# HR24-500 Horribly Slow to Change Channels



## cody21 (Sep 26, 2007)

We have had our HR24-500 since July 2012 ... pressing the Channel UP/DOWN is horrifically slow. I expect that actual station to take amoment to "click in", but what I mean is that when I press UP/DOWN on the remote, it can take 3-5 secs for the channel to actually change.

Is there some sort of FIX for this annoyance? Anyone else experience this?

thanks in advance.


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## CCarncross (Jul 19, 2005)

Actually changing channels as in channel surfing, or are you talking about guide surfing? Channel surfing is not anywhere near lightning quick like it used to be....there are HDMI handshakes resolution changes, etc... that never used to exist. Channel changes of a few seconds are perfectly normal.


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## cody21 (Sep 26, 2007)

As in Channel Changing (surfing) ... click the UP/DN (CHN PAGE) on the Remote. I press it - the receiver can take 3-5 secs to actually respond.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

cody21 said:


> As in Channel Changing (surfing) ... click the UP/DN (CHN PAGE) on the Remote. I press it - the receiver can take 3-5 secs to actually respond.


I doubt you'll ever get better than 3 sec.


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## Beerstalker (Feb 9, 2009)

When you say 3-5 seconds to respond do you mean 3-5 seconds before it even does anything, then another few seconds before you actually start getting the picture and sound from the other channel? Or do you mean 3-5 seconds total from the time you push the button, to the time you can see/hear the other channel?

If it is the latter then yes, that is pretty normal. Turning off native and slecting only a certain resolution can speed it up a little bit if you haven't already done that, but after that it is pretty much as good as it is going to get.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

Beerstalker said:


> Turning off native and slecting only a certain resolution can speed it up a little bit if you haven't already done that, but after that it is pretty much as good as it is going to get.


When I read these posts/complaints, I wonder how long the poster's TV takes to change channels with a simple antenna.
Mine takes 2 sec, so the added 1 sec from the DirecTV receiver isn't that big a deal.


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## bobcamp1 (Nov 8, 2007)

cody21 said:


> We have had our HR24-500 since July 2012 ... pressing the Channel UP/DOWN is horrifically slow. I expect that actual station to take amoment to "click in", but what I mean is that when I press UP/DOWN on the remote, it can take 3-5 secs for the channel to actually change.
> 
> Is there some sort of FIX for this annoyance? Anyone else experience this?
> 
> thanks in advance.


You can turn native resolution off and use 1080i fixed resolution. It should be in the HDTV menu under setup (I'm not in front of a receiver now so I can't tell you exactly where it is). That should buy you two or three seconds.

But in general you can't really channel surf with Dish or DirecTV. It's a fundamental limitation with satellite. You surf the guide instead.


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## CCarncross (Jul 19, 2005)

Some people's 1st foray in HD may well be with Directv so they may not know how much longer it takes to change channel on HD. As a test as suggested above, if you have an antenna, try "surfing" your off-air channels, it really isnt much faster.


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## bobcamp1 (Nov 8, 2007)

CCarncross said:


> Some people's 1st foray in HD may well be with Directv so they may not know how much longer it takes to change channel on HD. As a test as suggested above, if you have an antenna, try "surfing" your off-air channels, it really isnt much faster.


With FIOS, I can change HD channels in half a second with the output locked to 1080i (not native mode). TWC comes in at around one second.

HD in of itself does not mean a slow channel change. Conversely, SD channel changes on satellite take a long time. With satellite, you just have to learn to surf the guide instead.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

bobcamp1 said:


> With FIOS, I can change HD channels in 1/2 - 3/4 of a second with the output locked to 1080i (not native mode). TWC comes in at around one second.
> 
> HD in of itself does not mean a slow channel change. Conversely, SD channel changes on satellite take a long time. With satellite, you just have to learn to surf the guide instead.


What time does you HD TV take to tune to a channel with a "simple antenna"?
I don't have FIOS to compare, but "most" should have OTA.


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## Diana C (Mar 30, 2007)

Digital channel tuning time is a function of compression and signal acquisition. The receiver has to wait first to lock the channel, which takes longer for satellite than for cable, with OTA falling somewhere inbetween. Once the signal is acquired, it then has to wait for an "i-frame" (a full frame of video). Depending on the compression scheme and its settings, it can be as much as a couple of seconds between i-frames (the rest of the data between i-frames is just the difference between the last i-frame and the current frame). Finally, the receiver has to look at the current HDMI connection, issue resolution format change commands if needed, and finally, the video is on screen.

Satellite takes longer to change channels because tuning takes longer and MPEG4 uses more widely spaced i-frames.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

Diana C said:


> Digital channel tuning time is...


There's "a bunch of stuff" going on.
I checked my Vizio OTA, which was less than my Sony.
The Vizio was less than 2 sec, but more than 1 sec. 
The Sony is 2 sec.
The Sony looks to be doing more processing than the cheaper Vizio, before the image gets displayed.


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## cypherx (Aug 27, 2010)

The Broadcom CPU in the HR44 supposedly has a Fast tune feature. Not sure if is implemented in DirecTV's implementation, but its specifically mentioned on Broadcom's site. Also it's about 6000 DMIPS performance rating, which is almost 6 times better than the HR24's 1100 DMIPS.

I would think changing channels that are on the same transponder should technically be slightly faster, but I haven't timed it against one of SIXTO's or gct's transponder/Chanel list.

Broadcom FastRTV (TM) demo


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## bobcamp1 (Nov 8, 2007)

veryoldschool said:


> There's "a bunch of stuff" going on.
> I checked my Vizio OTA, which was less than my Sony.
> The Vizio was less than 2 sec, but more than 1 sec.
> The Sony is 2 sec.
> The Sony looks to be doing more processing than the cheaper Vizio, before the image gets displayed.


For OTA, my 50" Panasonic Plasma takes around one second. My 19" Sony LED HDTV takes around half a second.

Interesting -- maybe some of the problems are with the TV models. The OP didn't say if was using the same TV as before.


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## acostapimps (Nov 6, 2011)

My HR24-200 don't have that problem, I would expect the -500 to be the same.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

bobcamp1 said:


> Interesting -- maybe some of the problems are with the TV models. The OP didn't say if was using the same TV as before.


Maybe not "the problem", but part of the equation that some don't realize.


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## acostapimps (Nov 6, 2011)

I know they update EPG during primetime(or so i've heard) maybe that's why it's slowing down during that time, because late nights I don't see that problem. Or maybe when it's recording on both tuners.


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