DirecTV Upgrades HD DVR Software

[RLJSlick]

DirecTV Upgrades HD DVR Software

An impressive software update started rolling out this weekend to DirecTV customers who have HR series DVR's.

The new software has added long awaited and much requested features to the DirecTV line of MPEG4 High Definition DVR's.

New feaures include the much requested "Doubleplay" feature. Doubleplay takes advantage of both tuners in the DirecTV DVR so that customers can enjoy two programs at the same time. Many customers refered to the Doubleplay feature as the "Dual Live Buffer" feature. To enable Doubleplay a customer presses the down arror on their remote, by doing this it enables the buffer from the second tuner. To switch back and forth between tuners a customer again presses the down arrow. The customers can now rewind up to 90 minutes back on both tuners. This is one feature a lot of DirecTV customers have been wanting on their DirecTV DVR's.

Another new feature is "Live Extension." The DirecTV DVR's are smart and knows when events being shown are live events, these events incluse sporting events. When it detects that you want to record a live event it will ask you if you want to extend the recording beyond the scheduled time. The default extention time is 30 minutes, but customers can extending the recording time up to 3 hours to make sure they don't miss a second of their live events.

Customer Care has been renamed the TVMail feature. DirecTV plans to use this feature in the future to notify customers of upcoming special events and programs.

DirecTV also added a new subtitling feature, subtitling is like closed captioning but instead of text with a black background when using subtitling viewes see a much more pleasant yellow test with no background on their screens.

All of the features of the new software were beta tested by consumers who are part of the DirecTV Cutting Edge Program. The DirecTV Cutting Edge program allows DirecTV customers to download beta software to their receivers every Friday and Saturday nights.

While beta testing might sound like fun to many, be warned that its not for everyone. If you use your DirecTV receiver all the time to record stuff and rely on it to do its job then the Cutting Edge program is not for you. The Cutting Edge software is beta software and because its beta it has bugs, meaning that your receiver might do strange things such as reboot often while watching TV, wipe all the DVR recordings from your receiver or even fail to record shows that you had timers set for. In other words if you want to beta test software just so you get first access to some of the exciting new features DirecTV is working on then chances are being a member of the Cutting Edge is not for you.

As much as I say I like Dish Network's DVR's better then DirecTV's, I will be the first to admit I am blown away at the features DirecTV keeps adding to their DVR's. In the Dish Network side of things when they have major new features usually you need to buy a new receiver to get those new features, but with DirecTV the engineers keep working hard to improve the receivers that are out there in the field.

DirecTV Cutting Edge members have helped DirecTV beta test and improve features like Double Play, Video On Demand, TV applications, The DirecTV iPhone application and many more exciting new features.

If you are interested in helping DirecTV improve their receivers and becoming part of the DirecTV Cutting Edge then check out the Cutting Edge forums found at DBSTalk.COM or SatelliteGuys.US.

[Bluto]

Has anyone in Wisconsin had this pushed to them yet?  I heard it started rolling out last weekend...

[Talos4]

I'm not an every weekend CE'r due to circumstances but, I will say, that the program is definately "interesting" at times.

It's not for faint hearted customer. There are plenty of needed and great updates in the stream. The one thing I did lose was MRV (Multi Room Viewing) a couple cycles ago.

MRV is still very much a beta with plenty of bugs. I think that's what's next on the CE agenda along with a rumored HD UI.

This new National software release (034B) is staggered across the country and began 8/22/09. It may be several days or even a couple weeks before many viewers will get it.

It's an automatic update "usually" middle of the night. STB will reset it self after downloading and installing. There's nothing you have to do.

I haven't gotten it yet.

[kevbeck122]

Can you force the update similar to how you do with the CE program?

[gb4fan92]

MRV is still very much a beta with plenty of bugs. I think that's what's next on the CE agenda along with a rumored HD UI.

??  What is HD UI??

[Bluto]

My guess:  High def user interface.  Menus...

[Talos4]

No, you cannot force the download.

Generally D* "sweeps" the National releases across  country from West to East.

Your STB must be authorized to receive the DL first and then it automatically downloads.

Patience Grasshooper, I haven't gotten yet either.

Bluto, you are correct. They have been working on improving menu performance and providing more program information on the last several CE cycles which are included in the national release.

Rumor is once this rollout is complete, one of the next things is developing a high definition menu system.    

AND hopefully MRV will get back into the mix soon.

[kevbeck122]

No, you cannot force the download.

Generally D* "sweeps" the National releases across  country from West to East.

Your STB must be authorized to receive the DL first and then it automatically downloads.

Patience Grasshooper, I haven't gotten yet either.

I didn't have D* yet when I asked the question .  I just got it installed today and it downloaded 0x312.  Anyone get it yet?

[Talos4]

Not Yet,

Hopefully soon, I missed the last couple CE's and really need the update.

[kevbeck122]

I got my upgrade overnight.  The box seems a bit more responsive... though the guide is still a little slow.  I'm not sure how much I'll use doubleplay, but it works fine on mine.

[Talos4]

Same here. I was waiting for this one.

DVR is pretty snappy now.

So far so good

[gb4fan92]

Yep got mine too. Haven't had time to check it out yet.

[Stanley Kritzik]

Mine's installed and working.  I suspect that Double Play wil come in handy once in a while, such as to switch between two channels easily, to pause the non-watched channel for later viewing etc.  It's not an absolute necessity, but nice to have.

Stan

[RLJSlick]

I tried to play with this thing, it's aweful. If you think the DircTV box is slow wait until you try one of the Apps!  This is a good video to show you what's it like:

http://www.engadgethd.com/2009/09/23/directv-adds-an-app-store-but-compelling-reasons-to-visit-remai/

[NET10]

Not sure if this is mentioned anywhere else, but I've noticed that when watching a show that has been recorded and then hitting the "previous" button, you will go to the channel you were watching when you began the recorded show.  When you hit "the previous button again, you'll go back to he recorded show right where you left off.  Pretty cool.