# Pause Buffer



## --Scott-- (Feb 24, 2014)

I have a Roamio Plus. Is there a way to increase the pause buffer from 30 minutes to something like 2 hours? 30 minutes seems extremely low for a device that can record up to 300 hours of HD content. It seems a simple option in settings would resolve this. i.e. stating times (30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, etc) or percent of available space (10% of free space, 20%, 30%, etc).


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## Diana Collins (Aug 21, 2002)

It wasn't that simple back in the days when we could hack the software (lengthening the buffer was easy, getting the progress bar to behave correctly was the issue). But we can't get at the software any longer so I don't think there is a way to this anymore.


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

No. Hit record and then it should capture the show.


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## --Scott-- (Feb 24, 2014)

jrtroo said:


> No. Hit record and then it should capture the show.


That's an option, but just not convenient to record a show and then have to fast-forward to the point that could have been paused, and then delete it. We have a huge hard drive and pausing for longer than 30 minutes shouldn't be a big deal. It just curious why such a low buffer was programmed into the TiVo for no practical reason.


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## Diana Collins (Aug 21, 2002)

History...it's always been 30 minutes, all the way back to the original TiVo.


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## --Scott-- (Feb 24, 2014)

Diana Collins said:


> It wasn't that simple back in the days when we could hack the software (lengthening the buffer was easy, getting the progress bar to behave correctly was the issue). But we can't get at the software any longer so I don't think there is a way to this anymore.


I would love the ability to tweak the settings myself. Being a purchased item that we own, it would be a nice to have this option.

Thanks!


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## Diana Collins (Aug 21, 2002)

Back when we had DirecTiVos (Tivos built for the DirecTV service) I had hacked the buffers to 90 minutes each (the DirecTiVos were roughly equivalent to a Series 2 Dual Tuner). The DirecTV DVRs buffer for an hour, which is, IMHO, the minimum that's really useful. But the TiVos have other advantages over the alternatives, so we just have to learn to press record more often.


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

--Scott-- said:


> That's an option, but just not convenient to record a show and then have to fast-forward to the point that could have been paused, and then delete it. We have a huge hard drive and pausing for longer than 30 minutes shouldn't be a big deal. It just curious why such a low buffer was programmed into the TiVo for no practical reason.


It should remember the pause point, though sometimes it does not. Or, clear the buffer and then pause.

6 tuners at 30 minutes each starts to take some space. Tivo decided to not have a longer buffer, so recording is always the safer bet. Its not a big deal, just hit record.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

jrtroo said:


> It should remember the pause point, though sometimes it does not. Or, clear the buffer and then pause.
> 
> 6 tuners at 30 minutes each starts to take some space. Tivo decided to not have a longer buffer, so recording is always the safer bet. Its not a big deal, just hit record.


Recording is much easier than relying on the bufer. All it takes is an errant button press and poof, the buffer is gone.


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## Chris Gerhard (Apr 27, 2002)

aaronwt said:


> Recording is much easier than relying on the bufer. All it takes is an errant button press and poof, the buffer is gone.


Yes, I have poofed a couple of buffers I didn't want poofed so I learned long ago to hit record if I want to have the buffer available for a while. Deleting a recording isn't difficult. I also think 30 minute buffer is the proper choice, everything considered, an hour or two with smaller stock hard drives would have too much space dedicated for buffering.


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## --Scott-- (Feb 24, 2014)

I think I'll hit the record button as suggested. The risk of changing the channel and losing the buffer is greater than just hitting record. 

Thanks again to all that helped with this.


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## aridon (Aug 31, 2006)

Variable buffer for the tuner you're actively tuning would be nice. No reason it should be 30 minutes unless you're tapped for space.

The non active tuners 30 minutes is more than adequate.


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## FitzAusTex (May 7, 2014)

I, too, wish we could have a setting for this. Been dozens of times over the past 5 months where I sat down in front of TV when a show was past the 30 minutes point and couldn't rewind to the very beginning to a show I didn't know I was going to be interested in watching. My previous dvr had a 60 minute buffer and finding it difficult to adjust to 30 minutes. 

Also wish that when watching within the 30 minute buffer (delayed), we didn't have to pause when swapping btwn tunners. I'm a constant tuner swapper, especially during competing sports events and countless times I've messed up pausing btwn swapping and have jumped to live, which revealed score results I didn't want to know yet. Again previous dvr retained delay point btwn swaps. 

Anyway, just something I miss now that I use a tivo, and my brain got highly used to for 7 years.


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

Hitting record helps with nearly all of those uses. Suggestions *may* help with the other.


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## FitzAusTex (May 7, 2014)

My previous dvr also warned you if you were about to "poof" out of a buffer (if not viewing it at live point) . Very handy, although I'm sure some would find it annoying. I preferred the warning.


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

If you hit record, you will get the same warning (when all tuners are in use, that is). 

I would put this on the annoying side, personally, as managing the buffer is a PITA compared to just recording everything (including sports).


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## --Scott-- (Feb 24, 2014)

jrtroo said:


> If you hit record, you will get the same warning (when all tuners are in use, that is).
> 
> I would put this on the annoying side, personally, as managing the buffer is a PITA compared to just recording everything (including sports).


It's a preference item. Some prefer to record instead of pause....but at some point it makes the pause button less meaningful. The point is that it would be nice to be able to pause for longer periods. There is no technical reason for not being able to do so. We all use our TiVo's in variable ways that suit our needs. In this instance a longer pause time would meet some and recording would suit others. I prefer to pause and look at having to record as a workaround and a waste of the available 250GB remaining DVR disk space. This is a small request with what should be a fairly simple solution for TiVo to implement.

I can have 6 simultaneous recording going on, but can't pause for more than 30 minutes. I know it's how it's always been, but perhaps it's time for a change....or at least a user-definable option.


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

There is a technical reason- it has not been designed that way. I'm helping show how to get around the approach tivo has taken.

You can totally pause for as long as you want, with it recorded. Having longer default buffers digs way deeper into the capacity than recording a few additional shows does. User configuration would be nice, and would quiet the buffer managers out there, but is more difficult to implement and educate folks on. As an appliance, Tivo has tried to keep things as simple as possible, which to them means fixed buffers across the board. 

Fine with me either way, I'm just explaining the reality of it.


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## nooneuknow (Feb 5, 2011)

I think I've already cast my vote. But, I'll cast another one anyway:

User configurable: Allow a maximum total that doesn't make TiVo's stone-age core DVR functions crash, and let the users decide if they even want all 4 or 6 tuners always buffering, and for how long within that "doesn't crash the TiVo" range, on those that are buffering. More buffer seems possible, since tuner counts increased, without losing buffer length per tuner. Less buffer, or no buffer seems entirely doable. I just don't see TiVo ever giving us features that the average luddite can't figure-out how to set, or won't realize something worked out the way it did, due to how they set it.

There are times I'd like 1 channel buffering for 2 hours, and the other three doing no buffering at all. For now, I just tune the other three to SD music channels that amount to less than 500MB over a 4 hour time period. I used to just tune to non-existent channels for no buffering. But, that lead to reboots once TAs rolled-out (either by-design, or who knows why).


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## Diana Collins (Aug 21, 2002)

jrtroo said:


> There is a technical reason- it has not been designed that way. I'm helping show how to get around the approach tivo has taken...


No, that is a design issue...there is no technical reason it can't be more. As I noted earlier, in the days when we could get access to the database all you really needed to do was to replace a single value to increase (or decrease) the length of the buffer (IOW, it is already, or at least was, a software setting). I never saw it crash the TiVo, but the progress bar frequently showed some odd results.

Even on a 6 tuner Roamio, the extra space is only 3 hours of recording time to increase the buffer from 30 to 60 minutes. If it were a configuration option, you could decide how to set it based on your usage pattern. To make the progress bar issue easier, restrict it to a few fixed options, like 15 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 1.5 hours or 2 hours. If you are a mostly "record it" sort of person, you can set it short. But the 2 hour setting would be ideal for movie lovers who might come in on the middle or even near the end of an interesting movie and still be able to rewind to the beginning.

Suggestions is a great feature, but it doesn't replace a longer buffer.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

People have been asking for a longer buffer since the TiVo has been in existence. Fifteen years later and it is still 30 minutes. I wouldn't expect it to change.


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## nooneuknow (Feb 5, 2011)

aaronwt said:


> People have been asking for a longer buffer since the TiVo has been in existence. Fifteen years later and it is still 30 minutes. I wouldn't expect it to change.


On those music channels I was mentioning, they play in 4 hour blocks in the guide. I can be at 3:59, press record, and the buffer will backfill the whole guide slot, and it will all be there, audio and video (what little video is involved).

If I try rewinding past 30 minutes, without hitting record, all sorts of weird things happen, and the screen for any song might show up for what is playing...

So, bitrate has a profound effect on those channels, but real programming in SD or HD where there's a much greater bit rate difference don't seem to differentiate.

It's odd how it will cleave at the proper guide slot start and end time. Buffers used to backfill past the guide slots, and I liked that, in some cases.

Just an observation/data point, nothing more.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

They still fill past the guide slot. They always have. It's annoying to me when it happens because then you have several minutes of the previous show which I don't want. It happened to me this weekend when I hit record on a show on the Science channel and got several minutes of the prior show.


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## nooneuknow (Feb 5, 2011)

aaronwt said:


> They still fill past the guide slot. They always have. It's annoying to me when it happens because then you have several minutes of the previous show which I don't want. It happened to me this weekend when I hit record on a show on the Science channel and got several minutes of the prior show.


Actually, we both participated in a thread where some were posting your POV, and others were upset that backfilling beyond (before) the current program slot had stopped happening, instead clearing the buffer of what was being watched, and starting the recording of the current program slot in the guide, etc.

I don't recall the software version things were at for that discussion. But at the time, backfilling further back than the current program slot, had stopped working. Shake loose any memories of that discussion for you?


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## astrohip (Jan 7, 2003)

jrtroo said:


> There is a technical reason- it has not been designed that way. I'm helping show how to get around the approach tivo has taken.
> 
> You can totally pause for as long as you want, with it recorded. Having longer default buffers digs way deeper into the capacity than recording a few additional shows does. User configuration would be nice, and would quiet the buffer managers out there, but is more difficult to implement and educate folks on. As an appliance, Tivo has tried to keep things as simple as possible, which to them means fixed buffers across the board.
> 
> Fine with me either way, I'm just explaining the reality of it.


I've tried to stay out of this thread, as we've beat it to death a dozen times in the last few years. Those that want it, want it. You can try to sell it any way you want, but you're defending a dead horse. _"technical reasons"_. HA! They just don't want to write the code to handle it, as is their choice to make.

It's neither feasible nor realistic to tell someone "just record it". As has been pointed out (and quietly ignored), sometimes there is something on the buffer and you just didn't know you would want to watch it. Any buffer is cool; a longer one would be better. I addition to my 3 TiVos I also have a DirecTV Genie--only 2 live buffers, but both are 90 minutes. There's not much I prefer about the Genie, but the buffers win.

_"Having longer default buffers digs way deeper into the capacity than recording a few additional shows does._" Really? Let's see, 6 buffers, add 1 hour each, that's... six more hours used. I have over 50 movies recorded, all 40 Game of Thrones, and another 40-50 shows waiting to be watched. And I'm at 42% capacity.

I think I'll give up the capacity.

This is no different than the endless threads on a Free Space Indicator. We used to discuss for hours on end the pros and cons, the reason why and why not. People would say "we don't need one, let your TiVo decide what to keep" and other arguments like they really knew the answer. The answer was TiVo finally gave us one, and that's that. Not one single discussion since about how it should show this, and shouldn't count that. It just works.

One day the buffers will magically lengthen, and that will be the end of these threads every six months.

Or what Diana Collins said much better than me while I was typing.


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## nooneuknow (Feb 5, 2011)

astrohip said:


> It's neither feasible nor realistic to tell someone "just record it". *As has been pointed out (and quietly ignored)*, sometimes there is something on the buffer and you just didn't know you would want to watch it


Am I the one "being quietly ignored", or part of that demographic?


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

astrohip said:


> It's neither feasible nor realistic to tell someone "just record it". As has been pointed out (and quietly ignored), sometimes there is something on the buffer and you just didn't know you would want to watch it. Any buffer is cool; a longer one would be better. I addition to my 3 TiVos I also have a DirecTV Genie--only 2 live buffers, but both are 90 minutes. There's not much I prefer about the Genie, but the buffers win.
> 
> This is no different than the endless threads on a Free Space Indicator. We used to discuss for hours on end the pros and cons, the reason why and why not. People would say "we don't need one, let your TiVo decide what to keep" and other arguments like they really knew the answer. The answer was TiVo finally gave us one, and that's that. Not one single discussion since about how it should show this, and shouldn't count that. It just works.


I'm not sure why folks think I really care, as I do not. Want what you want, go ahead and live on the edge and manage buffers. I'm only explaining how it works, what a user can do to manage it without risking loosing the show (which is still easy to do in any of the scenarios discussed above).

6-90 minute buffers is nine hours of HD. What is the likelihood that someone finds a buffering show and hits record instead of managing the buffer? I don't know, but my only point is that to some folks nine hours is a lot in the buffer when compared to a few shows recorded manually once in a while. I also note that suggestions could also help capture this content. I'm just counting here, not explaining the right way to manage a tivo, to each their own.

I have never had a use for the FSI either, but it is there and I leave it on. NBD.


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## FitzAusTex (May 7, 2014)

I'll add that I do end up using record, but my main point is that far too often I can't record an entire 60 minute show if I'm anywhere from 31 to 59:59 minutes into it. Unfortunately for me, I'm the type of person who won't watch most shows that I've missed the first few minutes of. A buffer of at least 60 minutes would enhance my use of my tivo significantly. I don't expect to get this, but I sure would like it.


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## aridon (Aug 31, 2006)

It is a foolish feature to be without on a DVR. No reason what so ever for there to be only 30 minutes on your active tuner for pause. 

Recording is a half ass work around that doesn't always work well. 

The space indicator and this are excellent examples of how fanboi's can be.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

aridon said:


> It is a foolish feature to be without on a DVR. No reason what so ever for there to be only 30 minutes on your active tuner for pause.
> 
> Recording is a half ass work around that doesn't always work well.
> 
> The space indicator and this are excellent examples of how fanboi's can be.


??? For pause? Recording works. You never know how long you could be away from the TiVo. Or an incorrect button press and the buffer is gone. I learned in the early 2000's to just hit record instead of pause. It has worked well for me.


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## aridon (Aug 31, 2006)

aaronwt said:


> ??? For pause? Recording works. You never know how long you could be away from the TiVo. Or an incorrect button press and the buffer is gone. I learned in the early 2000's to just hit record instead of pause. It has worked well for me.


If I'm watching the last 10 minutes of a live show and someone knocks on the door or the phone rings MY viewing habits might not be conducive with just hitting record. Lets say I do just that and 45 minutes later i come back. Now I have the last 10 minutes but missed the next program. Sure I could just record the next one as well but its getting kind of stupid now when all I should of had to do was hit pause and let the TIVO not be completely retarded and ignore the 75% empty space on my Pro.

How does having a longer buffer on the engaged tuner hurt you or anyone else in any way? It doesn't.

There is no reason what so ever why we should be limited to tiny live buffers, especially on an active tuner.


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## nooneuknow (Feb 5, 2011)

aridon said:


> There is no reason what so ever why we should be limited to tiny live buffers, especially on an active tuner.


That's a logical, and simple, approach that makes sense (at first glance). Pare down how much customizing I wanted, and let us have control over the active buffer/tuner.

On the flip-side (after the first glance), think of how many situations result in switching away from the currently active buffer/tuner, which would make every such instance a change of active buffer/tuner.

So, dynamic approaches to the buffer might work for some, but would be worse for others. I still find being able to (selectively) turn-off buffering attractive, but can't draft up an approach that would bear scrutiny.

So, I'm at the point where I see limited possibilities:

1. Selectable buffer size, effective across all tuners.
2. Turn off all buffering (but not scheduled recordings) in standby mode.
3. Maybe have a query before entering standby on buffer/no buffer.
4. Allow the active tuner to buffer in standby, until something scheduled might tune it away from what you would want to stay buffering (like CNN, in my case).


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

aridon said:


> If I'm watching the last 10 minutes of a live show and someone knocks on the door or the phone rings MY viewing habits might not be conducive with just hitting record. Lets say I do just that and 45 minutes later i come back. Now I have the last 10 minutes but missed the next program. Sure I could just record the next one as well but its getting kind of stupid now when all I should of had to do was hit pause and let the TIVO not be completely retarded and ignore the 75% empty space on my Pro.
> 
> How does having a longer buffer on the engaged tuner hurt you or anyone else in any way? It doesn't.
> 
> There is no reason what so ever why we should be limited to tiny live buffers, especially on an active tuner.


And if you had a recording occur after that 10 minutes that tuner could be taken and be tuned to a different channel and you would have no buffer on the previous channel. There is no guarantee the tuner will be on the same channel when you get back.


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## FitzAusTex (May 7, 2014)

What I actually dislike nearly as much is how the tivo won't record the buffer of the previous show once you've moved past the end of airtime. For example, I can't record the last 28 minutes of a show at 8:02pm that ended at 8pm. Was very used to this on my previous dvr. Oh well.


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## Diana Collins (Aug 21, 2002)

OMG! This thread is exactly following the pattern nooneuknow posted elsewhere:



> Member A: "If you cross the street without looking, you might get ran-over".
> Member B: "I crossed the street without looking, and did not get ran-over".
> Member C: "I suggest never crossing the street, let the chicken do it".
> Member D: "There are no streets or cars, now run along and play on the asphalt surface with the fast moving objects".
> ...


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

FitzAusTex said:


> I'll add that I do end up using record, but my main point is that far too often I can't record an entire 60 minute show if I'm anywhere from 31 to 59:59 minutes into it.


Actually, with your "far too often" comment, I'm not sure if you're aware of this.. But you OFTEN do get far more in the actual recording than the buffer shows you.

The black box perspective people have (reasonably) hypothesized in the past is that the Tivo uses a fixed SIZE buffer, but the UI always shows you 30 minutes of buffer.. But hitting record ends up turning the whole buffer into a recording.. So you often do get the whole show when doing this.


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## nooneuknow (Feb 5, 2011)

mattack said:


> Actually, with your "far too often" comment, I'm not sure if you're aware of this.. But you OFTEN do get far more in the actual recording than the buffer shows you.
> 
> The black box perspective people have (reasonably) hypothesized in the past is that the Tivo uses a fixed SIZE buffer, but the UI always shows you 30 minutes of buffer.. But hitting record ends up turning the whole buffer into a recording.. So you often do get the whole show when doing this.


The most I've ever seen a buffer backfill (not counting ultra-low bitrate music channels) beyond the 30 minutes is ~15 minutes more on *some* SD channels. I have yet to find a single HD channel that will add more than ~1 minute to the 30 minute buffer.

This is all based on the buffer content being within the guide data slot allocated for the current time in conjunction with the buffer for the program in that slot being past 30 minutes into that program. Another factor is that the actual tuner being used, has been on the same channel, without being changed-away and back, etc.

Example HD scenario:
Guide says: This HD Program 1PM-2PM
Current time is: 1:45PM
Pressing record results in: This HD Program, missing the first 15 minutes.

It doesn't even matter if it's the active program, buffering from the same tuner, on the same channel, for a week. 30 minutes is what I get.

Example SD scenario:
Guide says: This SD Program 1PM-2PM
Current time is: 1:45PM
Pressing record results in: This SD Program, anywhere from the beginning (but not before the beginning) to missing the first 15 minutes (there's no consistency to it).

Example Music Channel scenario (music, with very little video activity):
Guide says: MC Rock Hits 2PM-6PM
Current time is 5:59PM
Pressing record results in: Entire 4hr recording, as listed in the guide.

This is more like what you speak of. The non-recording buffer bar shows 30 minutes, and it can't RW before the beginning of that 30 minute indicator. The record button gets the whole slot and the whole bar, and everything is as it should/would be, if I had just set a scheduled recording for it.

Anything on SDV, not on the foreground/active tuner, tends to lose all of the buffer. Even if in the foreground, and TV is then turned off, upon turning the TV on, there will be no buffer, as the SDV system has the ability to detect the state of things via the Tuning Adapter, and unlock the tuning. SDV wouldn't work, if every tuner of every box was able to hold onto a SDV frequency indefinitely. I've found the only way to keep a SDV buffer is to keep the TV on, not use TiVo standby mode, and keep it in the foreground. KMTTG has a feature that will tell you what each tuner is on, what is in the foreground, and will state "loopset" when the TiVo decides the foreground tuner isn't being actively used for anything, especially when it's SDV (takes a lot less for SDV channels in the foreground to be declared idle).

Something that used to happen for SD/HD:
Guide says: Prior Program 1-2PM, Current Program *2-3PM*
Current time is: *2:35PM*
Pressing record (used to) result in: Prior Program's last x to xx minutes tacked onto the beginning of Current Program, and "Current Program" is what lists in My Shows. Often less backfill in HD, than SD.

Where I've seen exceptions to everything (except SDV or music) so far, is when the tuner involved had recorded something recently, and has stayed on the same channel since then. Sometimes the buffer is able to backfill up to 2 hours back. There's far too many different results I've seen with this to detail it all.

While I can see how some people disliked old behaviors, where backfill would/could tack on nearly the whole length of the previous program, when pressing record on a current program, resulting in current program with previous program content at the beginning, I wish I could have that back.

How would I do it to try and please both sides?

1. Pressing record from Live TV backfills as much as it can, within reason.
2. Choosing guide, then using the guide to record, only backfills enough for the specifically selected guide item. This would be exceptionally great for What To Watch Now programs that just happen to be on a channel a tuner is already on.

It's simple, and as close to the best for both sides, of this never-ending debated topic, as it gets, IMO. If it seems too much "work" for anybody, to use one way to get one result, and the other way for the other result, I guess there's just no way to please such people.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

nooneuknow said:


> The most I've ever seen a buffer backfill (not counting ultra-low bitrate music channels) beyond the 30 minutes is ~15 minutes more on *some* SD channels. I have yet to find a single HD channel that will add more than ~1 minute to the 30 minute buffer.
> 
> ..................


Just in the last few weeks, I've had several recordings I initiated from the buffer, from HD channels, and it picked up five to eight minutes of the previous show.
The most recent one was this past Sunday. From the Science channel.


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

I'm 99% positive I've seen close to a half hour on SD channels. I don't remember at the moment how far back I've seen it go on HD channels..


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## nooneuknow (Feb 5, 2011)

Instead of replying to every post on the matter, I'll just say that this must be a YMMV situation.

I think my experience with pressing record at 3:59 into a 4 hour music channel (resulting in getting the whole 4 hour segment) proves the amount of extra buffering that can backfill when record is pressed is proof of video bitrate being a factor in how much "invisible buffer" can be retrieved.

I attribute any difference with Discovery, Science, etc., to many providers using H.264 encoding, which is more compressed (in an effective manner).

It's not like as if the "invisible buffer" isn't there, if the drive has adequate space to prevent it from being overwritten.

As far as getting some of the past program tacked-on by pressing record, I'll go with YMMV. But, I still like the concept I presented before about using the guide giving clean cuts, and using record backfilling as much as possible (within reason).


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## nooneuknow (Feb 5, 2011)

aaronwt said:


> Just in the last few weeks, I've had several recordings I initiated from the buffer, from HD channels, and it picked up five to eight minutes of the previous show.
> The most recent one was this past Sunday. From the Science channel.


The devil in the details missing here is *had you filled the buffer past the 30-minute mark into the currently slotted program?*

If the buffer was not exhausted, it's like having a whole different conversation.

What I'm talking about (currently) is centered around that being the case. If you were only 22 minutes into the program and got 8 minutes of the previous program, it's more about being within the visible green bar buffer. I've been speaking of what sometimes can show up beyond (before) the visible indicator.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

nooneuknow said:


> The devil in the details missing here is *had you filled the buffer past the 30-minute mark into the currently slotted program?*
> 
> If the buffer was not exhausted, it's like having a whole different conversation.
> 
> What I'm talking about (currently) is centered around that being the case. If you were only 22 minutes into the program and got 8 minutes of the previous program, it's more about being within the visible green bar buffer. I've been speaking of what sometimes can show up beyond (before) the visible indicator.


Yes there was content beyond the visible buffer in the recent things I saw.. Just like if I were to press record on a show that was already at the 35 minute mark, the entire show, with another five minutes from the beginning will still be in the recording

For me it is more noticeable with the previous show because I'm not expecting any of it to be there. And in those few instances recently, it was alot more than I expected. I would prefer that content to be cut off if possible.


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## nooneuknow (Feb 5, 2011)

aaronwt said:


> Yes there was content beyond the visible buffer in the recent things I saw.. Just like if I were to press record on a show that was already at the 35 minute mark, the entire show, with another five minutes from the beginning will still be in the recording
> 
> For me it is more noticeable with the previous show because I'm not expecting any of it to be there. And in those few instances recently, it was alot more than I expected. I would prefer that content to be cut off if possible.


OK, that fills in that blank, and a few others.

We both know some like the buffer to go back further if recording is initiated, and some want to insure the buffers cleaves off at where the guide data changes the programming.

Are there any ways you would like to suggest to accommodate both sides? I presented my preferences and a suggestion for both sides. Of course, this doesn't even include factors for those who would rather see the non-recording visible green buffer bar (progress bar) be something greater than the 30 minute length TiVo imposed.

I get the impression that some of the variables and limitations lie within the same method that TiVo tried to use to eliminate the need for 2 tuners for a same-channel overlap recording. I think what TiVo tried to do there, which created a minor video glitch, and a major scheduler problem (for some), would be the same way they could prevent us from getting the previous program's content tacked onto the current content slot.

Sometimes TiVo changes things, and doesn't give us a choice, like unilaterally removing the HD Recordings folder, but then gives choices on things, like the new 1st column folders, what is there, in what order, etc. Why couldn't HD Recordings be a choice for that column? Those who find it useless could opt to not display it.

I'm trying to collect data-points, get as much of a consensus as possible, then submit it to TiVo, and ask others to submit the same balanced concept, which just might (don't hold breath) get a result that everybody can live with.

This whole post could be worded better. But, it's "just one of those days" for me...


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

I didn't mind the HD folder so much, but it was the fact that there was not an SD folder too. FOr me an SD folder would have made much more sense. SInce even twelve years ago most of the content I watched was in HD.


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