TiVo : General TiVo Discussion Part 3

[andy_m]

The 1080i bit is the problem. Super hd, as Netflix once had it, is 1080p. TiVo should let you select 1080p for passthrough if your tv supports it??

Re: the cables my understanding is it's a digital signal so over that sort of distance as long as it gets through its as good as it started out.

[steveh]

You might also want to check that the picture settings on the TV are the same for both inputs. However, even with 1080p enabled on the TiVo I still find the picture quality is softer than on other devices.

[spiderplant]

Originally Posted by andy_m

The 1080i bit is the problem. Super hd, as Netflix once had it, is 1080p. TiVo should let you select 1080p for passthrough if your tv supports it??

The problem is that his TV is telling the TiVo it doesn't support it.

Harry: Check to see if there's a firmware update available for your TV. It might also be possible to trick the TiVo into letting you select 1080p if you temporarily connect by SCART instead of HDMI.

Whilst Netflix is playing, if you press the Info button it'll tell you what resolution is in use.

[jobbie8]

Originally Posted by Taf

---------- Post added at 20:21 ---------- Previous post was at 20:16 ----------

[/COLOR]Since the TIVO interface change, the delay between selecting "My Shows" and actually getting to that list seems to be getting longer and longer... and the black screen does not instil confidence that it's doing something!

My Tivos are painfully slow after the update. Rebooted yesterday and again today.
This morning I pressed My Shows, for the first few seconds I thought how slow it was again, nothing happened so I thought TV must be on Freeview thats why there was no My Shows page displayed. So I hit the input button and tried to change to HDMI 1, as I did this the My Shows page loaded.

Im not kidding but it must of taken 12 seconds to load up. Then theres the black screen for around 4 seconds before the show starts after pressing Play.

The Now TV box is lightening fast, I can be 50 seconds into a song on Spotify on Now TV before Spotify on Tivo even loads up.
Since the update Spotify has the purple ring before the Spotify loading page comes on, this never happened before.

[harry_hitch]

Thanks andy m, steveh and SP.

Andy m, when netflix is streaming through TIVO it tells me I am getting 1080, but the tv does not want to support the pass through option.
The picture settings are the same steveh, but I am glad I am not the only person noticing it.
Me telly is a bit of a dinosaur as it is over 6 years old now and does not even offer me the option to update anything SP. I don't think I posses any scart cables, but if I find one I will try your other suggestion.

Thanks again for all the info guys.:-)

[spiderplant]

Originally Posted by harry_hitch

Me telly is a bit of a dinosaur as it is over 6 years old now and does not even offer me the option to update anything SP.

Check the manufacturer's website for updates. But if it is that old you may well be stuck.

[harry_hitch]

Originally Posted by spiderplant

Check the manufacturer's website for updates. But if it is that old you may well be stuck.

Cheers, it looks like I am rather stuck atm though.

[andy_m]

Originally Posted by spiderplant

The problem is that his TV is telling the TiVo it doesn't support it.

Harry: Check to see if there's a firmware update available for your TV. It might also be possible to trick the TiVo into letting you select 1080p if you temporarily connect by SCART instead of HDMI.

Whilst Netflix is playing, if you press the Info button it'll tell you what resolution is in use.

Just to clarify, he can get 1080p on his tv using his bluray player Netflix app, but not using his TiVo Netflix app, and it's the telly that's the problem?

I understand that might be the technical issue but from a non-techy customer's point of view it's looking like TiVo that's the problem!

[spiderplant]

Originally Posted by andy_m

Just to clarify, he can get 1080p on his tv using his bluray player Netflix app, but not using his TiVo Netflix app, and it's the telly that's the problem?

Yes, the TV tells the TiVo what formats it supports, and the TiVo uses this to limit the set of formats you can select.

If it didn't do this, there would be a risk of selecting an incompatible format and losing the picture entirely. (And not be able to fix it because you couldn't see the menus any more)

[joglynne]

Originally Posted by spiderplant

Yes, the TV tells the TiVo what formats it supports, and the TiVo uses this to limit the set of formats you can select.

If it didn't do this, there would be a risk of selecting an incompatible format and losing the picture entirely. (And not be able to fix it because you couldn't see the menus any more)

Such an obvious and sensible reason once you know why it does it this way. Thanks for the information SP.

[andy_m]

Originally Posted by spiderplant

Yes, the TV tells the TiVo what formats it supports, and the TiVo uses this to limit the set of formats you can select.

If it didn't do this, there would be a risk of selecting an incompatible format and losing the picture entirely. (And not be able to fix it because you couldn't see the menus any more)

Could it not just automatically have all five formats selected?

[clumsymum]

OK then, please can somebody tell me why my Tivo spontaneously re-boots itself. It happens at least once every week, regardless of what I might be watching or recording, and it is driving us MAD.

We only watch in the evenings, so no idea of whether it does it all day of course. And because it happens in the evening, I really can't be bothered to ring for support, knowing I'm going to get connected to bangalore or wherever and have all the standard language probs to deal with.

Can anyone comfort me, is it just us, or does it happen to everyone??

[BenMcr]

Originally Posted by andy_m

Could it not just automatically have all five formats selected?

Virgin Media's TiVo does automatically negotiate what formats it supports when you first hook it up to an HD TV up to 1080i, and then selected the highest one it can.

However, I think the 1080P option on TiVo isn't included in the automatic check - you have to select it manually if it's shown as available. I think this is to make clear it's a pass through option only (it used to be titled 1080p/24)

[spiderplant]

Originally Posted by andy_m

Could it not just automatically have all five formats selected?

No, as it might then use one that the TV doesn't support and you'd lose the picture.

Originally Posted by clumsymum

OK then, please can somebody tell me why my Tivo spontaneously re-boots itself. It happens at least once every week, regardless of what I might be watching or recording, and it is driving us MAD.

We only watch in the evenings, so no idea of whether it does it all day of course. And because it happens in the evening, I really can't be bothered to ring for support, knowing I'm going to get connected to bangalore or wherever and have all the standard language probs to deal with.

Can anyone comfort me, is it just us, or does it happen to everyone??

I'm afraid your box is faulty and will need to be swapped.

You could ring in the daytime to improve your chances of getting a UK call centre. Or you could report it via the VM forum, here:
http://community.virginmedia.com/t5/TiVo/bd-p/Tivo

[nomadking]

Does "pass through" in that context mean the the Tivo cannot generate a 1080p picture itself, but can pass through a 1080p picture coming from an outside source?