Cable Forum - View Single Post - Tivo V6 Is this a workaround to record more than 6 channels on cable boxes?

cheekyangus · 12-02-2021, 13:21

The problem on the Original VM Tivo, and presumably on the V6, is that if you have padding on consecutive programmes it uses the order of the user's priority list to decide which one gets the padding and which one cuts into the programme and instead of extending the recording shortens it.

The alternative settings are that it will automatically find another time to record that programme or simply not record at all if it can't.

I'll give an example, from memory , as the above isn't particularly clear.

Under particular scenarios if you recorded Programme 1 at 9pm and Programme 2 at 10pm from the same channel...

On the V+ it would drop the padding on the end of Programme 1 and beginning of Programme 2.

On the Original VM Tivo ( and presumably on V6 if you using all the tuners) all your shows are ranked in order of importance (which the user can reorder). If Programme 2 was higher priority than Programme 1 it would instead of adding 2 minutes to the end of Programme 1 actually remove the 2 minutes so that it was able to add the 2 minutes to Programme 2. So in certain circumstances you could have a show that overran slightly and would've been successful recording it if there wasn't a recording after it, instead end up with even more missing.

In the end, after advice from a high usage VM Tivo user, I set the default to having no padding for Series Links and more carefully planned my recordings.

After upgrading to V6 the increase in tuners means this is less likely to happen, but I immediately set the padding defaults the same anyway. Hence why I said "presumably".

To be clear, I don't completely avoid the padding feature, I just have it set by default to none and only set it for a select few shows, with particular emphasis on channels that regularly run early/late. I also deprioritise shows that are reliably on Catch-Up On-Demand and prioritise those that don't have repeat showings or +1 channels.

12-02-2021, 13:21	#7
cheekyangus cf.mega poster Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 2,526	Re: Is this a workaround to record more than 6 channels on cable boxes? The problem on the Original VM Tivo, and presumably on the V6, is that if you have padding on consecutive programmes it uses the order of the user's priority list to decide which one gets the padding and which one cuts into the programme and instead of extending the recording shortens it. The alternative settings are that it will automatically find another time to record that programme or simply not record at all if it can't. I'll give an example, from memory , as the above isn't particularly clear. Under particular scenarios if you recorded Programme 1 at 9pm and Programme 2 at 10pm from the same channel... On the V+ it would drop the padding on the end of Programme 1 and beginning of Programme 2. On the Original VM Tivo ( and presumably on V6 if you using all the tuners) all your shows are ranked in order of importance (which the user can reorder). If Programme 2 was higher priority than Programme 1 it would instead of adding 2 minutes to the end of Programme 1 actually remove the 2 minutes so that it was able to add the 2 minutes to Programme 2. So in certain circumstances you could have a show that overran slightly and would've been successful recording it if there wasn't a recording after it, instead end up with even more missing. In the end, after advice from a high usage VM Tivo user, I set the default to having no padding for Series Links and more carefully planned my recordings. After upgrading to V6 the increase in tuners means this is less likely to happen, but I immediately set the padding defaults the same anyway. Hence why I said "presumably". To be clear, I don't completely avoid the padding feature, I just have it set by default to none and only set it for a select few shows, with particular emphasis on channels that regularly run early/late. I also deprioritise shows that are reliably on Catch-Up On-Demand and prioritise those that don't have repeat showings or +1 channels.