Sorry if this has been asked before, but my search didn't turn up any results if it had.
Aside from the fact that I enjoy beta testing software, so the CE program was great, one of the other reasons I really wanted to get the new HD guide was because of the mentioned "Visual Browsing Experience" mentioned at the /newHD url.
Let me explain... My 4 year old has a tv in his room that he's allowed to watch before bed on days he's "good". Before recently having directv installed, we had a Roku box in his room.
He was able to use the Roku entirely on his own. This was because it had a "Visual Browsing Experience" of sorts. He knew to go into the "Netflix" icon where he found a list of all his shows (and other recommended shows, etc) and then could visually pick out the show he wanted to watch based on the "posters" that were displayed. If he wanted to watch Dora the Explorer, he could pick it right out... If he wanted to watch Super Why, same thing, etc...
With the standard software he really couldn't use the TV on his own... Despite the guide being restricted down to only channels with his kind of shows, the text was meaningless to him since he can't read. On the other hand, just going up or down through the channels using the channel button was no good either, since it wouldn't JUST go through the channels in his guide, or channels that weren't blocked... It would scroll through ALL the channels, even blocked ones, so it was again pretty useless...
When I saw that the new HD guide boasted a visual browsing experience, and on the site seemed to show the same sort of "lots of posters" grid display, I figured it would be perfect for him and get him back into business using the TV on his own.
Unfortunately I haven't been able to locate such a feature. I generally consider myself a smart individual, but either I'm missing something or it's just not there...
In fact, the CLOSEST thing I can find (in 0x586) to a "visual browsing experience" is the "My DirecTV" section... Which isn't too bad... EXCEPT that this ONLY shows up on the main DVR. It doesn't even give that option in the menu of my other HD receivers.
So I'm trying to determine a few things... First... Is this feature really there and I'm just not seeing it for some reason? Is there a special way to get to it that I haven't discovered?
If it's not there, is it something that is coming but isn't included in the software yet? I see that the HD guide is supposedly rolling out as an NR now, so I'd think it would be there by now?
If it's not there, is it coming? If not, can I submit a feature request somewhere to have this ability?
What would be really great would be maybe a "setting" where the guide could be defaulted to a "visual" mode... Hitting the guide in this mode would bring up "posters" representing the shows currently showing. Let the user move through and highlight the one they want, then selecting it will tune to that channel.
Taking it a step further and being able to visually represent the DVR list would be great too, but I'll settle for just the guide for now.
I mean, not just for young viewers, but I think this would be a great accessibility feature for those who might be illiterate or have other conditions which prevent them from being able to easily read the guides/lists.
Aside from the fact that I enjoy beta testing software, so the CE program was great, one of the other reasons I really wanted to get the new HD guide was because of the mentioned "Visual Browsing Experience" mentioned at the /newHD url.
Let me explain... My 4 year old has a tv in his room that he's allowed to watch before bed on days he's "good". Before recently having directv installed, we had a Roku box in his room.
He was able to use the Roku entirely on his own. This was because it had a "Visual Browsing Experience" of sorts. He knew to go into the "Netflix" icon where he found a list of all his shows (and other recommended shows, etc) and then could visually pick out the show he wanted to watch based on the "posters" that were displayed. If he wanted to watch Dora the Explorer, he could pick it right out... If he wanted to watch Super Why, same thing, etc...
With the standard software he really couldn't use the TV on his own... Despite the guide being restricted down to only channels with his kind of shows, the text was meaningless to him since he can't read. On the other hand, just going up or down through the channels using the channel button was no good either, since it wouldn't JUST go through the channels in his guide, or channels that weren't blocked... It would scroll through ALL the channels, even blocked ones, so it was again pretty useless...
When I saw that the new HD guide boasted a visual browsing experience, and on the site seemed to show the same sort of "lots of posters" grid display, I figured it would be perfect for him and get him back into business using the TV on his own.
Unfortunately I haven't been able to locate such a feature. I generally consider myself a smart individual, but either I'm missing something or it's just not there...
In fact, the CLOSEST thing I can find (in 0x586) to a "visual browsing experience" is the "My DirecTV" section... Which isn't too bad... EXCEPT that this ONLY shows up on the main DVR. It doesn't even give that option in the menu of my other HD receivers.
So I'm trying to determine a few things... First... Is this feature really there and I'm just not seeing it for some reason? Is there a special way to get to it that I haven't discovered?
If it's not there, is it something that is coming but isn't included in the software yet? I see that the HD guide is supposedly rolling out as an NR now, so I'd think it would be there by now?
If it's not there, is it coming? If not, can I submit a feature request somewhere to have this ability?
What would be really great would be maybe a "setting" where the guide could be defaulted to a "visual" mode... Hitting the guide in this mode would bring up "posters" representing the shows currently showing. Let the user move through and highlight the one they want, then selecting it will tune to that channel.
Taking it a step further and being able to visually represent the DVR list would be great too, but I'll settle for just the guide for now.
I mean, not just for young viewers, but I think this would be a great accessibility feature for those who might be illiterate or have other conditions which prevent them from being able to easily read the guides/lists.