# DirecTV HD GUI



## Rainy Dave (Nov 11, 2001)

DirecTV has a page on the new GUI. Must be close to rollout.

http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/content/technology/hd_guide?footernavtype=-1&lpos=header


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

Rainy Dave said:


> DirecTV has a page on the new GUI. Must be close to rollout.
> 
> http://www.directv.com/DTVAPP/content/technology/hd_guide?footernavtype=-1&lpos=header


Whadda ya bet they roll that out first and delay the new DirecTiVo some more to give that a chance to sell first?


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## joed32 (Jul 9, 2005)

It will be out next month, who knows when the Tivo will be.


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## wedgecon (Dec 28, 2002)

unitron said:


> Whadda ya bet they roll that out first and delay the new DirecTiVo some more to give that a chance to sell first?


It is an upgrade to the software on the HR series receivers. There will be no charge and in fact it will be pushed out to all of the receivers whether they want it or not.


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

wedgecon said:


> It is an upgrade to the software on the HR series receivers. There will be no charge and in fact it will be pushed out to all of the receivers whether they want it or not.


Which means they'll use it as a new selling point for their current, don't have to share any of the revenue with TiVo, hardware.


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## sjberra (May 16, 2005)

unitron said:


> Which means they'll use it as a new selling point for their current, don't have to share any of the revenue with TiVo, hardware.


the unit from tivo for directv is limited to the classic hr10-250 style interface, given the history of the posts in the various threads relating to it and that being a major selling point for them, if it had the new HD GUI from directv there would be a lot of screaming about it


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## Matt L (Aug 13, 2000)

The HR 10-250 interface is such an old clunky display I think it's shame they are using it. The new Hd interface is very quick, quite good looking and incorporates suggestions - as show on the linked page.


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## rhuntington3 (May 1, 2001)

Recently got an HR24. Any word on when this new guide will show up on my box?


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## litzdog911 (Oct 18, 2002)

rhuntington3 said:


> Recently got an HR24. Any word on when this new guide will show up on my box?


There's no way to know in advance. This rollout is proceeding very slowly, probably because of the magnitude of the user interface changes and concerns about flooding the support centers with calls. Supposedly the rollout should complete during December and January for most of us.


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## Matt L (Aug 13, 2000)

It's nice but some people are complaining about certain features, nothing new with that...


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## Joe01880 (Feb 8, 2009)

what do they need TiVo for with that UI?


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## samo (Oct 7, 1999)

Joe01880 said:


> what do they need TiVo for with that UI?


It is not even funny anymore. How DirecTV is supose to sell TiVo as a premium DVR if Tivo has nothing to bring to the table that would justify additional fee? If anything, TiVo should be given away as an entry level unit.


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## Adam1115 (Dec 15, 2003)

Joe01880 said:


> what do they need TiVo for with that UI?


The don't. The TiVo is vastly inferior, even as a huge TiVo fan I can admit that...


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## dshinnick (Jun 6, 2003)

The above link shows this as an upgrade to the *guide*. Is it just that, or is it an upgrade to the whole HD UI?


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## litzdog911 (Oct 18, 2002)

dshinnick said:


> The above link shows this as an upgrade to the *guide*. Is it just that, or is it an upgrade to the whole HD UI?


It's the whole user interface.


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## dshinnick (Jun 6, 2003)

Any way to accelerate receiving the update? Any kind of list to sign up and get priority?


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## SullyND (Dec 30, 2004)

Can the HRs deal with more than 50 Series Links yet?


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## Rainy Dave (Nov 11, 2001)

dshinnick said:


> Any way to accelerate receiving the update? Any kind of list to sign up and get priority?


Not that I've heard of.


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## Rainy Dave (Nov 11, 2001)

SullyND said:


> Can the HRs deal with more than 50 Series Links yet?


Nope...the 50 Series Link per unit is still in effect.


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## litzdog911 (Oct 18, 2002)

SullyND said:


> Can the HRs deal with more than 50 Series Links yet?


New HR34 has 100 series limit.


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## Rainy Dave (Nov 11, 2001)

litzdog911 said:


> New HR34 has 100 series limit.


Doh! Forgot about the HR34.


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## sluciani (Apr 21, 2003)

SullyND said:


> Can the HRs deal with more than 50 Series Links yet?


The 50-lmiit is less of an issue for me now that there's MRV and I can watch a recorded show anywhere in the home, as opposed to just sitting in front of the box it was recorded on. As a result, two HR2x's with MRV are just like having one "virtual" HR with 4 tuners, 100 SLs and 200 hours of HD storage.

And by keeping CBS/NBC on one box, and FOX/ABC on another and divvying up the cable channels and making those SLs lowest priority, I never worry about conflicts and I maximize the opportunity to fully autopad shows front and back.

It's pretty awesome, IMHO, compared to where we were just a couple of years ago.


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## joed32 (Jul 9, 2005)

sluciani said:


> The 50-lmiit is less of an issue for me now that there's MRV and I can watch a recorded show anywhere in the home, as opposed to just sitting in front of the box it was recorded on. As a result, two HR2x's with MRV are just like having one "virtual" HR with 4 tuners, 100 SLs and 200 hours of HD storage.
> 
> And by keeping CBS/NBC on one box, and FOX/ABC on another and divvying up the cable channels and making those SLs lowest priority, I never worry about conflicts and I maximize the opportunity to fully autopad shows front and back.
> 
> It's pretty awesome, IMHO, compared to where we were just a couple of years ago.


Yes it is!!!! MRV is great.


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## TyroneShoes (Sep 6, 2004)

sluciani said:


> ...It's pretty awesome, IMHO, compared to where we were just a couple of years ago.


 I can't disagree. BTW, where was this vaporware MPEG-4 Tivo "just a couple of years ago"? Exactly where it is today.


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## ncted (May 13, 2007)

dshinnick said:


> Any way to accelerate receiving the update? Any kind of list to sign up and get priority?


If you are willing to participate in the CE beta testing, then yes, but you never know what kind of new code you might get. IMHO, the new interface is more polished, but the functionality is the same. I miss the ability to see more than an hour and a half in the future like you can with the Tivo guide. The other stuff is similar to the old stuff but looks a bit nicer.

-Ted


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## stevel (Aug 23, 2000)

ncted said:


> I miss the ability to see more than an hour and a half in the future like you can with the Tivo guide.


You can do this in the grid guide. Move the cursor left onto the channel name and then press Info (I think). You will get several hours of just that one channel, like the TiVo guide.


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## jpcamaro70 (Nov 23, 2011)

This makes me so sad.


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## Matt L (Aug 13, 2000)

No, if you go Left to the Channel ID and hit Info you will get 2 weeks of programming on that channel. Great option for the "Free" weekends from the various movie channels. I simply go down the list for each channel and if there is something remotely interesting I record it.

why would that make anyone "sad"?


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## jpcamaro70 (Nov 23, 2011)

Matt L said:


> why would that make anyone "sad"?


Because it sounds like it's finally coming back to directv and now i can't get directv. It's sad for me, but great for everyone else.


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## joed32 (Jul 9, 2005)

It's always been there in the H and HR units.


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## jpcamaro70 (Nov 23, 2011)

joed32 said:


> It's always been there in the H and HR units.


The H and HR are directv's, not tivo's.


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## stevel (Aug 23, 2000)

The HR10 is TiVo-based (as is the R10.) This option has been there in the DirecTV Plus DVRs for many years.


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## pcguru83 (Jan 18, 2005)

We got this update either Sunday or Monday night, not sure exactly when. From what I've seen so far though, I'm extremely impressed. The HD GUI is just absolutely beautiful. 

I need to spend some more time with it, but I think this is going to be the nail in the coffin of any desire I ever had to go back to a TiVo branded unit. Which is ironic, seeing as how the DTV TiVo just was unveiled.


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## ncted (May 13, 2007)

I got the HD GUI last night on one HR24. It does look better, but isn't any faster for me. An improvment in visuals, but the UI in general is not any better usability-wise.

-Ted


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## litzdog911 (Oct 18, 2002)

ncted said:


> I got the HD GUI last night on one HR24. It does look better, but isn't any faster for me. An improvment in visuals, but the UI in general is not any better usability-wise.
> 
> -Ted


Give it a day or two to notice significant speed improvement. Lots of background tasks during those first couple of days.


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## rhuntington3 (May 1, 2001)

Glad to hear its starting to show up. Can't wait to see it on my boxes.


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## Rainy Dave (Nov 11, 2001)

The rollout schedule can be found here - http://forums.directv.com/pe/action...PostID=10975742&channelID=1&portalPageId=1002


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## dirk1843 (Jul 7, 2003)

The PDF on that link crashed both firefox and ie8 on my laptop.

Anyone have any better luck?


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## Rainy Dave (Nov 11, 2001)

dirk1843 said:


> The PDF on that link crashed both firefox and ie8 on my laptop.
> 
> Anyone have any better luck?


Rollout for the remainder of Dec 2011.

The January/February schedule hasn't been published yet.


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## avNeophyte (Mar 25, 2004)

Our HR20-100 got the update earlier this week. The HD GUI is certainly 'prettier' but, amazingly, the update has made an already painfully slow and sometimes difficult to use device even slower and more difficult to use. The HR20 has always been incredibly slow responding to remote button clicks and when navigating the program guide but now it is also slow navigating menus. Also, I didn't think it possible to require more clicks to 'unlock 4 hours' but they've done it. Congratulations to the design team!! Maybe the can shoot for 20 clicks for the next update.

I assume there is no way to disable the HD GUI or roll back the update. I'm not going to buy the new and crippled HD TIVO so I guess we must live with it or switch. Can't wait to get it on our HR21. Hopefully they can lessen some of these problems with a subsequent update.


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## rhuntington3 (May 1, 2001)

Ah, nothing for Texas yet.


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## ncted (May 13, 2007)

My HR24s both have it now. It is pretty, but it didn't speed anything up.

-Ted


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## stevel (Aug 23, 2000)

It is much faster on my HR21.


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## MikeMar (Jan 7, 2005)

Yeah it is much MUCH faster on ours, big thumbs up for this one!


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## litzdog911 (Oct 18, 2002)

ncted said:


> My HR24s both have it now. It is pretty, but it didn't speed anything up.
> 
> -Ted


Give it a day or two.


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## Scooter (Mar 15, 2000)

It's faster on our old HR20/21s. :up:

I love the new look! One little grip; it's harder to see the skip to tick marks.


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## Marco (Sep 19, 2000)

Rainy Dave said:


> Rollout for the remainder of Dec 2011.
> 
> The January/February schedule hasn't been published yet.


Now it has. (January anyway.)


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## Rainy Dave (Nov 11, 2001)

Marco said:


> Now it has. (January anyway.)


Excellent...Jan 4th is our date.


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## ncted (May 13, 2007)

litzdog911 said:


> Give it a day or two.


Yeah, I've had it for 5 days, Raleigh got it on 12/15. Still not any faster. Not any worse, but not any better. At least the older models got a speed boost.

-Ted


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## rhuntington3 (May 1, 2001)

Looks like I'm slated for Tuesday, January 10, 2012. Follow up question, this also updates HD receivers that are not DVR's as well, right?


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## litzdog911 (Oct 18, 2002)

rhuntington3 said:


> Looks like I'm slated for Tuesday, January 10, 2012. Follow up question, this also updates HD receivers that are not DVR's as well, right?


Yes. Except for the H20 model.


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## rhuntington3 (May 1, 2001)

litzdog911 said:


> Yes. Except for the H20 model.


H24-700 is the one I have according to DirecTV's website.


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## litzdog911 (Oct 18, 2002)

rhuntington3 said:


> H24-700 is the one I have according to DirecTV's website.


Then it will get the new HD GUI.


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## joed32 (Jul 9, 2005)

Different color scheme and it scrolls fast. Much ado about nothing.


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## Adam1115 (Dec 15, 2003)

Ugh. I have an RF modulator for the upstairs TV. Worked perfectly until the change.

Now, I have to hold down INFO to put the entire receiver in SD. That sucks, because before someone could be watching a show in HD in the living room and I could watch it in SD upstairs. Now, I have to shift the entire DVR into SD to get it to work.

And if someone leaves it in a menu, I get a black screen.


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## BrettStah (Nov 12, 2000)

Adam1115 said:


> Ugh. I have an RF modulator for the upstairs TV. Worked perfectly until the change.
> 
> Now, I have to hold down INFO to put the entire receiver in SD. That sucks, because before someone could be watching a show in HD in the living room and I could watch it in SD upstairs. Now, I have to shift the entire DVR into SD to get it to work.
> 
> And if someone leaves it in a menu, I get a black screen.


That sucks... looks to be due to the fact that they can't get these boxes to output the new GUI via HD and SD simultaneously.

This may be the best workaround... a converter that can take the HD component outputs and convert it to composite - so the DirecTV box is only outputting HD:
http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...=10114&cs_id=1011407&p_id=7114&seq=1&format=2


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## ncted (May 13, 2007)

So, I picked up a couple of used TivoHDs yesterday for when I drop D* and go OTA. I played around with them last night, and they are SO much faster than my HR24s are. Yes, the interface is not as pretty, but it is so much more usable and intuitive. In addition, the remote is way easier to use as well. I would like to revise my previous assessment of the new D* HD GUI from sluggish to slow. Not TWC Navigator slow, which is unusable IMHO, but annoyingly slow.

-Ted


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## midas (Jun 1, 2000)

On my HR21-700 changing channels takes between 5 and 7 seconds. On my HR24-500 it takes between 3 and 4 seconds. Getting to the list, guide and other menus on the HR24 is pretty quick, but on the HR21 it's still very slow.


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## Kablemodem (May 26, 2001)

The update makes scrolling though the guide and list of recorded programs much faster on my HR24s. The only thing I dislike, and hasn't been improved, is that the 30 second slip is very slow when watching something recorded in another room. Is there a code I can enter that converts it to a real 30 second skip?


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## midas (Jun 1, 2000)

Kablemodem said:


> The update makes scrolling though the guide and list of recorded programs much faster on my HR24s. The only thing I dislike, and hasn't been improved, is that the 30 second slip is very slow when watching something recorded in another room. Is there a code I can enter that converts it to a real 30 second skip?


Do a keyword search for 30SKIP.


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## Rainy Dave (Nov 11, 2001)

Kablemodem said:


> The update makes scrolling though the guide and list of recorded programs much faster on my HR24s. The only thing I dislike, and hasn't been improved, is that the 30 second slip is very slow when watching something recorded in another room. Is there a code I can enter that converts it to a real 30 second skip?


This trick has to be activated. To activate it, go to Search for Programs in your menu. Then search by Keyword. Using your remote, search for the keyword "30SKIP" (no quotes). Your search will yield no results. Select "Continue" and then "Done". Now, pressing will forward 30 seconds insantly. If you want to revert back to the 30-second SLIP (see below), then do a keyword search for "30SLIP".


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## rhuntington3 (May 1, 2001)

litzdog911 said:


> Then it will get the new HD GUI.


Cool!  Thanks!


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## Kablemodem (May 26, 2001)

Thanks, guys! I got my 30 second skip back!


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## CuriousMark (Jan 13, 2005)

We got it a few days ago. For me it is pretty much a don't care. They moved the PIG from right to left side and otherwise it seems like all the same old things in all the same old places with a new color scheme. My wife on the other hand really doesn't like it and wants me to get them to change it back. I am not sure that is even possible. Her problem is that shows in the List that have been played are shade of grey with very poor contrast and she cannot read it. At least in the older guide there was enough contrast to read both the bright and dim descriptions.

Is it even possible to go backwards with DirecTV?


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## BrettStah (Nov 12, 2000)

CuriousMark said:


> We got it a few days ago. For me it is pretty much a don't care. They moved the PIG from right to left side and otherwise it seems like all the same old things in all the same old places with a new color scheme. My wife on the other hand really doesn't like it and wants me to get them to change it back. I am not sure that is even possible. Her problem is that shows in the List that have been played are shade of grey with very poor contrast and she cannot read it. At least in the older guide there was enough contrast to read both the bright and dim descriptions.
> 
> Is it even possible to go backwards with DirecTV?


It may be temporarily possible if you stay up late enough and force a re-download of the old, but it would not last long.

It sounds like your TV isn't configured properly... It may benefit from being calibrated.


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## litzdog911 (Oct 18, 2002)

CuriousMark said:


> ...
> 
> Is it even possible to go backwards with DirecTV?


No. But I agree with BrettStah .... your TV's video settings may need proper calibration.


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## kaszeta (Jun 11, 2004)

midas said:


> Do a keyword search for 30SKIP.


Note that there's a minor bug with 30SKIP: you can't skip over some of the D* ads.


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## CuriousMark (Jan 13, 2005)

BrettStah said:


> It may be temporarily possible if you stay up late enough and force a re-download of the old, but it would not last long.
> 
> It sounds like your TV isn't configured properly... It may benefit from being calibrated.


It is an old tube type HDTV and she sits accross the room from it. I can play with the settings to see if I can improve it. I guess this is an argument for replacing it with a 40 inch flat screen which would be bigger, but look odd in that location. A smaller flat screen might be better there. Personally I am beginning to think screen size might be the real issue and the higher contrast of the old text was just enough to cope with it. The old UI looked good on that set, it seems to me they could have made the new one with just as much contrast had they wanted to do so.

Thanks for the feedback.


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## wedgecon (Dec 28, 2002)

CuriousMark said:


> We got it a few days ago. For me it is pretty much a don't care. They moved the PIG from right to left side and otherwise it seems like all the same old things in all the same old places with a new color scheme. My wife on the other hand really doesn't like it and wants me to get them to change it back. I am not sure that is even possible. Her problem is that shows in the List that have been played are shade of grey with very poor contrast and she cannot read it. At least in the older guide there was enough contrast to read both the bright and dim descriptions.
> 
> Is it even possible to go backwards with DirecTV?


Once the new HD GUI is on the national release it is not possible to go back. Forcing a software download will just put the same version back on.


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## ncted (May 13, 2007)

I discovered that I could make the scrolling faster if I turned of the scroll effect. Now it is at least as fast as the old UI, or about the same as the Tivo HDs I am moving to as soon as the D* contract is up.


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## kimsan (Jan 23, 2002)

kaszeta said:


> Note that there's a minor bug with 30SKIP: you can't skip over some of the D* ads.


Sounds like D* would consider that a feature, not a bug. Or the bug being you CAN skip over some D* ads.

I won't be seeing the HD GUI until mid-late January


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## classicrokr (Jun 4, 2011)

Got the HD GUI on my R25 -- after day 1 it is extremely fast and fluid in all tasks. Really impressive improvements.

Still not out for their new HR34- home media center...


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## kaszeta (Jun 11, 2004)

kimsan said:


> Sounds like D* would consider that a feature, not a bug. Or the bug being you CAN skip over some D* ads.
> 
> I won't be seeing the HD GUI until mid-late January


If it was a feature, they'd apply that to 30slip as well.

They've stated that it's a bug. And that fixing it isn't a hgh priority.


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## sloan (Feb 13, 2003)

My HR24 unit, the GUI is faster.

My HR20, it is running like a dog.
I've had it for over a 2 weeks with the new Gui.
I've disabled the "scrolling effects" or whatever it is called.

I've rebooted once a day for 4 days.

Still runs like a dog.

Examples:
If I hit "Guide", it takes 9-10 seconds. (<1 second on the HR24).
If I hit "Delete" (at the end of a show), same thing, 9-10 seconds.

I called directv. Tech Support said "They hadn't heard of any others complaining". They took some notes. (They're the ones who had me disable the scrolling effect setting.)

Anybody else got a snail-slow Gui now?


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## sjberra (May 16, 2005)

sloan said:


> My HR24 unit, the GUI is faster.
> 
> My HR20, it is running like a dog.
> I've had it for over a 2 weeks with the new Gui.
> ...


Nope fast on all my units, including the hr20. on the one that is slow you may need to do a flush, can't recall the exact key strokes needed but someone over at dbstalk will have them handy


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## sloan (Feb 13, 2003)

http://www.geekosystem.com/directv-hd-dvr-problems/

This?

_The blanket advice DirecTV has been giving people is to "Try unplugging [their HDDVR drives] from wall/power strip for 15 secs 2x, without letting receiver power up in between," and based on Twitter responses, this seems to be working for a number of people.

Update: According to a Geekosystem commenter, the general consensus on DBS forums appears to be that guide data is being corrupted; when it works, restarting twice will clear out the bad guide data and allow a fresh data download._

May this?

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=194211
_There is also a vram flash clear. go to channel 1, wait for channel to tune in, then hit, red, red, blue, blue, yellow, green. You should see a message on the screen that its cleared.
_

Thanks for the hint (on a keyword to search for)!

I'm not at home, so I'll try over the weekend sometime.


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## pcguru83 (Jan 18, 2005)

This update made a HUGE leap in design and usability. There is so much more to this update than a "prettier UI". The fact that all the objects and text are now rendered in HD is significant, and makes a huge difference in clarity and readability. And the fact that they did it without any loss in performance (for most people) is just fantastic. 

We've had it on our HR23 and HR24 for about two weeks now and we couldn't be happier with it. It's most definitely quicker on both devices (significantly so on the HR24). I'd venture to say that there really is something to the issue just mentioned about corrupt guide data. I seem to remember the quickness of the UI, even on the older units, being a big deal during the beta period. I didn't follow it super closely though, so perhaps I'm misremembering.


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## sjberra (May 16, 2005)

sloan said:


> http://www.geekosystem.com/directv-hd-dvr-problems/
> 
> This?
> 
> ...


the seocnd one, not sure about the first it keeps crashing the multiple browsers I have installed


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## sjberra (May 16, 2005)

pcguru83 said:


> This update made a HUGE leap in design and usability. There is so much more to this update than a "prettier UI". The fact that all the objects and text are now rendered in HD is significant, and makes a huge difference in clarity and readability. And the fact that they did it without any loss in performance (for most people) is just fantastic.
> 
> We've had it on our HR23 and HR24 for about two weeks now and we couldn't be happier with it. It's most definitely quicker on both devices (significantly so on the HR24). I'd venture to say that there really is something to the issue just mentioned about corrupt guide data. I seem to remember the quickness of the UI, even on the older units, being a big deal during the beta period. I didn't follow it super closely though, so perhaps I'm misremembering.


On eting I think that did happen is the new GUI does not render for SD devices, have seen complaints about this onver on DBSTalk


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## joed32 (Jul 9, 2005)

I'll add one here, the fact that you have to change the format to 480p for it to pass through to an SD device, TV, DVD recorder, etc. is a pain in the neck. You can get an adapter from monoprice for $43 that can fool the receiver into thinking it's sending it to an HD device (Component to composite converter). I would need 5 of them and it would get pretty messy since I already have filters attached to all of the recorders.


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## HiDefGator (Oct 12, 2004)

sloan said:


> My HR24 unit, the GUI is faster.
> 
> My HR20, it is running like a dog.
> I've had it for over a 2 weeks with the new Gui.
> ...


Your problem may have nothing to do with new GUI. One of my HR20's was doing that all last week without the new gui. Just dog slow if anything was recording. Finally rebooted it again and this time it magically worked. I had tried rebooting it before with no change.


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## BGLeduc (Aug 26, 2003)

CuriousMark said:


> Her problem is that shows in the List that have been played are shade of grey with very poor contrast and she cannot read it. At least in the older guide there was enough contrast to read both the bright and dim descriptions.


I would agree with your wife.

Greying out already viewed programs from the list in the new UI was a very poor choice, IMHO. In fact, greying something out against an already dark background, unless you want to denote that something is not accessible, seems like a generally bad idea.

I got the download to my two boxes, and from us its a great big meh thus far.

Brian


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