TiVo Community Forums Archives - I want a bigger or adjustable buffer!

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I want a bigger or adjustable buffer!
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Posted by: ehopper

Please, for 3.0 or whatever is up next. Give us either:

1. A configurable buffer
or
2. A longer buffer (one hour preferably)

With a one hour buffer, we could rewind an entire hour program. That would cover most TV programs today.

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Tivo since 11/99!!
Ultimate TV: From the same people who make the Code Red worm possible

Posted by: robertj49

I agree. I often run through the buffer. Sometimes, if I can see it coming, I can avoid disaster by choosing to record the show. However, bear in mind that for a 20 or 30 hour unit, a larger buffer (at best quality) might use up a lot of space. An adjustable buffer might be the best solution..

Posted by: dgh

I agree with #1 on the condition that I can adjust it down to zero. (I don't watch live TV.)

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Dave Hicks
(Just 33 years until I'm allowed to be opinionated too.)

Posted by: Dan203

There was a hack for this back in 1.3, but it was removed in 2.0.1. I'm not sure if it's back in 2.5 or not, but you may want to ask down in the underground.

They'll never just extend it to 1 hour by default because that would reduce the usable space of current models below their advertised capacity. However it's possible that they may add it as an option some day. Personally I'd like a way to to turn it off and add the time to my recordable space.(30 minutes of Best = almost 2 hours of Basic. http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/smile.gif)

Dan

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Moderator: TiVo Coffee House, Help Center & Happy Hour
3 PHILIPS TiVos running 2.5.1

Posted by: TheSimpsons

Some good suggestions but removing it all together would cause TiVo to pretty much lose its “Time Shift” function. If you have no buffer and you pause a program, instead of allowing you to catch up it would just send you to whatever is on Live TV. Than people would really call it a "fancy VCR."

-The Simpsons http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/tongue.gif

Posted by: feldon23

Live TV, what's that?

I use the TiVo timeshifting capabilities to the hilt, almost NEVER using the live buffer.

Posted by: arjay

quote:
Originally posted by TheSimpsons:
Some good suggestions but removing it all together would cause TiVo to pretty much lose its “Time Shift” function.

Don't you really mean "trick play" function? Without a buffer a TiVo will timeshift just as well as before but couldn't process live TV. It would act very similiarly to a fancy VCR.

TiVo has chosen a relatively skimpy but servicable half hour buffer. Other than by possibly hacking that's what you get with a TiVo.

TiVo Inc. appears to be pretty well set in choosing the basic features which it wants to make available. On the other hand Forum posters here often seem to want every conceivable feature offered with infinitely variable options.

Some of the posts here remind me of a blind man analyzing an elephant. Everybody latches onto their favorite features or functions to the exclusion of others.

One of the significant advances which the development of D/PVR technology has brought about is the versatility of the resulting recorder.

Actually TiVo's scheduling wonders have nothing directly to do with the capabilities of recording to a HD. A HD recorder could effortlessly trickplay live TV or just as easily easily timeshift without having a fancy computer based programming guide. Conversly a VCR could be outfitted with a sophisticated computerized programming scheduler.

With satellite and some cable systems providing a constant stream of several hundred hours of programming per hour you're kidding yourself if you think you're doing more than shuffling home theatre chairs in getting access to every decent programming option out there. I could scarf up a fair number of great programs at any time without having a recorder of any kind.

All of us without a casino security type recording set-up (of either PVR's or VCR's) are by necessity preselecting our actual number of choices to a much lower number than what is available.

That's OK though. We have more options now. Even if some of the possibilities are somewhat illusory. Sometimes there's just more good food available than can be stuffed into the old tummy. Is anybody offering a 50 hour day for a service fee of $10. monthly?

Right now we're still working on the arjo. Whatta' product that'll be!

Posted by: embeem

I'm working on solving some buffer problems through abit of black magic and a voodoo ritual, you can get the script from the underground but it's suggested you not do this to your main tivo.

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Posted by: rbird

The unlimited (well, limited by disk space!) buffer size of the Dishplayer was one of the few things Microsoft did right! I'd love to have a configurable buffer on my Tivo.

Bob

Posted by: GBL

I'd like to see a user adjustable buffer size e.g.:

Live Buffer Size:

30 min (default)
60 min
90 min
120 min

Posted by: BrettStah

I don't think they'd ever give us an option to disable the live buffer completely. But knocking it down to maybe 3-5 minutes would suffice for trick plays, pauses for little breaks, etc.

Posted by: megazone

quote:
Originally posted by BrettStah
I don't think they'd ever give us an option to disable the live buffer completely. But knocking it down to maybe 3-5 minutes would suffice for trick plays, pauses for little breaks, etc.

I'd like to be able to tell it to stop buffering. It is *always* buffering - wasting life on the HD is all it is to me.

Pushing 'Live TV' could activate buffering, then another button to stop buffering. Or just going into a menu screen or something.

One fix I think would be useful is simple - if I hit pause, then I MEAN PAUSE. Don't limit the buffer. I understand the limit for trick plays and just being able to back up. But if I hit pause and go away, I, the human, told the TiVo to do something. If it runs into the end of the buffer perhaps it should auto-fail-over to record the program. I think that would solve the problem for most people.

"Oh, the human wanted me to pause this program, but I'm out of room! They must want it, I'll save it." Let me configure the option of how it is recorded - priority, etc, as a global setting.

Posted by: jmrwiseguy

quote:
Originally posted by megazone

If it runs into the end of the buffer perhaps it should auto-fail-over to record the program. I think that would solve the problem for most people.

I don't know if that has been suggested before in all the other threads regarding the pause buffer but I think it is a fantastic idea. Given that Tivo seems reluctant to change the pause buffer adding an option to Record the program automatically if the pause buffer runs out seems like a good idea. Some people may not like that behavior so it should just be an option.

After saying that I still want a larger live-tv buffer because sometimes I find the program I want to watch (or to record) is already 45 minutes passed and if so I miss the first part if I choose to watch it.