Official DVICO TViX M6620N HD (ATSC/QAM) Tuner Topic - Page 60

Originally Posted by Doc Ostrow 

Goes to 11:
A SATA docking station allows a much faster data transfer rate. Here are the USB and SATA transfer rates:
USB 1.0: 12 Mbit/s (1.5 MB/s)
USB 2.0: 480 Mbit/s (60 MB/s)
USB 3.0: 5 Gbit/s (625 MB/s)
SATA 1.0: 1.5 Gbit/s (150 MB/s)
SATA 2.0: 3 Gbit/s (300 MB/s)
SATA 3.0: 6 Gbit/s (750 MB/s)
My docking station is a Thermaltake BlacX Duet eSATA USB Dual Hard Drives Docking Station ST0014U. It supports USB 2.0 (60 MB/s) and SATA 2.0 (300 MB/s), so SATA 2.0 has 5 times the transfer rate of USB 2.0. I can edit and save files much faster. I can also burn them to DVD-R much faster.
Is your name from the movie This Is Spinal Tap? It's so funny when Nigel Tufnel talks about his amplifier: "These go to eleven".

Originally Posted by USAWife 

And just to confirm, will the 6620 record shows using OTA or cable QAM unscrambled channels? Thank you.

Originally Posted by USAWife 

Has anyone used a Harmony remote with this DVR?

Originally Posted by Aleron Ives 

1. The "meatball" is something many people have complained about. The simple way to fix it is if you can't resist watching something at the same time it's recording, watch the program with the tuner in your TV instead of using the DVR's feed, since your TV's tuner won't show the dot.

Originally Posted by Aleron Ives 

1. 
   
2. The timeshifting ability of the TViX is limited. You can't timeshift on the second tuner at all, so if you're recording a program, you can't pause or rewind the second one. This limitation also means you can't pause two channels at once: if you enable timeshifting on channel 2 and then tune to channel 3, the screen will go black as it changes channels, and then you'll be on channel 3. If you rewind the video, you'll jump back to watching what was on channel 2, and then the screen will go black and start showing what you were seeing on channel 3, i.e. the video feed during the channel change was actually recorded exactly the way it appeared on your screen. You can't pause one channel, tune to another, and then tune back to the paused channel to resume the program you were watching; you can only timeshift what tuner 1 is showing. You also can't dump the timeshift buffer to a permanent recording; it's only saved as a temporary file. The only way to engage both tuners is to press the record button or set a timer and change channels once the recording is in progress.

Originally Posted by Aleron Ives 

1. 
   
2. The popping is probably due to the way some programs' audio is muxed, as I've had the problem too, but never consistently. Some shows even generate a pop between scene transitions now and then.

Originally Posted by Goes to 11 

I'll just have to split my antenna feed, and hope that doesn't weaken the signal too much.

Originally Posted by Goes to 11 

These are not good limitations. I've gotten used to being able to decide on the fly to save the buffer as a recording, and doing all that other stuff. I can't understand why the only way to get hardware with these features is being forced to rent a DVR from TIVO, Dish, etc. I know, you buy a TIVO, but to me paying them a monthly fee is the same as renting it--or maybe worse because of the purchase price.

Originally Posted by videobruce 

Are the tuners integrated together as far as surfing through channels? Same goes for the limited Guide. Or are these separate like the VRX?

I'm not entirely sure what "integrated" is supposed to mean

There is no way to specify which tuner should be used to record each program

Originally Posted by Mr.H 

You can save the timeshift buffer, it is in the folder \\VENUS\tvixhd1\PVR\livepause

The M6620 hides this folder, but you can see it using a PC.

Originally Posted by Aleron Ives 

I got a cheap amplifier for my antenna and splitting it between my TV and DVR has no ill effects.
You can't get TiVo features on non-TiVo DVRs because of TiVo's patents. Most non-TiVo DVR manufacturers get licenses from TiVo to implement the various patented features TiVo has, and those manufacturers only make QAM DVRs for cable and satellite companies. Most OTA DVR options come from overseas (South Korea supposedly chose to use ATSC over DVB so they would be able to sell their TV products in the U.S.), and those companies don't necessarily know which functions Americans expect their DVRs to have. It is true that the TViX lacks many features common in more exotic domestic DVRs, but for someone coming from a VCR background, it excels in all the right areas: it can record two shows at once, and it lets you watch and record at the same time. The latter feature was even added as the result of a firmware update, so the manufacturer came through by providing a highly sought-after function.

While I agree that timeshifting two channels at once and saving the timeshift buffer to a file would be useful, it's hardly a deal-breaker for me, since my main use for a DVR is to make scheduled recordings, and that works far better than it does on a VCR. A DVR like this essentially exists as an enhanced digital VCR: it is designed to make pre-scheduled recordings that you intend to watch later. It is not designed to enhance live TV viewing with things like an extensive program guide and timeshifting on multiple channels to let you buffer and view multiple live programs without having to watch commercials. It has some limited enhancement features for live TV, but you're mostly expected to know what you want to watch ahead of time and when it's on so you can set a timer and then do something else. You just don't need to remember to rewind your tape or to watch your old recordings before you tape over them, anymore.
I'm not entirely sure what "integrated" is supposed to mean, but the presence of the second tuner is essentially hidden from the user. The only way to activate tuner 2 is to tune to another channel while tuner 1 is busy recording (not timeshifting). There is no way to specify which tuner should be used to record each program, and there is no way to know which tuner is being used to record what when two recordings are in progress; one must assume that "Rec1" is using tuner 1 and "Rec2" is using tuner 2. If the first recording ends before the second, one would also assume that "Rec2" (which now becomes "Rec1") is still using tuner 2, since switching tuners mid-timer would cause a gap in the recorded file.

Originally Posted by Goes to 11 

Very good to know, but what do I do to cause the buffer to be saved? Hit pause (or record) on the remote?

Then, using the PC can the contents of the hidden folder be copied to a different folder on the M6620 wehre they can ve viewed like any other recording?

Originally Posted by videobruce 

I was assuming each tuner has the ability to have both channel maps so two OTA or two CATV channels can be recorded at the same time.

Originally Posted by dornanu 

Goes to 11:

For all the reasons noted previously, I never timeshift (pause live TV) unless it's a show I don't really care much about and I'm expecting to catch up to the live feed by the next commercial.

I just playback the file being recorded (with the .R00 extension). The negatives of this are once you reach the point in the recording where the file was when you started playing it, you must stop and start again then jump back to that spot.

But the positives... Two shows recorded; walk away when you want; come back when you want; start 20 minutes later and skip commercials; nothing is lost since it actually recorded the file; no hamburger.

Originally Posted by Goes to 11 

Dornau:

But one of the negative reasons noted above was that if you set the M6620 to always start buffering,* extra wear & tear on the hard drive.

Originally Posted by Goes to 11 

but 2) does it get rid of the red dot? If so, I'm willing to put the wear & tear on the drive, not to see the red dot. But then again, I watch a lot of shows I don't give a hoot about recording, and I don't see the red dot if I'm not recording them.

Originally Posted by Goes to 11 

*In the same vein, one of the things I've gotten used to with my Comcast DVR is rewinding whenever I suddenly feel like it. For example, I realize I have just been daydreaming and missed something important, I rewind and watch again. If I set the M6620 to only start buffering when I hit pause, not possible, right? But, possible if I have buffering always on. So, I might be willing to wear out a few hard drives for that convenience. Although, then perhaps recording everything IS the better option. Same wear and tear, and can walk away and finish watching tomorrow if I want.

The "meatball" is something many people have complained about.

You can't use OTA and CATV at the same time, period. The DVR behaves like most TVs and has an "Air" / "Cable" toggle in the options menu. If you want to switch from one type of broadcast to another, you have to do a full channel scan and wipe out your channel list, so even having an A/B switch to switch between sources won't work in a practical fashion.

As for videoBruce's question about the dual tuner, I think what he is getting as it hooking an antenna feed to one tuner, and a CATV feed to the other. Since the M6620 has only one coax input, no dice.