On Dec 1, 2009, at 4:03 PM, Kevin M. wrote: > On Tue, Dec 1, 2009 at 3:48 PM, Jon Delfin <jondel...@gmail.com> wrote: >> So how does the DVR know when the television is on? The DVR's power is >> always on. When it was running Passport OS, both the foreground and >> background tuners maintained an hour's worth of buffer. Now, with >> Navigator OS, when I turn on the television, the foreground buffer is >> (almost always, but *not* always, which is even more weird) empty, and >> the background buffer is empty. >> >> Can anyone explain? Thanks. > > Probably some sub-frequency sent through the coax (frequency may not > be the right word) that detects an active monitor/TV. Not unlike the > method of detection used to identify a VCR attempting to record a > copyrighted DVD. If it is plugged in and on... it just knows.
Jon: Are you saying that you'll turn on the TV and both buffers will be empty, but then after you start "actively" watching (e.g., switching live TV to a different channel, or playing back a recorded program), you'll eventually notice that a buffer's been building up? Sounds more like a bug to me -- that is, the DVR stops keeping the buffer at a certain point after its last activity; once you "wake it up" by doing something, it starts keeping the buffer again. As far as I know, TVs in general don't send any kind of signal over coaxial cable (or any other possible video or audio connection) that could be used by another device to indicate whether they're on or off. But I'll defer to Kevin's brother on that. -- Jim Ellwanger <train...@ellwanger.tv> <http://www.ellwanger.tv> -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to tvornottv@googlegroups.com To unsubscribe from this group, send email to tvornottv-unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
