Channel Surfing... Upconverting... Chase Play... Pause Live TV
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Note
Surfing Analog and Digital Channels
Tips for Faster Digital Channel Changes
Upconverting
Chase Play
Chase Playing Back-to-Back (BTB) Timer Recordings
Pause Live TV - Philips 3575/3576 and Mag 2080
Pause Live TV - Mag 2160
Note
Be careful with the STOP button on the 3575/3576 while a normal recording is in progress thru the REC button or a timer program.
Click here for more info on using the STOP button.
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Surfing Analog and Digital Channels
You can move from channel to channel (surf) with direct entry (with the number buttons) or with the CH+/- buttons. This DVDR can surf ANALOG channels like any other DVDR or TV with no noticeable delay beyond "normal-normal."
All DVDRs take slightly longer to surf thru their DIGITAL channels due to the extra "deblocking" time required to create the picture... digital channels are broadcast in macroblocks (small block of data) that have to be reassembled for viewing. Some other DVDRs are "painfully" slow (~3-5 sec each) so their users say they don't watch normal TV thru
their DVDR for just that reason.
Surfing DIGITAL channels in THIS DVDR is NOT "painfully" slow but it does take ~2 sec per channel on first tuning them, then ~1-1/2 sec on 2nd run thru. Since you CAN'T delete an individual digital subchannel in this DVDR w/o deleting the entire group, you'll sometimes have to surf THRU some channels you might not want to watch or even be in channel memory.
There's NO alternate channel button on the 3575/3576 or 2080/2160 remotes.
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Tips for Faster Digital Channel Changes- Entering digital channels without the period. Digital channels can have a max. of 3-digits for the primary channel and 2-digits for the subchannel, separated by a period, e.g., XXX.XX. Triple-digit digital channels will only be 10X.XX thru 13X.XX since the digital tuner only goes to 135, so any channel 1.X thru 9.X and 14.X thru 99-X will be a 2-digit channels. You can enter a complete digital channel set without using the period, as described in these examples:
- To go to any digital channel's first subchannel (XX.1), just enter the primary number, e.g., 78 for 78.1.
- For deeper subchannels within 1-digit primary channel #1 thru 9, enter 012 for 1.2 or 0912 for 9.12.
- For deeper subchannels within 1-digit primary channel #10 thru 13, you must use the period, like 10.3 for 10.3 or 13.2 for 13.2 cuz there are also 3-digit digital channels 100 thru 135 that start with the same numbers.
- For deeper subchannels within 2-digit primary channel #14 thru 99, enter 143 for 14.3 or 9913 for 99.13.
- For deeper subchannels within 3-digit primary channel #100 thru 135, enter 1069 for 106.9 or 13513 for 135.13.
- Surfing with the CH+/- button. You can SKIP BY undesired digital channels faster by holding the rocker button down. If you just press the CH +/- button for each move, it sometimes starts tuning and locks out another channel move for an additional few sec. By holding the CH +/- button down, I can surf thru 10 digital channels in ~15 sec.
- If you get into the Sources (E1/L1, etc.) and want out fast, just enter a channel number with the number keys.
- Also use the number keys 001 and 002 to select E1/E2 or L1/L2... more direct and faster from one to the other than the Source button.
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Upconverting - 3575/3576/2160
The 3575/3576/2160 can upconvert over HDMI... they don't upconvert over Component connection. HDMI has copy protection (CP) built in. Since they don't make DVDRs with either Component or HDMI imputs, CP stuff is watchable any time you want, but not copyable, just the way "they" want it.
To upconvert to 1080p or other rez, you "activate" it for first use by pressing the HDMI button on the remote, which starts HDMI at 480p. Each press of the button then changes rez to 720p, 1080i and 1080p, and any rez your TV can't support is skipped.
If you use any other connection type (composite, S-Video or Component), your TV should handle any upconversion in a normal manner, i.e., should not be a problem at all. In fact, in my system, HDMI at 480p provides a better pic than 1080p on my 47" 1080p LCD.
I just read in another forum that some DVDRs don't upconvert normal TV channels for viewing, only when playing DVDs. The 3575/3576/2160 can upconvert both.
On "Expectations": Don't expect upconversion to do anything "magical" with an analog channel received via cable TV... that's a bit-starved Composite signal (all video signals mixed together and compressed), and you can't make a silk purse out of
that sow's ear! However, upconverting can make Component signals look better on a good TV, like HD channels from an OTA antenna and from commercial DVDs, which are produced with digital Component video (YCbCr). Even that assumes you've got a good TV and the appropriate DVDR settings for your system.
I use 480p with my HDMI and let my good HDTV do the upconverting to its native 1080p rez cuz I don't see much improvement in my live pic or home recordings from my composite cable TV signal, but MANY others report they do see a noticeable PQ improvement when they upconvert... prob. depends on your source (OTA, digital cable, ?) and/or TV.
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Chase Play
Chase play allows you to watch a show from its beginning while it's still being recorded on the HDD. The recording needs a 3 sec. head start before you can chase-play it, and you can only chase PLAY to within 3 sec. of the live show. (DVDs can't be chase played... only DVD-RAM discs, which this DVDR can't use.)
That 3-sec. is the "buffer" between the data read from the incoming signal and stored in the HDD's cache before it's written to the HDD. Essentially, it's what alllows us to play and record a show at the same time, i.e., the data read and written are at different points in time, but never closer than that 3-sec. buffer cuz that's not been written to the HDD yet.
With a manual or timer recording to the HDD in progress, press PLAY and start watching from the beginning until you catch up to within 3-sec. of the live recording. You don't have to go to the title menu to play since the PLAY-button priority is 1-Whatever's recording, 2-Last title left in Resume position, 3-Last title recorded. This priority persists even after turning the unit off and back on again.
Hint: To see where you are in chase play vs. the live show, press the INFO button (3575/3576) or DISPLAY button (2080/2160) and the counter will show your play position on left and the live recording position on right.
While chasing, you can SKIP commercials, FF, etc except the ability for any fast-speed play/skip ends sooner, i.e., it only lets you PLAY when you get ~3-4 min. from the end.
During PLAYBACK, if you have to answer the phone, get a snack or leave temporarily, press STOP
once. The pic on the screen will change to the live show at that point in time, and your chase play will be left in a "Resume" position, so when you come back and press PLAY again, the playback picks up where you left off.
The "Resume" position is remembered even when the recording stops and even if you turn the unit off, and it never "times out" like a "Pause Live TV" or similar pause-based function can.
If your chase play catches up to the live show, it auto-stops the playback and switches to the live show... an info message appears on screen. You'll miss the 3-sec buffer between what you watched and what's being recorded.
If you just CAN'T miss that 3-sec of buffer cuz it happens in a crucial part of the show, you can keep chase playing after you get the message by pressing PLAY again. Then, keep playing till the start of the next commercial and press STOP. Now, you'll be live IN A COMMERCIAL and you can watch live from there on!?
When recording stops, you won't notice any difference. You can continure normal playback cuz the entire program is now on the HDD, available for watching again, dubbing to DVD, or deleting, and its previously watched Resume position will be remembered if you didn't watch it all the way thru already.
See the Note above on using the STOP button.
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Chase Playing Back-to-Back (BTB) Timer Recordings
I tested a Chase Play of FOUR back-to-back (BTB) timer-recorded shows on different channels (could be on same channels), where the end time of program 1 is the same as the start time of program 2, etc.
If you start Chase Play on Program 1 while it's still recording, it PLAYS THRU THE CHANNEL SWITCH AND START OF RECORDING ON PROGRAM 2... the only "blip" you'll see is the 3-sec buffer write to HDD.
If Program 1 has finished recording and you're into Program 2, 3, etc. and you press PLAY, the show currently recording will start playing., and IT will play seamlessly into the next program IF it's still recording, and the next, etc.
While any subsequent Program is still recording, you can go back to any other program anytime and play it by going to the normal Title menu or the INFO menu (T1, T2, etc.) and selecting it. (Programs must be over 3-4 minutes long or you can't get to the title menu... same thing that prevents FF, SKIP, etc. during last 3-4 minutes of a program being chased.)
Titles that you've chased, even if just the first frame, will NOT show the normal "New" in the Title menu. Titles you haven't chased will be obvious cuz of the "New" indication on the index pic. If using the INFO menu, each title selected to play will play back from first frame, regardless of their Resume position.
Hint: Since you only miss 3 sec. of the 2nd and subsequent shows in a back-to-back series of recordings, people who like ALL their shows to be in separate titles, even those on the same channel, can do this by setting back-to-back recordings rather than one "block" of recording, e.g., 7:00-8:00, 8:00-9:00, 9:00-10:00, tather than 7:00-10:00.
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Pause Live TV - Philips 3575/3576 and Mag 2080
The 3575/3576 has a PAUSE LIVE TV (PLTV) and the Mag 2080 has a TIME SHIFT (TS) button, that starts making a
temporary recording of a live show you're watching so you can come back, while it's still recording, and start playing from the point you paused it.
You have two options for activating PLTV, depending on whether you want Live TV to continue playing or pause on screen while you're away/busy:
1. Press PLTV/TS button ONCE -- Live TV CONTINUES on screen while being recorded in the background. Press PLAY to continue watching from the point you pressed the button.
2. Press PLTV/TS button TWICE -- Live TV PAUSES on screen while being recorded in the background. Press PLAY to continue watching from the point you pressed the button. (Instructions for going to Live TV or stopping PLTV are displayed on screen, if needed at that point... not!)
While playing the temp. recording with the INFO/DISPLAY screen up, an on-screen display, lower left, shows the play status (> for playing, ll for paused) plus PLTV time vs Live TV time counters in upper right. INFO/DISPLAY screens do not get recorded during PLTV... in fact, if you have the 1st screen up on a digital channel, that menu goes away immediately on pressing the PLTV button.
Recording will stop when/if the disc runs out of space, the total time exceeds 12 hours (not 6 as in one national review), or 2-minutes before a timer recording is scheduled to start.
If you plan to be away for awhile or not sure, instead of Pause Live TV or Time Shift, you can press REC several times, in 30-minute increments, until you've set the remaining time for the show you're watching. Using the REC button gives you two options:
1. If you're still there while it's recording, you can start Chase Playing immediately from where you pressed REC... just press PLAY... without worrying about time limits and the temporary nature of the Pause Live TV function.
2. If you
can't make it back in time and the remaining show completes recording per the time you set, the portion you missed will have been recorded to the HDD so you can play it back whenever you do have time.
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Pause Live TV - Mag 2160
The 2160 doesn't have Pause Live TV like the 3575/3576. It has Autostart Recording (AR) instead... greatest thing since sliced bread!
Every time you turn on the 2160, it automatically records the channel(s) you tune. It does this in the background and in 2-hr-SP rec mode. It
temporarily stores the recorded content to the HDD in a buffer of up to 6 hours. If you change channels, it keeps recording whatever channel you change it to. It keeps replacing the oldest portion so the buffer is always the LAST 6 hours.
More detailed info and operating instructions on AR can be found here.
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