# Vip612 PiP



## kosmok1000 (Apr 11, 2011)

does the VIP612 have PIP?


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## TulsaOK (Feb 24, 2004)

No.


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## kosmok1000 (Apr 11, 2011)

why have two sat input's?


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## lparsons21 (Mar 4, 2006)

So you can record 2 events at once...


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

kosmok1000 said:


> why have two sat input's?


Input is not equal output - signal are different and involved processing/transforming; so you can't count those as 2xSat In = 2xTV Out because it's depend on HW and SW.
[Simply put - it's no pipes analogy]


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## tampa8 (Mar 30, 2002)

Actually in the case of the 612 it has three tuners. Two Sat, one OTA. 
Reading other posts, and in my own case, people have gone away from PIP as being a must have. Many new sets do not have it anymore.


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## TulsaOK (Feb 24, 2004)

Are you speaking of TV's or receivers?


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## BattleZone (Nov 13, 2007)

The 612 has two sat tuners, so it can detect and store (i.e., buffer or record) from both streams at once. However, it only has one decoder chip and can only decode one stream at a time, which means one live video stream can be output at a time. The onscreen graphics are generated as an overlay by another chip, and are not a second satellite feed, before anyone asks.

The 622/722/722k/922 HD-DVRs are "Duo" models designed to have 2 separate simultanous outputs, to allow them to feed two TVs independently, so they have a second video decoder chip. In Single Mode (and ONLY in Single Mode), both chips can be used by the TV1 output to create a PiP feed. This feature is fairly unique, as most manufacturers don't pay for extra decoder chips for their DVRs, as they are among the most expensive components of the DVR.

One of the main reasons that they don't spend that money is because PiP has consistantly been ranked as a low priority whenever surveys of desired features are done. Yes, the relatively few people who like/want PiP *really* like it, but they are the minority.


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## kosmok1000 (Apr 11, 2011)

I like to be able to pause one channel and swap to another to avoid commercials, that way I can see two programs at the same time.
can the 612 do that?


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## mdavej (Jan 31, 2007)

I've never been able to do that on any Dish box, even ones with PIP. If I pause and swap, my 1st program gets un-paused as soon as I swap. On the other hand, DirecTV handles that quite well. I can pause and swap all day long.


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## TulsaOK (Feb 24, 2004)

kosmok1000 said:


> I like to be able to pause one channel and swap to another to avoid commercials, that way I can see two programs at the same time.
> can the 612 do that?


No.


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## TulsaOK (Feb 24, 2004)

mdavej said:


> I've never been able to do that on any Dish box, even ones with PIP.


Then, you're not doing it right. Unless you're swapping away from a program that's being recorded, there' no problem.


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## mdavej (Jan 31, 2007)

OK. Pause live TV1, Swap to TV2, Pause, Swap back to TV1, both are still paused. So far, so good. But if I play a recording on TV1, pause, swap to TV2, then swap back to TV1, my recording stops and goes back to live TV. Am I missing something, or is it supposed to work this way? How do you handle watching a recording on TV1 and switching to TV2 and back?


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## TulsaOK (Feb 24, 2004)

mdavej said:


> OK. Pause live TV1, Swap to TV2, Pause, Swap back to TV1, both are still paused.


That's the way it works.

Watching a recorded event then switching tuners will end the playback and switch to live. Pausing an event that's being recorded then switching tuners will jump to live. Your example above is the only way events will stay paused.


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