Things that annoy you beyond reason...(Vol 4)
Discussion
colonel c said:
Shakermaker said:
Antony Moxey said:
They have worked it out: it's called Sky Q. You can record four (I think) channels simultaneously which would allow for overlaps while watching a different channel to any and all that you're recording.
Yes. I actually have them coming to install that next week thanks to a freebie offer that I got. It will solve that problem but there will probably come a time when every show I want to watch is on all at the same time anyway.I am sure they must be able to get the recording to start at the time when the programme starts, not halfway through the advert break, or at the end of the previous show. E.g. when I was recording Top Gear, and had also recorded Robot Wars. I watched Top Gear first as I was more interested in it, with a view to watching Robot Wars at my leisure. But the TG recording included the last 2 minutes of Robot Wars, meaning I knew the winner before I actually watched the show.
Ironically for someone like myself who don’t actually watch that much TV, Sky Q is the best thing. I can record whole series and other programs I might be interested in and watch them as and when I feel like it.
Re the overlap problem. Start the recorded program, immediately pause the programme, then press and hold the right arrow until you reach the time you want to start watching from then press OK. It's also a quick way of skipping adverts because you just need to pause when the ad break comes on the press the right arrow 4 or 5 times and you've skipped the break in about 5 seconds.
colonel c said:
On the very odd occasion that had happened I got round it by utilising the +1hr channels or using catch up.
Ironically for someone like myself who don’t actually watch that much TV, Sky Q is the best thing. I can record whole series and other programs I might be interested in and watch them as and when I feel like it.
Re the overlap problem. Start the recorded program, immediately pause the programme, then press and hold the right arrow until you reach the time you want to start watching from then press OK. It's also a quick way of skipping adverts because you just need to pause when the ad break comes on the press the right arrow 4 or 5 times and you've skipped the break in about 5 seconds.
I find it amusing to fast forward on X30 during adverts, watching people's panicked faces as they think I'm going to recklessly plough into the next segment like a remote wielding adrenaline junkie. In reality, most channels have 3min ad breaks so counting to 9 or 10 generally brings you back to the show itself or the trailer/sponsor bit just before. Ironically for someone like myself who don’t actually watch that much TV, Sky Q is the best thing. I can record whole series and other programs I might be interested in and watch them as and when I feel like it.
Re the overlap problem. Start the recorded program, immediately pause the programme, then press and hold the right arrow until you reach the time you want to start watching from then press OK. It's also a quick way of skipping adverts because you just need to pause when the ad break comes on the press the right arrow 4 or 5 times and you've skipped the break in about 5 seconds.
Very good!Shakermaker said:
The fact that Sky haven't yet worked out how NOT to overlap programmes when recording is quite frustrating as well.
When you want to record a few programmes in one evening which are on different channels, the notice to "cancel a recording" because of an overlap is annoying at 9.58 when you are wanting to record a programme at 10, just because you are watching one programme and recording a second that both finish at 10, when in reality, both these programmes actually finish at around 9.56.
I am sure there is a setting in the setup menu where you can adjust the overlap time.When you want to record a few programmes in one evening which are on different channels, the notice to "cancel a recording" because of an overlap is annoying at 9.58 when you are wanting to record a programme at 10, just because you are watching one programme and recording a second that both finish at 10, when in reality, both these programmes actually finish at around 9.56.
RicksAlfas said:
I am sure there is a setting in the setup menu where you can adjust the overlap time.
True, but I think the point was more that we even *need* overlaps in this day and age. Sky control both the content and the box, and it's digital, so having an overlap seems rather 20th Century. The DVB standards already include programme IDs and content descriptors anyway, so I don't see why Sky aren't using them to synchronise recording. Or, failing that, it would be trivial for Sky to send a few bytes of additional data telling any PVRs set to record that the programme is starting and ending.
CB2152 said:
In reality, most channels have 3min ad breaks so counting to 9 or 10 generally brings you back to the show itself or the trailer/sponsor bit just before.
I've found that four minutes seems to be more usual, though this is freeview rather than Sky. My PVR will skip forward two minutes if you hit the right-arrow, and if I do that twice as soon as the ad break starts, I'm usually on the end of the break. Really pleased when I found that, I can tell you. Doesn't work on programmes overnight where they often have shorter ad breaks to fiddle the averages.droopsnoot said:
CB2152 said:
In reality, most channels have 3min ad breaks so counting to 9 or 10 generally brings you back to the show itself or the trailer/sponsor bit just before.
I've found that four minutes seems to be more usual, though this is freeview rather than Sky. My PVR will skip forward two minutes if you hit the right-arrow, and if I do that twice as soon as the ad break starts, I'm usually on the end of the break. Really pleased when I found that, I can tell you. Doesn't work on programmes overnight where they often have shorter ad breaks to fiddle the averages.It must be quite easy for a TV/set top box manufacturer to provide a skip adverts feature to start and restart exactly when the programmes does these days due to one annoying factor. When the broadcasting volume goes up it's the adverts so forward, when the volume goes back down the programme starts. 
FourWheelDrift said:
It must be quite easy for a TV/set top box manufacturer to provide a skip adverts feature to start and restart exactly when the programmes does these days due to one annoying factor. When the broadcasting volume goes up it's the adverts so forward, when the volume goes back down the programme starts.
You're still thinking in analogue 20th Century terms. Nothing so crude is needed when the feed is entirely digital and you can inspect the data. RizzoTheRat said:
Given how much money advertisers must pay sky, why would anyone think they have any interest in helping people to not watch the ads?
Very true. But we were originally talking about detecting the beginning and end of a programme so that an overlap wasn't necessary. 
FourWheelDrift said:
It must be quite easy for a TV/set top box manufacturer to provide a skip adverts feature to start and restart exactly when the programmes does these days due to one annoying factor. When the broadcasting volume goes up it's the adverts so forward, when the volume goes back down the programme starts.
I think it would be easy for them to do so, but probably something they're discouraged from doing, perhaps by their own marketing department. My old Sony PVR seems to be very good at putting chapter marks at the start and end of ad breaks, but it's not 100% so sometimes you can miss a chunk of the programme.droopsnoot said:
FourWheelDrift said:
It must be quite easy for a TV/set top box manufacturer to provide a skip adverts feature to start and restart exactly when the programmes does these days due to one annoying factor. When the broadcasting volume goes up it's the adverts so forward, when the volume goes back down the programme starts.
I think it would be easy for them to do so, but probably something they're discouraged from doing, perhaps by their own marketing department. My old Sony PVR seems to be very good at putting chapter marks at the start and end of ad breaks, but it's not 100% so sometimes you can miss a chunk of the programme.I cannot begin to imagine that this sort of system is incompatible with modern digital TV boxes, yet my recordings are still missed with alarming regularity. Which is plain daft when there'd be no need for a separate code anymore, just embed it in the on-screen programme guide, FFS!
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