Time remaining doesn't match ACTUAL time!.. 522

[Slyster]

I show "64hr 25min Avail" on my 522.... 34 programs recorded.. which add up to around 22 hours.

SOOOO... where'd did those extra 14 hours go?

Is it basically a scam that the 522 has "100 hours" or recording time.. and it's really more like 65? It always seems to exagerate the time availble!

 

[kavula]

The 100 hours figure is just approximate. It depends on what you're watching. E* varies the compression for each channel, so not every channel is equal when being recorded. I have a 501 (35 hours) and I can usually record 25-30 hours.

 

[Purogamer]

It was a lot more accurate when I first got it (my 510 i mean) than it currently is...

I really think, like anything else, the constant over-writing leaves some fragmenting. I'll bet if I deleted everything off my DVR, it wouldn't say 100 hours...

 

[Wishbone]

The 100 hours figure is just approximate. It depends on what you're watching. E* varies the compression for each channel, so not every channel is equal when being recorded. I have a 501 (35 hours) and I can usually record 25-30 hours.

I don't think it's approximate, I think it is the absolute maximum amount that you can record.... That is, if you recorded the Color Bar channel

 

[n0qcu]

Actuallyt if you were to record one of the music channels you'd get well over the "100" hours. Just for kicks one night I recorded * hours of a Sirius channel and only used a few minutes of time.

 

[rhasselbaum]

I've also noticed the "time remaining" doesn't seem to get updated right away when you delete an event. Sometimes I'll delete something, and the time remaining doesn't change much. But then I'll go back to the event list a few minutes later and more space/time is freed up.

 

[kavula]

When I first got my 501, as soon as I deleted an event, the time remaining counter immediately reflected the deletion. For the last year or two, it sometimes but not always is updated immediately. If I cancel out of the DVR events menu and open it again, it is updated.

 

[Purogamer]

I'm telling ya, it fragments...It doesn't update until you go back to live tv and record over the data you just erased. Mine does this sort-of often as well...

 

[Wishbone]

All you have to do is keep pressing the DVR button, and it updates the free space.

 

[Purogamer]

yeah, that's normal...

 

[Cyclone]

Like Kav said, the size of your programs vary.

Dish likey approximates about 1GB for each hour of TV. So a 100GB Hard Drive DVR will be advertised as a 100 hour DVR.

But when you record a TV program, the size of that program in data can vary. Programs with a very static image are compressed very efficently. So they take up less space and could easily fit well under 1GB per hour. On the other hand, a channel with fast moving images and DD5.1 sound could take up more than 1GB per hour.

Also Dish DVRs record the data stream directly from the satellite. So some Dish channels have higher bit rates. This usually means a much better picture quality, but you'll also use up more time on your DVR by recording that channel.

In the end its all good and enjoy your DVR.