Firmware 01.0x.350 Bug & Wish List

[peterpcuser]

One great feature would be commercial detection.Basically when you're recording a TV program,it automatically detects commercials and cuts them out when recording.

Another feature to counter all the TV stations who never run on time,never stick to the listed schedule would be program over run.Say you set a timer to record 8:30 - 10:30 if the program actually finishes 10 minutes late resulting in 10:40,you have missed the end of the show.

Program over run which keeps recording your program until it finishes regardless of how late it is.That way you won't have to manually edit the timer to add padding on every program you record.

[IanSav]

Hi Peterpcuser,

One great feature would be commercial detection.Basically when you're recording a TV program,it automatically detects commercials and cuts them out when recording.

This is rarely successful as most TV stations now don't fade to black and silence on commercial boundaries. Also the detection code is famous for cutting on fades to black and silence *within* the program causing major chunks of the show to be missed. The detection of channel logos and watermarks is also used but is also not 100% reliable. There would be universal condemnation of Beyonwiz if the auto commercial detection offered anything less than 100% accuracy.

The other issue is the when recording the Beyonwiz simply copies the incoming data stream to the hard drive. No interpretation of the data occurs. Attempting to process real-time commercial detection while recording will be *well* beyond the capabilities of the Beyonwiz processor.

If commercial detection is to be run as a separate process after the recording then it may as well be done on a PC and an existing tool like Comskip ( http://www.videohelp.com/tools/Comskip ) can be used.

Another feature to counter all the TV stations who never run on time,never stick to the listed schedule would be program over run.Say you set a timer to record 8:30 - 10:30 if the program actually finishes 10 minutes late resulting in 10:40,you have missed the end of the show.

Program over run which keeps recording your program until it finishes regardless of how late it is.That way you won't have to manually edit the timer to add padding on every program you record.

The Beyonwiz already offers automatic timer padding. Read you manual or this forum for further information. On your Beyonwiz have a look at SETUP > Misc. PVR > Soft Padding .

If tracking a recording so that the timer event automatically extends until the real end of the show then you should be looking at a Freeview EPG type machine. (I don't believe I actually wrote that! ). PVRs that sign up to Freeview EPG will be permitted to use the CRID data that is embedded in the Freeview data. According to the Freeview hype this will allow PVRs to stay recording until the show actually ends. We are yet to see any evidence or proof that this actually works. Remember that if you move to a Freeview based solution any concept of commercial removal or skipping will not be permitted. Also copying shows off your unit freely will be *GONE*.

Beyonwiz are/were planning to release a Freeview EPG model but I don't know if or when this is going to happen.

Regards,
Ian.

[prl]

...
If tracking a recording so that the timer event automatically extends until the real end of the show then you should be looking at a Freeview EPG type machine. (I don't believe I actually wrote that! ). PVRs that sign up to Freeview EPG will be permitted to use the CRID data that is embedded in the Freeview data. According to the Freeview hype this will allow PVRs to stay recording until the show actually ends. We are yet to see any evidence or proof that this actually works. ...

The only evidence (and following posts) that I've seen so far is in the negative.

That's not to say that some yet-to-be-released Freeview EPG PVR won't do it.

Does anyone know of any Freeview EPG PVRs seen in the wild apart from MagicTV?

[madmax]

one thing I'd like to see on the wishlist is a "fast" playback.
Something around 1.5x speed but with audio and subtitles still supported. Maybe toggle on & off when the play button is pressed.
I've found this useful at times watching programs recorded on my pc and I think it couldn't hurt to have this feature on the wiz as well.
I'm not sure if this is possible or not but maybe someone more familiar with how it works can shed some light on this...

Yes this is a feature I would also dearly love to see. Being able to watch 30 minutes of news, etc., in 25 .... mmmmm chocolate.

We already have wish W7(n) for this.

[peterpcuser]

Thanks for the feedback guys,seems like commercial detection of a live recording has it's flaws.I would only be interested if it could be done with live recording,not some post program you need it to run though to delete commercials.If tests have already been conducted and it's proven that large chunks of the program have been cut out,then that is hopeless.

I remember first hearing about this many many years ago in America and thought it was brilliant.It's one thing to have this in theory which sounds great,but another for a realistic solution with a 100% success rate.

Yes i'm aware you can set automatic padding,example always record 10 Minutes after.
However it's not very practical because you never know if a show will run late or not and it causes conflicts.

Example if have automatic padding set to record 10 Minutes after,and I set the following timers

Channel 7 6:30 - 7:30 (With Padding = 7:40)
Channel 9 6:30 - 7:30 (With Padding = 7:40)

Channel 10 7:30 - 8:30 (With Padding = 8:40)
Channel 2 7:30 - 8:30 (With Padding = 8:40)

With automatic padding set at 10 Minutes I will lose BOTH 7:30 - 8:30 shows.However with Program over run there is no padding which won't cause this conflict.

If this feature is available on some future Freeview PVR,can Beyonwiz create their own Freeview PVR without restrictions?Call it Beyonview BV1 all the features of Freeview without restrictions.Allow commercial removal/skipping,allow copying off PVR to PC.

[prl]

Thanks for the feedback guys,seems like commercial detection of a live recording has it's flaws.I would only be interested if it could be done with live recording,not some post program you need it to run though to delete commercials.If tests have already been conducted and it's proven that large chunks of the program have been cut out,then that is hopeless.

I remember first hearing about this many many years ago in America and thought it was brilliant.It's one thing to have this in theory which sounds great,but another for a realistic solution with a 100% success rate.

Yes i'm aware you can set automatic padding,example always record 10 Minutes after.
However it's not very practical because you never know if a show will run late or not and it causes conflicts.

Example if have automatic padding set to record 10 Minutes after,and I set the following timers

Channel 7 6:30 - 7:30 (With Padding = 7:40)
Channel 9 6:30 - 7:30 (With Padding = 7:40)

Channel 10 7:30 - 8:30 (With Padding = 8:40)
Channel 2 7:30 - 8:30 (With Padding = 8:40)

With automatic padding set at 10 Minutes I will lose BOTH 7:30 - 8:30 shows.However with Program over run there is no padding which won't cause this conflict.

Hi, Peter PC. The Recordings and timer padding FAQ sets out in some detail the characteristics and limitations of padding. In the circumstances you've described, there are some case where it is simply not possible to record all of all four programs, even if you know in advance exactly when they will play (say, for example, Seven and Nine are both running 15 minutes later than schedule and ABC and Ten are running 5 minuted later than schedule). Freeview EPG won't fix that. The only thing that can fix it is Gully's blue Police Box. Nothing else will cut it.

I'd recommend more than 10 minutes padding. I used to run with 15 minutes, but after losing the end of a couple of shows, I've pushed it out to 25 minutes. Yes, they really can be that bad. Sometimes worse. The final of Big Brother some years ago ran more than 50 minutes over time.

If this feature is available on some future Freeview PVR,can Beyonwiz create their own Freeview PVR without restrictions?Call it Beyonview BV1 all the features of Freeview without restrictions.Allow commercial removal/skipping,allow copying off PVR to PC.

The Freeview EPG is copyright. If Beyonwiz use it in ways not licensed by the copyright holder, the copyright holder can take them to court. Nine took IceTV to court for copyright violations a few years ago for using the published EPG to make last-minute corrections to the IceTV EPG. Nine lost (after it was appealed all the way to the High Court), but I doubt that wholesale use of the Freeview EPG contrary to the wishes of the copyright owner would have any problem being prosecuted. (IANAL).

Don't hold your breath.

[Gully]

I'd recommend more than 10 minutes padding. I used to run with 15 minutes, but after losing the end of a couple of shows, I've pushed it out to 25 minutes. Yes, they really can be that bad. Sometimes worse. The final of Big Brother some years ago ran more than 50 minutes over time.

Also set priority to none for the best results.

[peterpcuser]

even if you know in advance exactly when they will play (say, for example, Seven and Nine are both running 15 minutes later than schedule

I haven't got to the point where I calculate how many minutes a TV station is running late then add that on.It's their job to be on time,if they're consistently late,they should be fired.

Freeview EPG won't fix that.

That's a shame,that's what I thought Freeview does.Making sure you NEVER miss the end of any show with program over run.

The only thing that can fix it is Gully's blue Police Box

I never knew Gully was Doctor Who

I used to run with 15 minutes, but after losing the end of a couple of shows, I've pushed it out to 25 minutes.

I usually add10 Minutes manually,but even that's not enough sometimes.25 Minutes extra?The way things are going,can we have an option for padding = 24 Hours?Or how about specify a day which padding keeps recording till.

Yes, they really can be that bad. Sometimes worse. The final of Big Brother some years ago ran more than 50 minutes over time.

That's some serious over time,not even the NRL have that much.I think it's 15 Minutes each half which = 30 Minutes.I don't know who governs and polices TV scheduling,but i'd really like to have a chat with them.

The Freeview EPG is copyright.If Beyonwiz use it in ways not licensed by the copyright holder, the copyright holder can take them to court.

News to me,but then again no one burns dvd movies right?I guess people who own Freeview boxes would only have 1 firmware request.Bypass Freeview restrictions.I'm sure some firmware testers have already found a bypass,but can't post it for obvious reasons.

Don't hold your breath

All I can say to that is Freeview,every breath you take,every move you make,I'll be watching you.

Also set priority to none for the best results.

I haven't gone that advanced,I add extra time pre/post.I didn't even know there was priority because I have other priorities.

[Paul55]

The only way I've found to avoid losing parts of shows is a couple of minutes pre padding and 20 min post padding - then check to make sure the preceding show isn't reality/talent show crap.
Paired with multiple PVRs, I have an almost foolproof system. Of course, when designing a foolproof setup, one should never underestimate the quality of the fool.

[brianh]

........ one should never underestimate the quality of the fool.

......you rang??

[prl]

even if you know in advance exactly when they will play (say, for example, Seven and Nine are both running 15 minutes later than schedule

I haven't got to the point where I calculate how many minutes a TV station is running late then add that on.It's their job to be on time,if they're consistently late,they should be fired.

Freeview EPG won't fix that.

That's a shame,that's what I thought Freeview does.Making sure you NEVER miss the end of any show with program over run.

Sometimes it's simply impossible, no matter what Freeview may claim. And don't hold your breath waiting for the broadcasters to fix the problem. Do you think it's accidental?

...

The Freeview EPG is copyright.If Beyonwiz use it in ways not licensed by the copyright holder, the copyright holder can take them to court.

News to me,but then again no one burns dvd movies right?I guess people who own Freeview boxes would only have 1 firmware request.Bypass Freeview restrictions.I'm sure some firmware testers have already found a bypass,but can't post it for obvious reasons.
...

Why wouldn't the Freeview EPG be copyright?

Just because a lot of people do it doesn't make it legal. If it's not worth AFACT's time chasing individuals, that doesn't mean companies are safe. As iiNet has found, for example. They won the first round, but AFACT is going to appeal.

If you find what I said about Nine hard to believe, search this forum for Nine and IceTV.

[tonymy01]

Channel 7 6:30 - 7:30 (With Padding = 7:40)
Channel 9 6:30 - 7:30 (With Padding = 7:40)

Channel 10 7:30 - 8:30 (With Padding = 8:40)
Channel 2 7:30 - 8:30 (With Padding = 8:40)

With automatic padding set at 10 Minutes I will lose BOTH 7:30 - 8:30 shows.However with Program over run there is no padding which won't cause this conflict.

I think you are missing something fundamental about the laws of nature when it comes to what you can do with 2 tuners, and also something fundamental about how the soft padding works (you won't lose either show??!)

With the settings most people use (padding priority=none) you won't lose ANY of your primary timeslots in your example, but you will lose the post padding of the Channel 7& 9 show (which is a bummer, I have noticed Nein starts 5mins late guaranteed these days, nearly all my new ep BBT & ^&*My Dad Says have 10mins of 2.5brainlessDweebs at the beginning of the recording... I have 5mins pre-padding, and nearly all those Nein shows get cut off thanks to this silly multi-channelling and every broadcaster sticking everything on the same night same timeslot with Nein running so late all the time). The reason you will lose the post padding of 7 & Nein is that the PVR only has 2 tuners, and you require 4 tuners in your example. So something has to give, and if you have padding priority set to "none" you will simply lose your padding to accommodate the primary timeslots, no more. If you set the padding priority to "post" then your 7 & Nein show will record including the padding, but it will chop into those those 7.30-8.30 timeslots, missing the beginning of the shows more than likely (depending on just how large you want to make your post padding).

I don't know what you are expecting for how to deal with this, there is no way a PVR can do anything much better than the Wiz soft padding settings (well, a Freeview EPG PVR, when they exist properly, might do a tiny bit better, but you still can't ignore the physics of the limitations of the number of tuners a PVR has, in your example, even with a Freeview EPG PVR, and, say, Nein starting 5mins and thus finishing 5mins after the advertised timeslot will eat into one of the next timers regardless, missing the beginning of one of the shows, since 10 and 2 start much closer to the advertised timeslot than Nein does). And this even assumes that the broadcasters honour their commitment for sending an accurate CRID, which I doubt, given the TV commercial has one of those * disclaimers saying something along the words of "*except for late schedule changes" which is the get out of gaol for freeview I would say when everyone starts complaining to them that they are still missing the starts/ends of shows.

As Peter does, I set post padding to 20mins (pre to 5mins) and padding priority of none, and this works for most situations, except where it gets a bit busy, and some/all of the padding might get truncated (but not any of the timeslot the core timer is set for).. the best you can hope for really.

Regards

[peterpcuser]

If you set the padding priority to "post" then your 7 & Nein show will record including the padding, but it will chop into those those 7.30-8.30 timeslots, missing the beginning of the shows

Which means I miss the first 10 Minutes of the first 2 shows and there's no point in watching it so I delete it.This happens so many times when I playback a file to watch and I realise i've missed the first 10 Minutes so I delete it.All because I have set padding post 10 Minutes,sure I get the first 2 shows,but the next 2 shows are ruined because of the 10 minutes post padding to make sure I don't miss the ending of the first 2 shows.

It's getting to the point where I need 2 separate machines which = 4 tuners to counter this problem.If i'm recording 2 shows straight after the previous 2 which have finished on different channels,that's when I need a second machine so it will always start on time.

The only other way around it is to buy a PVR which has 4 tuners.It may sound crazy but in theory by having this,it solves the problem.I know PVR's have 1 or 2 Tuners,but i've often wondered if it will ever get to quad tuners.

"*except for late schedule changes" which is the get out of gaol for freeview I would say when everyone starts complaining to them that they are still missing the starts/ends of shows.

So that's how TV stations get away with it without being punished.Instead of "except for late schedule changes" it should say "expect late schedule changes"

[grampus]

It's getting to the point where I need 2 separate machines which = 4 tuners to counter this problem.If i'm recording 2 shows straight after the previous 2 which have finished on different channels,that's when I need a second machine so it will always start on time.

The only other way around it is to buy a PVR which has 4 tuners.It may sound crazy but in theory by having this,it solves the problem.I know PVR's have 1 or 2 Tuners,but i've often wondered if it will ever get to quad tuners.

There are PVR's that will record 4 shows at once, but they are still dual tuners only. It means that they can record say 9, 90, 7, 73. (Probably someone may shout at me and say, Ahh there is a 4 tuner device now.)

Being a TV tragic, I found that I was missing some shows like you.
FWIW, my padding is set for 2 mins pre padding, 25 mins post padding, and no priority.

I bit the bullet and bought a second device. The P2, which uses an alternative remote code set, and I don't have to worry about blocking off the IR receivers.

[prl]

...
So that's how TV stations get away with it without being punished.Instead of "except for late schedule changes" it should say "expect late schedule changes"

If you change that to be "expect TV programming, especially prime time programming, to run an unpredictable amount of time late", you'd be correct. I'm not sure why you're surprised by this. The broadcasters have been doing this for a long time. The only recent change that the commercials have made is to get rid of the ad break between shows. This makes it even less likely that you can absorb the lateness of one broadcaster in the ad break of the broadcaster running the next show you want to record.

Take it up with the broadcasters or ACMA. I've already posted a link off to an explanation of why they are likely to do it, and why it's not likely to be unintentional.

As I've also mentioned, even if the Freeview EPG gave you absolutely accurate timers, or if you knew ahead of time exactly when the programs were going to actually run, you'd still not be guaranteed to be able to record all of all four programs in you example.

For instance:
Channel 7 6:30 - 7:30 Actual: 6:45-7:45
Channel 9 6:30 - 7:30 Actual: 6:45-7:45

Channel 10 7:30 - 8:30 Actual: 7:35-3:35
Channel 2 7:30 - 8:30 Actual: 7:35-3:35

Your challenge is to set timers to capture all of all four programs, assuming you know ahead of time when the programs will actually run, or alternatively, what would a Freeview EPG PVR do?

The result will be better than what you can do if you don't know ahead of time when the programs will actually run, but you still can't do what you want to do.

So yes, sometimes to capture all of two pairs of two consecutive programs on different broadcast channels, you would need to have four tuners. That's a consequence of how digital TV works and how actual TV broadcasts are played, as opposed to how they appear in the weekly schedule.

[prl]

...
... Probably someone may shout at me and say, Ahh there is a 4 tuner device now. ...

I'd have thought that a HTPC or similar could be configured with as many tuners as the hardware capacity could bear.

FWIW, my padding is set for 2 mins pre padding, 25 mins post padding, and no priority.

Exactly my settings.

I bit the bullet and bought a second device. The P2, which uses an alternative remote code set, and I don't have to worry about blocking off the IR receivers.

Yes, the only solution to the problem is more tuners. I have 3 tuners (DP-Lite + DP-H1), and I'm currently losing the end of one show a week.

[Paul55]

Yes, the only solution to the problem is more tuners. I have 3 tuners (DP-Lite + DP-H1), and I'm currently losing the end of one show a week.

After happily living with my Toppy 5000MP, the introduction of HD saw me buying a DP-H1. To be honest, HD programming was my only consideration, but I soon discovered the advantages of that 3rd tuner - and this was when the HD programming was a clone of the SD broadcast!!
Now I run a DP-P1 and a Toppy 2400 in addition to the 5000MP in one room and the H1 in another room. The old Toppy only gets used for weekly shows in timeslots that are likely to be congested where conflictions from late changes may occur. The P1 and the 2400 both get a good workout and it's not rare to see all 4 tuners at work concurrently.
Really, the relative price of PVRs is a fraction of what they were 5 years ago and, if you are a good shopper, a second machine is affordable for most.

[nylon]

Hi Mcpaton,

Ability to add a "child lock" to the big blue button when the unit is ON, to prevent kids powering it off...

There is always the option to move the unit out of reach of children, put some sort of door in front of the unit (as in put the unit in a media cabinet with a door) or teach the children not to play with their parents toys.

Even if the unit is switched off it will turn on to perform recordings. If it is on and recording then the pop up as Peter described should protect the recording(s) in progress.

Regards,
Ian.

Or route 240V at 1 amp through the OFF button to discourage the toddlers?
Fact: I have no children (any more). They refused to listen...

KIDDING! Only kidding.

Actually, I sold them for medical research.

[tonymy01]

If you set the padding priority to "post" then your 7 & Nein show will record including the padding, but it will chop into those those 7.30-8.30 timeslots, missing the beginning of the shows

Which means I miss the first 10 Minutes of the first 2 shows and there's no point in watching it so I delete it.

Well set the padding priority to none, and just be angry with the broadcasters who go past their advertised timeslot instead (and when you don't get a 3 way or 4 way overlap like this, your post padding will do the trick fine). Or set your padding to 5mins, with post padding priority. There is no free lunch when the broadcasters go variably over their advertised timeslot, u will have to miss something.
Regards

[nylon]

Now I run a DP-P1 and a Toppy 2400 in addition to the 5000MP in one room and the H1 in another room. The old Toppy only gets used for weekly shows in timeslots that are likely to be congested where conflictions from late changes may occur. The P1 and the 2400 both get a good workout and it's not rare to see all 4 tuners at work concurrently.
Really, the relative price of PVRs is a fraction of what they were 5 years ago and, if you are a good shopper, a second machine is affordable for most.

Now that we (Melbourne) have 16 channels, a dual-tuner PVR really does increasingly sound old fashioned. What about a quad-tuner, dual-disk PVR (or a diskless PVR with the facility to write to a networked RAID NAS*), Mr Wiz?

Mr Nylon

* Please forgive me if Mr Wiz already has one of these gadgets on the market.
** But will a 100Mbps LAN connection be fast enough for writing 4 concurrent HD streams?

[nylon]

Hi Donno,

Is there a firmware update available for that functionality?

I am sure that there will be someone who will demand the feature be added.

Regards,
Ian.

And I bet it will be a woman who demands it.

[BigbobOz]

Now that we (Melbourne) have 16 channels, a dual-tuner PVR really does increasingly sound old fashioned. What about a quad-tuner, dual-disk PVR (or a diskless PVR with the facility to write to a networked RAID NAS*), Mr Wiz?

Mr Nylon

* Please forgive me if Mr Wiz already has one of these gadgets on the market.
** But will a 100Mbps LAN connection be fast enough for writing 4 concurrent HD streams?

Agreed, if you need more tuners you can drop some into your pc and just stream the recordings to your BW. Or get one of these http://www.hdhomerun.com.au/ if you don't have an aerial point near your pc like me. We record regular shows to the pc, ie the the set and forget ones and use the BW for more ad hoc stuff. Much easier than a second PVR to switch between or setting up a dedicated HTPC.

Well IMO, oh and pretty much any video streamer can play them back rather than needing a BW.

Rob

Rob

edit fixed the quote

[prl]

Now that we (Melbourne) have 16 channels, a dual-tuner PVR really does increasingly sound old fashioned. What about a quad-tuner, dual-disk PVR (or a diskless PVR with the facility to write to a networked RAID NAS*), Mr Wiz?

Mr Nylon

* Please forgive me if Mr Wiz already has one of these gadgets on the market.
** But will a 100Mbps LAN connection be fast enough for writing 4 concurrent HD streams?

Agreed, if you need more tuners you can drop some into your pc and just stream the recordings to your BW. Or get one of these http://www.hdhomerun.com.au/ if you don't have an aerial point near your pc like me. We record regular shows to the pc, ie the the set and forget ones and use the BW for more ad hoc stuff. Much easier than a second PVR to switch between or setting up a dedicated HTPC.

Well IMO, oh and pretty much any video streamer can play them back rather than needing a BW.

Rob

Rob

Quote fail there. I didn't write any of what was attributed to me.

[BigbobOz]

Sorry Peter, should have reviewed what I did more closely.

[prl]

[puck]

I WISH there were no BUGS, so we wouldn't need a Bug and Wish List.

[cjf]

Apologies if this has already been covered, but I'm having issues with firmware .350 and the TVOUT function when P-HDMIAUTO is the format.

I have my S1 connected with HDMI to the main TV and also have the composite connection plugged into a transmitter which broadcasts in 576p to a second TV hooked up to a receiver. To switch over, I just cycle thru the TVOUT formats from HDMI PAL to SD PAL depending on which TV is being watched.

I noticed that the .350 firmware requires a pause when moving the output formats. Pressing TVOUT before both the format name and resolution have displayed on the front panel will send me straight to the TVOUT RST function, and this is when the trouble starts. If I then return to the HDMI PAL format after a TVOUT RST has occurred, the unit outputs in 576p. What's more frustrating is that the 1080i resolution assigned in the System -> A/V Output is overwritten with 576p.

If I am patient when cycling thru the formats there is no problem. HDMI PAL remains at 1080i and the system setting is not touched. This issue only occurs if TVOUT RST is invoked and P-HDMIAUTO is (or was) the format.

I returned to the .334 firmware and was suprised to see the same issue exists with this release. If I select P-HDMIAUTO, the system will output in 720p as expected. If I then move to HDMI PAL, I'm back to 576p and System > A/V Output also shows 576p. I hadn't noticed this before as I never use the P-HDMIAUTO format.

I can correct the problem by going back into System -> A/V Output and reassigning the 1080i over the 576p entry. Alternatively, I can cycle all the output formats from HDMI PAL back to HDMI PAL and I'm back in business, but this is a tedious process with the .350 firmware due to the new delay.

Additional problems already mentioned in the forum with .350 are blank screens requiring a service change and also if I play around with the TVOUT button enough, the unit stops responding. This is also resolved with a change of service.

I like the idea of TVOUT RST returning to the default format without confirmation, but can't see the thinking behind forcing around 4 seconds of delay when cylcling thru the output formats. It's for this reason I'm returning to firmware .334

[madmax]

Out of interest, why would you want to use HDMI AUTO, and not a fixed setting like HDMI 1080i?

[IanSav]

Hi Cjf,

I suspect that you are using the TV-OUT button in a way that was never anticipated by the Beyonwiz engineers. The TV-OUT button was not intended as an output switching button. It was intended as a simple way to get a *basic* image up on the screen such that the user could then press SETUP and make any fine tuning adjustments as required. I believe the delay was implemented in more recent firmware versions to allow the display device enough time to attempt to synchronise on the signal being generated by the Beyonwiz.

I doubt that Beyonwiz will revert to the previous behaviour as this was causing problems for a number of users.

Have you considered leaving the Beyonwiz output on 1080i and then taking a 576i level signal from the monitor output that is commonly available on many TV sets?

Also, why are you using the 01.07.334 firmware on a DP-S1?

Regards,
Ian.

[cjf]

Hi Cjf,

I suspect that you are using the TV-OUT button in a way that was never anticipated by the Beyonwiz engineers. The TV-OUT button was not intended as an output switching button. It was intended as a simple way to get a *basic* image up on the screen such that the user could then press SETUP and make any fine tuning adjustments as required. I believe the delay was implemented in more recent firmware versions to allow the display device enough time to attempt to synchronise on the signal being generated by the Beyonwiz.

I doubt that Beyonwiz will revert to the previous behaviour as this was causing problems for a number of users.

Have you considered leaving the Beyonwiz output on 1080i and then taking a 576i level signal from the monitor output that is commonly available on many TV sets?

Also, why are you using the 01.07.334 firmware on a DP-S1?

Regards,
Ian.

Thx Ian,

Gulp! I meant 01.05.334, not 01.07.334

I'm a little suprised that more time was required to sync the output - it's near instantaneous on previous firmware versions. If people were having problems with the TVOUT function, how would implementing a delay make a difference?

I think that running the 576i signal out from the TV requires that the TV is on, and that wouldn't work. The second TV is in the bedroom and is only used when the main TV is off.

With the .350 firmware I don't even need to change formats for the 576p problem to occur. If I'm on HDMI PAL and press TVOUT once, I can then cancel the propsed HDMI NTSC format and should return to HDMI PAL. Instead, it's 576p format and it has again written over the system settings even though HDMI PAL was displayed on the front panel.

Can this be raised as a bug? Having the software change system settings while presenting incorrect information on the front panel is a little nasty. If as you say, people were having problems with TVOUT in previous firmware versions, anyone using HDMI that accidently taps the TVOUT button now has a new and more complex problem than before.

Thanks for your response. As I change the output format on a near daily basis I'm thinking of sticking with the older firmware.

[cjf]

Out of interest, why would you want to use HDMI AUTO, and not a fixed setting like HDMI 1080i?

I have never wanted to use HDMI AUTO and have wondered the same thing.

[IanSav]

Hi Cjf,

I am not sure what to suggest in this case. I understand what you are wanting to achieve but given that this is an unusual request it may be difficult to accommodate. (The Beyonwiz was always built to enable only one type of output at a time.) Perhaps you should give Beyonwiz a call and discuss the matter with them.

Regards,
Ian.

[mcpaton]

I'm getting a bug in the recorded file player on .350 firmware.

Occasionally when I begin playing a free to air recorded file on my P2, I get a black screen, which then turns to green. If I hit stop, I see the front panel display change back to reading "contents" from the time counter, and after a few seconds the file list display comes back. If I then start playing the file a second time, it works OK.

I havent seen this bug before in the older firmwares.

Cheers

[tonymy01]

Try disabling (or enabling) HDCP in the video setup menu, it sounds to me like something your tv is not liking (the green would maybe be from the tv).

[adprom]

Out of interest, why would you want to use HDMI AUTO, and not a fixed setting like HDMI 1080i?

I use a video processor so ideally it is fed with the source resolution. I get the best results when it is fed the native resolution of the material being played.

Unfortunately the beyonwiz doesn't do this, even on the auto setting and just sends a fixed res.

[MrQuade]

The best reason for using HDMI-Auto is that it removes the issue of a poorly timed HDMI handshake causing you to loose sound.

With the setting on HDMI 1080i, you can turn the Wiz/Receiver/TV on in the wrong order and will be stuck without sound via HDMI. Most people get around this by routing sound via optical instead.

If the setting is on HDMI-Auto, I can only assume that the Wiz will re-handshake any time it sees a new device being connected, and has the effect of fixing up the sound when it does so.

Some people's TVs don't auto-negotiate to their native resolution, so HDMI-Auto is a non-optimal setting for them, but for equipment that works correctly, there is no real drawback, with the benefit of not requiring separate audio leads.

If the Auto mode could be set to allow the output resolution to be fixed and the audio to be re-negotiated, then this would be a potential solution to some issues.

And yes, I agree that allowing a configurable "follow source" setting would also be fantastic. I would love to be able to view 60fps and 24fps at their correct cadence.

[chrisl]

Can someone please verify the following is a bug.

Unit Wakes up to record a show (6:00pm news) and records for 60 mins + 30 min padding. I start watching the news at 7:00pm by selecting from the file player list. At 7:30pm the box goes into standby while I am watching, this is very disconcerting.

I thought the auto standby was supposed to be cancelled when any user activity is occurs.

[prl]

Can someone please verify the following is a bug.

Unit Wakes up to record a show (6:00pm news) and records for 60 mins + 30 min padding. I start watching the news at 7:00pm by selecting from the file player list. At 7:30pm the box goes into standby while I am watching, this is very disconcerting.

I thought the auto standby was supposed to be cancelled when any user activity is occurs.

It is normally. Any activity on the remote should cancel the return to standby when a recording is being made out of the standby state.

I only have this sort of problem if the BW has been told to turn off with the Later option. For me that usually happens when I switch between my Lite and H1 with my Harmony remote (which sends Power Off/Later to the PVR being switched from. If it stays running because it's recording, and I later switch back to it, I can get caught out when it powers itself down.

If the Beyonwiz is set to shut down when the current recording completes because of Power Off/Later, I think the only thing that will prevent the power-off is to do another Power Off and answer No to the "do you want to power off" popup.

[chrisl]

You might be right. I use a macro on my remote to turn the tv stereo etc on, which would send a power/later to the Wiz. Still I think using the remote should override the standby / later.

[prl]

You might be right. I use a macro on my remote to turn the tv stereo etc on, which would send a power/later to the Wiz. Still I think using the remote should override the standby / later.

Ah. The powerup sequence should be POWERTOGGLE, EXIT. The powerdown sequence should be POWERTOGGLE, OK (or POWEROFF, OK). That will most likely cure your problem.

[chrisl]

Thanks, unfortunately I only have the one button for System on / off.

[martymonster]

I just recently had my S1 power supply fixed and also changed the Hard drive to a Hitachi 500GB SATA drive and also upgraded the firmware to 350. So far so good.
The problems I have now noticed are
1. Programs set to be recorded via ICE are not being deleted from the Timer list after being recorded, I did a quick search and there are a few other people with 350 and the same timer list problem. Mainly after a crash and reboot. This could be what I am seeing as well. This did not appear to occur with prev formware levels.

2. More than before, when playing an MKV file from the LAN, the S1 reboots at the beginning of the file. This occurs a lot more than prior to formware 350. The MKV files are TV shows in 720p format. Prev firmware would just hang, this firmware causes the S1 to actually reboot.

[prl]

...
1. Programs set to be recorded via ICE are not being deleted from the Timer list after being recorded, I did a quick search and there are a few other people with 350 and the same timer list problem. Mainly after a crash and reboot. This could be what I am seeing as well. This did not appear to occur with prev formware levels.
...

If a timer doesn't complete, it will stay in the timer list. This could easily happen after a crash.

[enomagic]

Hi,
this is probably covered more generally in the known bug list, but this is a specific instance of HD playback freeze.

At the start of a HD 720p mkv show, there is a well known screen that is mostly visual white noise/static. This screen causes the FV-L1 to freeze. If I skip to beyond the screen before it shows, no probs. That white noise screen brings the unit to its knees - have to restart unit to fix (stop button doesn't respond).

Hopefully this is addressed in next revision.

Ben

[IanSav]

Hi Ben,

You have to give us more than what you posted if you really want the problem investigated.

How Best To Post About Problems With Your Beyonwiz...

What firmware is on your FV-L1?
What does MediaInfo report for the problematic media file?

Regards,
Ian.

[enomagic]

[quote="IanSav"]Hi Ben,

You have to give us more than what you posted if you really want the problem investigated.

How Best To Post About Problems With Your Beyonwiz...

What firmware is on your FV-L1?
What does MediaInfo report for the problematic media file?



Firmware is 1.07.350 Dec 2010.
I haven't used media info before but have included output below.

This static screen I am talking about from a popular US network tends to test performance of any media player. The screen looks like this and has the 3 letters of the network come up : http://matthom.com/images/m1/1799.png. The reason why I believe this screen tests machines is because every pixel on the screen is changing at the one time for the few seconds it shows.

On my WDTV, this screen results in the video slowing and juttering for the few seconds this screen shows then is fine. Same thing on my old XBMC.

On my FV-L1 playing an HD version of this screen - it just locks up.

This occurs both with local file on hard drive and over network.

The file plays perfectly if I avoid this screen.

To reproduce,
- get any 720p HD version of a show intro (first 10 seconds) from the US network that has this splash screen at the start of it in HD - http://matthom.com/images/m1/1799.png
- play the file and watch the device lock up.

I'll try to find a sample that produces the behaviour.

mediainfo output below:

Format : Matroska
File size : 2.19 GiB
Duration : 1h 12mn
Overall bit rate : 4 330 Kbps
Writing application : x264.exe
Writing library : mkv2rls x264-tv version built on 2010 jul 11

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L3.1
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 3 frames
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 1h 12mn
Bit rate : 3 942 Kbps
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 720 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.178
Stream size : 1.95 GiB (89%)
Writing library : x264 core 88 r1471 1144615
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=3 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=hex / subme=6 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.00 / mixed_ref=0 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-2 / threads=30 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / mbaff=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=6 / b_pyramid=1 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / wpredb=1 / wpredp=0 / keyint=240 / keyint_min=24 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=40 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=3942 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 /

[martymonster]

If a timer doesn't complete, it will stay in the timer list. This could easily happen after a crash.

hi, all of those timers were completed.
There were no active timers when it rebooted, that is, nothing was being recorded at the time.

When I get some time, I will do some testing to try and recreate the problem.

[glow]

Could we get AVCHD files with extension .MTS or .M2TS added under W7?
These already play if renamed to .MP4 - see thread AVCHD Working!!
These types of files are now common with HD camcorders.

[madmax]

Could we get AVCHD files with extension .MTS or .M2TS added under W7?
These already play if renamed to .MP4 - see thread AVCHD Working!!
These types of files are now common with HD camcorders.

Added as W7(f).