How about a "blank" channel?

[tpro]

One feature I really miss from my old UltimateTV DVR is the built-in "blank" channel, #1020; here's why:

With the DirecTV R15's that I have, the closest I can come is to use channel #211, an ESPN Alternate where almost nothing is ever showing.

The idea is to avoid the really annoying problem that, with the R15, there is always some "current" channel that you cannot avoid seeing at the end of viewing a program from the Playlist.

How many times have you finished watching a nice movie, only to be blasted out of your chair by some over-loud commercial that happens to be on in real-time on the last channel you were watching before you started playing the movie?

A psuedo-channel, like UltimateTV's #1020, that one could use as a "quiet", or "blank" channel, would really be a nice feature addition to the software.

Does anyone else have any thoughts on this?

 

[iwc5893]

One feature I really miss from my old UltimateTV DVR is the built-in "blank" channel, #1020; here's why:

With the DirecTV R15's that I have, the closest I can come is to use channel #211, an ESPN Alternate where almost nothing is ever showing.

The idea is to avoid the really annoying problem that, with the R15, there is always some "current" channel that you cannot avoid seeing at the end of viewing a program from the Playlist.

How many times have you finished watching a nice movie, only to be blasted out of your chair by some over-loud commercial that happens to be on in real-time on the last channel you were watching before you started playing the movie?

A psuedo-channel, like UltimateTV's #1020, that one could use as a "quiet", or "blank" channel, would really be a nice feature addition to the software.

Does anyone else have any thoughts on this?

You mean like all of the channels that you haven't purchased (international, movie packages, etc....)?

 

[xzi]

That's how Time-Warner's Scientific Atlanta/SARA DVRs do it too, makes sense. You even get the list of shows if you tune to the channel manually I believe.

 

[vedhead]

how about a 'searching for satellite' button that you hit before you go to the channel that has your girlfriend's chick movie on...it will show the searching for satellite screen so you dont have to watch it...

 

[atp1313]

how about a 'searching for satellite' button that you hit before you go to the channel that has your girlfriend's chick movie on...it will show the searching for satellite screen so you dont have to watch it...

BRILLIANT!!! LOL

 

[Zynergi]

Just go to Channel 490 its a test channel with no audio ever

 

[tpro]

Thanks for the suggestions, but both the "721 channel not purchased" message and the "Test x SAT y ..." messages would eventually cause some burn-in before the screen saver kicks in, so not really what I'm looking for.

The ideal solution would be a psuedo-channel: a completely blank screen, no audio, that does not tie up either of the tuners. That way, you could be recording two programs, watch a previously recorded program from the Playlist, and still return to peace and quiet at the end of the show.

I have no idea if the hardware/software architecture allows for such non-channels, but ...

 

[xzi]

How about it just doesn't return to live TV when it's done? Media Center just dims the screen and presents you with your options, "Restart", "Delete", etc...

 

[tmikeb]

How about Directv correcting the volume before sending it to the satellite? Why can't they adjust the volumes so they are the same on every channel all the time?