# Does mini have ability to have a video window in the guide?



## nerdles1 (Aug 27, 2013)

Wondering if the video widow in the guide is available on the mini. Thx


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## smark (Nov 20, 2002)

It is there.


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## dkoz (Dec 28, 2013)

nerdles1 said:


> Wondering if the video widow in the guide is available on the mini. Thx


Perhaps you are thinking of Tivo Central. Video preview is not there, but it is in the guide.


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## simon7 (Mar 26, 2008)

They should add it in Tivo Central. My favorite A.D.D. activity is watching something while looking through all the other things I could be watching instead. This ruins that fun.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

I'm hoping that when they upgrade the Mini UI to match the Roamio UI that we will get the preview window in Tivo central. For me, ideally the preview window would be available for every screen in the UI. But that could only happen if they ever convert all the menus. Which so far doesn't look like it's anywhere close to happening.


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## bradleys (Oct 31, 2007)

Doesn't the Mini release the tuner as soon as you go to TiVo Central?

I am pretty sure that is the case, so it would not be available for live TV. I suppose they could keep it in place if you are in the middle of a recording playback, but that wouldn't be terribly consistent. 

No, I suspect it was left out by design.


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## Starfury9 (Nov 1, 2013)

Correct, the video preview does not show up in Tivo central. This is one of my biggest pet peeves about the mini. Especially because if you go back to live tv it takes it a bit longer to get back there also.


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## MScottC (Sep 11, 2004)

And here I hate video and audio playing in that little window. I leave it there because my wife likes it, but the moment I hit TiVo Central I hit the slow button to hide it.


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## Oreo10 (Dec 5, 2014)

I just got a Mini and have noticed there is no video window in TiVo central. Guess they never added that ability. So be aware that Mini ui is not 100% the same of the roamios.


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

Oreo10 said:


> I just got a Mini and have noticed there is no video window in TiVo central. Guess they never added that ability. So be aware that Mini ui is not 100% the same of the roamios.


There may be a technical reason the window is missing, like when you press the TiVo button on the Mini it disconnects from the host TiVo, if the picture window was up on the Mini, the Mini would have to stay connected to the host TiVo taking up a tuner.


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## trip1eX (Apr 2, 2005)

simon7 said:


> They should add it in Tivo Central. My favorite A.D.D. activity is watching something while looking through all the other things I could be watching instead. This ruins that fun.


Yeah and it makes for a less seamless experience when moving from the Roamio to the Mini.

I'm guessing Tivo Central is a resource hog in one way or another because on the Roamio the video/sound briefly cut out when switching to Tivo Central from full screen viewing and back again.

This doesn't happen when you bring up the guide.


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## kokishin (Sep 9, 2014)

lessd said:


> There may be a technical reason the window is missing, like when you press the TiVo button on the Mini it disconnects from the host TiVo, if the picture window was up on the Mini, the Mini would have to stay connected to the host TiVo taking up a tuner.


They could make the window an option like they do on the Roamio.


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## bradleys (Oct 31, 2007)

kokishin said:


> They could make the window an option like they do on the Roamio.


No they couldn't - that would only be possible if you permanently allocated a tuner to the Mini. As soon as you hit TiVo Central - the TiVo releases the tuner.

This is by design, appropriate and not something TiVo is going to change.


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## kokishin (Sep 9, 2014)

bradleys said:


> No they couldn't - that would only be possible if you permanently allocated a tuner to the Mini. As soon as you hit TiVo Central - the TiVo releases the tuner.
> 
> This is by design, appropriate and not something TiVo is going to change.


Thank you Tom Rogers.


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

Doesn't the window work during playback of a recording? If so, then why are folks so worked up over this? What is the big deal with live TV anyhow?


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

jrtroo said:


> Does the window work during playback of a recording? If so, then why are folks so worked up over this? What is the big deal with live TV anyhow?


A question was asked by the OP and answered the best we could, not being part of TiVo engineering, I don't think anybody is worked up over this, the consensus is that this window will never be part of the Mini UI, we could be incorrect, TiVo may surprise us, but I think there are more important things TiVo could do with their engineering time than design such a window in the Mini.


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## Series3Sub (Mar 14, 2010)

simon7 said:


> They should add it in Tivo Central. My favorite A.D.D. activity is watching something while looking through all the other things I could be watching instead. This ruins that fun.


Agreed!


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## Series3Sub (Mar 14, 2010)

jrtroo said:


> Does the window work during playback of a recording? If so, then why are folks so worked up over this? What is the big deal with live TV anyhow?


It is one of the few ways we can watch news casts that are best viewed live. Having them play live in the window while we tinker with our TiVo's by dealing with our timers and Season Passes and finding programming in the future so we can set the recording or Season Pass, etc. Time wasting chore becomes time well spent messing with the TiVo while the local news is in the window. Killing 2 birds with one stone.


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## bradleys (Oct 31, 2007)

kokishin said:


> Thank you Tom Rogers.


You are welcome...

The problem is many seem to look at design decisions as a flaw or bug instead of taking the time to understand the reasons for the decisions.

When the Mini was released, TiVo announced and delivered dynamic tuner allocation.

For dynamic tuner allocation to work they needed a release mechanism that would require a minimum amount of user interaction with maximum effect - they chose two methods... Time and TiVo Central.

As long as TiVo uses TiVo Central as a tuner release mechanism, you won't have a preview window on that screen.

It is not a mistake, it is not an oversight, it is not a future enhancement - it is a balance in the design and functionality of the Mini.

So I will say it again:

This is by design, appropriate and not something TiVo is going to change.


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## oryan_dunn (Dec 2, 2016)

So just having got my Bolt and my Mini hooked up, I was kinda shocked and let down the Mini didn't work exactly like the Bolt. Coming from the Dish Hopper/Joey, it's almost impossible to tell you're using a Joey and not the Hopper (unless you go looking for esoteric features/menus that are only on the Hopper).

Like the others here, my wife and I sometimes tinker in the menu when watching a show. The mini doesn't allow this. We've already had issues with the odd live tv button functionality on the Tivo, and now to see the zoom button not work to exit the menu on the mini (but does on the bolt) is very frustrating.

The Hopper/Joey also has dynamic tuner allocation, but they allow you to select which tuner to use (and it's possible to share a tuner so two or more TVs are showing the same recording/live TV at the same time).

As for how Dish frees a tuner, it's when the Joey is turned "off", either by the user or by a time out. The Dish off is really just "stop showing TV and show a screensaver".


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