Single Mode

[Joe Searfoss]

I have never really tried Single Mode and thought I would give it a try. One thing I find confusing though is trying to figure out what tuner I am actually watching. Is there anyplace to check to see what tuner you are currently tuned to ?

 

[Shadowtester]

Not that I know of

 

[Pepper]

In single mode it doesn't make a whole lot of difference which tuner is being used for a particular task. If you record something on tuner "2" while watching tuner "1", "2" is just the one you are not watching, not necessarily physical tuner number 2.

 

[Joe Searfoss]

I know it dosen't really matter. But if I have a show that is going to record on say tuner 2 at say 8:00 and I am watching a show during that time it gets cut off if I am also on tuner 2 Then I have to press swap and tune to the show I was watching. If I knew ahead of time that I was on tuner 2 I would switch to tuner 1 before I started watching the show. It would just be more convient.

 

[TuxCoder]

The way I've used (inadvertently) is to just pay attention to my audio receiver's Dolby Digital indicator when watching Dolby Digital 2.0/5.1 content. Even in single mode, when you're on tuner 2 the one and only digital audio output will just put out PCM. And, for some bizarre reason, this is also true when you watch a previously recorded DVR event. If you were on tuner 1 when you started the playback, you'll get DD audio. If you were on tuner 2, you won't.

 

[breathe]

When the info bar is up on the screen (that shows which show is currently playing) you'll see a tv with 1 or 2 in it. To move between the two all you should need to do is hit 'swap' on your remote.

 

[Joe Searfoss]

That's how it should work. BUT the info bar does not change when in single user mode. It always shows TV1.

 

[TuxCoder]

Right. That would be too obvious if it worked that way in single mode.

 

[SimpleSimon]

I find this hard to believe. I've never heard of an E* box that would actually recode a DD audio stream to PCM. I assume you're quite sure of this, and it's not the typical case of differing audio (most is PCM, only some premium channels are in DD).

 

[TuxCoder]

I'll verify tonight with my prerecorded stuff since I don't have SHO anymore. This way I'll also be verifying both of my statements above, at the same time.

But I've seen a few receivers with that capability (not just my E* one(s)). Downmixing DD to PCM seems like a pretty easy thing to do in software (or even in hardware, for that matter).

 

[Toph]

Confirmed!!!

Confirmed!!!

Dolby Digital audio is exclusive to TV1.

Why...I don't know...but this issue needs to be added to the growing wishlist.

In single mode both tuners should output what is received/recorded.

 

[SimpleSimon]

OK.

Just to close the loop - a recorded show broadcast in DD plays back on TV1 in DD, but on TV2 the same show is PCM?

 

[TuxCoder]

Yes, SS, I verified last night with "City by the Sea" (DeNiro) (DD).

Initially, I had no idea what tuner I was on because I have no more subscribed DD content . But when I started playing the movie, I had DD5.1 audio. Then I stopped the movie, returned to live TV, and swapped tuners. When I resumed the movie, it was PCM 48kHz. I even repeated a couple times for good measure.

As I said above, this is very bizarre. If nothing else, have the software do a quick behind-the-scenes swap to tuner 1 before starting playback (only if in single mode). But then we would lose the only way of knowing which tuner we're on. So also change the channel banner to show the actual tuner being used since it actually makes a difference with DD content. Then everyone is .

 

[SimpleSimon]

I'm lost again - unless you were just using the word "tuner" when you meant "output".

"Tuner" sections connect to the satellite feed and send bits to the HDD.

"Output" sections read bits from the HDD (yes, even when watching live - that's how the buffering works) and turn it into pictures.

I suspect it's due to a limitation of the TV2 output hardware?

 

[TuxCoder]

Those are good points, but here's why I say tuner instead of output:
- I'm in single mode, and the above experiment was done entirely at the TV1 output
- The only digital audio output is part of the TV1 output (physical output, at least)
- The differentiating factor was the "satellite feed" tuner currently in use

But to summarize my above experiment:
1. Enter single mode.
2. Start playing back a (DD) movie and you'll either get DD or PCM through your audio receiver.
3. Stop the movie, return to live TV, and swap tuners.
4. Resume playback of the (DD) movie (or start it over) and you'll have the opposite audio as seen in step 2.

For example, if in step 2 you got DD audio, and in step 4 you get PCM, that means you were initially on "satellite feed" tuner 1 (and whatever parts of the output hardware it's either hardcoded to or partially associated with) and now you're on tuner 2.

My solution for E* is two-fold: When you select "Start Over" or "Resume" to begin watching prerecorded content, if in single mode quickly and silently force a tuner swap if not already on tuner 1. Being in single mode, this will not interfere with any other viewers in your household. The second part is to accurately identify the current tuner in the channel banner (in single mode) instead of always saying "TV1". Neither part of my solution would be necessary if the digital audio output wasn't somehow tied so much to the "satellite feed" tuner 1. But the second part would still be useful in Joe's original example above.