# Confused about Timers and HD??



## nitz369 (Dec 15, 2005)

Okay I am confused about what types of programs I can record at one time. I am running in Single Mode. I have an OTA hooked up too.

Tonight I saw that I had two shows recording at the same time. Both were HD Locals from the Sat. I could not switch the an SD or HD channel without turning off one of the timers, BUT I could watch something from the OTA.


I thought you could:

Record 1 HD Program
Record 1 SD Program
Record 1 OTA Program
All at the same time

BUT

It seems that I can Record 2 HD Programs and still watch/record OTA all at the same time.


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## ChuckA (Feb 7, 2006)

All tuners can record HD content. You are correct that you can record or watch three things at once. Except that you can record three things at once and watch one or two pre-recorded programs in addition.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

Reiterating the above and stating slightly differently...

You can record simultaneously with a ViP622:

2 SD or HD programs from satellite
1 SD or HD program from digital OTA

All could be HD, all could be SD, or any combination available.

You could also watch a pre-recorded program while recording those 3 different channels above. It has nothing to do with SD vs HD... has to do with 2 satellite tuners and 1 OTA tuner for 3 total tuners.


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## lujan (Feb 10, 2004)

nitz369 said:


> ..
> Tonight I saw that I had two shows recording at the same time. Both were HD Locals from the Sat. I could not switch the an SD or HD channel without turning off one of the timers, BUT I could watch something from the OTA.
> ...


The reason you couldn't switch to another station was because both satellite tuners were in use (recording). You could have typed in an OTA station and it should have worked (maybe you did).


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## BobaBird (Mar 31, 2002)

The *tuner 2* _input_ *is fully capable of HD*.
The TV2 _output_ always downconverts to NTSC, but that is independent of the input source or format.


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## Jim5506 (Jun 7, 2004)

The ViP622 has 5 independent functions - 3 record and 2 playback. All 3 record options are HD capable. TV1 output is HD; TV2 output is SD.


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## Jason Whiddon (Aug 17, 2006)

Bringing this back from the dead. I am getting the 622 installed Sunday and was wondering if I could record 2 OTA programs at the same time regardless of what the sat is doing.

Keep in mind I'm coming from an HR20 where I can only record two things at once but they can be 2 OTA, 2 SAT or one of each.

If the 622 will only record 1 OTA program regardless, that seems a little disappointing.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

elwaylite said:


> Bringing this back from the dead. I am getting the 622 installed Sunday and was wondering if I could record 2 OTA programs at the same time regardless of what the sat is doing.
> 
> Keep in mind I'm coming from an HR20 where I can only record two things at once but they can be 2 OTA, 2 SAT or one of each.
> 
> If the 622 will only record 1 OTA program regardless, that seems a little disappointing.


No. The 622 has 2 satellite tuners and 1 OTA tuner. It is possible to record up to 3 programs at the same time, but only one of them can be OTA.


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## Jason Whiddon (Aug 17, 2006)

HDMe said:


> No. The 622 has 2 satellite tuners and 1 OTA tuner. It is possible to record up to 3 programs at the same time, but only one of them can be OTA.


Huh. Not that big of a deal, just wondering why they went that route. Wouldn't be an issue at all if everyone had hd locals, but that is a good ways off.


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## SaltiDawg (Aug 30, 2004)

HDMe said:


> Reiterating the above and stating slightly differently...
> 
> ...
> 
> You could also watch a pre-recorded program while recording those 3 different channels above. ...


Where "pre-recorded" includes any of the programs *currently* being recorded.


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## Jason Whiddon (Aug 17, 2006)

SaltiDawg said:


> Where "pre-recorded" includes any of the programs *currently* being recorded.


So you can record/watch one OTA while recording another OTA?


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## BobaBird (Mar 31, 2002)

No. There is still only one OTA tuner. You can watch any event from the beginning while it is still recording, but the tuner is still tied up capturing that event and is not available for another.


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## Jason Whiddon (Aug 17, 2006)

BobaBird said:


> No. There is still only one OTA tuner. You can watch any event from the beginning while it is still recording, but the tuner is still tied up capturing that event and is not available for another.


Ok, thats what I thought but the statement made me wonder.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

SaltiDawg said:


> Where "pre-recorded" includes any of the programs *currently* being recorded.


Sure... but that is limiting... You can record up to 3 simultaneous programs, using each available tuner... then you can watch an already completed recording while those 3 are being recorded.

Watching a recording that is in-progress shouldn't be a surprise feature (I would hope not anyway) since the capability to watch what you are recording is pretty much an inherent feature... The ability to watch a completely different pre-recorded program is a feature worth mentioning.

I guess where I'm going here is... it should be obvious that you can watch any channel that you are recording while the recording is in progress... but additionally you could choose to watch a completely different pre-recorded program.

(FYI, in dual mode you can watch 2 different pre-recorded programs while those 3 new ones are being recorded... so actually 5 things can be happening at the same time.)


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

elwaylite said:


> Huh. Not that big of a deal, just wondering why they went that route. Wouldn't be an issue at all if everyone had hd locals, but that is a good ways off.


Possibly cost... or possibly not that high of a demand... or perhaps the processing power of the unit wouldn't support 4 simultaneous tuners going at once, which could happen if they put 2 OTA tuners in with the 2 satellite tuners.

Since they ultimately plan to have more locals in HD via satellite... I suspect it made more sense to have 2 satellite tuners and just 1 OTA to keep the overall cost of the unit down... hoping that eventually it would not matter once they got most market's locals in HD uplinked.


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## SaltiDawg (Aug 30, 2004)

HDMe said:


> ...
> 
> (FYI, in dual mode you can watch 2 different pre-recorded programs while those 3 new ones are being recorded... so actually 5 things can be happening at the same time.)


This also should be obvious...  
How 'bout this one? In Dual Mode , while recording three differerent programs the two users can be watching one of those three at different points of time.


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## rocky01 (Mar 20, 2005)

Can you record a HD program in SD on TV1? 

Once a program's timer is given a record preference of HD can it be recorded in SD instead or does that require deleting the timer for that single event and reinstalling a HD preference timer afterwards? 

This is a wish list item and perhaps likely not even a plausible thing but can a program be downconverted to NTSC by TV2 after it's recorded by TV1 in HD?

I really want more flexibility and best of resolution vs disc space options before and after setting up timers, until they give us more DVR space and offloading options that don't cost as much as say, pocket dish.


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## Jim5506 (Jun 7, 2004)

rocky01 said:


> Can you record a HD program in SD on TV1?


No, if the source is HD it is recorded in HD, no option to down rezz before recording.


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## tnsprin (Mar 16, 2003)

Jim5506 said:


> No, if the source is HD it is recorded in HD, no option to down rezz before recording.


And this is indepedent of which of the tuners is used. If the source is HD it is recorded in HD.


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## Jim5506 (Jun 7, 2004)

You are correct, sir!

On the issue of recording more than one OTA channel, this is a receiver produced by a satellite company, the OTA tuner is a perk, most DishNetwork DVR's cannot record ANY OTA material.

If it had two OTA tuners we would want three.


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## lujan (Feb 10, 2004)

I don't see why E* can't put out a two OTA tuner receiver if it's competition can?


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## Charise (Jan 25, 2004)

lujan said:


> I don't see why E* can't put out a two OTA tuner receiver if it's competition can?


I feel sure they could, but, remember, it's a SATELLITE-delivered TV company.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

Charise said:


> I feel sure they could, but, remember, it's a SATELLITE-delivered TV company.


Yep.. and also Dish is still figuring on eventually having locals in HD up on the satellite for most markets... so at some point having another OTA tuner will be less important than it is now.


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## SaltiDawg (Aug 30, 2004)

lujan said:


> I don't see why E* can't put out a two OTA tuner receiver if it's competition can?


When "the competition" delivered the last HD two OTA Sat receiver we called the two OTA tuners paper weights... they were DOA.


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## larsdennert (Oct 29, 2006)

Wow this has really helped me as a noob to DVR. I've been pulling my hair out trying to figure out why it often records HD programs using tuner 2 and I'm thinking it doesn't record those in HD. Sounds like it does record properly. Yea I know... watch it to see if it's HD...

I read the FAQ pdf that dish put out on mode settings but I'm still a bit hazy. I have one HDTV hooked to the 622 (an HP LC4276N 42" 1080p LCD; great TV BTW) and I'm struggling to figure out what the true purpose of Record Plus is. It seems to just set the preference for which tuner to use when doing instant recording of live tv. When I record future stuff, I can't make any rhyme or reason as to which tuner it will use. I messed with the settings so much trying to figure it out that I've confused myself. :hurah: 

So my questions are: 
Since the tuner 2 presumably can record HD it would make sense to have it chosen first to record a program so I can continue watching something else on tuner 1 and only use tuner 1 to record if 2 is already tasked out. How do I best do that?

If I use single user mode is that an even better choice for me? Is that where PIP comes into play where I could swap tuners say tuner 1 is stuck recording something, I could PIP swap and watch an HD program using tuner 2?


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## SaltiDawg (Aug 30, 2004)

larsdennert said:


> ...
> 
> If I use single user mode is that an even better choice for me? Is that where PIP comes into play where I could swap tuners say tuner 1 is stuck recording something, I could PIP swap and watch an HD program using tuner 2?


In Single Mode you do not care in the least which tuner is used to record.

Take a simple case. You have one timer set for 8:00 PM-9:00PM tonight. At 8:30PM you turn your TV on (with your 622 in Single Mode.) If you want to change the channel you are viewing, just do so. The single scheduled recording will simply go on in the background on whatever tuner you are using and you will view on the other tuner. The choice of which tuner is being utilized for recording becomes a non-issue in Single Mode.

Disclaimer: If you are recording OTA, that fact is important in either Single or Dual Mode as you can not simultaneously view a second live OTA station owing to the fact that there is only one OTA Tuner.


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## Jim5506 (Jun 7, 2004)

Because Dish uses repetitive nomenclature (the same names for those of you in Rio Linda) it is confusing when talking about TV1 and TV2.

There are three tuners and two outputs to deal with, but dish has only labels TV1 and TV2.

They should have called the tuners OTA, SAT1 and SAT2 and called the outputs TV1 and TV2.

I have tried to convey this to dish, but it seemed to go in one (deaf) ear and out the other.


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## Grandude (Oct 21, 2004)

Jim5506 said:


> Because Dish uses repetitive nomenclature (the same names for those of you in Rio Linda) it is confusing when talking about TV1 and TV2.
> 
> They should have called the tuners OTA, SAT1 and SAT2 and called the outputs TV1 and TV2.


All I can say to that is 'amen, brother'. Even those in Rio Linda could understand that.


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