# Direct Tv Video on Demand



## trixie (Feb 25, 2005)

I just saw the Video on Demand option in my Directv menu options. I don't have broadband wired to my box yet and without that I can't "see" anything more then the introductory message.

Anyone have any comments on the new service? Is it worth it yet?


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## jmorgis (Jul 21, 2004)

I was looking at this last night also, most of the content is free, however I could not get channel 1278 which is the VOD for discovery channel. I only got 1000

????

JM


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## stevel (Aug 23, 2000)

My experience is that most of the worthwhile content requires that you subscribe to certain premium channels such as Starz. However, if you have kids, there is a boatload of kid show episodes available for free download.

The few things I have downloaded and viewed worked well.


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## bigpuma (Aug 12, 2003)

I haven't looked at it since it was in beta but I think the content is still lacking at this point. Right now there isn't much available in HD but hopefully soon there will be.


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## MikeMar (Jan 7, 2005)

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=384469


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## joed32 (Jul 9, 2005)

trixie said:


> I just saw the Video on Demand option in my Directv menu options. I don't have broadband wired to my box yet and without that I can't "see" anything more then the introductory message.
> 
> Anyone have any comments on the new service? Is it worth it yet?


If you are able to hard wire it to your router, it only costs about $6, then it's definitely worth it. If you have to buy a wireless connection device then I'm not so sure. One nice thing about it is that when you search for a show or movie the VOD entries show up in your search. I use it very little, but since it's free, why not?


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## newsposter (Aug 18, 2002)

once a lot of HD gets added it will be worth the 67 bucks i paid for a gaming adapter. But for now i really dont use it. Some really weird stuff on there though..i d/l it just to see what it is.

and i HATE that i has expiration dates. I dont understand the point.


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## stingray (Aug 29, 2002)

It was around 70 dollars for a kit. I am having buyer remorse and I don't know if its worth it. The tech guy I called said they will have 3,000 titles including movies that will be available mostly free and my daughter will love that option. 

I have HBO now and it will be nice to download shows I don't record, or watch them whenever I want. On top of that , the guy said that our dVR has 190 Gb just reserved for on demand. 

If anyone is using it now, let me know how they like it. Also, because the router was far from the dvr, he said this kid will make it work, still $70 bucks is $70 bucks and i wonder if I could have gone a cheaper route.


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## MikeMar (Jan 7, 2005)

190 GIG reserved for on demand?? i find that HARD to believe


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## RS4 (Sep 2, 2001)

MikeMar said:


> 190 GIG reserved for on demand?? i find that HARD to believe


As I recall, the original announcement of the box talked about 60 gig. Maybe they increased it.


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## Mark Lopez (Jan 1, 2000)

I'm curious about when this whole VOD (be it DirecTV or other) takes off, how many ISPs will start putting more stringent caps on downloads or start charging more for heavy users. I'm on satellite Internet, so VOD is out of the question as just a few movies would eat up the whole month's BW allotment. People already complain about prime time slowdowns. Just wait until everyone in the neighborhood starts eating up the BW with this.


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## badmonkey (Apr 8, 2003)

MikeMar said:


> 190 GIG reserved for on demand?? i find that HARD to believe


I could be wrong, but I don't think any hard drive space is reserved for on demand... The only reserve that I know about is for showcases.


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## Robert Spalding (Jan 12, 2001)

badmonkey said:


> I could be wrong, but I don't think any hard drive space is reserved for on demand... The only reserve that I know about is for showcases.


they are talking about the HR20 and HR 21 D* DVR's, only the HD Tivo's have saved space for showcases...


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## Mark Lopez (Jan 1, 2000)

MikeMar said:


> 190 GIG reserved for on demand?? i find that HARD to believe


From all accounts I've read, it's about 100G that is reserved regardless of drive you use. Keep in mind MPEG4 uses less space, so the net result is still a lot of available space. If you use a bigger drive (I am using 1TB units), that 100G becomes insignificant. Based on my free space indicator, with the 1TB drives, I use less than 1% for every one hour HD MPEG4 recording. So that's over 100hrs of HD.


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## amallon (Jul 26, 2006)

Robert Spalding said:


> they are talking about the HR20 and HR 21 D* DVR's, only the HD Tivo's have saved space for showcases...


The HR20 and HR21 DVRs also have showcases. 100GB of disk space is reserved by the system for these showcases, not for OnDemand programing. OnDemand programs are downloaded across the Internet and take up the same space on the hard drive that regular recordings do.


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## stevel (Aug 23, 2000)

I doubt the reserved space is 100GB on a 320GB disk. 10GB I might believe.


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## Mark Lopez (Jan 1, 2000)

stevel said:


> I doubt the reserved space is 100GB on a 320GB disk. 10GB I might believe.


It's been pretty much confirmed to be around 100G.


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## stingray (Aug 29, 2002)

just stating what the tech guy told me and he said he was network consultant. Is anyone using VOD , and what do they think about it


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## tfederov (Jul 6, 2003)

I use it. It's pretty nice to have when nothing is on live TV or nothing that I want to watch in my playlist.


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## ebonovic (Jul 24, 2001)

The reserved space is ~50gb...
That is for PUSHED DoD segments, and showcases.

User selected DoD content, is part of your main (non-reserved) storage area.


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## stingray (Aug 29, 2002)

i got the kit today, set it up. I get starz, showtime and HBo, so you get a nice list of options, I was not told the will be an extra monthly fee as it was stated, 6 dollars a month extra. Is that correct?


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## newsposter (Aug 18, 2002)

stingray said:


> i got the kit today, set it up. I get starz, showtime and HBo, so you get a nice list of options, I was not told the will be an extra monthly fee as it was stated, 6 dollars a month extra. Is that correct?


do you mean the on demand stuff? except for PPV its totally free for all the stations you normally subscribe to


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## joed32 (Jul 9, 2005)

stingray said:


> i got the kit today, set it up. I get starz, showtime and HBo, so you get a nice list of options, I was not told the will be an extra monthly fee as it was stated, 6 dollars a month extra. Is that correct?


I mentioned $6 earlier but that was the price of the cable, not the service, which is free.


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## trixie (Feb 25, 2005)

okay...just to be clear the video content is pushed though the ethernet line and not the satellite, right?

I think I'll be going the wireless route.


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## jimb726 (Jan 4, 2007)

trixie said:


> okay...just to be clear the video content is pushed though the ethernet line and not the satellite, right?
> 
> I think I'll be going the wireless route.


Correct, this is why you see the posts about caps on downloading, etc. It is entirely dependant on your ISP. Personally, I load up the que and then we watch once they are downloaded. I have not downloaded any of the HD stuff yet. I am too scared as to how much space that will eat up. I think that if it takes off the external hard drive is going to have to be the given.


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## mss (Feb 19, 2008)

I have been set up for On Demand for a few days now. I don't pay for premium channels, and I already use my HD DVR to record season passes of all the shows I like. I even look ahead a day or two in the guide to record upcoming movies that sound good. So, the On Demand feature seems really lame to me. It doesn't list anything I couldn't have recorded without it. However, I guess it comes in handy if you forget to set your recorder and miss your show.


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## trixie (Feb 25, 2005)

Is there any way I can see the VOD guide without connecting to the service?


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## rminsk (Jun 4, 2002)

trixie said:


> okay...just to be clear the video content is pushed though the ethernet line and not the satellite, right?


Yes the VOD programs all come over internet using TCP/IP. Be careful about hooking up the network on your HR2X. It sends back information to DirecTV that is trackable to your account. With the introduction of PPV purchases over the internet this information has become encrypted so we no longer know what information is being transmitted. BTW, The TiVo sends back information that can only be linked to your zipcode and can be opted out of.


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## newsposter (Aug 18, 2002)

rminsk said:


> Yes the VOD programs all come over internet using TCP/IP. Be careful about hooking up the network on your HR2X. It sends back information to DirecTV that is trackable to your account. With the introduction of PPV purchases over the internet this information has become encrypted so we no longer know what information is being transmitted. BTW, The TiVo sends back information that can only be linked to your zipcode and can be opted out of.


when you say be careful..do you mean about stuff on your computer being made aware to dtv? I dont even know how to share media from my pc so it's not an issue for me but i'm just curious.


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## rminsk (Jun 4, 2002)

newsposter said:


> when you say be careful..do you mean about stuff on your computer being made aware to dtv? I dont even know how to share media from my pc so it's not an issue for me but i'm just curious.


I do not know if it reports anything back about the media sharing. The data was encrypted before I tried using the media sharing. It does not scan your computer so do not worry about that. There is information in the data stream that does links back to your account. So any information they do send back is personally identifiable. Several companies have gotten in trouble many times over this sort of personal data collection.

The DirecTV customer agreement says


> *6. PERSONAL DATA*
> 
> We collect personally identifiable information about our customers ("Personal Data"). The use and disclosure of this Personal Data is governed by our Privacy Policy and, to the extent not inconsistent with the Privacy Policy, by this Agreement. A copy of our Privacy Policy is available at DIRECTV.com We will also send you a copy if you send your written request to this address: DIRECTV Privacy Policy, P.O. Box 6550, Greenwood Village, CO 80155-6550


In that document they describe


> "Diagnostic Information" means a file with detailed information about the operation of a DIRECTV Receiver. We collect Diagnostic logs for a few randomly sampled DIRECTV Receivers for quality control and troubleshooting. These logs identify your DIRECTV Receiver and are thus associated with your Account.


Every HR2x I have sends back (or at least before they turned on encryption) diagnostic information. They do not seem to be a "few randomly sampled DIRECTV Receivers"

DirecTV does not disclose what personal information they are collecting from there receivers and who they are selling it too so I prefer to use caution.


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## stevel (Aug 23, 2000)

The VOD content is far more than what you could record by yourself, at least in any reasonable time. I have seen dozens of episodes of certain kids' shows and some others that certainly showed at some point in the past but you can get them all NOW.

VOD has no connection to what is on your computer. It's solely between your DVR and DirecTV.


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## newsposter (Aug 18, 2002)

rminsk said:


> Every HR2x I have sends back (or at least before they turned on encryption) diagnostic information. They do not seem to be a "few randomly sampled DIRECTV Receivers"


how do you /did you see what was being sent back?


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## rminsk (Jun 4, 2002)

newsposter said:


> how do you /did you see what was being sent back?


By logging every packet sent from the HR2X to an address outside of my network. The data used to be an unencrypted XML file but since they have added uploading PPV information over the internet they have started to encrypted the data. Here is an example of what was being sent. The camID and rid can be traced back to your account so I have deleted from the post. There has been other information transmitted back to the mothership but I do not currently have an example.

```
<?xml.version="1.0".encoding="UTF-8"?>
<message xmlns="http://dms.directv.com/message" version="1">
  <messageHeader>
    <camID>xxxxxxxxxx</camID>
    <rid>xxxxxxxxxxx</rid>
    <softwareVersion>145</softwareVersion>
    <modelNumber>HR20</modelNumber>
    <manufacturerID>700</manufacturerID>
    <postingTime>xxxxxxxxxxx</postingTime>
  </messageHeader>
  <messageBody>
    <messageItem>
      <messageType>STB_STATUS</messageType>
      <uptime>37156</uptime>
      <numberOfResetSinceLastSWDL>2</numberOfResetSinceLastSWDL>
    </messageItem>
  </messageBody>
</message>
```


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## rminsk (Jun 4, 2002)

stevel said:


> It's solely between your DVR and DirecTV.


DirecTV does not directly distribute VOD to your DVR. DirecTV does not have such a delivery system. All VOD is downloaded over the internet.


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## codespy (Jan 7, 2006)

I have noticed movies on DOD charging a fee which play the same day on my premium channels at no charge. There is a lot of programming though.


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## ebonovic (Jul 24, 2001)

rminsk said:


> DirecTV does not directly distribute VOD to your DVR. DirecTV does not have such a delivery system. All VOD is downloaded over the internet.


For the VAST VAST majority of it, that is true.
But the system is built to push popular titles to the hard drives (in the reserved area) via the SAT.

So when that content is accessed, it will already be there on the hard drive, and not actually downloaded.


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## ebonovic (Jul 24, 2001)

codespy said:


> I have noticed movies on DOD charging a fee which play the same day on my premium channels at no charge. There is a lot of programming though.


What particular titles?


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## stevel (Aug 23, 2000)

rminsk said:


> DirecTV does not directly distribute VOD to your DVR. DirecTV does not have such a delivery system. All VOD is downloaded over the internet.


Sorry, you misunderstood my post. When I say "DirecTV" I mean the company, not the physical satellite service. I was trying to say that VOD did not involve any PC on your home network - the programming was sent directly from DirecTV to your DVR. VOD content does indeed come over the Internet, from DirecTV's servers, though DirecTV does also have a mechanism for providing "Showcase" content over the satellite as Earl mentions.


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## bootsy (Feb 1, 2006)

I just set mine up last night. Other than the $7 for the 50' cord i needed, it's free, so i thought i'd try it. So far, so good.


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## codespy (Jan 7, 2006)

ebonovic said:


> What particular titles?


Grease was one.


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## ebonovic (Jul 24, 2001)

codespy said:


> Grease was one.


Sure enough....

I guess for those that don't subscribe to HBO (for $14 a month)..
Could opt for purchasing spot PPV movies... if they don't have it on DVD already...

Cheaper then a Blockbuster Rental ($1.99 on DoD)
It would probably cost me that much to drive to the video store and back...


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## stingray (Aug 29, 2002)

I have had VOD for a couple of months, besides getting Dexter season 2 , I really have not use it. Also, I did not get Dexter HD. I guess they waiting to give us HD later and of course, it does not give the local channels. I paid $70 for the kit to set it up. I hope they give us more movies, more HD shows and the locals. Once that is done, it will definitely be worth it. But now , its not ready for prime time


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## Martyp (Jan 6, 2004)

Well I was able to get mine set up for $30 for another router . I then just put it in bridge mode and it connects to my network wireless so no need to runa new cable


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## joed32 (Jul 9, 2005)

stingray said:


> I have had VOD for a couple of months, besides getting Dexter season 2 , I really have not use it. Also, I did not get Dexter HD. I guess they waiting to give us HD later and of course, it does not give the local channels. I paid $70 for the kit to set it up. I hope they give us more movies, more HD shows and the locals. Once that is done, it will definitely be worth it. But now , its not ready for prime time


I don't use it much either but have been busy with it this week. Showtime has Dexter seasons 1 and 2 up now.


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## Tim32672 (Jan 3, 2005)

Stupid question about this... will it work (VOD) with the R10 or Hughes SD-DVR80


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## ebonovic (Jul 24, 2001)

Tim32672 said:


> Stupid question about this... will it work (VOD) with the R10 or Hughes SD-DVR80


No, it will not


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## rogue5 (Jul 30, 2004)

Someone mentioned Tivo earlier in the thread but it sounds like this is only available for the MPEG4 units R2X, is that correct?? I am one of the dieing few left with a HR10-250 and was wondering if I could get this. I know the 250 has USB ports but I thought they were off.

Josh


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## stevel (Aug 23, 2000)

No VOD for the HR10. The HR10 will be getting "remote booking" (schedule through DirecTV's web site - doesn't require a network connection) and the deleted items folder. The USB ports on the HR10 are and will remain unsupported.


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## newsposter (Aug 18, 2002)

remote booking rules..cant wait for that on hdtivo though with my hr20 i havent had any conflicts so everything has been recorded.


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## t-bone29650 (Apr 4, 2008)

trixie said:


> Is there any way I can see the VOD guide without connecting to the service?


Did anyone answer this question? I have the service connected and working but would love to see a list of shows and movies without having to scroll on-screen.


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## newsposter (Aug 18, 2002)

t-bone29650 said:


> Did anyone answer this question? I have the service connected and working but would love to see a list of shows and movies without having to scroll on-screen.


i'm pretty sure you cant see VOD guide without being connected since i couldnt see it until i was all hooked up and waited a few hours.

But your question above, as written, could be interpreted as you wanting a list of shows 'somewhere else' perhaps like online? (you said not to have to scroll on screen).

or do you mean other screens on VOD? like if you hit menu and go to vod instead of using the guide?


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