Shared Playback with hopper and joey?

[hojni]

Good to see some kindred spirits. I am looking for the same option; specifically I would like to choose between simultaneous or independent viewing of DVR events. Simultaneous viewing would be the same exact DVR streams on multiple TVs; just like you RF modulated from a single DVR source. Independent viewing would allow separate DVR streams to be watched, paused and jumped independently.
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Posted this a while back and didn't get much traction:

When I video modulated my 722 output throughout the house, we could watch the same DVR event on all the TVs (only one person needed to jump the commercials, pause, or play for all viewers). I'm pretty sure that you can watch the same live stream on multiple Joeys, but can you watch the exact same DVR stream on multiple Joeys (i.e. when one person jumps commercials, pauses or plays - all see the exact same video image)?

So far, all I've been able to do is start multiple streams of the same DVR event on multiple Joeys - each stream operating independently.

I know that the independent video streaming to the Joeys is one of great selling points of the Hopper/Joey system, but sometimes we like to watch the same recorded show "together" in multiple locations throughout the house. Seems silly that we would all have to jump, pause and play the same show independently. The choice of shared or common viewing would be nice. Maybe it's there and I'm just missing it.

 

[wilme2]

If you are a regular on this site would have hoped that you already knew what the capabilities and the limitations of the Hopper were. The Hopper system is not meant to mirroring the same exact content from room to room like TV2 of a dual tuner does. The system is meant to have HD DVR in multiple rooms with access to the same content.

If you want to have a mirrored image on another TV you will have to use an RF modulator and have it hooked up the way your current setup is. Note that it will not be in HD. You could also use a wireless transmitter that would allow it to be in HD but those are more costly. I use one on my Hopper in the basement to mirror to my TV in my bedroom. works great.

Well, I am getting tired of having to read hundreds of threads to figure out what the Hopper can really do. I just pulled back up the manual, and it is silent on this issue and many, many others. ("Join" only appears in the Hopper manual once, in a help box.) And a lot of people on this forum keep reminding others that they are not the target market for the Hopper/Joey. Really? Then who is this product for? People who have simplistic TV watching needs? How is that a good mission statement for your new top-of-the-line product?

If there is a whole MOCA network, why can't a Joey mirror a Hopper? It isn't a hardware limitation - if they wanted to build it in they could have done so. So your suggestion of creating a whole separate network for mirroring (RF and coax or Wireless HD) makes sense - ONLY because Dish didn't bring a feature that clearly some people want. Just don't tell me I am not the target audience for the Hopper.

 

[sparc]

Most people just need to watch the same programming over multiple TVs, but doesn't have to sync (that's the target market).

The Joeys are picking up individual streams from the hopper. That's why it doesn't work that way now. Who knows whether its's a software or hardware limitation and whether it could work differently in the future.

Maybe someone like Scott could inquire about it just to appease the few people on the forum?

 

[harshness]

You know you have too many TVs if viewers are watching the same program at the same time in different rooms as a matter of course.

 

[wilme2]

You know you have too many TVs if viewers are watching the same program at the same time in different rooms as a matter of course.

Open floor plan with a Plasma TV in the living room and a LCD TV on the kitchen counter across the room doesn't seem like too many TVs. Someone making dinner or doing dishes can watch the same thing the person sitting at the dining table or on the couch 15 feet away are watching. Actually more efficent watching, IMHO...

 

[pabeader]

i'm sitting here trying to figure out how to do this with the data streams. it might be possible, but i'm afraid it's going to take a lowlevel rewrite to do it.

 

[pabeader]

think of how the data is actually presented to the devices. in a very simple way of thinking you have this:
it's a constant stream of packets that contain a marker for order and then the actual data.
the living room requests what data it wants, let's say a recorded event.
the receiver starts sending the stream to the device that asked for it. starting at marker 0 and going 1, 2, 3...
now another device sends a request for the same recorded event.
the receiver starts sending the stream to the device that asked for it. starting at marker 0 and going 1, 2, 3...

what you are asking for would mean that the receiver would need to know where in the list of markers, the first device is so that it could start at that marker for the second device. not impossible, just not easy.

 

[pabeader]

and a way to tell it you want to join XYZ device in progress vs. start from beginning.

 

[wilme2]

Can we do an IP multi-cast? I think this is just the kind of application multi-cast is desgined for. (I know that the Hopper isn't a Cisco device, just trying to think of how it could be done in a regular IP environment.)
Essentially the hopper just sends the same stream to two devices at once.

 

[pabeader]

i was thinking multi-cast. not sure if, or how, MoCA supports it.

 

[Joe Satellite Fan]

I'm a little late to the party, but we also want to do what the OP wants. Here's a typical scenario: We start out watching live stuff, then start watching something that was on at the same time using the DVR. Near bedtime, we try the pause and go to the bedroom to continue with the Joey and it can't be done. It works fine with live TV, but not DVR recordings. This is also a big thing for us. We spend forever in the bedroom trying to fast forward or rewind so we are at the same point.

 

[n0qcu]

I'm a little late to the party, but we also want to do what the OP wants. Here's a typical scenario: We start out watching live stuff, then start watching something that was on at the same time using the DVR. Near bedtime, we try the pause and go to the bedroom to continue with the Joey and it can't be done. It works fine with live TV, but not DVR recordings. This is also a big thing for us. We spend forever in the bedroom trying to fast forward or rewind so we are at the same point.

Instead of pausing the playback, STOP the playback then you can resume at the new location (bedroom)

 

[chrimiller48]

Agarrett, I agree with you. It''s the one option I regret giving up when I upgraded from my 2 VIP 722's. The single mode option (vs. the dual mode) allowed me to do that with TV1/TV2. The downside, of course, was that I was limited to SD signal on TV2 even though I had 2 HDTVs connected to each receiver and the VIP's operated independent of each other. Now I try to time the DVR signal between my LR and office TVs and Auto Hop partially (PTAT recordings only) solved the inconvenience of trying to also time my commercial skips.

So, yes, a single/dual mode type option for the H/J would be a welcome upgrade.

QUOTE=agarrett22;2861796]I don't know about everyone else but I would like to see them make it so a Joey can join a viewing of a dvr recording so that we could walk from room to room watching the same thing and pause it from any station causes everyone's viewing pause. I know not everyone would find this useful but when working around the house it would be nice to have

( or vice versa hopper join Joey viewing dvr content )[/QUOTE]

 

[pabeader]

I'm a little late to the party, but we also want to do what the OP wants. Here's a typical scenario: We start out watching live stuff, then start watching something that was on at the same time using the DVR. Near bedtime, we try the pause and go to the bedroom to continue with the Joey and it can't be done. It works fine with live TV, but not DVR recordings. This is also a big thing for us. We spend forever in the bedroom trying to fast forward or rewind so we are at the same point.

that is not quite what the op wants. what you are describing should work.

 

[3HaloODST]

Seems to me that most of the things I would want mirrored are things I'd typically watch live anyway, such as sports, news, etc. ... That being said, I suppose it would be nice to be able to mirror more than just live TV.

 

[steve4810]

This thread is making me reconsider getting a hopper and joeys.

It's just the wife and me and she refuses to retire so it's mostly just me around the house (except for occasional in-law, kids, and grand-kids visits.)

The reason for thinking about doing it is because for several years I have had the house wired with HDMI and had a 4 X 4 matrix switcher that could feed any of four input streams to any or all four HD screens in the house. The matrix had HDMI inputs from my 722 and 612 and HD cable and (planned) blu ray player. Each room has a 722 remote programed for its particular TV. The 612 only had one RF remote because it didn't get used often.

Anyway, long story longer yet, the thing crapped out and it costs a lot replace. And being so far down the road of life I thought the hopper upgrade restored what I had and improved on it.

But that clearly isn't the case. The wife and I both wander around the house watching the same thing and evenings one may be watching in bed while another is in the living room, kitchen or den and either can skip commercials. Though there is autohop now.

Since the wiring is already installed in all but the guest rooms and bathrooms (that I can force to watch SD feeds) I suppose I'll bite the bullet and get another switcher. This also saves an entire added account for the 612eek that might not be "on" that often but is crucial to RVing and house guests. However when it is "on" would it be a way bigger hit than a day of the second DVR charge (~$2.50 verses $0.30 per day)

Sigh!

Oh well, the sun is over the yardarm and it's got to be five o'clock somewhere. Cheers.

 

[rglore]

I found that you can get real close to the same as mirroring when one Joey joins the stream of another Joey. The two will be reading the same data stream and be very close to in sync. I have not found any way to make a Joey and a Hopper be exactly in sync. For the two or three rooms you want to mirror between, just use Joeys and put the Hopper somewhere else.

 

[steve4810]

I found that you can get real close to the same as mirroring when one Joey joins the stream of another Joey. The two will be reading the same data stream and be very close to in sync. I have not found any way to make a Joey and a Hopper be exactly in sync. For the two or three rooms you want to mirror between, just use Joeys and put the Hopper somewhere else.

Interesting. Is this verified?

If you put the hopper in a little used den, what can't the joey rooms do that the hopper study can?

 

[sparc]

Interesting. Is this verified?

If you put the hopper in a little used den, what can't the joey rooms do that the hopper study can?

bluetooth audio and PIP. Plus the Hopper has a few other connections like component. Hopper has a slightly faster guide than joeys.

For the most part, there's very little difference that the average person needs to worry about.

The installation requirements might be a bigger issue for households who currently have RG59 or might have to run new wiring to the hopper locations.

 

[3HaloODST]

If it were me, I'd just get the Hopper (put Joeys in unused rooms) and get that switcher replaced. It's not like you're taking a step back from the ViP receivers. They could never mirror HD either without extra equipment. Even when they could mirror SD, if someone on TV1 was watching HD, the "mirror" on TV2 would be all skinny on an SD TV. Granted, on a HDTV it could stretch it back out, but the PQ is still awful.