07-13-2013
4:52 PM
- edited
07-13-2013
7:09 PM
07-13-2013
4:52 PM
- edited
07-13-2013
7:09 PM
As some have posted there is a update rolling out. This is not the train wreck of the search and on-demand. It appears that this update has changes that include -
Tips on the OK splash screen
Fewer clicks to reach the CC toggle.
Multiple Favorites guides
Improved picture
View next episode on recording stop menu
Please help. If anyone notices any other changes please post.
The good - The picture is great. It rivals FIOS. The CC access is improved, but, still not one button.
The bad - The favorites changes broke the ENTER button access to the favorites guide. It used to be that pressing ENTER- Down Arrow- OK displayed the favorites guide. With the new update - Pressing enter still produces a similar side menu. The menu is improved - Favorites is at the top & CC farther down. If pressing OK produced the Favorites guide, all would be well. But, it does not. It produces another menu that starts with the full guide - which there is no need for - The full guide has it's own button. And, a favorites guide button with the possiblity of additional favorites guides, Pressing OK on either the full guide or the Favorites highlights and checks the button & returns to the program that is playing. NO guide - Broken!
I have reported this to attcustomercare & working with them to resolve. The first they said I had a bad load & they reloaded. This did not help. They think it is just me. But, others have reported this behavior, earlier.
Please help - If you click the enter button & see CC in the side menu, you have the new update. If you have it, please try the favorites guide & post whether or not you get the guide displayed. If you do not have a favorites list, it is easy to build one with one channel.
The ugly - The tips on the OK splash screen. Not so much the meaningless drivel in the tips. That is easily ignored. Except for that poster that thought they were being reminded to pay their bill. The ugly part is that at&t would spend resources on it instead of something that can improve the system - Such as testing to make sure it works - Such as - under the Main Menu swapping GUIDE at the top with Favorites (third) to make Favorites quicker to access (GUIDE already has its own button. It does not need to be first. - Such as - checking usablity for more efficiencies. Such as listening to posters on what they need. OR, rather responding - Listening is of no value if it does not result in improvements.
View next episode on recording stop menu is only good if you want to erase later. If you erase first, the View next episode goes away. So, it needs a way to erase then view. Another button? or a set-up option. Also, it needs to be moved below erase on the menu.
07-13-2013
8:14 PM
- edited
07-13-2013
8:14 PM
07-13-2013
8:14 PM
- edited
07-13-2013
8:14 PM
I now have the new firmware and you're correct about the favorites implementation. It appears to work as intended in the following locations:
- From the main menu: (Menu -> down arrow -> down arrow -> OK), which brings up the MY FAVORITES menu.
- Within the guide: (Guide -> Enter -> down arrow -> down arrow -> OK -> [choose a favorites list] -> OK), which brings up the chosen favorites menu.
Where the implementation is completely broken is within the quick popout menu.
- While watching TV, (Enter -> OK -> [choose a favorites list] -> OK). The only action this causes is to make the popout menu disappear. No guide actually comes up. There is a check mark next to the chosen favorites list that appears to be remembered by the STB, however, what this check mark means is unknown.
I believe that choosing a favorites list from this popout menu should do one of two things:
a) Bring up the chosen favorites guide. (I believe this is probably what was intended). This also mirrors the same behavior in the previous firmware version. However, if this is the case, the check marks are completely unnecessary and confusing since they represent nothing.
b) Set that favorites guide to be the default when pressing the Guide button. This would represent very different behavior from the previous firmware. It also doesn't make a lot of sense to put this selector in the popout menu, since this function is really a configuration option, not an immediate action function like the rest of the things in the popout menu. However, this functionality makes the check marks make sense. The check marks would indicate which favorites list is the current default for the Guide button. Sadly, this is not the function of this menu, since the Guide button always brings up the regular (all channels) guide, no matter what is checked here.
The most intuitive method they should implement is to copy DirecTV's functionality of the Guide button. First, there is a setting in the options for which favorites list is the "default". When you press the Guide button, that's the list that is shown. Pressing the Guide button again while the guide is up cycles through the other lists.
07-14-2013 4:08 AM
07-14-2013 4:08 AM
07-14-2013 9:24 AM
07-14-2013 9:24 AM
07-14-2013 9:38 AM
07-14-2013 9:38 AM
Viewing the Interfaces tab of the UV Realtime tool, it appears that the bitrates are unchanged. What would account for any improvement in picture quality would the process of upgrading the encoders.
07-14-2013 9:49 AM
07-14-2013 9:49 AM
07-14-2013 10:14 AM
07-14-2013 10:14 AM
I have one of the new VIP2250 DVRs, the latest DVR model that AT&T has that stores 160 hours of HDTV programming. One of the things that this particular piece of hardware has is a dedicated H.264 video decoder chip. What does this mean? It means that the video stream is being decoded in hardware as versus software like on the older boxes.
One of the things that I noticed right away when I was watching TV on this new box is that there is indeed a marked improvement in HDTV picture quality. I was watching the movie "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian" on one of the movie channels, I think it was FXMovie. I remember a couple of years ago if you were watching something that would cause a lot of motion on the screen you'd see a muddy mess of compression artifacts. Last night, I was watching it and during the scene in which the airplane flew through the big glass window causing it to shatter to pieces, the picture DID NOT become a muddy mess. It was fluid, it looked beautiful! And that was even with me standing two feet away from my TV screen!
I have to hand it to AT&T, I have indeed noticed a vast improvement in HDTV picture quality! Now, if only I can con the support team into getting me a VIP2200 (the STB version of the VIP2250 DVR). Fat chance of that happening. Oh well, I made sure that the VIP2250 was on the big TV.
07-14-2013 10:19 AM
07-14-2013 10:19 AM
07-14-2013 10:23 AM
07-14-2013 10:23 AM
@trparky wrote:
I have one of the new VIP2250 DVRs, the latest DVR model that AT&T has that stores 160 hours of HDTV programming. One of the things that this particular piece of hardware has is a dedicated H.264 video decoder chip. What does this mean? It means that the video stream is being decoded in hardware as versus software like on the older boxes.
All of the Motorola VIPxxxx and Cisco ISBxxxx boxes that AT&T has ever used for U-Verse have always done H.264 decoding in hardware.
The 1st-generation boxes (Motorola VIP1200, VIP1216, VIP1225, Cisco IPN330, IPN430, IPN4320) all used the Sigma Designs 8634 CPU, which has an integrated hardware H.264 decoder.
The 2nd-generation boxes (Motorola VIP2200, VIP2250, Cisco ISB7005, ISB7500) use the Broadcom 7405 CPU, which also has an integrated H.264 decoder, but is faster overall.
07-14-2013 10:24 AM
07-14-2013 10:24 AM
@trparky wrote:
I have to hand it to AT&T, I have indeed noticed a vast improvement in HDTV picture quality! Now, if only I can con the support team into getting me a VIP2200 (the STB version of the VIP2250 DVR). Fat chance of that happening. Oh well, I made sure that the VIP2250 was on the big TV.
You might consider getting the new Cisco ISB7005 wireless receivers which have the same hardware and memory founded in the new DVR's. I have 2 of them, and they work great. Much faster than the VIP1200 STB's.
07-14-2013 10:33 AM
07-14-2013 10:33 AM
@texasguy37 wrote:
You might consider getting the new Cisco ISB7005 wireless receivers which have the same hardware and memory founded in the new DVR's. I have 2 of them, and they work great. Much faster than the VIP1200 STB's.
I have 2 of those wireless receivers in my setup and these little stb are a miracle worker.
They produce a great reliable picture with nice quality.
I would of thought, that since they are wireless that there would be alot of pixelation and hitching but that is not the case.
Kudos to U-verse on this part.
07-14-2013 10:33 AM
07-14-2013 10:33 AM
Then something changed in hardware. I don't know what but something must have changed.
VIP2250 has got to be two to three times faster in terms of operating speed. The menus don't lag, when you press a remote button it responds instantly and far faster than the VIP1200 that I still have. In doing so, this has improved the responsiveness of pause and rewind functions on the VIP1200 since the VIP1200 uses the VIP2250 as the buffer agent when using the functionality.
Combine that with the fact that HDTV picture quality is better on the VIP2250 than on the VIP1200, I'm thinking some serious amounts of changes happened in both hardware and software.
07-14-2013 11:02 AM
07-14-2013 11:02 AM
@trparky wrote:
Then something changed in hardware. I don't know what but something must have changed.
As SomeJoe pointed out, the new DVR's have a different, faster chip and more memory. The increased speed of the new DVR's is noticable compared to the older units.
07-15-2013 11:11 AM
07-15-2013 11:11 AM
I'm a bit confused. Is the picture quality better because of new firmware or new hardware?
I've noticed improved PQ, especially how it was a few years ago. I still see issues when there is a large amount of detail and movement.
07-15-2013 3:01 PM
07-15-2013 3:01 PM
@michail77 wrote:
I'm a bit confused. Is the picture quality better because of new firmware or new hardware?
I don't think it has to do with the latest firmware update. One reason would be that AT&T has been going through the process of upgrading the encorders in their infrastructure. Also, the new DVR's and wireless receivers, which have a different, faster chip and more memory, may deliver a better image to your TV.