# Skipping commercials - any tricks?



## tkrandall (Oct 3, 2003)

I have a new HDVR2. Other than using the 3 fast forward speeds, are there other/better ways to skip over commercials?


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## Mark Holtz (Mar 23, 2002)

While playing back a recording, press Select-Play-Select-3-0-Select. This will change the "move to next tick" function to a 30 second skip.


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## gor88 (May 9, 2003)

tkrandall,

What Mark described is called an Easter Egg feature. This means that it isn't activated by default. Technically, broadcasters don't like you skipping past commercials. A lawsuit was filed against Replay TV for having that feature and advertising it. TiVo decided not to advertise it. However, they do allow activation of this feature.

In saying all this, remember this process as you will have to repeat it anytime the receiver is reset, whether it is on purpose, due to a TiVo software upgrade or update, or due to a power failure. Also, this easter egg is not guaranteed to be in future versions of the TiVo software.

Congrats on your purchase of the HDVR2. Hopefully, your receiver has already downloaded the latest patch to avoid dropouts. You will know if it has by selecting Messages/Setup and Selecting System Information. For the receiver model number, it will display HDVR3 (why? I'm not sure--probably an oversight of the programmers). As to the commercial skip, you will enjoy the function. I sure do. Welcome to the world of TiVo addicts...I mean supporters.


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## tkrandall (Oct 3, 2003)

Thanks - what do you mean by "move to next tick function", i.e. which button is that?



Mark Holtz said:


> While playing back a recording, press Select-Play-Select-3-0-Select. This will change the "move to next tick" function to a 30 second skip.


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## jimisham (Jun 24, 2003)

Mark Holtz said:


> While playing back a recording, press Select-Play-Select-3-0-Select. This will change the "move to next tick" function to a 30 second skip.


I tried that and occasionally would find myself 30 seconds into the program I was watching because I had done one too many 'ticks'.
I finally determined what worked best for me was to use the second of the fast forwards and as soon as I saw the program I was watching come up, hit play and (if I remember rightly, when you do this it goes back 8 seconds), it'll start playing just as the program starts again.
Once in a while I'll screw up, but most of the time it works for me.


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## Ric (Apr 26, 2002)

Just a comment - I assumed the TIVO had this feature. Just another reason the UltimateTV is such a good unit even though the quit making it. It has a 30 second skip button (actually only 29 sec to give you a sec to look for the start of a commercial or program) and a 7 second back button to use if you go to far. 

MS finally had a great product and no one cared.


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## bonscott87 (Jan 21, 2003)

Ric,

Like others have said, other companies have been sued for having the 30 second commercial skip feature. Tivo DOES have this feature and it's easy to activate, they just don't advertise it so they don't get sued as well.

By the way, I think UTV was a good product too and I thought they sold rather well. Microsoft just chose to kill it. Not a fault of the product, just MS decided they didn't want to make it anymore and wanted to roll the technology into the next generation X-Box so they can have that "all in one" media box they've wanted for long time to be your "portal" to all your entertainment.


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## Mark Holtz (Mar 23, 2002)

tkrandall said:


> Thanks - what do you mean by "move to next tick function", i.e. which button is that?


(Checking manual... quite handy... if you lost yours, there is a PDF version at DirecTV)

If you pre-recorded a program or a movie, you notice that on the green bar, there are "tick" marks at fifteen minute intervals. By default, if you press the Advance button, it will skip forward to the next tick mark. I rarely see how that is useful.

By activating the easter egg, it changes the function of the advance button from next tick mark to a 30-second skip forward button. If you overshoot, you can just back up by clicking on the Instant Replay button. Some people just fast-forward through the commercials, and when you press Play, the Tivo will automaticaaly back up a few seconds. It's personal preference. After all, it's not videotape.

The skip-to-tick mark function is still there with the easter egg activated. Just press FF, then advance.

I have found only one bug with the 30-second skip. If you are at the end of a recording and press the 30-second skip, it skips back to the beginning of the program.


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## tkrandall (Oct 3, 2003)

Thanks everyone.

Once it is set to 30 second skip (worked for me), is there a way to re-set it to the factory setting again?


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## Phil T (Mar 25, 2002)

Yes, the same way that you activated it. It is a toggle.


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## Mark Holtz (Mar 23, 2002)

Another helpful trick in the now playing menu: Slow-0-Record-ThumbsUp.


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## dbronstein (Oct 21, 2002)

bonscott87 said:


> Like others have said, other companies have been sued for having the 30 second commercial skip feature. Tivo DOES have this feature and it's easy to activate, they just don't advertise it so they don't get sued as well.


Nobody has been sued for having a 30-second skip. SonicBlue was sued because of the commercial skip function in ReplayTV that automatically skips an entire block of commercials.

Dennis


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## valand_krisban (Oct 23, 2003)

dbronstein said:


> Nobody has been sued for having a 30-second skip. SonicBlue was sued because of the commercial skip function in ReplayTV that automatically skips an entire block of commercials.
> 
> Dennis


Now that I sold my 2 ReplayTVs and purchased 2 DirecTivos, I really miss that auto skip feature, although the 30 sec skip Tivo easter egg is better then nothing.


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## bonscott87 (Jan 21, 2003)

dbronstein said:


> Nobody has been sued for having a 30-second skip. SonicBlue was sued because of the commercial skip function in ReplayTV that automatically skips an entire block of commercials.
> 
> Dennis


Same thing. It was effectively a 30 second skip to skip a 30 second block of commercials.

Doesn't really matter at this point anyway.


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## mkxanth (Nov 4, 2003)

bonscott87 said:


> Same thing. It was effectively a 30 second skip to skip a 30 second block of commercials.
> 
> Doesn't really matter at this point anyway.


Actually its not the same thing. ReplayTv has always had a 30 second skip button. The 4x00 series also had a commercial skip feature that would detect commercials and skip over all of them. So if there were 6 commercials then the ReplayTv would skip over all of them without you having to press any buttons.


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## spanishannouncetable (Apr 23, 2002)

Mark Holtz said:


> (Checking manual... quite handy... if you lost yours, there is a PDF version at DirecTV)
> 
> If you pre-recorded a program or a movie, you notice that on the green bar, there are "tick" marks at fifteen minute intervals. By default, if you press the Advance button, it will skip forward to the next tick mark. I rarely see how that is useful.


To clarify -

If you do NOT have the 30 sec skip activated and you press the skip button while the program is playing at normal speed, it will jump to the end of the recording. If you are using FF at any speed, it will jump to the tick marks going forward; if you're using REW at any speed, it will go to the next tick mark in reverse.

If you DO have the 30 sec skip activated, the jump-to-end won't work. It will instead skip ahead 30 sec. for each button press. The FF/REW-to-tick function still works normally.



> By activating the easter egg, it changes the function of the advance button from next tick mark to a 30-second skip forward button. If you overshoot, you can just back up by clicking on the Instant Replay button. Some people just fast-forward through the commercials, and when you press Play, the Tivo will automaticaaly back up a few seconds. It's personal preference. After all, it's not videotape.
> 
> The skip-to-tick mark function is still there with the easter egg activated. Just press FF, then advance.
> 
> I have found only one bug with the 30-second skip. If you are at the end of a recording and press the 30-second skip, it skips back to the beginning of the program.


This is not a bug, it's another shortcut. It is designed to work like this. It allows a quick restart of the program you just watched without having to REW to the beginning, use the REW/tick mark combo or go through the menus to restart the program.


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## Scalper (Feb 14, 2003)

Remember if your Tivo restart(Software update, loss of power ect.) It will go back to default(skip to next tick mark) In fact all the hidden things you turned on will go back to default.


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## tkrandall (Oct 3, 2003)

What other "hidden things" are there?



Scalper said:


> Remember if your Tivo restart(Software update, loss of power ect.) It will go back to default(skip to next tick mark) In fact all the hidden things you turned on will go back to default.


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## spanishannouncetable (Apr 23, 2002)

To get a small on-screen clock with an elapsed-time reading during playback of recorded shows, play a recording and enter the code SELECT - PLAY - SELECT - 9 - SELECT

To sort your Now Playing list alphabetically, by recording date or by expiration date, go to the NP list and enter the code SLOW - 0 (zero number button) - RECORD - THUMBS UP (or S0RT for short)


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## Scalper (Feb 14, 2003)

One more I know and is good when you record sports and don't want to know when it ends when you FF the commercials.

Select-Play-Select-Pause-Select
will toggle the green bar off very quickly

Forgot to add you need to do this while playing back or in live TV I belive. You should hear 3 dings after you enter it.


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## HarryD (Mar 24, 2002)

Or reset the box.


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## HappyGoLucky (Jan 11, 2004)

spanishannouncetable said:


> To get a small on-screen clock with an elapsed-time reading during playback of recorded shows, play a recording and enter the code SELECT - PLAY - SELECT - 9 - SELECT


I can't get that one to do anything. I get the three dings but no clock is ever displayed onscreen. Basically, it doesn't seem to do anything. I have the newest Hughes DirecTivo running the 3.1.1b software.


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## jdspencer (Nov 8, 2003)

If your TV overscans too much the clock may be off the screen. It is in the lower right hand corner right next to the edge.


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## HappyGoLucky (Jan 11, 2004)

jdspencer said:


> If your TV overscans too much the clock may be off the screen. It is in the lower right hand corner right next to the edge.


I'm using a 65" Philips rear projection TV that could be overscanning too much. I've noticed crawlers at the bottom (like on CNN) are cut nearly in half, making them very difficult to read.


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## Mark Holtz (Mar 23, 2002)

You may want to check www.google.com with the model number of your TV set. Many sets nowadays have hidden "secret" service menus to adjust for overscanning (which beats going in with a screwdriver). I would use a DVD like DVD essentials because it includes a screen which shows where the image is supposed to be centered, what is the safe area, etc.

As always, perform these changes AT YOUR OWN RISK.


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## jdspencer (Nov 8, 2003)

I did a search in the AVS forums for my TV model and discovered the service codes. I have been able to adjust the set using DVE so that overscan, convergence, etc is very good. Caution, you can spend a lot of time making tweaks.


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## JulienPDX (Feb 2, 2004)

wait a doggone minute; so you people are saying that TIVO no longer automatically doesn't record commercials when recording? I seem to recall a few years ago when they first came out, that was one of the options that they were all touting..."watch delayed tv, pause live tv, Skip commercials...."
jee and here i was hoping for a unit that would record shows and automatically NOT record commercials ...

hey what about transferring what you recorded to a DVD or SVCD so you can take it to a buddies house?

<sorry..newbie here>


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## spanishannouncetable (Apr 23, 2002)

TiVo never had automatic commercial skipping. RePlay DVRs did.

You can play recordings and burn them to DVD or SVCD all you want via the output jacks on the TiVo. Digital extraction is possible with a hack, but is a violation of TiVo's service agreement.


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## Nick (Apr 23, 2002)

How to skip commercials during a "live" program.

Quite often I will pause at the beginning of a program, go do something really important like prepare a snack, go out for a whiff or two of burning leaves, :alterhase check the plumbing system !pu****! or the like. When I resume watching the paused show, I can then zip right through the commercial blocks @ 30 seconds a jump. Typical network c-blocks are four minutes, or eight 30-second spots in length, so 8 hits takes me right to the beginning of the next program segment. By the time I am "live", its time for another break. 

Just my way of coping with crass commercialism. :grin:


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## Delta4C (Mar 15, 2004)

tkrandall said:


> I have a new HDVR2. Other than using the 3 fast forward speeds, are there other/better ways to skip over commercials?


Get ReplayTV 5040 with Automatic Commercial Advance no user interaction required!


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## jdspencer (Nov 8, 2003)

Wasn't Replay required to remove that functionality because of a lawsuit?


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