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I did change all the native settings and played with the resolution...

Should I search for a Tivo DVR or just go with the current Directv DVR as a replacement? What is the general consensus?

Thanks

ringo said:

I did change all the native settings and played with the resolution...

Should I search for a Tivo DVR or just go with the current Directv DVR as a replacement? What is the general consensus?

Thanks

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Before searching for a Tivo DVR, search these forums for Tivo related posts. There seem to be plenty of people with the HD-Tivo unit who are having significant bugs. Most of them are asking whether they should get the HR20 as a replacement, and if so, what kind of deal they can get in-exchange from D*.

There is no Tivo based HD DVR from DirecTV anymore. You'll only find one used. And it won't get any new HD channels and eventually any HD channels as they will all be MPEG4 which the HR10 cannot get.

As for channel changing, have you ever had a DVR before? It's just a nature of the beast that it's slower. Plus they are made to record, not channel surf. My DirecTivo's take about 2-3 seconds or so to change channels. It has to dump the buffer and start recording the new channel. This takes some time. Now on the HR20 add in HD decoding and then the MPEG4 decoding it will add more time.

Turn Native to OFF and just leave it at the native resolution of your TV. This will have the fastest channel changes. 3-5 seconds is my normal, closer to 5 when going from SD to MPEG4 HD. Totally normal. I then manually change format to 480i if I'm watching an SD show that would look better by letting my TV do the upconversion and stretching.
If you have Native ON not only will you have the 3-5 seconds of the HR20 you'll get an added delay as it "searches" for the correct resolution if you have more then 2 chosen. AND you'll also get a delay from your HDTV iteself as it has to resync itself to the resolution chosen. So you might end up with 7-8 seconds depending on the speed of your TV to sync up.

Personally I have a 1080i TV. I have chosen the formats of 480i and 1080i on the HR20 and turned Native to OFF. I leave it at 1080i piller box which will display HD normally and SD in 4x3 with piller boxes on the side. Looks great, channel changes are not bad (but then again I rarely watch live TV). If the SD show is letterboxed I manually switch the format to 480i and let my TV do it's magic.

This took me about 2-3 weeks of playing around with various settings to get the right combination that worked for me. You will probably do the same. There is no right answer for native on or off or what formats to choose, you'll have to figure out what works best in your setup.

My tv supports all resolutions up to 1080i. I usually have the HR20 setup exclude everything except 720p and 1080i. I also set it to send 1080i signal, but might change it to 720p for some sporting events. Channel-changing time and guide-scrolling time don't seem to vary, but they are still slow.

If your TV is 1080i you are better off only sending 1080i to it. Sending 720p doesn't gain you anything because the TV still has to convert it to 1080i. Only reason to send 720p is if your TVs upscaler is better then the HR20. But try it both ways and see what look better. To me there is no difference at all so I disable 720p on the HR20.

If you had a 720p TV I'd recommend the same thing, disable 1080i on the HR20 and just send your TV what it wants, 720p.

If the problem is in your habit of surfing channels, try using the blue button to surf.
I have changed my habits because of the lag time. My wife appreciates this style surfing and the lag is only there when you choose a station.

I have the Tivo 10-250 in the bedroom and the Hr20 as the main unit in the LR and I would not switch them. Once you get used to the HR20, it seems fine.