# Functionality of [Exit] Key while Watching a Recording



## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

Forgive me if this has been asked, but I tried a search and wasn't finding relevant hits.

Does anyone else hate that you can accidentally exit a show you're watching from your playlist and jump to Live TV when all you really wanted to do was clear the onscreen graphics?

I use EXIT a lot to clear the progress bar or the Info banner, but find that a lot of times I am accidentally exiting out of a recording to live TV because either the remote's too sensitive or I'm pressing EXIT to clear the on-screen graphic at the exact moment the graphic has timed out on its own.

By my count, there are three ways to stop watching a recorded program: *STOP:* In recorded TV, stops playback and displays the MyPlaylist tab in the Playlist, with Live TV in the PIP window.

*EXIT: *Exits any menu and returns to last channel viewed.

*PREV: *Tunes to last channel viewed. ​In my opinion, EXIT should have only ONE function when watching a recorded program: clear the on-screen graphics. No matter how many times you hit EXIT in a recorded program, is should NOT exit to live TV. The recorded program is not a menu - it's a prorgram, so the current functionality doesn't even match the manual.

If you want to go to your Playlist from the recorded program, hit STOP. If you want to go to full-screen Live TV from the recorded program, press PREV. But leave EXIT as a "clear graphics" key only...

Who's with me?


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## macEarl (Jan 2, 2007)

I don't think I'm ready to vote because I don't think I've used {EXIT} enough as you have. I definitely expect it to not do the same as the {STOP} button - is this a defect or a preference we're talkin' here?????:scratchin


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## machavez00 (Nov 2, 2006)

Clear graphics only. I have also kicked out of a recording when all I wanted to do is clear a graphic. Very annoying


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## Jeremy W (Jun 19, 2006)

It should just clear the graphics.


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

macEarl said:


> I don't think I'm ready to vote because I don't think I've used {EXIT} enough as you have. I definitely expect it to not do the same as the {STOP} button - is this a defect or a preference we're talkin' here?????:scratchin


What I described in the first post is how it currently works. While watching a recording, two keys on the remote do the same thing: PREV and EXIT will both stop playing the recording and dump you to live TV.

I believe this is redundant behavior, and use of the EXIT key can in fact cause unintended behavior by stopping the recording when you really only wanted to clear the graphics. I think this should be fixed, so that's what the poll is about.


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## RehabMan (Mar 11, 2007)

So that's why I find myself jumping back to live TV when I least expect it! EXIT should definitely have no effect unless there is an overlay (info banner, progress bar, menu, mini guide, etc), present on the screen, in which case it should simply clear the overlay. Playing back a recording is not an overlay.

I have my banner time set to 2 seconds but still hit exit to clear the banner right away, sometimes I'm too slow and miss it and exit the playback all together... What I'd really like is an option to set the banner time to 0 seconds, such that the banner wouldn't appear at all, but I guess I should open a new thread for that.

Question: Is there a specific thread for Feature Requests?


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## Jeremy W (Jun 19, 2006)

RehabMan said:


> Is there a specific thread for Feature Requests?


Nope, just start one.


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## mtnagel (Sep 18, 2006)

At first I was going to say that I liked how stop brought you to your playlist and exit brought you to live tv, but I didn't realize that previous exits you to live tv also. So, I guess I agree with you that exit should only clear the graphics then.


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

Great post. Hadn't thought about this before.


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## rrcrosby (Dec 17, 2006)

Is this a big enough issue to drop everythig and fix?
I do not think so.
There are eleven items that the HR20 is supposed to do (according to the owners manual) that do not work or work differently than the manual.


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## The Phantom Ghost (Dec 2, 2006)

The Channel change also takes you out of the recording. So we've got...

Exit
Prev
Stop
Channel Change

Did we miss anything?


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## Capmeister (Sep 16, 2003)

I think it's fine as is... I'd just like it to go back to LIST, myself. Hitting LIST again puts the show your watching in the corner, and hitting STOP takes you to the info of that show and you have to hit DONE. I guess I've never tried PREV because its placement is more awkward.


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## mtnagel (Sep 18, 2006)

Capmeister said:


> I think it's fine as is... I'd just like it to go back to LIST, myself. Hitting LIST again puts the show your watching in the corner, and hitting STOP takes you to the info of that show and you have to hit DONE. I guess I've never tried PREV because its placement is more awkward.


The functionality of stop depends on how you start playing a recording. If you highlight a recording and hit select and then play, yes stop will take you back there. But if you highlight a recording and hit play, then stop will take you back to your list with that recording highlighted (which is great).


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## Capmeister (Sep 16, 2003)

mtnagel said:


> The functionality of stop depends on how you start playing a recording. If you highlight a recording and hit select and then play, yes stop will take you back there. But if you highlight a recording and hit play, then stop will take you back to your list with that recording highlighted (which is great).


Oh. Huh. Didn't know. Good to know. (And I've had this box HOW long?)


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## cygnusloop (Jan 26, 2007)

+10,+100, WHATEVER.
The Exit button _should _only clear graphics. Period.
It's sure nice to be *only* be talking about UI issues though.


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## Prophet (Mar 9, 2007)

I've found myself exiting a recording on several occasions - I'm all for the 'just clear graphics' option


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

cygnusloop said:


> +10,+100, WHATEVER.
> The Exit button _should _only clear graphics. Period.
> It's sure nice to be *only* be talking about UI issues though.


I'm *ALL ABOUT *the UI ...

You just wait, sometime soon I'll have my treatise up on what I think should be done to twak the UI to be even more user friendly! (And they're not redesigns either - just tiny tweaks!) 



rrcrosby said:


> Is this a big enough issue to drop everythig and fix?
> I do not think so.
> There are eleven items that the HR20 is supposed to do (according to the owners manual) that do not work or work differently than the manual.


I know there are more important issues to deal with, but no one is asking DirecTV to drop everything. Anyway, sometimes a UI feature change is simple enough to implement and test, so if DirecTV can continue to improve the feature set of the HR20 while makeing it more stable, then why not? In fact, I would regard an update that prevents EXIT from jumping to live TV from a recording as a stability fix, since that was not the desired action for the user. So there! 

---

Although we haven't had a huge tunout at the polls, approximately 60% of the respondents would like to see EXIT serve as "CLEAR GRAPHICS" while watching a recording. I'll add this to the Wish List thread ...

Thanks for voting folks. Tell your friends: vote early, and vote often!


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## mtnagel (Sep 18, 2006)

Capmeister said:


> Oh. Huh. Didn't know. Good to know. (And I've had this box HOW long?)


Sometimes I forget there is another way than the play button. I always did that with TiVo and I always do it with the HR20. But my wife uses select, so I'm reminded of it when I see her do it.


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## cdc101 (Jan 9, 2007)

drew2k said:


> Forgive me if this has been asked, but I tried a search and wasn't finding relevant hits.
> 
> Does anyone else hate that you can accidentally exit a show you're watching from your playlist and jump to Live TV when all you really wanted to do was clear the onscreen graphics?
> 
> ...


I was just thinking about this last night when I tried exiting out of the graphics on 24...and accidently hit it twice and went to live TV.

I got 'the look' from the wife. 

I agree with you and voted accordingly.


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## Spanky_Partain (Dec 7, 2006)

I just hit the play button again to clear the graphics. Never bothered with pushing other buttons to try and do this. Guess it does not matter to me on how to clear the graphics.

BUT, when I do hit EXIT, I expect it to STOP and EXIT whatever it is doing. I guess I am not inclined to agree with this one. O'Well.


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## mikeny (Aug 21, 2006)

I use 'INFO' to clear the overlays, etc but I agree that 'EXIT' should not send you back to Live TV.


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## DonCorleone (Jan 29, 2006)

Sorry, I clicked the wrong button on the survey...you can add 1 to the 1st and subtract 1 from the 2nd.


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## tucker301 (Feb 11, 2007)

Just for comparison, here's how my Dishnetwork DVR worked.

*Stop:*
Watching previously recorded programming - stops playback and returns to the list of recorded programs (List).
If the progam is re-selected from the list, you have the option, via a prompt to resume or start over.

Watching on the fly or buffered programs - Skips to the end (live) of the buffer, but the buffer is still there if you want to rewind.

*Exit:* 
Strictly cleared graphic menus and exited menus. Did not affect playback at all.
If you pressed exit while no graphics were on-screen, it would bring up the info banner, if I recall correctly.

I'd like to see HR20 behave in the above ways as well, but I've never thought to ask for it.

I never used Tivo, but I assumed the HR20 was designed to mimic Tivo functionality so it would be familiar to Tivo users?


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## Jeremy W (Jun 19, 2006)

tucker301 said:


> I never used Tivo, but I assumed the HR20 was designed to mimic Tivo functionality so it would be familiar to Tivo users?


Not only could you not EXIT from a recording on Tivo, but you couldn't do anything else. Not even look at the guide. The HR20 works nothing like the Tivo in this regard, and is in fact much better.


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## fiveputts (Feb 13, 2007)

EXIT returning to live TV bugs me to no end. Same with Channel up/down. I record a lot of golf and usually watch the putts on FF1. When in FF mode, the graphics do not seem to ever disappear on their own. But the graphics cover the hole, so I try to hit EXIT to clear, and invariably the button sticks and takes me to live TV. 

With all the other ways to return to live TV, EXIT should not be one of them.


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## macEarl (Jan 2, 2007)

Having Exit take you out of watching a recording is like having Exit putting you in standby when you're watching live tv - senseless.


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## tucker301 (Feb 11, 2007)

Great poll.
I'll bet Earl's working on it already for the next CE


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## mtnagel (Sep 18, 2006)

Jeremy W said:


> Not only could you not EXIT from a recording on Tivo, but you couldn't do anything else. Not even look at the guide. The HR20 works nothing like the Tivo in this regard, and is in fact much better.


Huh? The "live tv" button exited you out of a recording on a TiVo. I haven't used my R10 in awhile, but I'm pretty sure I remember that. And List brought you back to the list and stopped the recording since there was no picture in guide.


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

tucker301 said:


> Great poll.
> I'll bet Earl's working on it already for the next CE


Well, I did want the poll to be all inclusive, which is why I even included the "I don't care about this" option. I just want everyone to get involved!


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

mtnagel said:


> Huh? The "live tv" button exited you out of a recording on a TiVo. I haven't used my R10 in awhile, but I'm pretty sure I remember that. And List brought you back to the list and stopped the recording since there was no picture in guide.


You're correct, Matt. In the TiVo software, the only active keys while watching a recording are trick play keys, Menu, List, Live TV, and Clear/Exit. (Clear and Exit both removed on screen graphic overlays.)

Channel change keys were disabled while watching a recording, as were PREV and GUIDE.

(It was much harder to accidentally leave a recording using the TiVo software; you had to really WANT to leave the recording.)


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## Pink Fairy (Dec 28, 2006)

clear the graphics and go to what exactly??????

Just black?

-confuzzled-


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

okietekkie said:


> clear the graphics and go to what exactly??????
> 
> Just black?
> 
> -confuzzled-


Clear the graphics and do nothing else. Don't go anywhere. Just continue playing the recording from the Playlist. (Graphics = Info banner, caller-id pop-up, progress bar.)

The proposal is simple:

While watching a recording ...

If you want to stop wathcing the recording, hit *STOP *or *PREV*. You'll be watching Live TV again, either in the PIP window in the Playlist, or full screen.

If you have onscreen graphics you want to clear off the screen, press *EXIT*. (Hit it 10 times in a row, and you'll stay in the recorded program.)


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## Pink Fairy (Dec 28, 2006)

...............why?


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## armophob (Nov 13, 2006)

mikeny said:


> I use 'INFO' to clear the overlays, etc but I agree that 'EXIT' should not send you back to Live TV.


Ditto, I really never ran into this with the exit key. 
Also, I always use stop to end it. This way I can delete it right then and be done with it.


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

okietekkie said:


> ...............why?


"Why" what? What are you asking about?

If you read every post in this thread, you'd know why the proposal is being made. You did read every post, did you not?

I'm starting to wonder if you're not just trolling here ...


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## Pink Fairy (Dec 28, 2006)

I had read the entire post, and since my R15's do the same thing, I wanted to ask about it, that's all.

I had been unclear as to what exactly you meant by 'graphics.'...And I am a dork for reading and not seeing 

Sorry.

I had simply assumed that meant picture, which made no sense to me.

But now that I 'get it' I will leave well enough alone.

----
I dunno what 'trolling' even means 0.o So I don't know if I did it.


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## paulman182 (Aug 4, 2006)

Can't you hit the Info button a second time and make the banner go away, and hit Play and make the progress bar go away?

That's the way I remember doing it. I don't use Exit.


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## tonyd79 (Jul 24, 2006)

drew2k said:


> You're correct, Matt. In the TiVo software, the only active keys while watching a recording are trick play keys, Menu, List, Live TV, and Clear/Exit. (Clear and Exit both removed on screen graphic overlays.)
> 
> Channel change keys were disabled while watching a recording, as were PREV and GUIDE.
> 
> (It was much harder to accidentally leave a recording using the TiVo software; you had to really WANT to leave the recording.)


Uh, no. (Hard to catch you on a mistake like this one!)

With TiVo, you could do also do Guide and left arrow.

I use them on the awkward remotes I have in the bedroom.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

drew2k said:


> What I described in the first post is how it currently works. While watching a recording, two keys on the remote do the same thing: PREV and EXIT will both stop playing the recording and dump you to live TV.
> 
> I believe this is redundant behavior, and use of the EXIT key can in fact cause unintended behavior by stopping the recording when you really only wanted to clear the graphics. I think this should be fixed, so that's what the poll is about.


Hitting a number button takes you to live TV too, unlike the TiVos which used the number buttons to take you to a function while watching a recording.

Rich


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

okietekkie said:


> I had read the entire post, and since my R15's do the same thing, I wanted to ask about it, that's all.
> 
> I had been unclear as to what exactly you meant by 'graphics.'...And I am a dork for reading and not seeing
> 
> ...


Well, sorry then. I mistook your terse posts as something other than what you intended, so I apologize.


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

tonyd79 said:


> Uh, no. (Hard to catch you on a mistake like this one!)
> 
> With TiVo, you could do also do Guide and left arrow.
> 
> I use them on the awkward remotes I have in the bedroom.


You're right. On some earlier TiVos that didn't have dedicated Live TV buttons on the remote, the Guide button functions just like the Live TV button.


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## Strejcek (Sep 28, 2006)

Curious, my exit button on both HR20s only clears on screen graphics while playing a recorded program (info banner, program time indicator, etc), so in my case, I voted leaving it the way it was. Of course, I'm using a Harmony remote, so perhaps there is a different exit code stored in it. Well, I just tried the DTV remote, and it does the same as my harmony. Curious that my exit button is different than others.


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## Jeremy W (Jun 19, 2006)

Strejcek said:


> Curious that my exit button is different than others.


It's not. Try pressing exit when there are no graphics on the screen.


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## Strejcek (Sep 28, 2006)

Jeremy W said:


> It's not. Try pressing exit when there are no graphics on the screen.


Then it does exactly what it should do, exit out of the recorded program and take you back to Live TV. I guess I misunderstood the poll, as to me it made it seem as if people, while watching a recorded program, that hit exit to clear on screen info made the HR20 go to live TV rather then just clear the info.


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## Strejcek (Sep 28, 2006)

drew2k said:


> Forgive me if this has been asked, but I tried a search and wasn't finding relevant hits.
> 
> Does anyone else hate that you can accidentally exit a show you're watching from your playlist and jump to Live TV when all you really wanted to do was clear the onscreen graphics?


Nope, I certainly didn't misunderstand the purpose of this poll. Seems to me it's possible there are some faulty remotes if hitting the exit button takes you back to Live TV. Anyway, IMHO, I actually like the feature of exiting back to Live TV from a recorded program rather then hitting the stop button which brings up a menu screen. There are many times that I need to exit quickly and hate being bothered with the menu screen that pops up with the stop button.


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## Jeremy W (Jun 19, 2006)

Strejcek said:


> Then it does exactly what it should do, exit out of the recorded program and take you back to Live TV.


That's what *you* think it should do, but obviously the majority here disagrees with you.


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

Strejcek said:


> Then it does exactly what it should do, exit out of the recorded program and take you back to Live TV.


Actually, the action you describe is NOT what it's supposed to do. Per the user manual, EXIT will "Exit any menu and return to the last channel viewed." Watching a recording from the playlist is not the same as being in a menu.


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

Strejcek said:


> Anyway, IMHO, I actually like the feature of exiting back to Live TV from a recorded program rather then hitting the stop button which brings up a menu screen. There are many times that I need to exit quickly and hate being bothered with the menu screen that pops up with the stop button.


Then just hit PREV and you can immediately exit back to live TV.


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## Strejcek (Sep 28, 2006)

Jeremy W said:


> That's what *you* think it should do, but obviously the majority here disagrees with you.


Hence the IMHO (in my humble opinion) Which is just that, *an opinion. *Geeze, don't get your panties in a wad, the purpose of these forums is to get thing fixed and express ideas and thoughts. I never said the function of the exit should be this and nothing else. I'm done with this poll and I refuse to get into a pi**ing contest over something as stupid as this.

Now, Bring on DLB


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## armophob (Nov 13, 2006)

Jeremy W said:


> That's what *you* think it should do, but obviously the majority here disagrees with you.


No, I am going to have to defend drew2k on this one to a point. The only reason I never noticed it before, is because when I have info up over a recording I would hit exit to get rid of it. After that I never used exit. The fact that D* had the insight to separate the functions between circumstances has changed my opinion. Trying the other options has changed my opinion. 
Please leave it alone. If I can change my vote.


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## macEarl (Jan 2, 2007)

armophob said:


> In Cyberspace... No one can hear you scream.


Uh oh. Then what's that noise in my head?


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## lwgreen (Jul 20, 2006)

I like Exit to exit the program I'm watching (makes sense to me). I use Info to clear the info (it's a toggle--makes sense to me). I've never used Prev to exit. I think I've used Prev to go to a previous menu, maybe? I'm not home so I can't test this before I place hoof in mouth. So--you don't really have a choice listed for the way I use it. :grin:


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## tonyd79 (Jul 24, 2006)

Strejcek said:


> Hence the IMHO (in my humble opinion) Which is just that, *an opinion. *Geeze, don't get your panties in a wad, the purpose of these forums is to get thing fixed and express ideas and thoughts. I never said the function of the exit should be this and nothing else. I'm done with this poll and I refuse to get into a pi**ing contest over something as stupid as this.
> 
> Now, Bring on DLB


Uh, dude. You are the one getting your panties in a bunch. Probably over a mistake.

You did not put "IMHO" in the post that you said it was doing what it should do.

That is not an opinion, that is making a dogmatic statement.

Just thought you should know since the responses to your "ruling" seemed to upset you. (You used IMHO in another post.)


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## Drewg5 (Dec 15, 2006)

I darn I can only vote once  Exit should not exit the play of a recorded show


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## bdowell (Mar 4, 2003)

It is working as intended, leave it the heck alone. Use the buttons as intended and everything works just fine.


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

As intended?



> *EXIT: *Exits *any menu* and returns to last channel viewed.


I'm watching a recording - I'm not in a menu.

Let's revist post #1 of this thread:



> By my count, there are three ways to stop watching a recorded program:*
> 
> STOP:* In recorded TV, stops playback and displays the MyPlaylist tab in the Playlist, with Live TV in the PIP window.
> 
> ...


If you want to return to LIVE TV from a program you're watching from My Playlist, just hit PREV. Leave EXIT as it should be, a way out of menus ...


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## bdowell (Mar 4, 2003)

Yes, as originally intended and implemented. You can hit any number of buttons to clear the displays most often just by pressing the same button you pressed to bring up the display.

Exit works just fine as is despite some complaints about using it where it wasn't meant to be used.


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

Where it wasn't meant to be used? I'm sorry but that doesn't make sense to me ...

EXIT clears on screen graphics when in Live TV, so any user (I should say most, because you don't seem to fit) would have the same expectation that pressing EXIT during playback woud also clear the graphics. The good news is that it DOES clear the graphics, but if you accidentally held EXIT too long or get an extra keybounce or two, you get a nasty surprise and get kicked out of your recording.

Again, it's something easy to fix. Make EXIT not do that!

All I'm asking for is consistent behavior for the EXIT key when watching a program: it should function the same in My Playlist Playback as in Live TV.


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## Tom M (Jan 4, 2007)

During recording playback the Exit key should basically do nothing except clear graphics from the screen.

It probably isn't more than 1 or 2 lines of code to modify the existing behavior. Since it's a usability issue it probably carries a higher weight than cleaning up logos.


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## Jeremy W (Jun 19, 2006)

bdowell said:


> It is working as intended, leave it the heck alone. Use the buttons as intended and everything works just fine.


That is a very weak argument. The Guide button worked exactly as intended, but we didn't like it and we got DirecTV to change it.


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## Aria (Aug 27, 2005)

drew2k said:


> Forgive me if this has been asked, but I tried a search and wasn't finding relevant hits.
> 
> Does anyone else hate that you can accidentally exit a show you're watching from your playlist and jump to Live TV when all you really wanted to do was clear the onscreen graphics?
> 
> ...


I'm with you. I've done this several times. While the info banner can be removed by pressing Info, I know of no other way to get rid of the progress bar but by pressing Exit.

It's especially a pain when I'm transferring to DVD! With DVD, you can't rewind and record over mistakes. So, you end up with another program you don't want stuck in the middle of the program you're trying to keep!


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## calidelphia (Feb 17, 2007)

Aria said:


> I know of no other way to get rid of the progress bar but by pressing Exit.


This is also annoying to me. In single FF on the Tivo, the progress bar cleared itself after a few seconds. I watch alot of baseball and sometimes single FF through opposing teams at bats or in between pitches. Getting keybounce sometimes on the exit button, after trying to clear the progress bar, sucks bigtime. It has ruined a couple games for me as it will jump to live tv with the score on the screen. Why do we need so many friggin' buttons to take us out of a recording? I would love to see this done away with.


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

Unfortunately, because the following two "work-arounds" exist, I don't think DirecTV is going to address the EXIT key functionality any time soon ...

*Alternate way to clear Progress Bar:* Press [BLUE] twice. First press brings up the Mini-Guide, which removes Progress Bar, and second press clears the Mini-Guide.

*Fast return to My Playlist Playback:* If EXIT throws you out of playback to Live TV, press [PREV] to return to playback. Play resumes exactly where you left off.


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## mikek (May 18, 2007)

Doesn't [PREV] put you back to the previous channel. So if you were watching a recorded show it would put you back to that show and not live TV.

-mk


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## Jeremy W (Jun 19, 2006)

drew2k said:


> *Alternate way to clear Progress Bar:* Press [BLUE] twice. First press brings up the Mini-Guide, which removes Progress Bar, and second press clears the Mini-Guide.


All you have to do is press Play to clear the progress bar.


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

Jeremy W said:


> All you have to do is press Play to clear the progress bar.


That does not good if you want to leave your program paused AND clear the progress bar, or clear the progress bar while using FFW or REW. The [BLUE]x2 trick will ensure the progress bar clears AND you don't accidentally get thrown out to live TV. [BLUE]x2 works in all circumstances to clear the progress bar: REW, FFW, PAUSE, & PLAY.


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## Jeremy W (Jun 19, 2006)

drew2k said:


> That does not good if you want to leave your program paused AND clear the progress bar, or clear the progress bar while using FFW or REW.


I have no trouble using Exit in those scenarios, but I am always a little worried that I'll get kicked out of the show.


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

Jeremy W said:


> I have no trouble using Exit in those scenarios, but I am always a little worried that I'll get kicked out of the show.


That's the kicker: there's trepidation when trying to use the EXIT key on the remote, because if you misjudge the time you have left after using trick-play and try to clear the progress bar with EXIT, you may get chucked out to live TV. DirecTV wants the HR20 to be worry-free, and so do we, so I think this is just a simple thing for them to fix!


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## Jeremy W (Jun 19, 2006)

drew2k said:


> DirecTV wants the HR20 to be worry-free, and so do we, so I think this is just a simple thing for them to fix!


I fully agree.


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## jclarke9999 (Feb 10, 2007)

It drives me crazy that I'm trying to clear graphics and I exit the recording. If I want to stop playing a recording, I can hit stop.


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## Jeremy W (Jun 19, 2006)

This poll has been around for over three months now, and DirecTV hasn't changed the Exit key. Unfortunately, it seems like we're going to have to live with this.


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

I'm still going to hold out hope ... 

I read another thread that discussed the DirecTV remote being a "legacy" remote, since it was designed prior to the introduction of HR20. In that light, I'm going to hope that DirecTV will create a NEW remote with a CLEAR button on it, as well as an EXIT button. What will CLEAR do? Nothing but what it's name says!

Or ... DirecTV could just FIX how EXIT works when watching a recording!

Come on DirecTV ... you decide. Which is easier to do?


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## anubys (Jan 19, 2006)

It's not a big deal to me...but if it's important to Drew, then darn it, it's important to me!

I voted for whatever Drew wanted...


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

:up: Thanks!

(But I think this is a losing cause!)


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## Sirshagg (Dec 30, 2006)

I HATE this. It's easy to press this kep by mistake. It defintely shouldn't kick me back to live TV. 

Has this made it to the wishlist yet?


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## Earl Bonovich (Nov 15, 2005)

You mean to remove EXIT as an option to EXIT the recording?


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## Sirshagg (Dec 30, 2006)

Earl Bonovich said:


> You mean to remove EXIT as an option to EXIT the recording?


STOP?


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

Earl Bonovich said:


> You mean to remove EXIT as an option to EXIT the recording?


Essentially, yes, since there are currently four ways to get out of a recording: PREV, STOP, BACK, and EXIT.

So take EXIT off the list ... if you want to stop playing a recording, press STOP. If you want to go to LIVE TV, hit PREV.

IMHO, the "Exit" key should clear on-screen graphics and not accidentally throw the user to to live TV if they're watching a recording ...


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## Sirshagg (Dec 30, 2006)

Drew2k said:


> Essentially, yes, since there are currently four ways to get out of a recording: PREV, STOP, BACK, and EXIT.
> 
> So take EXIT off the list ... if you want to stop a recording, press STOP. If you want to go to LIVE TV, hit PREV.
> 
> IMHO, the "Exit" key should clear on-screen graphics and not accidentally throw the user to to live TV if they're watching a recording ...


reach:


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## Jeremy W (Jun 19, 2006)

Jeremy W said:


> This poll has been around for over three months now, and DirecTV hasn't changed the Exit key. Unfortunately, it seems like we're going to have to live with this.


Make that five months now. For whatever reason, DirecTV doesn't want to give us this feature.


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## Oilfan (Jul 18, 2004)

Disclaimer - _My previous HDPVR experience was with EXPRESSVU so Dishnet, so it might just be what I am used to_, but on that box, the CLEAR BUTTON served as "Get graphics/crap" off the screen during live or recorded playback. It served as EXIT if the viewer was using the guide or menu.

I think this is what people would like, in addition to a separate "go to LIVE TV button."

Sorry if I am O/T some. I am new to HR20 (about 2 weeks) and am really enjoying the receiver.


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## Pecos Bill (Feb 11, 2007)

Prev is nearly invisible on the remote and not intuitive to me at all. Sadly, the most logical would be a "Live TV" button that we all knew. (Or an option to pick even if through hidden commands.)

I've not run into the accidental Exit to live tv yet. What I did manage to do TWICE in the first night of owning it is to hit TV/DVR power off when trying to go for the jump ahead button.


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## flipptyfloppity (Aug 20, 2007)

I want the reverse. Prev should go back one step, exit should go all the way out. That option isn't listed.


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

flipptyfloppity said:


> I want the reverse. Prev should go back one step, exit should go all the way out. That option isn't listed.


I'm not sure I follow ...

If you want to go back one screen, BACK and LEFT (in the latest NR) will do that.

In the current implementation, STOP will end playback and display the playlist with live TV in the PIG.

EXIT and PREV both end playback immediately and display LIVE TV, but EXIT also serves to clear onscreen graphics while they are present. In my opinion (and several others), providing this dual functionality to EXIT in playback is frustrating, because you can accidentally be thrown out of your playback to LIVE TV when that wasn't what you wanted to do.


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## Jeremy W (Jun 19, 2006)

I think it might be time to let this issue die. If DirecTV was going to listen to us and make the change, they would have done it by now. Clearly they want to keep it the way it is.


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

I say don't give up hope!

The community complained about two-press guide functionality and we were eventually given the one-press guide option.

The community complained about FFW correction on FF1, and the latest NR removes it.

A decidedly less vocal segment of the community complained about the buried options to set Recording Defaults and the latest CE moves it to the Scheduler.

So ... let's just get the message out and hope DIRECTV gets the message!


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## Jeremy W (Jun 19, 2006)

Drew2k said:


> The community complained about two-press guide functionality and we were eventually given the one-press guide option.
> 
> The community complained about FFW correction on FF1, and the latest NR removes it.


These two things happened relatively quickly. The Exit key has been an issue for a very long time. This thread isn't even the first time it was mentioned and it's over seven months old. It's arguably a more simple change than either of the two you mentioned, and yet it's being ignored. It's a fix that would literally take minutes to complete, and they haven't bothered with it. That tells me that they're not going to.


Drew2k said:


> A decidedly less vocal segment of the community complained about the buried options to set Recording Defaults and the latest CE moves it to the Scheduler.


That was just moving stuff around. This is removing "functionality" that is already there.


Drew2k said:


> So ... let's just get the message out and hope DIRECTV gets the message!


DirecTV got the message, and IMO has given us a one finger response.


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

Surprisingly, there are over 3,077 views on this thread, but less than 100 posts. 

There are also 345 voters, and of them, 62% want EXIT to only clear graphics while watching a recording and not exit out to live TV.

We just need to be more vocal. We need some more of the 213 people who voted to change EXIT to post here.

We also need more people to vote for this feature on the wishlist.

Until Earl or Tom hears from their contacts that this won't happen (a la DLB), I won't give up hope ...


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## Jeremy W (Jun 19, 2006)

More power to ya buddy! I would desperately love to be proven wrong on this.


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

Jeremy W said:


> More power to ya buddy!


Well, I'm just doing everything in my power to avoid thinking this will be DLB all over again!


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

Bump.

A few more people have voted - thank you!

Please add your voice here as well ...


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## DogLover (Mar 19, 2007)

This thread is probably suffering from the problem that you've put together a logical argument, and most people (including me) agree with you. It's too easy to press exit after the graphics have cleared, and it's annoying to be kicked out to live TV. Very little more needs to be said on that side of the issue.

To play devil's advocate, and stir up some discussion...

It will take some sort of re-training if this change is made. If other methods (stop and prev) weren't available, exit is a logical choice for exiting a recording. I'm sure there are customers that saw exit first, use that, and haven't even explored other ways of stopping a recording. D* doesn't want a lot of customers calling up saying that their exit button doesn't work. How does D* communicate to them that prev will provide the same functionality?


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## bhelton71 (Mar 8, 2007)

Not 100% sure how to vote - pretty sure its #1 - just need a bit of clarification:

Exit is easy - if you are watching live and pull up Info for example - Exit clears the graphic. I would expect the same for recorded. I would expect Stop to stop playback and exit back to live (paused?) with info banner displayed so I can remember what I am watching. 

I am not so clear on Back and Prev. I would say - if I had never used the box and knew nothing about it, I would guess Back would take you Back to the list of recordings - preferably in the folder with recording highlighted. Prev is confusing to me - and maybe I am reading too much into it. Since on the remote it is below the channel up/down it is logical in my mind that should change channels in a live mode. I say that because if I hit Ch+ or Ch- in dvr mode - I don't really expect it to change my current channel.


I guess I would like the buttons in dvr mode to work as closely to live mode:

Live:
Stop - no function (should be DVR only)
Prev - last channel viewed
Back - if in menu system go back one screen - else no function
Exit - if displaying any graphics - clear all graphics - else no function

DVR:
Stop - stop playback - return to current channel
Back - if in menu system go back one screen - else no function
Exit - if displaying any graphics - clear all graphics - else no function

Prev - last channel(?) - this one is the most ambiguous to me:

Probably the most likely scenario for me
1) Watching a live show on channel 1
2) Change channel to channel 2 - pause the show (well I try anyway)
3) Open a recording and start watching it

Now if I press prev - what should happen ?
a) I agree it should dump me from the recording - because it is a live only function in my mind
b) Or should it ? Perhaps as a live only function - it has no action in dvr.
c) As it exits - should it stop at my current channel - ch 2 ?
d) Or should it perform its function and return to Ch 1 ?


Thanks
Bill


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

DogLover said:


> This thread is probably suffering from the problem that you've put together a logical argument, and most people (including me) agree with you.


Darn - I knew I shoul have been more confrontational and wishy-washy in this thread! 

It's the "Spock" in me - I can't help it! 

:lol:


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

DogLover said:


> To play devil's advocate, and stir up some discussion...
> 
> It will take some sort of re-training if this change is made. If other methods (stop and prev) weren't available, exit is a logical choice for exiting a recording. I'm sure there are customers that saw exit first, use that, and haven't even explored other ways of stopping a recording. D* doesn't want a lot of customers calling up saying that their exit button doesn't work. How does D* communicate to them that prev will provide the same functionality?


This is true - some training would be necessary, but I would hope it would become second nature as quickly as only pressing GUIDE once became second nature after DIRECTV introduced the new option with one-click GUIDE enabled.

I hate to write what I'm about to, and I can't believe it's about to hit the screen, but maybe a single-click of EXIT should be CLEAR (on-screen graphics only) and a PRESS-AND-HOLD of EXIT would be LIVE TV? I'm going to get kicked out of the "Press-and-hold-has-got-to-go Club" for sure, now! 

Otherwise, to return to full-screen LIVE TV from playback it's either press PREV or press STOP followed by EXIT.

(Ideally, DIRECTV should create a remote with a CLEAR button and a LIVE TV button, but that's not likely any time soon.)


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

bhelton71 said:


> Not 100% sure how to vote - pretty sure its #1 - just need a bit of clarification:
> 
> Exit is easy - if you are watching live and pull up Info for example - Exit clears the graphic. I would expect the same for recorded. I would expect Stop to stop playback and exit back to live (paused?) with info banner displayed so I can remember what I am watching.
> 
> ...


I agree on EXIT, for sure, but even if you aren't in a menu, BACK (and now LEFT) should display the most recently accessed feature (MENU, To Do List, Guide, etc.) always,, regardless of where you used it (live TV or playback). Also, if STOP is pressed during play mode of playback, the user is returned to the Playllist with live TV in the Picture-in-Guide, so one ore EXIT is required to close the playlist.



> Prev - last channel(?) - this one is the most ambiguous to me:
> 
> Probably the most likely scenario for me
> 1) Watching a live show on channel 1
> ...


As currently programmed, pressing PREV from playback in your scenario will return you to channel
2, full screen, since it was the last channel viewed. (Pressing PREV again will return you to the program you were just viewing from your playlist, not to channel 1.) This is actually a convenient way to toggle between playback and live TV, but unfortunately, the pause-point on the live buffer is not remembered - yet - so we're trying to convince DIRECTV to fix it.


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

With 361 votes cast, over 75% of the poll respondents wouldn't mind if EXIT was modified to only clear graphics during playback!


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## cadet502 (Jun 17, 2005)

I voted in this poll a few weeks ago, shortly after getting my HR20, and to tell the truth, I can't remember which way I voted.

But after using the machine for over a month, I can say that when I am trying to decide what button to push, I have equated EXIT=LIVE TV. After being a TIVO user for 5 years or so, I really need to be able to use a LIVE TV button. I don't think I've ever used the STOP button.


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## mtnagel (Sep 18, 2006)

cadet502 said:


> I voted in this poll a few weeks ago, shortly after getting my HR20, and to tell the truth, I can't remember which way I voted.


Look at the results of the poll above and the option you voted for will be in italics.


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## shoeheel (Oct 15, 2006)

Although I voted for "EXIT = clear graphics only" today...

Problem is, I didn't even know it did that, AFTER BEING A D* USER FOR OVER A YEAR!!! This tells me it is not intuitive. For over a year, especially during baseball season, for those close plays at 1st base, I had wanted the graphic gone. I tried several ways to to get rid of it, but never tried the EXIT button. :-(

My ultimate "Clear Graphics" solution would be one of the following, or a combination thereof, in addition tho the exit button fix:

*1.) 2nd press of the pause button clears.*
This would add consistency with the play button. Since there is a discrete play button, there is no need to have the pause button act as a pause/play button

*2.) Time out after a few seconds and clear.*

*3.) Have it automatically clear after a frame advance or frame reverse button press. *
THIS SHOULD BE DONE NO MATTER WHAT THE OUTCOME OF THE EXIT BUTTON IS! As a matter of logic, if the customer is frame advancing, that is there focus, not the banner.

I have two R-15s, so I'm not sure if my opinion counts.


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## primetime (Mar 23, 2007)

I use Exit to leave (exit?) a recording and go to live tv. So I voted to leave it the way it is now.


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## Jeremy W (Jun 19, 2006)

primetime said:


> I use Exit to leave (exit?) a recording and go to live tv. So I voted to leave it the way it is now.


Use Prev instead, problem solved. Free up the Exit key for it's proper use to clear the graphics, including menus.


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## shoeheel (Oct 15, 2006)

shoeheel said:


> My ultimate "Clear Graphics" solution would be one of the following, or a combination thereof, in addition tho the exit button fix:
> 
> *1.) 2nd press of the pause button clears.*
> This would add consistency with the play button. Since there is a discrete play button, there is no need to have the pause button act as a pause/play button
> ...


I HAVE DECIDED THAT NUMBER 3 MUST BE DONE!!! Now that I discovered the EXIT button solution, it still doesn't fix the problem of THE BANNER COMING BACK WITH EVERY FRAME ADVANCE OR FRAME REVERSE BUTTON PRESS. YUK!!!

How do we get this fixed?


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## RehabMan (Mar 11, 2007)

Here's another reason to make EXIT only clear graphics and not exit from a recording:

- As it is there is difficulty in creating macros on universal remotes. Leading each macro off with an 'Exit' allows you to start from a known state, say before entering the menu system, but it can't be used if the macro is going to send you back to live TV.


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

shoeheel said:


> I HAVE DECIDED THAT NUMBER 3 MUST BE DONE!!! Now that I discovered the EXIT button solution, it still doesn't fix the problem of THE BANNER COMING BACK WITH EVERY FRAME ADVANCE OR FRAME REVERSE BUTTON PRESS. YUK!!!
> 
> How do we get this fixed?


shoeheel, which receiver model and software release are you on? If I pause a program, I can clear the progress bar by tapping BLUE twice and then press FFW or REW to step through a frame at a time without the progress bar reappearing.


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

RehabMan said:


> Here's another reason to make EXIT only clear graphics and not exit from a recording:
> 
> - As it is there is difficulty in creating macros on universal remotes. Leading each macro off with an 'Exit' allows you to start from a known state, say before entering the menu system, but it can't be used if the macro is going to send you back to live TV.


Thank you for posting this! This is a great reason to have EXIT server only ONE function: clear on-screen graphics, no matter where the user is. If the user is in LIVE TV, EXIT should clear on-screen graphis and remain in live TV. If the user is in PLAYBACK mode, EXIT should clear on-screen graphics and remain in playback mode. It's really quite simple...


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## shoeheel (Oct 15, 2006)

Drew2k said:


> shoeheel, which receiver model and software release are you on? If I pause a program, I can clear the progress bar by tapping BLUE twice and then press FFW or REW to step through a frame at a time without the progress bar reappearing.


I have an r15 500. Unfortunately, the 2nd BLUE button tap just brings back the pause banner.


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

shoeheel said:


> I have an r15 500. Unfortunately, the 2nd BLUE button tap just brings back the pause banner.


Ah. On the HR20 and HR21, the progress bar can be cleared by two taps of BLUE, so it's definitely a different implementation on the R15. DIRECTV is striving to have duplicate functionality across it's various models, so I suggest you report this in the appropriate thread for your model (-100, -500) and software version (national release or CE). With any luck, DIRECTV will fix it ...

(You may also want to start a dedicated thread to clearing the progress bar in the R15 forum to see if other people have found a work-around, or even just to confirm that the issue is not only with your DVR.)


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

Despite overwhelming support per the poll on this thread, the wish list request to change the functionality of the EXIT key has been put on the back burner ... 



Steve said:


> Due to lack of voter support, another request is being moved to the "back burner" this week...
> *EXIT should clear on-screen graphics during PLAYBACK, but never EXIT to Live TV.*
> *If you haven't yet let D* know how you value all the requests on the list, please do so here!* Remember, it only takes a minute to update the items that were added since you last voted. And for new voters, registration is quick and painless, I promise!


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## rapjrhb (Sep 26, 2007)

I agree with you and I voted for #1 but it seems like a much lower priority (to me, at least) than so many other things on the wish list. Back burner is not necessarily a bad thing - you might gain more momentum after some other items on the list are addressed (DLBs).


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## Jeremy W (Jun 19, 2006)

rapjrhb said:


> I agree with you and I voted for #1 but it seems like a much lower priority (to me, at least) than so many other things on the wish list.


As far as wish list items go, this is probably the easiest thing to fix. It would take _at most_ two minutes of one coder's time. It's so simple, yet nothing has been done about it. So...


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## rapjrhb (Sep 26, 2007)

Jeremy W said:


> As far as wish list items go, this is probably the easiest thing to fix. It would take _at most_ two minutes of one coder's time. It's so simple, yet nothing has been done about it. So...


Look, I posted that I agree but that I think it's a low priority because of Drew2K's repeated requests for people to voice their opinion in a post (in addition to voting). If you think it's a dead issue then just leave it alone...


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## Sharkie_Fan (Sep 26, 2006)

Jeremy W said:


> Use Prev instead, problem solved. Free up the Exit key for it's proper use to clear the graphics, including menus.


That doesn't exactly solve the problem though.

If you had started one recording, then went directly to a second recording, PREV will take you back to the first recording (the PREVIOUS thing you were watching). For instance, I sometimes start watching Leno while my wife is doing stuff around the house, and when she's ready, I dont' always leave my leno recording before starting another show for us to watch... In that scenario, PREV would take me back to Leno, not back to Live TV. If I want to leave the show we're watching and go back to Live TV, I hit EXIT...

Hitting PREV to exit a recording works great if you got there from live TV. If not, it has a completely different function - as it should.

If they reprogram exit to leave menus or clear graphics, then they need some way to get directly to live TV, as PREV won't work in all situations....


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## Jeremy W (Jun 19, 2006)

Sharkie_Fan said:


> If they reprogram exit to leave menus or clear graphics, then they need some way to get directly to live TV, as PREV won't work in all situations....


STOP, EXIT. Done.


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## rajeshh (Sep 11, 2007)

Sharkie_Fan said:


> If you had started one recording, then went directly to a second recording, PREV will take you back to the first recording (the PREVIOUS thing you were watching).


Are you saying this is how it works today or is this how you would like it to work? If the former, I would love it because then it solves the DLB issue. I can record 2 programs I want to toggle between and use PREV.

If PREV is working this way, I would then vote EXIT to ALWAYS go to Live TV.


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## Jeremy W (Jun 19, 2006)

rajeshh said:


> Are you saying this is how it works today or is this how you would like it to work?


This is how it has always worked.


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## Sharkie_Fan (Sep 26, 2006)

Jeremy W said:


> STOP, EXIT. Done.


But as it is, it's EXIT. Done.

So you fix one problem but create another.


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## Jeremy W (Jun 19, 2006)

Sharkie_Fan said:


> So you fix one problem but create another.


I don't see it as creating a problem at all. The real problem is that it's too easy to accidentally stop playback when you're trying to clear the graphics. There is only one way to clear the graphics, and that's with EXIT. Is it really such a big deal to have to press two buttons to get back to live TV?


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## Sharkie_Fan (Sep 26, 2006)

Jeremy W said:


> I don't see it as creating a problem at all. The real problem is that it's too easy to accidentally stop playback when you're trying to clear the graphics. There is only one way to clear the graphics, and that's with EXIT. Is it really such a big deal to have to press two buttons to get back to live TV?


I don't know that it's a big deal, no... however, there are a couple of things that I would say you guys have going against you.

First, when I see "Exit", I expect it to "Exit". Just like it does now. My wife expects the same thing. As, I would think, do a lot of the people who have purchased the HR2x. There was a comment earlier in the thread that you don't see people calling in that "they're exit button is broken". It has operated this way for over a year and operates the way many of us would expect it to operate.

Second strike... I use my DVR quite a bit.... have had the HR20 since the beginning of September, '06. I cannot think of a single instance in all that time when I wanted to clear a graphic and was unable to... and I don't use the exit button to clear graphics, because to me, exit should exit, not clear. I'm at work, so I can't say with 100% certainty, but I believe, if I hit INFO, and want to clear that graphic, I hit INFO again. Hit PLAY and want to clear the graphic, hit PLAY again. Those are the only 2 instances in my everyday use that I clear the graphics, and neither requires the exit button. That's not to say that you don't have the need... but, if I had to guess (and it is only a guess), I think my type of use is more representative of "everyman" than some of the other users on this board. For instance, Drew2k mentioned wanting to pause a program and clear the graphics... I can't think of a scenario in *my* usage where I'd ever do that...

And, just to play devils advocate and turn the tables a bit... Is it that hard to press exit just once to clear graphics? Or to hit PREV to return to your recording if you do happen to hit it twice?

I don't think it is. I don't think the issue here is necessarily how big a deal it is one way or another. I think it's what the average user is going to find most intuitive. Another longtime TIVO user earlier in the thread pointed out that he's come to equate EXIT with LIVETV. I've done the same. And I know we're not the only two.

I understand the desire to clear the graphics, but I don't think that changing the functionality of EXIT is the way to do it... otherwise, I would imagine that DirecTV *WOULD* have to field calls from people saying "My exit button doesn't work".


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## Jeremy W (Jun 19, 2006)

Sharkie_Fan said:


> Another longtime TIVO user earlier in the thread pointed out that he's come to equate EXIT with LIVETV.


Speaking of Tivo, the Exit button on Tivo only clears the graphics. It does not exit the recording.


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## Sharkie_Fan (Sep 26, 2006)

Jeremy W said:


> Speaking of Tivo, the Exit button on Tivo only clears the graphics. It does not exit the recording.


I couldn't tell you where the 'exit' button is on a Tivo. Because when I want to get to Live TV I hit Live TV.

However, with no Live TV button on the DirecTV remote, I think most users by now have made the connection that they can EXIT to LiveTV.


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

Sharkie_Fan said:


> I don't know that it's a big deal, no... however, there are a couple of things that I would say you guys have going against you.
> 
> First, when I see "Exit", I expect it to "Exit". Just like it does now. My wife expects the same thing. As, I would think, do a lot of the people who have purchased the HR2x. There was a comment earlier in the thread that you don't see people calling in that "they're exit button is broken". It has operated this way for over a year and operates the way many of us would expect it to operate.
> 
> ...


Everyone presumes that EXIT is designed to return to LIVE TV. But it's not. It's designed to clear the menus. For proof, try this:

Go to Playlist.

Play something.

Hit MENU > Help & Settings > EXIT.

Or while playing a recording, hit GUIDE > EXIT.

Did you return to live TV? Nope. You returned to your pprogram played from the playlist. EXIT did what it was supposed to ... it cleared the graphics.

What this means is that EXIT is NOT the shortcut key to LIVE TV, and that the EXIT key in ALL circumstances should return the user to what the user was viewing, whether it's live TV or a recording.

If you're in recording and there are no on-screen graphics up, then EXIT should do NOTHING but leave the user where the user is ...


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## Jeremy W (Jun 19, 2006)

Drew2k said:


> If you're in recording and there are no on-screen graphics up, then EXIT should do NOTHING but leave the user where the user is ...


Exactly. Exiting out of a recording is actually an anomalous use of the button. In every other circumstance, it'll either do nothing (watching live TV) or clear graphics (whenever graphics are on the screen).


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## Sharkie_Fan (Sep 26, 2006)

Drew2k said:


> Everyone presumes that EXIT is designed to return to LIVE TV. But it's not. It's designed to clear the menus. For proof, try this:
> 
> Go to Playlist.
> 
> ...


Proof? I'll have to respectfully disagree there. I could retype your whole scenario and change a few words here and there and you've got "proof" that the exit button was designed to operate exactly as it does - and exit things.

In my opinion, menus and on screen graphics are two entirely different beasts...

If I'm in a menu and "I want out"... I hit exit. That's the button that makes the most sense. If I'm in a recording and "I want out"... I hit exit.. again, makes the most sense.

If I'm in a recording and I want to clear the progress bar... Exit's not the direction I'm heading...

If they changed the way the exit button works, I'm not going to be devastated... I'll adapt... I'm just trying to shed some light on how "the other side" thinks... I'll admit, before I started reading through this thread, I didn't know that exit could clear the on screen graphics. I assumed it exited things.. menus, recordings, etc..


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## rajeshh (Sep 11, 2007)

Jeremy W said:


> This is how it has always worked.


So I tried doing this tonight. I played 2 recordings from the PlayList, and tried using Prev. but it would always take me back to Live TV.

What do I do to get it back to the other recording?

I have a HR20-100 with 0x1be.


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## Jeremy W (Jun 19, 2006)

rajeshh said:


> I played 2 recordings from the PlayList


They have to be recording while you're doing it. You can't use PREV to switch between two previously recorded programs.


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## coacho (Aug 21, 2007)

This is another one of those small things that makes me dislike the HR20, thanks for identifying it.


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## SlimyPizza (Oct 14, 2006)

I voted to limit the function of the EXIT key during playback. I too on numerous occasions have ended playback and accidentally gone to live TV just trying to clear the graphics. The same key which clears graphics should NOT be responsible for ending playback.


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## shoeheel (Oct 15, 2006)

I'm still a little confused. Before seeing this thread, I never used EXIT to clear the graphics. I just hit the PLAY button again. Why can't everyone just use the PLAY button and leave it at that? (A software change is still needed to clear graphics during pause--a second press of the PAUSE button, as I have mentioned before.)


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

Jeremy W said:


> There is only one way to clear the graphics, and that's with EXIT.





SlimyPizza said:


> I voted to limit the function of the EXIT key during playback. I too on numerous occasions have ended playback and accidentally gone to live TV just trying to clear the graphics. The same key which clears graphics should NOT be responsible for ending playback.


Except for prematurely clearing the PROGRESS BAR or exiting the GUIDE, places where EXIT doesn't take you back to LIVE TV (unless that's where you were), I got into the habit of re-pressing the key that brought up the on-screen graphic to clear it (LIST, INFO, etc.), to prevent unwanted EXIT from playback. /steve


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

Jeremy W said:


> Speaking of Tivo, the Exit button on Tivo only clears the graphics. It does not exit the recording.


Actually, the TiVo has two relevant buttons, with a difference between EXIT and CLEAR. And of course the LIVE TV button for intentionally exiting a recording to live.

From the HR10-250 GUIDE:

_EXIT clears all menus and goes to the last channel or recorded
program you were watching. If you press it while you are
watching a program, it clears things that aren't part of the
program (like the channel banner and status bar).

Press CLEAR to delete a title in a list (like the Now Playing list) or to
clear things that aren't part of the program you're watching (like
the channel banner and status bar)._

D* needs to seriously rethink the remote, IMHO. Among other things, there should be dedicated EXIT, CLEAR, CC, and SLO keys in the next design, and no PRESS-HOLD functions. Just my .02.

/steve


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## Milominderbinder2 (Oct 8, 2006)

Steve said:


> ...Press CLEAR to delete a title in a list (like the Now Playing list) or to clear things that aren't part of the program you're watching (like
> the channel banner and status bar)...
> 
> D* needs to seriously rethink the remote, IMHO. Among other things, there should be dedicated EXIT, CLEAR, CC, and SLO keys in the next design, and no PRESS-HOLD functions. Just my .02.
> ...


If I only get one, I want EXIT to be CLEAR, not exit. I already have STOP that stops the recording.

I do hate the press and hold. It makes RF so hard.

- Craig


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

Milominderbinder2 said:


> If I only get one, I want EXIT to be CLEAR, not exit. I already have STOP that stops the recording.
> 
> I do hate the press and hold. It makes RF so hard.
> 
> - Craig


Well if there was no EXIT button now, you could still clear on screen graphics by re-hitting the key that invoked them (INFO, LIST, MENU). However, that leaves you no way to get out of the GUIDE without selecting a channel from it, or way to exit from a SETUP menu subsystem. So you still need an EXIT button at times, in the true (TiVo) sense of the word. The HR10 got it right by splitting EXIT, CLEAR and LIVE TV into three buttons.

Agree. PRESS-HOLD not only less than optimal for RF, but for universal remotes as well. /steve


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

It's been two weeks without a bump ...

Poll respondents still overwhelmingly want a change. Anyone else want to cast their vote?

Bueller? Bueller?


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## pprather (Nov 12, 2006)

Drew2k said:


> It's been two weeks without a bump ...
> 
> Poll respondents still overwhelmingly want a change. Anyone else want to cast their vote?
> 
> Bueller? Bueller?


While watching a recorded or a live tv program, I use the exit button to clear graphics. If i'm watching a recorded program 1 extra hit on th exit button and bang.......i've left the recording and went back to live tv. A little frustrating. It would be great if the exit button simply cleared graphics only. I know there are simple work arounds, but i like using this method. I just voted on this poll. Sorry I missed it last year. Looks like i'm not alone with this issue.


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## Jeremy W (Jun 19, 2006)

This issue is simply not going to be addressed. Look at when the thread was started, it's been almost a year. For one reason or another, DirecTV is not willing to make this change.


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

For sure this is no "DLB" thread, but of 465 voters, 306 (65.81%) want EXIT to only clear graphics, 103 (22.15%) say leave it as it is, and 56 (12.04%) )don't care about this.

Clearly we just need to be as controversial as DLB ,so we get more attention paid to this.


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

pprather said:


> While watching a recorded or a live tv program, I use the exit button to clear graphics. If i'm watching a recorded program 1 extra hit on th exit button and bang.......i've left the recording and went back to live tv. A little frustrating. It would be great if the exit button simply cleared graphics only. I know there are simple work arounds, but i like using this method. I just voted on this poll. Sorry I missed it last year. Looks like i'm not alone with this issue.


No, you're not alone! Thanks for reviving this thread.


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## jimed1 (Jan 12, 2008)

I miss the exit, clear, and Live TV buttons from my TIVO. It was way more intuitive! I have had my new HR's about a month now and I am still learning how to use them. Took about a day with TIVO because it just seemed more obvious. I am still trying to figure out how to skip to the end of a recording or skip 15 minutes at a time like I could with TIVO.


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## heaphus (Oct 30, 2006)

Clear graphics only. I use the exit key alot, and have been annoyed by the current behavior.


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## armophob (Nov 13, 2006)

I just discovered this again the other day. I had forgotten this poll. I hit exit to clear guide and I either double clicked or it was keybounce but it exited the recording. Not desired behavior as far as I am concerned. Especially with the audio differences between channels.


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

heaphus said:


> Clear graphics only. I use the exit key alot, and have been annoyed by the current behavior.


I've found the best way for me to clear graphics is to hit the same key that brought them up (MENU, INFO, LIST, MINIGUIDE). It's actually pretty convenient, since my finger is often still on that key. I have conditioned myself to use EXIT to return to LIVE TV and for clearing the GUIDE, which is the only OSD key that does not currently toggle graphics on/off.

I believe DirecTV should make the GUIDE behavior similar to the other OSD buttons by moving GUIDE filters under the new GUIDE options YELLOW button. Just my .02. /steve


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

Just to be clear - the request here is only to change the functionality of EXIT while watching a program from the Playlist. The functionality of EXIT would not change anywhere else ...


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## mikek (May 18, 2007)

I've hit the clear button after putting on Captions the new way a few times. That screen clears itself so it put me back to live TV. I gotta get used to it clearing itself.

Everybody knows you just you just have to mash the prev button to get back to your recorded show, right?

-mk


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## Pinion413 (Oct 21, 2007)

Choice 1.


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## EricJRW (Jul 6, 2008)

Getting dumped out of playback via the EXIT button is very annoying... Especially when you are used to clearing the screen with EXIT, now in playback I must be carefull... What finally got to me is pressing EXIT a split second after the screen did clear...

BACK does not work very well either...

Is there a good all-purpose "clear the screen and do nothing else" button? (I'm sure there are plenty of ideas if I just go back and read this thread)


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

EricJRW said:


> Getting dumped out of playback via the EXIT button is very annoying... Especially when you are used to clearing the screen with EXIT, now in playback I must be carefull... What finally got to me is pressing EXIT a split second after the screen did clear...
> 
> BACK does not work very well either...
> 
> Is there a good all-purpose "clear the screen and do nothing else" button? (I'm sure there are plenty of ideas if I just go back and read this thread)


Hitting BLUE twice seems to work, but you have to adjust to it: This will toggle the mini-guide on and off, so it clears the other on-screen graphics. Not intuitive at all...


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## EricJRW (Jul 6, 2008)

Drew2k said:


> Hitting BLUE twice seems to work, but you have to adjust to it: This will toggle the mini-guide on and off, so it clears the other on-screen graphics. Not intuitive at all...


Sounds good! Thanks!


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## RandCfilm (Aug 17, 2006)

Drew2k said:


> In my opinion, EXIT should have only ONE function when watching a recorded program: clear the on-screen graphics. No matter how many times you hit EXIT in a recorded program, is should NOT exit to live TV. The recorded program is not a menu - it's a prorgram, so the current functionality doesn't even match the manual.
> 
> If you want to go to your Playlist from the recorded program, hit STOP. If you want to go to full-screen Live TV from the recorded program, press PREV. But leave EXIT as a "clear graphics" key only...
> 
> Who's with me?


+1,000 here.
I have had my new units for about 2 weeks, and I still get kicked out of recording back to live TV.
I still have TiVo units so this habit is not going to get broken anytime soon.:nono2:


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

RandCfilm said:


> +1,000 here.
> I have had my new units for about 2 weeks, and I still get kicked out of recording back to live TV.
> I still have TiVo units so this habit is not going to get broken anytime soon.:nono2:


I have to respectfully disagree (and I know I'll draw the wrath of a lot of posters in this thread ). While I agree it's annoying when it happens, for those that may not be aware, hitting PREV is a quick and simple way to return to the recording exactly where you accidentally left it.

Since there are no dedicated CLEAR and LIVE TV buttons on the DirecTV remote, I think the way EXIT functions now, while not ideal, is an acceptable compromise. I.e., if there are graphics on-screen, one click clears them, and it's a second click that is required to EXIT to LIVE TV. For those EXITING accidentally, it's probably because they double-clicked EXIT when they meant to single-click it. Otherwise, if there were no graphics to clear, why hit EXIT at all if you want to stay on the recording?

I personally find it much more intuitive to EXIT to get to LIVE TV than to hit STOP/EXIT or PREV to do so, especially since in a planned future release, PREV is no longer guaranteed to return you to LIVE TV. In fact, the HR2x manual specifically states in a couple of different places that returning to LIVE TV is a normal function of EXIT.

As always, just my .02. /steve


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

Steve said:


> I have to respectfully disagree (and I know I'll draw the wrath of a lot of posters in this thread ).


Cue Drew ... minus the "wrath". 



> While I agree it's annoying when it happens, for those that may not be aware, hitting PREV is a quick and simple way to return to the recording exactly where you accidentally left it.


True, it's simple to return, but it's still annoying for playback to be interrupted, but what's worse, you could be recording something else and thrown to live TV just at the point the killer is revealed or the winning score is displayed. Talk about spoilers! By the way, what does returning to live TV, hitting PREV and returning to the program yield? More graphics you need to clear! (Oh, and did I mention it was annoying to get thrown to live TV yet?) 



> Since there are no dedicated CLEAR and LIVE TV buttons on the DirecTV remote, I think the way EXIT functions now, while not ideal, is an acceptable compromise. I.e., if there are graphics on-screen, one click clears them, and it's a second click that is required to EXIT to LIVE TV. For those EXITING accidentally, it's probably because they double-clicked EXIT when they meant to single-click it. Otherwise, if there were no graphics to clear, why hit EXIT at all if you want to stay on the recording?


The problem I find is usually with the timing of how long the graphic was already on screen, because it always seems that just as I'm hitting EXIT to clear the graphic, the graphic clears on its own and I'm then thrown to live TV. There's always keybounce as well - this is a long-standing issue in the DIRECTV remotes.



> I personally find it much more intuitive to EXIT to get to LIVE TV than to hit STOP/EXIT or PREV to do so, especially since in a planned future release, PREV is no longer guaranteed to return you to LIVE TV.


I've always thought STOP was more intuitive, as it fits so much better in the context of what you're doing: Press PLAY to start it, press FFW/REW/SKIP/REPLAY to move around, press STOP to stop it. That's just me, though.



> In fact, the HR2x manual specifically states in a couple of different places that returning to LIVE TV is a normal function of EXIT.


It also states in a few places that the clearing graphics is a normal function of EXIT. We love the manual, don't we? 

It's amazing to me though that there are four ways to return to view live TV from a recording (STOP, PREV, YELLOW > Previous Channels, and EXIT), but the only sure-fire way to clear graphics and remain in a recording is to hit BLUE twice - not intuitive at all - when simply modifying EXIT to only Clear Graphics during playback is very simple. It still lleaves three other ways to return to live TV ...


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

Drew2k said:


> For sure this is no "DLB" thread, but of 465 voters, 306 (65.81%) want EXIT to only clear graphics, 103 (22.15%) say leave it as it is, and 56 (12.04%) )don't care about this.
> 
> Clearly we just need to be as controversial as DLB ,so we get more attention paid to this.


6 months later, updated stats:

399 (up from 306) want EXIT to only clear graphics
126 (up from 103) say leave it as is
66 (up from 56) don't care

Looks like we got traction now! :lol:


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## RandCfilm (Aug 17, 2006)

I just wanted to post my opinion, I did not want to start a battle. However, as I understand Steve and Drew's posts.
While Steve is :rant:, Drew is :bang that Steve is :icon_stup
And the other way around while Drew is :rant: of course.


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

Drew2k said:


> I've always thought STOP was more intuitive, as it fits so much better in the context of what you're doing: Press PLAY to start it, press FFW/REW/SKIP/REPLAY to move around, press STOP to stop it. That's just me, though.


Ya. But when you hit STOP to leave a RECORDING, what's the next thing you have to do to get to LIVE TV? You have to EXIT anyway! So why not just do that in the first place?  /steve


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

Drew2k said:


> The problem I find is usually with the timing of how long the graphic was already on screen, because it always seems that just as I'm hitting EXIT to clear the graphic, the graphic clears on its own and I'm then thrown to live TV. There's always keybounce as well - this is a long-standing issue in the DIRECTV remotes.


Not that I'm a proponent of this, but another way to address this eventuality would be if DirecTV could program EXIT so that it requires a "double-click" to EXIT to LIVE TV. /steve


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## RandCfilm (Aug 17, 2006)

Steve said:


> Ya. But when you hit STOP to leave a RECORDING, what's the next thing you have to do to get to LIVE TV? You have to EXIT anyway! So why not just do that in the first place?  /steve


Now I'm going to get in on the action  That's the whole problem, when I hit exit I am wanting to clear the graphics not go to live TV. If I want to go to live TV I do hit stop then exit as you described, that works with no problems for me.


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## RandCfilm (Aug 17, 2006)

Steve said:


> Not that I'm a proponent of this, but another way to address this eventuality would be if DirecTV could program EXIT so that it requires a "double-click" to EXIT to LIVE TV. /steve


Oh great, now lets bring up another graphic saying press exit again to go to live tv or press another key to stay in the recording. :lol: Clearing the graphics are the problem in the first place.  
I better be careful, Steve will start to :rant: on me and give Drew a brake :sure:


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

RandCfilm said:


> Now I'm going to get in on the action  That's the whole problem, when I hit exit I am wanting to clear the graphics not go to live TV.


So don't hit EXIT when there are no graphics on screen! :lol: /steve


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

Steve said:


> Not that I'm a proponent of this, but another way to address this eventuality would be if DirecTV could program EXIT so that it requires a "double-click" to EXIT to LIVE TV. /steve





RandCfilm said:


> Oh great, now lets bring up another graphic saying press exit again to go to live tv or press another key to stay in the recording. :lol: Clearing the graphics are the problem in the first place.
> I better be careful, Steve will start to :rant: on me and give Drew a brake :sure:


I never suggested another graphic. Just double-click vs. single click. Again, I'm not a proponent of this. I like things fine the way they are.  /steve


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## RandCfilm (Aug 17, 2006)

Steve said:


> I never suggested another graphic.


Well you know how it is, we'll :crying: till they change it, and the programmers would throw in another graphic just to be a smart @$$.

Then Drew would have to start another thread about how the fix is not working for him, we would join in and then starts round two of how exiting recored shows should occur.


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

RandCfilm said:


> Well you know how it is, we'll :crying: till they change it, and the programmers would throw in another graphic just to be a smart @$$.
> 
> Then Drew would have to start another thread about how the fix is not working for him, we would join in and then starts round two of how exiting recored shows should occur.


Not to worry. 

And for those who hit EXIT a lot accidentally, remember that you can also clear on-screen graphics by simply re-tapping the key that brought them up in the first place (e.g., MENU, LIST, MINIGUIDE, PLAY). Inexplicably, GUIDE works differently, which happens to be one of MY pet peeves. 

And if you do accidentally EXIT a recording, hitting PREV will take you back to the exact spot you left it.

/steve


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## JonW (Dec 21, 2006)

Another issue with the way things currently work is that the exit button cannot be safely built-in to remote control macros because of the possibility that it may interrupt a program.

For instance some of us would like to have the graphics cleared off the display immediately after a 30sec slip or after changing inputs, but if you program your universal remote control to send an exit immediately after a 30s slip and anything gets out of sync or some of the ir signal is dropped - bang you're dropped out of your program.

Likewise from a control perspective the pause button shouldn't both both pause and play. Buttons which toggle are the bane of remote automation. The pause button should pause, and the play button should play. 

Of course a lot of this sort of thing could be resolved by adding discrete IR codes that are not actually on the DirecTv remote. They'd quickly find their way in to the data bases used by universal remotes and then advanced end-users who don't rely on the DirecTv remote could configure things exactly how they prefer.


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## Brian Hanasky (Feb 22, 2008)

machavez00 said:


> Clear graphics only. I have also kicked out of a recording when all I wanted to do is clear a graphic. Very annoying


Been there too many times as well. Exit should clear graphics only. Stop or previous should be used to get out of a recording.

Good poll


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

Brian Hanasky said:


> Exit should clear graphics only. Stop or previous should be used to get out of a recording.


So by your way of thinking the button should be relabeled CLEAR, not EXIT.  /steve


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

Steve said:


> So by your way of thinking the button should be relabeled CLEAR, not EXIT.  /steve


Works for me!


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

Drew2k said:


> Works for me!


:lol:

Wasn't advocating the name change... just pointing out that the EXIT button actually works as intended. 

/steve


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## houskamp (Sep 14, 2006)

Steve said:


> :lol:
> 
> Wasn't advocating the name change... just pointing out that the EXIT button actually works as intended.
> 
> /steve


yeppers.. use exit to get out of just about anything.. now if I could get out of the sat screens with it it would work as expected everywhere


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## spidey (Sep 1, 2006)

I didnt vote but heres my input. While watching a recorded program MANY times I have hit Exit since I really want to stop and go to live TV. I don't want to toggle between the recorded program and the live buffer I just want playback to stop. Exit seemed like a naturaly choice since I want to EXIT playback of recorded programs.


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## Jeremy W (Jun 19, 2006)

spidey said:


> I just want playback to stop. Exit seemed like a naturaly choice since I want to EXIT playback of recorded programs.


Really, you wanted playback to STOP so you pressed EXIT instead of STOP?


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

Jeremy W said:


> Really, you wanted playback to STOP so you pressed EXIT instead of STOP?


Makes perfect sense to me, when taken in the context of the _entire _post. /steve



spidey said:


> I didnt vote but heres my input. While watching a recorded program MANY times I have hit Exit since I really want to stop and go to live TV. I don't want to toggle between the recorded program and the live buffer I just want playback to stop. Exit seemed like a naturaly choice since I want to EXIT playback of recorded programs.


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## Jeremy W (Jun 19, 2006)

Steve said:


> Makes perfect sense to me, when taken in the context of the _entire _post. /stevec


It still makes no sense to me, but I guess I'm insane because DirecTV doesn't agree with me.


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## houskamp (Sep 14, 2006)

IIRC.. stop dumps you to the screen for the recording you were watching, exit drop you out all together.. plus exit is easier to hit for me


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

Drew2k said:


> 6 months later, updated stats:
> 
> 399 (up from 306) want EXIT to only clear graphics
> 126 (up from 103) say leave it as is
> ...


2 days later and 24 new votes cast, with 18 in favor of making EXIT only clear graphics when in playback from the playlist:

417 want EXIT to only clear graphics
128 say leave it as is
70 don't care

We *do* have traction!


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## RandCfilm (Aug 17, 2006)

Drew2k said:


> 2 days later and 24 new votes cast, with 18 in favor of making EXIT only clear graphics when in playback from the playlist:
> 
> 417 want EXIT to only clear graphics
> 128 say leave it as is
> ...


Get a little :bonk1: between Drew and Steve on who is right and the numbers start to go up.


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

RandCfilm said:


> Get a little :bonk1: between Drew and Steve on who is right and the numbers start to go up.


It's not a disagreement between *Drew *and me. It's just a difference of opinion on how well DirecTV designed the remote. Until DirecTV comes out with a new remote with dedicated CLEAR and EXIT (LIVE TV) keys, the function of this button will never change. To suddenly remove the "exit" functionality from a key clearly marked "EXIT" would be a customer service nightmare, not to mention all the user manuals that would have to be reprinted and redistributed.

Just my .02. /steve


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## Jeremy W (Jun 19, 2006)

Steve said:


> To suddenly remove the "exit" functionality from a key clearly marked "EXIT" would be a customer service nightmare, not to mention all the user manuals that would have to be reprinted and redistributed.


One man's "exit functionality" is another man's incorrect functionality. And DirecTV hasn't bothered reprinting and redistributing the manual after all of the other changes they've made, so why would they bother now?


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

Here's the problem ... pressing EXIT just once will throw the user out of playback to live TV, and this can happen inadvertently when trying to clear on-screen graphics because of key-bounce or bad timing.

One simple way to resolve this during playback mode is for DIRECTV to require TWO strikes of EXIT to return to live TV, and the "count" doesn't begin until there are no graphics on screen. 

A user mis-timing keystrokes would remain in the program and not return to live TV, because he user is only pressing EXIT once to clear the graphics, but the graphics were cleared just a second before the user hit EXIT. Since the user only hit EXIT once, the user stays in the program.

A user trying to clear graphics but getting keybounce would remain in the program and not return to live TV, because press 1 would clear the graphics and press 2 would be only the "1st" press - not enough to get back to live TV.

But what about the user who WANTS to return to live TV by hitting EXIT? Well, this is perfect for them, too, and even works with the way the key is labeled on the remote:

A user who has no graphics on-screen but wants to return to live TV would press EXIT - see they didn't return to live TV and for a second go "huh?", then press EXIT again (because that's natural). Boom. They're at live TV. Easy, didn't even have to move the finger from the key on the remote - just tap twice.

This works for everyone, but most importantly works for the users who do NOT want to accidentally be thrown to live TV!


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

Jeremy W said:


> One man's "exit functionality" is another man's incorrect functionality.


If the word EXIT was a synonym for "clear" (as well as "leave"), it would probably be less difficult to change the functionality. By labeling the button EXIT, it sets an expectation for what should happen when the button is pressed. Removing LIVE TV from that button would result in a flood of CSR calls, IMO.

Re: clearing graphics, based on user focus groups I've observed over the years, it seems to be intuitive to flip the same switch that turned something on when turning it off, just like you turn the lights in your kitchen on/off. Add to this fact that in many cases, your finger is probably still on that button. PLAY-PLAY turns the progress bar on and off. INFO-INFO turns the INFO bar on and off. LIST-LIST, MENU-MENU, and BLUE-BLUE all work the same. Inexplicably, GUIDE is the only OSD function that doesn't work this way. That's what should be fixed, IMHO.

I'd be curious to know if, on day one, DirecTV programmed GUIDE to work like all the other graphics buttons and never added CLEAR functionality to the EXIT key, if folks would be complaining there was no CLEAR key?

/steve


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## ATARI (May 10, 2007)

Steve said:


> It's not a disagreement between *Drew *and me. It's just a difference of opinion on how well DirecTV designed the remote. Until DirecTV comes out with a new remote with dedicated CLEAR and EXIT (LIVE TV) keys, the function of this button will never change. To suddenly remove the "exit" functionality from a key clearly marked "EXIT" would be a customer service nightmare, not to mention all the user manuals that would have to be reprinted and redistributed.
> 
> Just my .02. /steve


I have to agree with Steve on this one.

Also, the manuals shouldn't even be shipped anymore, they are so out of date as to be worse than useless.


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

Steve said:


> Re: clearing graphics, based on user focus groups I've observed over the years, it seems to be intuitive to flip the same switch that turned something on when turning it off, just like you turn the lights in your kitchen on/off. Add to this fact that in many cases, your finger is probably still on that button. PLAY-PLAY turns the progress bar on and off. INFO-INFO turns the INFO bar on and off. LIST-LIST, MENU-MENU, and BLUE-BLUE all work the same. Inexplicably, GUIDE is the only OSD function that doesn't work this way. That's what should be fixed, IMHO.


You're forgetting the trick-play keys that do not serve to toggle the progress bar, which is the primary reason I need to hit EXIT to clear on-screen graphics. You can't press FFW, REW, or PAUSE twice to hide the bar, so you have to hit EXIT. You hit EXIT and could thrown to live TV because of key bounce. It shouldn't be this way. Instead, if a concession is made to modify EXIT during playback to prevent accidental return to live TV, the key will work for everyone as labeled and exactly as I described above.



> I'd be curious to know if, on day one, DirecTV programmed GUIDE to work like all the other graphics buttons and never added CLEAR functionality to the EXIT key, if folks would be complaining there was no CLEAR key?
> 
> /steve


Well, yeah! Because GUIDE isn't the issue!


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

Drew2k said:


> You're forgetting the trick-play keys that do not serve to toggle the progress bar, which is the primary reason I need to hit EXIT to clear on-screen graphics. You can't press FFW, REW, or PAUSE twice to hide the bar, so you have to hit EXIT. You hit EXIT and could thrown to live TV because of key bounce. It shouldn't be this way. Instead, if a concession is made to modify EXIT during playback to prevent accidental return to live TV, the key will work for everyone as labeled and exactly as I described above.


Ya. I agree that's annoying, and that's the reason for this Wish List request:

*OPTION for the PROGRESS BAR to clear immediately when hitting PLAY to exit from a CRUISE CONTROL function, or after the last ADVANCE.*

Not to mention that key bounce is a bug that needs to be fixed, period. It seems to come and go with each new release. Not sure why DirecTV can't get this right. I've probably had 50 other remotely controlled devices in my lifetime and never, ever had an issue with key bounce before the HR2x.



> Well, yeah! Because GUIDE isn't the issue!


 I should have made that clearer. What I'm wondering is if GUIDE, like all other OSD buttons, was an on/off toggle, if folks would ever feel the need for a dedicated CLEAR key.

/steve


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## n3ntj (Dec 18, 2006)

I am all for removing the feature where EXIT stops a recording while you are watching it. I find this extremely annoying. If I want to stop the recording, I'll hit STOP.


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## 50+ (May 1, 2008)

great poll

I use the exit key all the time 
I can never stop before I go to far. It is annoying. 
For me this would be a real help.


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

A blast from the past!!!

I'm still amazed that with 653 votes and a two-thirds majority wanting the EXIT key behavior to change while watching a recording, we don't have what we want ...


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

Just a helpful reminder for those that frequently unintentionally EXIT to LIVE TV and may not know the following:

*If you accidentally EXIT a recording, hitting PREV will put you right back where you left PLAYBACK.* You can accidentally EXIT to LIVE TV if you hit EXIT after the On Screen Display (OSD) clears on its own. This is because when there is no OSD, EXIT is intended to be a LIVE TV shortcut.

That said, you don't need to use EXIT to clear OSD's, _except in one case_:

Hitting PLAY turns on the PROGRESS BAR. Hitting PLAY again will turn it off.
Same with MENU, LIST, INFO, MINIGUIDE. A second press will clear the OSD.
If you stop a FF, RW, ADVANCE or PAUSE by hitting PLAY, a second press of PLAY will clear the PROGRESS BAR. Same if you un-PAUSE with PAUSE. Hit PLAY to clear.
GUIDE is the only OSD that _must_ be cleared with EXIT, or by tuning to a LIVE channel.
/steve


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## Jeremy W (Jun 19, 2006)

Steve said:


> you don't need to use EXIT to clear OSD's, _except in one case_:


Two cases, actually. When you start a recording, the Info banner and the Progress Bar both come up. The only way to clear them with one button is to press Exit.


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

Jeremy W said:


> Two cases, actually. When you start a recording, the Info banner and the Progress Bar both come up. The only way to clear them with one button is to press Exit.


Actually, may just be a National Release thing ATM. I believe that's changed in the current CE. You're talking about hitting *®* when watching LIVE TV, right? /steve


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

You also need to press EXIT to clear the progress bar while in FFW or REW mode.


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## Jeremy W (Jun 19, 2006)

Steve said:


> Actually, may just be a National Release thing ATM. I believe that's changed in the current CE. You're talking about hitting *®* when watching LIVE TV, right? /steve


No, I meant to say when you start WATCHING a recording.


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## Grentz (Jan 10, 2007)

I missed this thread before, so I voted now 

I like how it is now. I press exit to get out of recordings quite a bit and have never had an issue accidentally exiting a recording while clearing the graphics (which I do a lot)


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## Jeremy W (Jun 19, 2006)

Grentz said:


> I press exit to get out of recordings quite a bit and have never had an issue accidentally exiting a recording while clearing the graphics (which I do a lot)


You must be a very lucky man. To this day I still press Exit, get dumped out of the recording I'm watching, curse DirecTV and the HR2x, and press Prev.


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## jazzyd971fm (Sep 1, 2007)

Jeremy W said:


> It should just clear the graphics.


+1


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## n3ntj (Dec 18, 2006)

fiveputts said:


> EXIT returning to live TV bugs me to no end. Same with Channel up/down. I record a lot of golf and usually watch the putts on FF1. When in FF mode, the graphics do not seem to ever disappear on their own. But the graphics cover the hole, so I try to hit EXIT to clear, and invariably the button sticks and takes me to live TV.
> 
> With all the other ways to return to live TV, EXIT should not be one of them.


I couldn't agree more with you, it bugs me big time, too. This problem needs to get fixed ASAP. If I want to return to live tv, that is what the STOP button on the remote is for.


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## Syzygy (Dec 5, 2005)

[edit] I wish there was a way to reliably clear the progress bar with one button. See my Wish List post, http://www.dbstalk.com/showpost.php?p=1998094&postcount=1402

Ignore all of the following...

Well, the geniuses (or rather, monkeys) at D* have "fixed" the Exit key. No doubt being influenced by this thread, they've decided that Exit should *always* quit playing back the current recording, even if there's a progress bar on screen that you'd like to dismiss.

Is there *no* way now to clear the progress bar *with one button*?

[I started noticing this behavior around 10 Feb 2009, a few days before my HR21 was updated to 0x02cb.]


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## Jeremy W (Jun 19, 2006)

Syzygy said:


> Well, the geniuses (or rather, monkeys) at D* have "fixed" the Exit key. No doubt being influenced by this thread, they've decided that Exit should *always* quit playing back the current recording, even if there's a progress bar on screen that you'd like to dismiss.


Hmmm, I haven't seen that behavior. Are you sure that's what's happening?


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## Syzygy (Dec 5, 2005)

Yes, I'm sure.

[edit] No, wait, I goofed. I was using a universal remote that I programmed wrong. (Turned out that when I thought I was sending Exit, I was really sending Stop. Doh!)


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## Jeremy W (Jun 19, 2006)

I'll have to check mine out later, but I'm fairly certain it's not working that way for me.


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## BattleScott (Aug 29, 2006)

Doesn't hitting play when the bar is up get rid of it?


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## Syzygy (Dec 5, 2005)

Sorry. I screwed up back there in post #194; I was describing how the Stop key behaves! 

For a few days there, because I was using a universal remote that I programmed wrong, I thought the Exit key unconditionally stopped playing back the current recording, even when there's a progress bar on screen that I intended to dismiss. (Turned out that when I thought I was sending Exit, I was really sending Stop. Doh!)


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## Jeremy W (Jun 19, 2006)

Glad that got sorted out.


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## Richierich (Jan 10, 2008)

There should be a CLEAR KEY like I have on my HR10-250. Why when Directv went from the HR10-150 to the HR2xs didn't they look at more of the functionality of the HR10-250s?

I don't think having a "CLEAR KEY" is Proprietary Knowledge!!!


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## djrobx (Jan 27, 2009)

rrcrosby said:


> Is this a big enough issue to drop everythig and fix?
> I do not think so.
> There are eleven items that the HR20 is supposed to do (according to the owners manual) that do not work or work differently than the manual.


They don't need to "drop anything" in order to address this. It's probably a very small programming change. These sort of minor usability tweaks probably get addressed in batches and worked on together. A programmer might be able to throw this fix in while he or she's addressing one of those other 11 items. So it never hurts to get these sorts of requests onto our "wish lists" as soon as possible.


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## calidelphia (Feb 17, 2007)

Good to see this thread still alive. This functionality really erks me. I can't tell you how many times I get dumped to the Live Buffer when I'm only trying to get rid of the progress bar during trickplay, clear the banner, etc.


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## Richierich (Jan 10, 2008)

calidelphia said:


> Good to see this thread still alive. This functionality really erks me. I can't tell you how many times I get dumped to the Live Buffer when I'm only trying to get rid of the progress bar during trickplay, clear the banner, etc.


EXACTLY!!! Very irritating especially when it could be an easy and simple fix.


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## Aztec Pilot (Oct 11, 2007)

This has been anoying me for years. I hit exit (one to many times)to clear the screen, usually after FF, and back to live tv I go. Not a huge concern though.


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## RoyGBiv (Jul 24, 2007)

Aztec Pilot said:


> This has been anoying me for years. I hit exit (one to many times)to clear the screen, usually after FF, and back to live tv I go. Not a huge concern though.


As others have pointed out it is a huge concern if you're watching a recording of a sporting event, and you get back to live TV and see the final score.

SMK


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## Jeremy W (Jun 19, 2006)

It's been over two years, DirecTV is obviously not willing to make this change. If you haven't accepted it yet, you probably should.


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## murry27409 (Oct 16, 2007)

I've been using this DVR since ~ 9/07, and every now and then I get dumped to live TV when I mis-time hitting the EXIT key. For us, because or our viewing habits, it's really only a concern when watching a sports recording. Even then, since there r usually other recordings going on at the the same time, so if I do get dumped I usually get dumped to that instead of the game.


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

For those that may not be aware, it probably bears repeating that if you do accidentally EXIT to LIVE TV, hitting *PREV* will undo this mishap and put you right back where you were. /steve


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## BattleScott (Aug 29, 2006)

The easiest work around is to use the play key. Press the play key once to exit the trick play then again to clear the bar. This will never result in being dumped back to live tv. The worst that can happen on a miss time press is the bar pops back up.


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

BattleScott said:


> The easiest work around is to use the play key. Press the play key once to exit the trick play then again to clear the bar. This will never result in being dumped back to live tv. The worst that can happen on a miss time press is the bar pops back up.


Or just re-hit the key that brought up the GRAPHIC in the first place (INFO, LIST, MENU, etc). That works for every OSD key except GUIDE, which is still a mystery to me.  /steve


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

As the thread author, I still haven't accepted that DIRECTV has ruled out fixing this issue, but I have certainly gotten over it and have adopted workarounds to clear on-screen graphics. My faith and patience has been rewarded before, so I'm still hopeful that there will be a correction.


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

Steve said:


> For those that may not be aware, it probably bears repeating that if you do accidentally EXIT to LIVE TV, hitting *PREV* will undo this mishap and put you right back where you were. /steve


Also worth repeating: Remember to *CLOSE YOUR EYES AND BLOCK YOUR EARS *so you're not *spoiled by LIVE TV*, especially if you are recording that same show for later viewing


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

BattleScott said:


> The easiest work around is to use the play key. Press the play key once to exit the trick play then again to clear the bar. This will never result in being dumped back to live tv. The worst that can happen on a miss time press is the bar pops back up.





Steve said:


> Or just re-hit the key that brought up the GRAPHIC in the first place (INFO, LIST, MENU, etc). That works for every OSD key except GUIDE, which is still a mystery to me.  /steve


That doesn't work for clearing the progress bar when you rewind or forward, though, where an accidental second press of EXIT tosses the viewer to live TV.

The only SAFE workaround is to hit the BLUE key twice - it toggles the mini-guide ON and OFF, clearing the other on-screen graphics.


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## calidelphia (Feb 17, 2007)

BattleScott said:


> The easiest work around is to use the play key. Press the play key once to exit the trick play then again to clear the bar. This will never result in being dumped back to live tv. The worst that can happen on a miss time press is the bar pops back up.


This isn't a viable work around when you want to leave trickplay on in single FF, etc. The progress bar takes up such ridiculous real estate that my instinct is to get rid of it immediately.

Maybe if the progress bar removed itself after a couple seconds like the Tivo, I wouldn't have this issue at all.


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## calidelphia (Feb 17, 2007)

Drew2k said:


> As the thread author, I still haven't accepted that DIRECTV has ruled out fixing this issue, but I have certainly gotten over it and have adopted workarounds to clear on-screen graphics. My faith and patience has been rewarded before, so I'm still hopeful that there will be a correction.


Keep fighting the good fight Drew.


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