# Dual HD Tuners on VIP 722?



## tyang54 (Jan 8, 2007)

I am preparing to switch from D* back to Dish. One of the main reasons is the DVR, the 30 second slip is driving me crazy. However, I was at CES at the Dish booth today looking at the 722s and now I am very concerned about the tuners on the 722.

Specifically the floor guy told me that the 722 can only tune on HD channel at a time. This means if you are recording say Desperate Housewives in HD and try to use your second tuner, the second program will only display in Standard definition because the HD tuner is busy recording another program. My current HR20 allows me to record once channel in High Def, then switch to another High Def channel and watch it in HD as well. 

Can someone who has a VIP 722 please deny or confirm this information? It would seem really idiotic to only allow one HD tuner and have to watch SD if that HD tuner is busy. I mean what's the point of a dual tuner HD DVR anyway?


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

:welcome_s tyang44

I don't understand why this keeps coming up and answered incorrectly. with the 722 you have 2 Sat Tuners that can do both HD or SD content and one OTA tuner. You can record on all tuners at one time. So if you have OTA you can record 3 HD streams at one time.

If you want to know about the 722, check out the 622 and 722 first looks and then check out the FAQ. That should give you everything you need to know about the 622/722.
:


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## bartendress (Oct 8, 2007)

tyang54 said:


> I am preparing to switch from D* back to Dish. One of the main reasons is the DVR, the 30 second slip is driving me crazy. However, I was at CES at the Dish booth today looking at the 722s and now I am very concerned about the tuners on the 722.
> 
> Specifically the floor guy told me that the 722 can only tune on HD channel at a time. This means if you are recording say Desperate Housewives in HD and try to use your second tuner, the second program will only display in Standard definition because the HD tuner is busy recording another program. My current HR20 allows me to record once channel in High Def, then switch to another High Def channel and watch it in HD as well.
> 
> Can someone who has a VIP 722 please deny or confirm this information? It would seem really idiotic to only allow one HD tuner and have to watch SD if that HD tuner is busy. I mean what's the point of a dual tuner HD DVR anyway?


If I'm not mistaken recordings on both internal tuners are in HD. The outputs on the 722 allow only one output (TV1) in HD. The output for TV2 is only in SD.

Your limitations are not in recording, but rather in viewing the output.


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## TulsaOK (Feb 24, 2004)

Ron Barry said:


> So if you have OTA you can record 3 HD streams at one time.
> :


OK, I don't mean to brag, but this evening I was recording three HD programs simultaneously while watching a recorded HD program WHILE transferring HD programs to my external hard drive. Whew! I think that's a pretty awesome DVR.


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

Yes I have done that before. Pretty sweet indeed.


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## Mike D-CO5 (Mar 12, 2003)

I think I can top that. I had three shows recording at the same time : one ota , 2 sat. I was watching tv 2 in the computer room watching a recorded show. My wife was in the living room watching a recorded show and I was transfering a show on the external hard drive from the second tv. So that is 3 shows recording, two different recorded shows being watched at the same time and one show being transfered to the external hard drive , all at the same time. IF DISH online had been working I might of tried to download a show to really test it , but that application has been very flakey as of late.


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## tyang54 (Jan 8, 2007)

thanks for the prompt response. I kind of thought that would be the case, but I asked 2 separate Dish people on the CES floor and they told me the same thing... maybe I wasn't stating the question clearly... Thanks again for the fast feedback =)


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## SaltiDawg (Aug 30, 2004)

TulsaOK said:


> OK, I don't mean to brag, but this evening I was recording three HD programs simultaneously while watching a recorded HD program WHILE transferring HD programs to my external hard drive. Whew! I think that's a pretty awesome DVR.


Cool! It is the capabilities of the 622's that keep me from jumping ship for Fios.


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## 4HiMarks (Jan 21, 2004)

SaltiDawg said:


> Cool! It is the capabilities of the 622's that keep me from jumping ship for Fios.


Me too. And the fact that I haven't fulfilled my 18 months yet...

-Chris


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## phrelin (Jan 18, 2007)

Thing is, once they actually get all the HD working, it's impossible to find anything that matches the capabilities of the 622/722. But I envy you guys who get OTA.


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## bommai (Feb 26, 2008)

I am a brand new Dish customer. I just got mine installed on Sunday and got a VIP 722. Yesterday I set it up to record CSI Miami from the local CBS affiliate that is available in HD. I tried to change the channel and it said that they recording has to stop in order to do that. I canceled it since I did not want to interrupt the recording. I thought this thing had two tuners. Why did I get this message? I have it wired for TV2. But TV2 was not on. Is TV2 hogging on channel? I even tried to switch to an OTA channel (I have an OTA antenna connected and channel scanned too) and it still complained about interrupting the recording.


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## HobbyTalk (Jul 14, 2007)

Go to the EPG (guide) and change channels using the EPG.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

bommai said:


> I am a brand new Dish customer. I just got mine installed on Sunday and got a VIP 722. Yesterday I set it up to record CSI Miami from the local CBS affiliate that is available in HD. I tried to change the channel and it said that they recording has to stop in order to do that. I canceled it since I did not want to interrupt the recording. I thought this thing had two tuners. Why did I get this message? I have it wired for TV2. But TV2 was not on. Is TV2 hogging on channel? I even tried to switch to an OTA channel (I have an OTA antenna connected and channel scanned too) and it still complained about interrupting the recording.


If you are in dual mode, then you can't do what you were trying to do with a satellite channel.

Dual mode allows watching in 2 different rooms unique programming... or recording and watching a pre-recorded program in 2 different rooms.

Single mode allows recording and watching 2 different live programs at the same time on one TV.

Now, if you also have OTA connected... you can record or watch an OTA while recording both satellite tuners in single mode... or in dual mode, on TV1 you could watch OTA while recording sat or vice-versa.

All that said... Sometimes the receiver doesn't like you to try and channel up/down or type manually to go to a different channel while recording. The best/safest way to change to a different tuner while a recording is going on is to go to the episode guide (Guide button on the remote) and select the channel from there. This ensures you "switch" to the other tuner and don't interrupt the recording.


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## langlin (Apr 8, 2005)

bommai said:


> I am a brand new Dish customer. I just got mine installed on Sunday and got a VIP 722. Yesterday I set it up to record CSI Miami from the local CBS affiliate that is available in HD. I tried to change the channel and it said that they recording has to stop in order to do that. I canceled it since I did not want to interrupt the recording. I thought this thing had two tuners. Why did I get this message? I have it wired for TV2. But TV2 was not on. Is TV2 hogging on channel? I even tried to switch to an OTA channel (I have an OTA antenna connected and channel scanned too) and it still complained about interrupting the recording.


You have two satellite tuners and one OTA tuner in your 722.

If you were recording the "local CBS affiliate " with the OTA tuner and then tried to change to another OTA you would get that message because there is only one OTA tuner.

If you were recording two Satellite channels and tried to switch to another satellite channel you would get that message.


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## bommai (Feb 26, 2008)

HDMe said:


> If you are in dual mode, then you can't do what you were trying to do with a satellite channel.
> 
> Dual mode allows watching in 2 different rooms unique programming... or recording and watching a pre-recorded program in 2 different rooms.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the clear response. Yes - my system said Dual mode somewhere. However, I don't know how to change it back to Single. Is it easy to change it back and forth. 90% of the time, Single mode will suffice for us. Is it easy to change it back and forth and if so how do I do it? Also, if I use the DVR to setup recording of two SAT channels at the same time, will it correctly record them both regardless of whether it is set to dual or single mode? I am still learning about this receiver. I am pretty knowledgeable with electronics but this is my first dish receiver and first dual tuner one that has ability to send signal to a second TV. The only other dual tuner box I have is the HDHomeRun - but that is a lot simpler compared to this.


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## TulsaOK (Feb 24, 2004)

bommai said:


> Thanks for the clear response. Yes - my system said Dual mode somewhere. However, I don't know how to change it back to Single. Is it easy to change it back and forth. 90% of the time, Single mode will suffice for us. Is it easy to change it back and forth and if so how do I do it? Also, if I use the DVR to setup recording of two SAT channels at the same time, will it correctly record them both regardless of whether it is set to dual or single mode? I am still learning about this receiver. I am pretty knowledgeable with electronics but this is my first dish receiver and first dual tuner one that has ability to send signal to a second TV. The only other dual tuner box I have is the HDHomeRun - but that is a lot simpler compared to this.


There is a Mode button next to the Power button to change modes. 
It will record two SAT channels simultaneously regardless of Mode setting.


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## Stewart Vernon (Jan 7, 2005)

bommai said:


> Thanks for the clear response. Yes - my system said Dual mode somewhere. However, I don't know how to change it back to Single. Is it easy to change it back and forth. 90% of the time, Single mode will suffice for us. Is it easy to change it back and forth and if so how do I do it? Also, if I use the DVR to setup recording of two SAT channels at the same time, will it correctly record them both regardless of whether it is set to dual or single mode? I am still learning about this receiver. I am pretty knowledgeable with electronics but this is my first dish receiver and first dual tuner one that has ability to send signal to a second TV. The only other dual tuner box I have is the HDHomeRun - but that is a lot simpler compared to this.


You're welcome... TulsaOK beat me back with the mode button... On the front of the receiver is a mode button that will allow you to make the change. You can still watch TV in another room in single mode, incidentally... it will just be the same as what is on the main TV.. so if you never need (or mostly never) to have unique viewing in the two rooms, this is probably the best way to go.

More advanced setup for dual mode (a good read through the manual is recommended, some good stuff in there actually) exists so that you can have timers try to use either tuner 1 or tuner 2 first... but other than that preference, basically it will try to use the available tuner that isn't being "watched" first so as not to interrupt your live viewing before it has to do so.


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## gb33 (Sep 8, 2006)

Ooh. Only one OTA HD tuner in these eh? I have been contemplating a switch from D* but without Dish having my locals ih HD via sat, I could only use OTA for them. HR20 has 2 OTA's. Is this correct? Can only record one HD OTA at a time?


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## TulsaOK (Feb 24, 2004)

gb33 said:


> Ooh. Only one OTA HD tuner in these eh? I have been contemplating a switch from D* but without Dish having my locals ih HD via sat, I could only use OTA for them. HR20 has 2 OTA's. Is this correct? Can only record one HD OTA at a time?


It has two SAT tuners and one OTA tuner.


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

gb33 said:


> Ooh. Only one OTA HD tuner in these eh? I have been contemplating a switch from D* but without Dish having my locals ih HD via sat, I could only use OTA for them. HR20 has 2 OTA's. Is this correct? Can only record one HD OTA at a time?


Yes... only one OTA at a time, however, you can record two HD Sat and One OTA channel at a given time. This is a feature I am not aware any other boxes on the Market do. It is a trade off and for my use case I like the ability to record 3 streams at once.


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## gb33 (Sep 8, 2006)

Ron you are correct that neither my HR20 nor any other box that I am aware of can do 2 sat recordings and an OTA at same time. However with E* not carrying HD locals, and that being probably 75% of viewing and recording, that is a problem for me. I have really been wanting to give Dish a shot for a while and the new black box looks sharp. But I need OTA's in HD. With D* I get 3 of my locals via sat or OTA and the one missing (CBS) from sat I get it via OTA. This I think may be too big to overcome. Which stinks because I would like to check out Dish and what appears to be a great DVR. Not that the HR20 isn't.


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## TulsaOK (Feb 24, 2004)

gb33 said:


> Ron you are correct that neither my HR20 nor any other box that I am aware of can do 2 sat recordings and an OTA at same time.


The ViP622 or ViP722 will. Not sure about the 612.


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## Ron Barry (Dec 10, 2002)

gb33 said:


> Ron you are correct that neither my HR20 nor any other box that I am aware of can do 2 sat recordings and an OTA at same time. However with E* not carrying HD locals, and that being probably 75% of viewing and recording, that is a problem for me. I have really been wanting to give Dish a shot for a while and the new black box looks sharp. But I need OTA's in HD. With D* I get 3 of my locals via sat or OTA and the one missing (CBS) from sat I get it via OTA. This I think may be too big to overcome. Which stinks because I would like to check out Dish and what appears to be a great DVR. Not that the HR20 isn't.


Yep... Each person has their own conditions and requirements.. Always good to find out these requirement before making a change. Some like dual OTA tuners others find the 3 streams at once a nice feature. I fall in the "3 stream" camp. One thing I have learned.. there is no magic bullet box...


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