# Any way to prevent losing paused video when changing channels ?



## mworks (Oct 8, 2007)

If I'm watching tv and pause it, then come back to watch what I missed and accidentally change the channel on the remote, I lose what I had paused. 

This has happened to me several times and it is really upsetting if I paused a movie and then miss 30 minutes of it because I accidentally hit the wrong button on the remote. When I had a Dish DVR it would ask you if you wanted to change the channel when you were watching something that had been paused.

Is there anything like that on the Directv DVD ?


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## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

The Record button is your friend ..


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## mworks (Oct 8, 2007)

Doug Brott said:


> The Record button is your friend ..


And is not a solution to the problem. 
If I pause a channel where I intend to watch it for the next couple hours , each hour a different program coming on, I would have to set it to record each program separately or make sure I got back before the current episode ended so I could press record again.

Then go through the trouble of deleting everything that was recorded.


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## spartanstew (Nov 16, 2005)

The main function of a DVR is to record shows. It's not necessarily intended to watch several live shows in a row. If that's how you normally watch TV, it's possible a DVR isn't for you. If I have several shows on the same channel I want to watch, yes, I record them all. That way I can skip through the commercials at my leisure, pause whenever I want and even go watch something else and come back to it later.

In your case, it's not that hard to pull up the guide and hit the record button 2 or 3 times (covering the next several hours), if you are in fact watching several shows on the same channel.


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## mworks (Oct 8, 2007)

The function of a DVR is also to pause live video without having to tell it to record the program. To rewind back something you just saw , etc. 

So you are saying I should just record everything I watch while I go answer the door or let out the dog ?
Then why even allow pausing of live tv ?

Both Tivo and Dish get the idea that if people pause tv they generally want to watch what they paused so don't erase it when someone hits the a channel button.
Dish says something like "You are currently watching a time lapsed program, change the channel ?" " Yes or No 
I was hoping direct had something similar.


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## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

This is the way the HR2x works .. If you are watching something, pause it, then accidentally change channels, the buffer is lost. If you want to guard against that accident, then the record button is your friend .. If you want to live with the accident because the solution is worse, then you can do that as well.


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## spartanstew (Nov 16, 2005)

mworks said:


> Dish says something like "You are currently watching a time lapsed program, change the channel ?" " Yes or No
> I was hoping direct had something similar.


That would annoy the crap out of me, but then again the channel button is nowhere near the play button, so the odds of me accidentally changing the channel are pretty slim.

I pause and return to live TV all the time without any incident. Sorry you're having so much trouble.


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## wilbur_the_goose (Aug 16, 2006)

Sure - you're asking for "Dual Live Buffers", available only on TiVo. We used to have it as D* subscribers, but lost the functionality when Hughes sold D* to Rupert Murdoch.


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## dcowboy7 (May 23, 2008)

solution = dont accidentally change the channel. :grin:


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## dgobe (Dec 8, 2008)

Sometimes I'll surf to another channel at a commercial break, forgetting that I was in the buffer. When I pop back I'll have missed things I wanted to see. It's rare, but it happens.

So I can see a case being made for a warning when changing channels when you are in the buffer. Especially without DLB and for people coming from other systems. It takes a while to get "trained" in the ways of the HR20.


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## djanis3 (Aug 15, 2006)

wilbur_the_goose said:


> Sure - you're asking for "Dual Live Buffers", available only on TiVo. We used to have it as D* subscribers, but lost the functionality when Hughes sold D* to Rupert Murdoch.


As many here will point out and some already have . . . If the almighty DirecTV doesn't offer a feature to you, it means you weren't meant to watch TV that way.


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## billsharpe (Jan 25, 2007)

I often pause a channel to answer the phone or door bell or to get another drink. The pause and resume buttons are some distance away from the channel change buttons, so it's rather difficult, IMO, to "accidently" change the channel when paused. That's not to say I haven't done so once in a great while.

As someone else mentioned I would be more annoyed by seeing a "do you really want to change the channel?" message. I get enough of that kind of stuff with my computer.


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## EricJRW (Jul 6, 2008)

wilbur_the_goose said:


> Sure - you're asking for "Dual Live Buffers", available only on TiVo. We used to have it as D* subscribers, but lost the functionality when Hughes sold D* to Rupert Murdoch.


Glad that got mentioned... <DLB link>

If I know I'm going to step away, I do typically hit the record button... Mostly a better safe than sorry move... Too many weird things could happen (including the wife deciding to change the channel), may as well use the record feature.

I think the suggestion of pulling up the guide and hitting record on a few slots is your best bet... I've gone through a bit of a learning curve with this, my first DVR, too.


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## hasan (Sep 22, 2006)

djanis3 said:


> As many here will point out and some already have . . . If the almighty DirecTV doesn't offer a feature to you, it means you weren't meant to watch TV that way.


Woulda, shoulda, coulda.

If you want to avoid the problem NOW, hit the record button. I do it all the time for the reasons expressed above.

If features change in the future, fine. In the mean time, there is a solution that involves hitting one button. It doesn't solve every situation, but goes a long way to solve the typical manifestations of the problem.

Under current circumstances, refusing to use the Record button smells of not taking Yes for an answer.


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## ssandhoops (Dec 2, 2007)

wilbur_the_goose said:


> Sure - you're asking for "Dual Live Buffers", available only on TiVo. We used to have it as D* subscribers, but lost the functionality when Hughes sold D* to Rupert Murdoch.


Not a solution. Even with DLB, you still lose the buffer of the channel you have paused if you change it.


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## jdspencer (Nov 8, 2003)

To expand on the above post, it is possible to dump the buffer on a DirecTV TiVo. You're recording a show on one tuner and watching a live show on the other. If you hit the channel button it will change the channel on the non recording buffer and thus dump what you were watching.


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## Mike Bertelson (Jan 24, 2007)

djanis3 said:


> As many here will point out and some already have . . . If the almighty DirecTV doesn't offer a feature to you, it means you weren't meant to watch TV that way.


I'm not sure that's an accurate characterization.

I'm just guessing here but I think DirecTV might be trying to find the best mix of features to attract the largest number of subs as possible.

A feature that isn't there might just mean they haven't gotten to it yet or it might be part of another larger feature set.

I don't think it's fair to say that DirecTV what we are and aren't meant to watch. I'm just sayin'. :grin:

To the OP, you're right, a function of a DVR is to pause live TV and go back to it.

The problem is we don't have access to both tuners so the only option is to press record when we pause for any length of time.

In my case I've also chosen a remote with a button layout that works well for how I hold it and use it. I've had problems before with some remotes (not just DVRs) with buttons in inconvenient locations.

I'm not in anyway saying this relates to you. I'm just saying there are alternatives.

DLB would definitely help with this but I don't see that happening anytime soon. Nor is it fool proof. 

Mike


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## paulman182 (Aug 4, 2006)

I've never had a TiVo and don't want one. This has nothing to do with TiVo.

But once you've paused an HR2x, if you accidentally change the channel at any time--not just while paused, but after you resume playback also--you lose the buffer.

If my wife gets a phone call five minutes into a two hour movie and pauses for 30 minutes, she loses thirty minutes of the movie if the dog jumps on the remote, or she drops it, or picks the remote up in a careless manner, or anything else happens to accidentally change the channel.

Heck, I might even forget I am behind and change the channel for a second or two, for some reason.

I know we can record everything we watch and solve the problem. I do that for really important things. However, I would respectfully submit that an on-screen reminder that we are watching from the buffer when we try to change the channel would be helpful to some of us.


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## dbronstein (Oct 21, 2002)

It would be great to have a warning as an option. Then those who would like the extra protection from losing the buffer would have it, and those who would see the warning as an annoyance could turn it off.


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## erosroadie (Jan 9, 2007)

paulman182 said:


> I've never had a TiVo and don't want one. This has nothing to do with TiVo.
> 
> But once you've paused an HR2x, if you accidentally change the channel at any time--not just while paused, but after you resume playback also--you lose the buffer.
> 
> ...


In my house, it's the kids who change the channel on me during a bathroom break. I have learned the best way around this is to hit the Record button before leaving the room. Never had a lost show session since...


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## ATARI (May 10, 2007)

I see DLB has already been mentioned several times, so no need for me to mention it again.

Oooops...


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

wilbur_the_goose said:


> Sure - you're asking for "Dual Live Buffers", available only on TiVo.


Practically speaking, DLB is somewhat uniquely _not_ available on the DIRECTV DVRs. Several other brands have it.

To suggest that any DVR shouldn't maintain a pause is insane as "pause live TV" is a claimed feature of almost all DVRs.


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## mworks (Oct 8, 2007)

For now I will just have to use record.
In the future I would hope Directv adds the same feature the Dish dvr has to let me decide if I want to change channel when paused. Add a option in setup to turn it off. I can't see that being that big a programming change for developers.


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## sasserfolk (Aug 7, 2005)

I was going to post this question and saw that is was discussed an few years back. Has there been any fix to this issue in the software updates in the past few years? I have a HR-24 500 and have wished we had the message pop up to confirm that we want to change the channel on a paused program. As mentioned previously we had this warning message on our Dish DVR years ago.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

sasserfolk said:


> I was going to post this question and saw that is was discussed an few years back. Has there been any fix to this issue in the software updates in the past few years? I have a HR-24 500 and have wished we had the message pop up to confirm that we want to change the channel on a paused program. As mentioned previously we had this warning message on our Dish DVR years ago.


Not sure why a 2+ year old thread was dragged up, but since this time, Double Play has been added, so you can press pause, then the down arrow and get a message about activating double play [press down arrow again].
Double play lets you buffer two channels up to 90 mins each.


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

So yes, there has been progress on this.


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

I was going to mention the down arrow. You can have dual buffers by pressing the down arrow. So if you frequently have problems with accidentally dumping the buffer, then press down arrow, select the same channel on both buffers. If you accidentally dump the one you are watching, you can toggle to the other buffer and fast reverse.

I've dumped the buffer a couple of times and it was frustrating when it happened. But it is so infrequent that it has not been a problem for me.


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## sasserfolk (Aug 7, 2005)

veryoldschool said:


> Not sure why a 2+ year old thread was dragged up, but since this time, Double Play has been added, so you can press pause, then the down arrow and get a message about activating double play [press down arrow again].
> Double play lets you buffer two channels up to 90 mins each.


Thanks for the tip. I did use this old thread since when you post a question, you get any relevent threads to your question. Since it still is a unfullfilled enhancement, thought it would be helpful getting replies.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

sasserfolk said:


> Thanks for the tip. I did use this old thread since when you post a question, you get any relevent threads to your question. *Since it still is a unfullfilled enhancement*, thought it would be helpful getting replies.


I'm sure this is a matter of opinion, as I'd hate to get a message for every time I wanted to change channels while I was in the buffer. Frankly, it would annoy the hell out of me.


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## sasserfolk (Aug 7, 2005)

veryoldschool said:


> I'm sure this is a matter of opinion, as I'd hate to get a message for every time I wanted to change channels while I was in the buffer. Frankly, it would annoy the hell out of me.


It is more annoying when one of the kids, the wife or even myself, changes the channel because they did not know you were not "live" on what your were watching. If they just had it as a option that you could enable if you wanted that message to pop up would be great.


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## RoberMR (Oct 24, 2007)

I agree that the lack of a warning when changing the channel on delayed play is a bummer. This has happened from time to time to me as well as my wife. When you pause a live program because of some external stimulus (door bell. let the dog out, go to the bathroom, ...) it is easy to get distracted and when you return to watching TV, it is pretty easy to either accidentally, or without thinking to change the channel. We used to have a Panasonic Showstopper (original ReplayTV) years ago with one tuner, and any time it was paused during live TV and you changed the channel, it warned that the buffer would be flushed. This was a welcome feature and not an annoyance for us. Is the confirmation message when you delete a program an annoyance? I think not. It is much more preferable to have a warning when you're about to lose something than not.


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## veryoldschool (Dec 10, 2006)

RoberMR said:


> Is the confirmation message when you delete a program an annoyance?


While I understand it may not be for some, "yes" it is for me, and why I used the "double dash" to delete recordings.


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## usnret (Jan 16, 2009)

Use double play and/or take the remote in the bathroom with you


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## rlgesch (Apr 19, 2009)

DIRECTV warns you when it is going to change channels to record a program. This is along the same lines as warning about losing buffer when changing channel. I don't see why it would be hard to impliment or even make it an option to turn on or off for the people who are so against it for some reason. Recording the show you are watching is a work around but not ideal.


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## John SZ (Jun 8, 2017)

I can't believe how dismissive people get on these posts and the complex solutions to simple problems. The "Are you sure" message has been around since the dawn of computers. It's a simple solution an could be an option for those with a low annoyance tolerance. As a programmer my goal has always been to err on the side of prevention of loss of data. When we first got TIVO, if you accidentally changed the channel and went back while in a buffer, the buffer would continue to record the the short switch. This was not elegant but certainly less annoying than losing the entire saved portion of what you were watching. This capability was eventually removed to my dismay. P.S. It's not just a channel change but there are may buttons on the remote that will take you to another DirecTV feature and purge the buffer any one of which can be accidentally pushed when the remote is dropped. I also have a cat that likes to step on the remote on the bed.


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

This is a six year old thread you are responding to. I'm going to close the thread. If the topic needs fresh discussion, please start a new thread.


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