# Problem with the guide



## ronwoods (Dec 6, 2005)

Okay, I have been HIGHLY UNIMPRESSED so far with the R15. I hooked it up today and granted in my bedroom I have a 20 year old 19" Sharp television, it worked flawlessly with my DirecTivo unit. 

Here is my problem: 

The left hand side of the guide is cut off, it seems the folks at DirecTV have decided to place the guide at the extreme left hand edge, the problem is I can't see the 1st digit in the channels in the 3 digit's. In fact, the DI in the DirecTV logo in the upper left hand corner are also cut off.

Problem #2, the remote will not take for my Sharp TV codes. 

I called DirecTV and of course they are saying this hasn't happened on any of their test sets or with anyone who has activated yet. Unfortunetly my TV does not have a control to squeeze in the width of the display.

Of course, I could run out and buy a new TV and it just might work, but why should I have to do that? I would just as well go back to the Tivo unit, but the problem with that is at some point Tivo will be obsolete on DirecTV and then what?

This sucks!! I was hoping to try out some cool new technology and see where DirecTV is heading, but it looks like I may have to go back in time. Oh well!

Anyone else out there see this type of problem on an older set?

One other observation: 

Has anyone else noticed the guide, settings and all on screen info is a bit harder to read? Maybe it is the color scheme, not enough contrast or something...


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## dochase (Nov 28, 2005)

ronwoods said:


> Okay, I have been HIGHLY UNIMPRESSED so far with the R15. I hooked it up today and granted in my bedroom I have a 20 year old 19" Sharp television, it worked flawlessly with my DirecTivo unit.
> 
> Here is my problem:
> 
> ...


None of those problems. I DO wish the guide had different color settings for Movies, Sports, channels etc. like my Hughes regular receiver does. It would be easier to decipher the guide.

D


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## CCarncross (Jul 19, 2005)

Truthfully, the problem is your older tv has way too much overscan, and more modern tvs, which are becoming more the norm, dont have near as much overscan. If I truly believed that 20 year old 19" tvs were teh norm, I would be right there with you, but they arent, you are in teh minority here. And on a more modern tv, I'm not talking about HDTV's or anything like that, overscan has been greatly reduced in the past 5-10 years, which is the age of tv's you will probably find in closer to 80% of households...chances are you cant see all the tickers on espn, or bloomberg, any of those stations, because they are cut off due to your tv's excessive overscan bt todays standard. You gotta do whats best for the majority of your customers, not the minority...

Now having said that, there may be a way for you to get into the service menu for your tv, and adjust the overscan. Be very careful if you happen to find those instructions


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## walters (Nov 18, 2005)

Huh? Are you saying they don't have to keep menus within "title safe" anymore?

Edit: wait--I just looked at Earl's pictures again. Seems like they left plenty of room.


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## bfkidd (Dec 4, 2005)

This is true with my TV as well. It is worse with S-Video than with coax or RCA.

I have talked to tier-2 support twice about this. The first time they sent me a new unit. It is the same on both.

The picture is definitely shifted over to the left. If you look at other images like the progress bar when you hit pause, you can see that the graphic is shifted over to the left and is not centered on the screen like it is supposed to be. I don't see how this is an overscan issue.

The folks at D* both were surprised that there is no option in the Video setup menu for centering the r15's image on the TV. Evidently other receivers have this.

Anyway, after my call last night the tech logged the issue because I noted other people are experiencing it.


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## slappy (Dec 6, 2005)

I've noticed a left-shift using the R15 on my 2 year old Magnavox 20-inch television. It definately is an irritation. At least I know now that it's not just my TV causing the problem.

Hopefully DirecTV can fix this sometime in the future.


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## walters (Nov 18, 2005)

A picture shift (in fact, a shift to the left) isn't unprecedented. The good news is that it _was_ fixed in software when TiVo made that mistake , so it should be fixable this time, too


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## eengert (Nov 16, 2005)

ronwoods said:


> Of course, I could run out and buy a new TV and it just might work, but why should I have to do that? I would just as well go back to the Tivo unit, but the problem with that is at some point Tivo will be obsolete on DirecTV and then what?


That day is a long way off. I have an R15 as my secondary DVR, but my recommendation is that you don't try to use it as your primary DVR or one that you truly rely on at this point. It needs some software updates before it will be ready for that. There is no danger in replacing it with an R10 DTivo. Dtv will NEVER stop supporting DTivos. They WILL stop selling them once their inventory is depleted. And you won't receive any further software updates to your DTivos, but they are already quite stable and reliable.

So, as I see it, you don't have to worry about the R15 until the day when all your DTivos die and you're unable to purchase another DTivo. And by then (which should be several years from now, depending on the longevity of your DTivos) it seems like there's a very high likelihood that the R15 will be stable and reliable itself. In fact, by then, they'll probably have newer DVR models out, including the HD DVR.

Conclusion: If you're unhappy with the R15, replace it with an R10. Both are free!


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## Vermonster (Nov 18, 2005)

Count me as another with the left shift problem.

5 year-old Mitsu.

VT


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## ronwoods (Dec 6, 2005)

I am glad to learn this problem is not necessarily because I have a 20 year old rock solid TV and that other with much newer units are noticing this. 

All I can say is CALL IN NOW or this problem will not get fixed quckly, both people I talked to in the Tier 2 support had never heard of this and swore up and down it was not the DVR causing the issue. 

Let's raise our collective voices and CALL DIRECTV with EVERY SINGLE LITTLE PROBLEM or it will take way to long to fix and piss us all off. From what I can tell, cancelled shows, shows not being recorded when they are supposed to, or not recording the whole show HAS TO BE FIXED NOW or DirecTV will have more and more defectors as time goes on. 

They should not have released this unit unit every feature was solid and fully tested to at least give the Tivo units a run for their money. It seems to me they rushed them out the door to start collecting dividends on them and to get them in the stores before the holidays.

Enough said! Thanks for listening to my ranting.... :nono2:


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## Clint Lamor (Nov 15, 2005)

ronwoods said:


> I am glad to learn this problem is not necessarily because I have a 20 year old rock solid TV and that other with much newer units are noticing this.
> 
> All I can say is CALL IN NOW or this problem will not get fixed quckly, both people I talked to in the Tier 2 support had never heard of this and swore up and down it was not the DVR causing the issue.
> 
> ...


Now while I completely agree that some of these issues NEVER should have made it into a production box, I mean HOW do you miss that the SeriesLink isn't working. I have to say that your guide issue seems to be not the norm. I have tested the R15 on my 36" Sony Grand Wega and my older (5-6 yrs) 27" Phillips and neither have had this issue. With that being said I wonder whats in common with the folks TV's who are having the issues?


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## ISWIZ (Nov 18, 2005)

My older Sanyo is fine also. As it is not a 90 degree in the corners but rounded, a very small part of one number may be at the very edge.


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## JLaw725 (May 7, 2007)

Was wondering if anyone found a resolution to this problem.
Just got a R-15 and left margin is cut off on all DTV provided screens.
(Guide, playlist etc)
I've got a 8 yr old Pro Scan 37 inch. Worked fine with the Huges/Tivo unit, the R 15 cuts it off. Dtv is NO help.

Thanks
Jim


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## Jhon69 (Mar 28, 2006)

JLaw725 said:


> Was wondering if anyone found a resolution to this problem.
> Just got a R-15 and left margin is cut off on all DTV provided screens.
> (Guide, playlist etc)
> I've got a 8 yr old Pro Scan 37 inch. Worked fine with the Huges/Tivo unit, the R 15 cuts it off. Dtv is NO help.
> ...


Suggest you set the display to widescreen.If that fails contact a TV repairman to get into the service menu to adjust the picture.Good Luck!.:welcome_s


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## JLaw725 (May 7, 2007)

Thanks. Tried widescreen mode, and also flipped cables off S-Video to RCA like it was set up with the Samsung/Tivo reciever, still have the problem. I'll call a TV tech. Appreciate the help.


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