing with other IceTV compatible products on 'The Block' along with our testing HDR-7500T and see what happens? If all different products are behaving the same the issue with The Block missing end padding could be mere information difference from IceTV.

So are they blaming ICETV?? the recording scheduled on the Humax was from 7-8pm how could it then be ICETVs fault??? Its funny my topfield has never had problems with padding (I have been using ICETV for 2 years with various recorders) only the Humax has issues and now they are suggesting it isn't their fault??

It is a 60 minute show, you put 20min padding on the end and it records 60mins worth, how could the scheduling from ICETV be at fault, when the Humax schedule also shows a 60min show (after downloaded from ICETV)..

prl

Quote from: swamprat96 on May 25, 2012, 12:45:40 PM
lets not forget- we also need padding longer than 20 minutes. Try recording a film on any of the commercial networks- they are so loaded with ads we need adjustable padding of up to 60 minutes- and padding that works!
As I noted before in this topic, Humax doesn't have access to DTV-B broadcasts in Korea. While I agree that Humax probably should have done more testing before release, I think that's true, too, of both Topfield and Beyonwiz, but it's not simple for them to test under actual broadcast conditions in Australia.

Early firmware on the Beyonwiz had some real doozies. On the DP-S1, playing a DVD would stop all recordings ::)
Peter
Beyonwiz T4 in-use
Beyonwiz T2, T3, T4, U4 & V2 for testing

ozpowell

Quote from: jeisner on May 22, 2012, 10:14:06 AM
Well I asked Humax for a progress report and got the following from the lady I have been dealing with there..

QuoteIs your Power Saving in Standby and Automatic Power Down OFF?
MENU – SETTINGS – SYSTEM – POWER MANAGEMENT
You will see above two options ON as a default.
Please turn them off.
Then, please turn the box off using rear switch and turn it back on.

As a IceTV user you need to have HDR-7500T to communicate with the IceTV server all the time.
When Power Saving in Standby is ON, when HDR-7500T goes into the standby, it goes into what we call 'passive standby'.
It means none of USB ports, network, terrestrial etc will operate during standby mode.
(Only those require to wake up HDR-7500T at scheduled time which were stored before HDR-7500T was put into standby will run)
Therefore, if you have above options off it will not communicate to the server and you will lose some recordings you set up during HDR-7500T was under standby and paddings on some recordings.

We were carrying out investigations on paddings as many customers were claiming contrary opinions on paddings.
We have collected valid testing results from comprehensive testing with IceTV EPG on HDR-7500T and very close to put an end on the padding issue.

Until we have final confirmation I cannot say whether there is any permanent resolution on padding issue but there may not be a need of any resolutions.
I've now been testing this suggestion for a few days.  It doesn't appear to have any effect on the problem.  Padding is still being missed on many (most!) recordings.
--
Humax HDR-7500T with IceTV

lingfish

Quote from: prl on May 25, 2012, 06:23:34 PM

As I noted before in this topic, Humax doesn't have access to DTV-B broadcasts in Korea. While I agree that Humax probably should have done more testing before release, I think that's true, too, of both Topfield and Beyonwiz, but it's not simple for them to test under actual broadcast conditions in Australia.

Erm, so?  If you sell a product in a country that is supported... support it!  You can't just say, sell a phone in a country with the reasoning, "Well, we think it kinda might maybe sorta work".

lingfish

I'm even more annoyed now -- missed the Supernatural season finale last night... those magic, last 5 minutes.

ARGH!

IceTV!  Wtf is going on?  Why have things fallen quiet?

prl

Quote from: lingfish on May 29, 2012, 10:27:19 AM
Quote from: prl on May 25, 2012, 06:23:34 PM

As I noted before in this topic, Humax doesn't have access to DTV-B broadcasts in Korea. While I agree that Humax probably should have done more testing before release, I think that's true, too, of both Topfield and Beyonwiz, but it's not simple for them to test under actual broadcast conditions in Australia.

Erm, so?  If you sell a product in a country that is supported... support it!  You can't just say, sell a phone in a country with the reasoning, "Well, we think it kinda might maybe sorta work".
I've never even hinted that this isn't a serious problem, and I've said a couple of times on the DTV forum that I think that the problem is serious enough that I wouldn't consider buying a Humax unless this problem were fixed.

I was explaining how the situation could arise, not condoning it!

It's simply the case that most PVRs I know anything about were released onto the market with insufficient testing. That's not saying I think that it's acceptable.

I'm a Beyonwiz beta tester, and I've given a good bit of time to helping them improve their product.
Peter
Beyonwiz T4 in-use
Beyonwiz T2, T3, T4, U4 & V2 for testing

icebox

From the little testing I have performed my best guess is the cause of the "Padding Missing" issue may be related to how the recording was initiated. I will talk about the Humax Electronic Program Guide (EPG) instead of the IceTV EPG, only because the Humax EPG is where I have done some testing.

Possible recording initiation methods identified to date:

Humax EPG
1. Pressing the record button on the hand held remote control to record a show that is currently on screen - "Padding Issue" no end padding, start padding not applicable.
2. Scheduling a recording in the future using the Humax hand held remote control and the Humax EPG - OK, start and end padding is fine. Tested with 5 minute start and 20 minute end padding.

IceTV EPG
1. Pressing the record button on the hand held remote control to record a show that is currently on screen - (not tested)
2. Scheduling a recording in the future using the Humax hand held remote control and the IceTV EPG - (not tested)
3. Using the IceTV internet interface on a computer or mobile device to schedule a recording in the future - (not tested)

If willing people can populate the above scenarios with their test results we will have a more detailed understanding of the issue and whether there is in fact a consistent pattern related to the recording initiation method.

lingfish

Quote from: prl on May 29, 2012, 06:22:31 PM

I was explaining how the situation could arise, not condoning it!


Understood... it just didn't necessarily read that way.

Quote from: prl on May 29, 2012, 06:22:31 PM
I'm a Beyonwiz beta tester, and I've given a good bit of time to helping them improve their product.

I wish I'd know this before buying this pile of junk.

Not only is padding broken, but it isn't filing series recodings into folders anymore, randomly.  Sometimes it works, sometimes not.  ARGH!

The whole point of this box is to "set and forget", and all it needs lately is the opposite -- constant mothering.

lingfish

Quote from: icebox on May 29, 2012, 10:39:26 PM

If willing people can populate the above scenarios with their test results we will have a more detailed understanding of the issue and whether there is in fact a consistent pattern related to the recording initiation method.

Or, the manufacturer can do their own work that we pay them to do by buying the units, and subscribing to IceTV... though I want a resolution to this, I fail to see how it's our problem to gather test results.

I bought the box to free up my time, not to suck up more of it!

And anyway, the last statement from Ice (which seems likes eons ago now) was that they pretty much knew what it was, and were working on fixing it...

jeisner

Quote from: lingfish on May 30, 2012, 10:06:59 AM
And anyway, the last statement from Ice (which seems likes eons ago now) was that they pretty much knew what it was, and were working on fixing it...

They might but Humax, based on my contact with them, are still in the investigating phase trying to find the issue rather than knowing what it is and fixing the programming...

Anyway I was in contact with Humax and have been given an RA and have returned it today to ICETV.. I will buy another Topfield 2400 as I know they work, the Humax seemed like a real bargain but, like you, I don't need to be spending my free time trying to help them fix their product which currently doesn't work.

lingfish

Quote from: jeisner on May 30, 2012, 03:01:32 PM

Anyway I was in contact with Humax and have been given an RA and have returned it today to ICETV.. I will buy another Topfield 2400 as I know they work, the Humax seemed like a real bargain but, like you, I don't need to be spending my free time trying to help them fix their product which currently doesn't work.

Hrm, I wonder if I do that, if I lose my lifetime Ice membership, which is the only reason I bought into all this -- the package deal Ice did...

prl

Quote from: lingfish on May 30, 2012, 10:04:26 AM
...
The whole point of this box is to "set and forget", and all it needs lately is the opposite -- constant mothering.
Even on Beyonwizes, which seem, out of them, Topfields and Humax, to behave best with IceTV, occasional tending and weeding is necessary. Sometimes shows continue to display "queued" on IceTV when the timer has been set on the Beyonwiz, and sometimes the show shows the yellow error triangle when the timer has in fact been set correctly. These are two problems that I've long complained about on this forum, but without the problem still comes up occasionally.

Also, independent of any bugs in the implementation, your recording schedule can still get thrown out if a show that records properly gets a timeslot change that causes it to conflict with two other now-concurrent timers. Though it looks as though Humax owners wish that was their only problem.

My experience is that it's simply not the case that "... IceTV will automatically record all your favourite TV shows for you," as is claimed on the IceTV home page. Even when it all works as it's intended to.
Peter
Beyonwiz T4 in-use
Beyonwiz T2, T3, T4, U4 & V2 for testing

jeisner

Quote from: prl on May 30, 2012, 05:41:21 PM
Even on Beyonwizes, which seem, out of them, Topfields and Humax, to behave best with IceTV, occasional tending and weeding is necessary. Sometimes shows continue to display "queued" on IceTV when the timer has been set on the Beyonwiz, and sometimes the show shows the yellow error triangle when the timer has in fact been set correctly. These are two problems that I've long complained about on this forum, but without the problem still comes up occasionally.

I have owned 4 different companies' ICETV compatible PVRs..

Humax - padding issues as we all know.

Strong - Worst of the lot has reseting issues when playing and recording at the same time, big problem as show that is recording is lost, and Strong released a new model and stopped supporting their customers.. Gave to my mother in law, she only uses it as a set top box and to pause live tv, works fine for that..

Beyonwiz - I had bad luck with mine also had random reset issues, though others don't get this so maybe I had a bad one? I returned it to JB HiFi for the topfield..

Topfield 2400 - I think the best of the lot has one minor issue when there is a blackout it doesn't pick the network connection back up again unless you go in and out of the network settings (don't need to change anything).. I very rarely get blackouts, I only noticed it as I have had electrical work done a bit lately so turned on and off a few times... Otherwise I don't have any issues at all with ICETV and this unit, extremely reliable...

swamprat96

I'm on my second device after an HTPC- TVIX being the first. It did everything but kept resetting or powering down. Very dissapointed with the Humax. I could forgive the padding issues, the disappearing program guide, forgetting its network connections and other silly bugs- if the vendor supported it. But Humax Australia is all talk and no action- same as TVIX were and they've gone now as a result of poor service.

If you sell a faulty product and don't back it up you won't last. I'll be packing my Humax up this weekend and getting an RA to return it. I'm thinking I'll be looking at a Freeview device or perhaps Topfield. I'm not happy with ICETv either  -the humax product was recommended and sold to me by them as was the TVIX.

carlprowse

We have not had any padding issues in over a week since making the power saving setting changes recommended by Humax. We use the IceTV app on iPads to control the PVR (one of the use cases that need to be tested.

On the broader issue of the suitability of the Humax/IceTV solution, I am quite pleased. It is a huge improvement on my old Pansonic PVR which could not adapt to changes in the programme schedules inflicted on us by the networks. It also did not allow an entire series to be selected for recoding.

I chose the Humax/IceTV combination because it appeared to be the easiest for my wife to use.

BTW, the ABCs iView app is really well implemented

I expect the occaisional glitch with all the technology involved (digital TV, HDMI, PVR, WiFi, router, internet, IceTV). I have been surprised that the few glitches that do occur are relatively minor.

My biggest complaint is aimed at the TV networks. Padding is only an issue because the networks intentionally vary from the published schedule. Whatever their intent, the impact has been to stop us watching any commercial program live to air. In fact we tend to shy away from watching most programs on the commercial networks, even via the PVR. Our Apple TV provides the most relaxing way to watch shows such as Top Gear and Downton Abbey.