BBC HD Rant

[Woodruffe]

I don't know if anyone else has had the same problem as me but the BBC timings on the HD channel seem to be all over the place. I am using a SKY+ HD box and have set it manually to add 3 minutes at the beginning and end of every recording. For every other channel out there this seems to cope quite well with the slight changes in timings that may happen in a programme without having to fast forward forever to reach the right spot or waste HDD space but it looks like for the BBC I may well have to add 5 minutes!

I first noticed the problem a month or so ago when I had series linked 'Harpers Island' and noticed that ocassionally the last minute or so of the show had been missed off. I put it down to the fact that it was because they put two episodes back to back and this is what had caused the problem with the timings but today it missed off the last minute of Doctor Who! I put it down to these flashy HD 'idents' and trailers for other HD offerings, if it continually happened on Freeview BBC channels there would be uproar!

I am now going to have to wait till it appears on the iplayer and fast forward right to the end - needless to say, I am not a happy camper and am seriously wondering if I should 'cc' this rant to Points of View!

Anyway, now that's off my chest better go and check it isn't going to do the same to Top Gear!

Ben.

 

[jetjohnson]

..On a similar theme ..I tried Sky+ ing the England game yesterday on ITV HD and found an on screen message telling me it "wasn't available to record" yet the non HD feed was recordable as usual .....any reasons??

 

[Andrew Everard]

Sky+HD doesn't allow recording of ITV HD programming, as it's not a real channel on Sky+HD yet.

 

[daveh75]

jetjohnson:..On a similar theme ..I tried Sky+ ing the England game yesterday on ITV HD and found an on screen message telling me it "wasn't available to record" yet the non HD feed was recordable as usual .....any reasons??You cant record ITV HD on Sky, infact none of the"plus" facilities work for ITV HD on Sky

 

[d4v3pum4]

I've noticed a few timed recordings of late have been way out. I'm pretty sure Jonathan Ross didn't record properly on Friday night. No great loss though but if it happens to Top Gear (Again) I'll be fuming!

 

[Tonya]

I pad out the end times of all recordings to the max just in case.

I've always been irritated about two missed opportunities with Sky's recording system.
In Europe we've had a system called PDC (Program Delivery Control) for years, which quite simply puts the recording device in standby mode as instructed by the timer until it's triggered to actually start recording by the broadcaster using a hidden signal buried in the transmission signal, which means if a program is late, even up to 24 hours or so, the recorder will still capture it as the "start of program" signal is not received until the program actually is about to start.
It will keep recording until it sees the "end recording" signal, so if, say a football match goes into extra time, you are ensured that the whole thing is recorded.
On some recorders, if you are running out of space it will even shift down to a lower bit rate to make sure you will get the whole event and not run out of space.

The second missing function has been incorporated in the MiniDisc system from it's launch.
If you are recording an audio track on MD, it doesn't matter if there is unwanted stuff before and after the wanted material because when you are finished the session, you can simply go back and "divide" the unwanted stuff from the beginning and end, to form three separate tracks (rubbish-music-rubbish) then erase the the two redundant segments, leaving you with a perfectly edited item.

You can still do this today with some DVD and harddisk recorders so I can only presume that it's due to technical reasons why it can't be introduced to the Sky boxes.

Could be a good market for an "ultimate Sky box" for enthusiasts willing to pay a premium for such refinements although I doubt it would ever happen . . . .