# The "pause" banner



## joeWatson (Oct 26, 2011)

When pausing a program and the pause banner appears at the bottom of the screen, is there a way to make the banner disappear and still remain paused?

On the tivos that i've used prior to moving to directv, in this situation if you press the right arrow, the banner would go away.

This is very annoying, because very often I pause to read the text at the bottom of the screen, but the banner covers it!!!


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## brian188 (Oct 13, 2007)

joeWatson said:


> When pausing a program and the pause banner appears at the bottom of the screen, is there a way to make the banner disappear and still remain paused?
> 
> On the tivos that i've used prior to moving to directv, in this situation if you press the right arrow, the banner would go away.
> 
> This is very annoying, because very often I pause to read the text at the bottom of the screen, but the banner covers it!!!


Exit


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## Shaqdan (Jan 24, 2009)

As mentioned above, hit exit once.


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## TomCat (Aug 31, 2002)

This is THEE most non-intuitive continuing issue with DVRs, IMHO.

I don't need the DVR to tell me I'm paused; I_ KNOW_ I'm paused. After all, I'm actually the one who pressed the pause button and the picture is no longer moving just now, so why hit me over the head with the completely obvious by obscuring the bottom third of the screen, which is very likely what I paused the damned thing to take a closer look at in the first place? Completely ridiculous.

At least the old venerable DTivo had a back door that cleared the time bar in about a half second (which is one of the primary reasons I keep one running). How could DTV completely redesign a GUI without readdressing this issue (and without quietly lifting that feature)? The new GUI's time bar actually covers _more_ of what I'm trying to see than the old one did.

AAAARRRGGGGH! :bang:


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## Jerry_K (Oct 22, 2006)

Same with the channel banner. I just tuned to the channel and now some idiot half screen panel pops down to tell me that I just tuned to a channel. DOH.


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## Laxguy (Dec 2, 2010)

Actually, it gives rather more info than just the channel number. 

Re: hitting EXIT- do it immediately after hitting FF, RW, or Pause. Then you won't bump into it popping you to live TV. 

You can even learn to do it in the dark.....


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## kikkenit2 (Oct 26, 2006)

Directv tried to improve and speed up the graphical user interface. In most ways it is faster. In some ways and for some equipment/users it got way slower. More importantly the changes in the interface are worse in so many ways. Directv now covers up the bottom of the screen as often as possible. And sometimes wastes the entire screen for long periods. Whoever managed the decision making in this new interface should be fired. They couldn't have done much lousier of a job. I agree with joe, tom and jerry 100%. Who dreamed up covering up my screen as a good idea. I would rather roll back to the old gui.


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## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

Keep in mind, there is nothing saying that there won't be revisions to the GUI to help with some issues.


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## kikkenit2 (Oct 26, 2006)

dpeters11 said:


> Keep in mind, there is nothing saying that there won't be revisions to the GUI to help with some issues.


I hope so. The key word here is "issue". What may be frustrating to me and many may be fine to you or more importantly, the decision makers at directv. There are many threads about the new hd gui. Many are hijacked by people that don't even have it yet. I've had it for a month now.

I previously complained about speed and some of that has improved. Some is still slower. Hr20 (7 units) non networked. The issues that these 3 other people bring up here are similar in the fact that the show is covered up by directv actions much more than they were before. Especially the very dark bottom fading to lighter to no black shading. Very hollywood. Get fancy or don't get a job effects.

We are already dealing with the tv and stereo now wanting to black out part of the screen. Usually the bottom of the screen. Exactly where espn and most channels stream important information. Now directv is covering that area with black constantly. Sometimes I want to see the fast forward bar and the program. Especially the score and game time at the bottom of the screen.

Directv hello! This is an "issue". This is not a bug. This was intentional and works as intended. This would take a major revision to the software. I would love to see directv revise this software to work in a 2012 user-friendly way. Start here. Light black (semi see-through) or no black instead of so much thick black along the bottom of the screen.

Finish here for now. You just made it harder to access the recording "to do" function. Please create a shortcut to this function. El Segundo step it up. You are my neighbor. Don't let directv and southern california down. You can do better than this.


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## onetimeonly00 (Oct 13, 2008)

I agree, it is absolutely ridiculous that DirecTV thinks it is ok to black out the bottom 1/4 of my screen anytime a portion of the guide appears either from pressing play or pause, changing channels, etc.

I like most of the look, and the actual guide part appears to be quicker, but please DirecTV STOP taking up so much real estate on my screen. The bottom portion of the banner should be transparent aside from the part that shows how long the program is and where you are at in the program. No need for the blackout.


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

I actually agree with all of you and I suspect that in the future you will see an improvement in that area.


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## raott (Nov 23, 2005)

"Stuart Sweet" said:


> I actually agree with all of you and I suspect that in the future you will see an improvement in that area.


One has to wonder where the breakdown was to allow something so obvious in the first place and necessitating a fix.


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## TomCat (Aug 31, 2002)

Miles Davis taught us all that "less is more". Did he die in vain?

Maybe they figured that as long as they were going to annoy folks by taking up real estate at moments when there is no good or sensible reason to do so, that they might as well "go big or go home", and obliterate as much of the screen as possible to really tick us off.

But those failings pale in comparison to not including the ability to turn the PIP off as a user preference. That little overlook in a GUI rewrite is unconscionable.


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## uteotw (Sep 30, 2006)

onetimeonly00 said:


> I agree, it is absolutely ridiculous that DirecTV thinks it is ok to black out the bottom 1/4 of my screen anytime a portion of the guide appears either from pressing play or pause, changing channels, etc.
> 
> I like most of the look, and the actual guide part appears to be quicker, but please DirecTV STOP taking up so much real estate on my screen. The bottom portion of the banner should be transparent aside from the part that shows how long the program is and where you are at in the program. No need for the blackout.


AGREE 100%. Boggles the mind that someone actually thought that blackout would be a good idea. PLEASE, DTV, get rid of it ASAP~


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## TomCat (Aug 31, 2002)

Stuart Sweet said:


> I actually agree with all of you and I suspect that in the future you will see an improvement in that area.





raott said:


> One has to wonder where the breakdown was to allow something so obvious in the first place and necessitating a fix.


While I really appreciate the little ray of hope from Stu, raott has identified the elephant in the room. It seems that we have moved from a climate where stuff was honed to perfection and then shipped, to a mind-set where its OK to ship half-baked crap and then clean it up later via up rev. Worrisome. It's like they aren't even trying anymore.


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## Jerry_K (Oct 22, 2006)

Laxguy said:


> Actually, it gives rather more info than just the channel number.
> 
> Re: hitting EXIT- do it immediately after hitting FF, RW, or Pause. Then you won't bump into it popping you to live TV.
> 
> You can even learn to do it in the dark.....


How about this. Instead of EVERYONE having to hit exit, how about you and a few others hit Info then Exit.


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## Laxguy (Dec 2, 2010)

Jerry_K said:


> How about this. Instead of EVERYONE having to hit exit, how about you and a few others hit Info then Exit.


Could you explain please? Is this telling me to f^^^ off, or an insult, a constructive idea, or what?


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## Lije Baley (Dec 7, 2003)

I'm so pleased to find a way to remove the dark out bar when I pause Skinemax.


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## Laxguy (Dec 2, 2010)

We aim only to please.....:lol:


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## Scott Kocourek (Jun 13, 2009)

Let's not make comments personal, please stay on topic.


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## Olhawker (Aug 17, 2017)

I agree, the banner should be anywhere but the bottom of the screen. Programs always put important messages there and the banner blocks the messages. Also, that is where news scrolls. I ALWAYS, have to press exit twice, after pausing, to clear the banner so I can read the messages or news under it. It is definitely a nuisance to have to press "exit" every time you want to expose what's been covered by the stupid banner.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

Olhawker said:


> I agree, the banner should be anywhere but the bottom of the screen. Programs always put important messages there and the banner blocks the messages. Also, that is where news scrolls. I ALWAYS, have to press exit twice, after pausing, to clear the banner so I can read the messages or news under it. It is definitely a nuisance to have to press "exit" every time you want to expose what's been covered by the stupid banner.


I'm thinking the "banner" is actually the Progress Bar, is that correct?

Rich


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