Tivo is claiming that their product is compatible with the newer dish network receivers that have I/R capability, whatever that is. Is this true? I have a dish 510.
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is Tivo compatible with Dish?
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Tivo receives its signal from the remote via an infrared (IR) signal. I have had DISH and Tivo for almost ten years, they work well together. The only caveat is that you have to block the IR window on the DISH box, so any IR signals only control the Tivo. Tivo sends a command to DISH via a hard wire, which results in the channel change, etc. The downside to this is that if you happen to select a DISH channel you do not get, and Tivo sends the signal to the DISH box to bring that channel up, DISH gets upset and you get a message telling you "This is a channel to which you do not subscribe. Scroll up or down to change the channel." Unfortunately, you have to take off the covering on the DISH IR window to use the DISH remote to do this channel change, to get to a valid DISH channel. Then you select that same channel on the Tivo remote, to get it all back in sync (plus putting the covering back over the DISH IR window).
Yes it works but honestly the Dish DVR works and looks better. The tivo mpeg encoder chip is not as good as the mpeg encoders used to broadcast. If you already have a tivo then it will work with the IR emitters that ship with the tivo.
Spin said:
Actually, the Dish DVRs don't have MPEG encoders. They record broadcasts as a digital stream. A syandalone Tivo has to have an encoder to record and a decoder to play back, which is why the picture degrades.
I have a series 1 Tivo standalone driving a 322 receiver. I have not covered the IR window on the 322. I have put the IR blaster LEDs so the 322 can 'see' them. This setup has worked for more than a year without a problem. The IR library has IR codes that work with most Dish receivers, as far as I know. There are a couple of things you need to do to make the two work without a problem.
First, Set the channel preferences on the Tivo only to channels you receive. This eliminates Tivo trying to tune in a channel that you do not get. If the Tivo tries to tune an unsubscribed station, the receiver will throw up an error message that will require the Dish remote to clear.
Second, set a manual timer on the 322 to fire approximately one hour after it is set to check for updates and download guide date. This turns the receiver back on and eliminates the Dish screen saver (I think there is an option in the 322 preference for the screen saver to not be used at other times. You have to know that the Tivo cannot record anything during that one-hour period.
The picture quality is marginally better on my 522. On my 60" TV, I can sometimes see the difference. On anything smaller, they both look the same. The feature set on the 522 would be better than the Tivo except for the stuttering, timer bugs, and, in my opinion, less user friendly user interface.
I still use the Tivo if I want to be sure a program records. With the 522, there's a risk that an 'undocumented feature' of the software version of the month will interfere with what you expect the DVR to do.
