In Germany many of the analog TV stations transmit VPS/PDC data which is used by a VCR to control recording times - so if you want to record a program you just enter the Showview (G-Code) number, set the VPS flag and the VPS-enabled recorder will start at the exact time the desired program starts, even if it is delayed or advanced from the published start time. It even removes all the ads by pausing during ad breaks!!!
The digital TV broadcasts don't seem to offer this feature, people have complained about missing the start/end of programs, despite programming their PVRs to start recording earlier. It seems this aspect of technology has gone backwards, not forwards.
used by a VCR to control recording times - so if you want
VPS flag and the VPS-enabled recorder will start at the
from the published start time. It even removes all the ads
omplained about missing the start/end of programs, despite
very_Control
It would be nice, but this is Australia after all. I recall there used to be this "G Code" feature, and I remember there being problems with its accuracy too.
I did use the PVR feature on a WES "strong" set top box I bought about a year back, and I can't remember if it was accurate or not. In this case you selected the program from a list in the EPG and pressed record IIRC. IT did not cut the ads, and I cant remember if it started exactly at the beginning of the program or a few minutes early. I also have noticed that the EPG info displayed is often wrong, like you change to a channel and the program listed on the screen is the previous one, that actually finished 15 min ago.
The other problem was that this STB would record only in HD, and would use up all of the 4G thumb drive in a little more than an hour, which was a bit impractical for recording multiple programs. I should have used an external hard drive but in the end discovered that the extra channels were really not that exciting after a few weeks and mostly gave up watching TV, as have many people I know.
On the other hand the PVR setup was a lot better than 20+ years back when you would pay around $1000 for a reasonable brand VCR and about $8 a tape IIRC. Im sure the programming was better then too - or am I just getting old ?
Um, in NZ our digital TV service 'FreeView" offers a programme guide screen (including all DTV channels) so that with a suitably-emabled HDD/DVD/BR recorder, recording can be set with the touch of a button, or if a series, record the whole series. Channel/Start/Stop are all set automatically, and are triggered by tramsnitted on the EPG signal. Schedule changes are also automagically accomodated.
Do you not have anything like that in oz ?
In VCR days (and still on ATV) we have G-Code programming. But this code simply enters the preset Date/Time automatically, and is not triggered by any transmitted signal.
used by a VCR to control recording times - so if you want
VPS flag and the VPS-enabled recorder will start at the
from the published start time. It even removes all the ads
omplained about missing the start/end of programs, despite
very_Control
Come to think of it, TV is slowly but surely becoming yesterdays thing, kind of like the dinosaur. I think if anything digital might have made it worse, via just providing more channels of shit. To make it worse for the stations - the advertising revenue is now split between this many more channels, and this has to hurt programming budgets - IE having to provide more for the same or less.
As an advertiser, having about 15 channels available, it would probably give you a 1/15th chance of your ad being seen, compared to a
1 in 5 previously.
Additionally, most popular series from TV (as well as just about any movie ever made) that you want to watch are available via torrents, or downloadable from links in the filestube.com search engine. Most of these would be ad free to boot, and you can watch any time you want, often even before they hit TV.
by a VCR to control recording times - so if you want
flag and the VPS-enabled recorder will start at the
the published start time. It even removes all the
It does pause in Germany, at least in the programs that I have recorded with VPS. Not all German TV channels use VPS however.
complained about missing the start/end of programs,
Yeah, I have noticed that EPG is sometimes different on a PVR to a TV, which seems a bit ridiculous. I still use the old teletext to check program schedules. Teletext was never widely used in OZ, probably because the TV stations are too tight-arsed to pay the staff required to run it properly. In Germany teletext is used on nearly all the free channels. I find it useful when recording programs on my S-VHS recorder, as all the teletext info is also recorded and you can read the teletext pages about the program later.
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