TV Controls (rant)

[Renegade]

Wow... I've not really watched much TV (as in on the television) for the past god knows how many years, but... I'm back visiting my parents, and the controls for the TV are simply nuts.

To start... Turning on the TV can be a major task. The TV and the set-top box both need to be on. Getting them to sync up turning on is trying at best. I literally just spent probably about 3 minutes just trying to turn it all on. Every time one of them would switch off with every different combination I tried. Wow. Impressive...

Next, the onscreen TV guide is sluggish beyond comprehension. DVD players are similarly sluggish too though. I suppose a 2+ second wait is reasonable for most people? It certainly isn't for me.

Then, when it turns midnight, it takes a half hour to update the time in the onscreen TV guide...

I remember YEARS ago when I was a kid and changing the channel was INSTANTANEOUS! Turning now is like waiting for the next ice age.

Finally, the best thing on the tube is Jerry Springer with "You slept with my baby's daddy".

I want to stab myself in the eyes. It will be less painful...

And my parents have a "good" TV. Home theater type 52" monster stuff.

Does this kind of stuff (slowness in TVs & remotes & all that) seem annoying to anyone else?

[cranioscopical]

Does this kind of stuff (slowness in TVs & remotes & all that) seem annoying to anyone else?

Now that I am old and impoverished, I find that this stuff is a godsend.
By the time I've juggled controllers and have the set alight, and the satellite tuned in, and have inadvertently hit the button that turns off the room lights, I usually just nod off to sleep. No longer any need to pay for programme content. That's my evening, right there.

[Renegade]

Does this kind of stuff (slowness in TVs & remotes & all that) seem annoying to anyone else?

Now that I am old and impoverished, I find that this stuff is a godsend.
By the time I've juggled controllers and have the set alight, and the satellite tuned in, and have inadvertently hit the button that turns off the room lights, I usually just nod off to sleep. No longer any need to pay for programme content. That's my evening, right there.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA~!

Yeah, I suppose that it beats sleeping pills!

[nosh]

Very annoying! And the monkeys hired by the cable company need to justify their salaries so they keep experimenting with the firmware and adding redundant features that make a sluggish box even slower. Their latest achievement is doubling the recording hours on the STB by using heavier compression which ends up compromising the clarity of the recording.

[Target]

that's called progress....

[Renegade]

that's called progress....

Progressive? Not interlaced?

[Target]

I suspect the interlacing part has to do with the amount and complexity of the controller manipulations needed to operate the set.

 

[Innuendo]

Bah! Your parents either need to hook their stuff up in a more optimized fashion or invest in a universal remote that can manage powering up all the components for you.

Most set-top boxes, for example, have a switching power outlet in the back so that when you turn on the box the TV comes on as well automatically.

[4wd]

Next, the onscreen TV guide is sluggish beyond comprehension. DVD players are similarly sluggish too though. I suppose a 2+ second wait is reasonable for most people? It certainly isn't for me.

Then, when it turns midnight, it takes a half hour to update the time in the onscreen TV guide...

I remember YEARS ago when I was a kid and changing the channel was INSTANTANEOUS! Turning now is like waiting for the next ice age.

Welcome to the digital age!  The TV now has to sync itself with the digital packets that are sent, decide which is a better signal if it's received via multipath, etc, etc.  Instead of the good old analogue days where the signal was 'just there' and the poor old TV had nothing much to do except turn it into a moving picture, (along with any ghosts).

Now days there's error correction, "don't let anyone record this" broadcast flags, 7+ day EPG and probably a whole lot more the TV has to decipher.  The EPG is updated as the data is sent, (unless you happen to have a TV that can store it all in memory for all channels as it's received).  I'd liken it to Teletext in the analogue era - to see it updated you'd have to wait until that particular page was sent again in the cycle.  And even then it depends on how diligent the TV programmers are - in Australia they are atrocious.

I can't say I've ever noticed the clock being 30 minutes late at midnight though, then again I've never been staring at the guide at midnight, (or watching the TV for that matter).

Finally, the best thing on the tube is Jerry Springer with "You slept with my baby's daddy".

You're wrong - the best thing on a TV is the Off button.  I watch only two things on the TV 'live' - SBS World News, (the bit before all the sports crap), and Dr Who, (and only because it's on the ABC, ie. no ads); the only other thing I watch recorded is the WRC.

Most set-top boxes, for example, have a switching power outlet in the back so that when you turn on the box the TV comes on as well automatically.

Most STBs here are too small to incorporate a switched mains output - I've yet to see one.  Plus almost all TVs I've seen go to standby when power is applied, (as I would have thought be required under 'Green' design/laws/legislation/etc).

[40hz]

Most set-top boxes, for example, have a switching power outlet in the back so that when you turn on the box the TV comes on as well automatically.

Actually, many TVs have relay-type power switches. If you have a set like that, cycling AC power to the line cord will turn your set off, but it won't turn it back on since the relay switch will default (by design) to the off position when power is restored.

(EDIT: Ooops! sorry 4wd. I just noticed you already commented on that!  )

Many service supplied remotes get around this by sending simultaneous ON commands to both the cable/sat box and the TV set when you hit the main power button. One of the reasons why most cable and satellite boxes ask you to set up your TV for their remote controller when you install their box is for precisely this reason. You know the drill: enter a mfg code and then try turning the set off with the remote until you find the correct code.

Using a relay-type AC switch is actually a very good design decision in may instances even though it can be annoying.

In the event of a power failure it can prevent your home wiring - and the power company's lines - from experiencing a huge surge when power gets restored.

Having a few thousand houses come back online with all of them simultaneously trying to power up their TVs, ACs, and other big appliances could easily create enough of a surge on the utility's grid to cause a second blackout. Should this happen, there's a very real risk that a Catch-22 situation could develop.

Major demand surges can also cause a temporary low voltage condition. This could cause problems since running below their rated input voltages causes many electrical devices to 'run hot.' Air conditioners, with their power hogging compressors, are the biggest worry. Low voltage conditions can cause AC compressors to prematurely fail due to overheating. This is why modern AC units no longer automatically restart after a power failure: it's potentially bad for the compressor and the local electric utility.

[nite_monkey]

My tv watching experience is dead simple. I just turn my tv on, set it to the pc input, and then open the tv guide in windows media center on my computer and select the channel I want to watch

[40hz]

Mine is even easier. 

I only watch something if I see 'red'

Mostly I open the red NetFlix mailer and plop on what I want to watch.

For anything else, I have my GF do the screening and selecting. Her tastes match mine pretty closely (or vice-versa) after all these years. She's big on the science and Public Television channels so I'm covered for anything that's broadcast. 

Redhead + red envelopes.

Works for me.  

[superboyac]

Redhead + red envelopes.

Once again, you have good taste!  I have a little thing for redheads with curly hair....mmmm.

[parkint]

I remember YEARS ago when I was a kid and changing the channel was INSTANTANEOUS! Turning now is like waiting for the next ice age.

I remember YEARS ago, when I was a kid, changing the channel meant turning the knob to the next position where a copper switch contact would make.  It would be an instantaneous connection but then you had to adjust the "fine tuning" ring to get the picture in clearly.
And you HAD TO get up out of the chair and walk across the room to do it!

[zridling]

When I do watch TV, I can only watch something that's been recorded. I can't tolerate the endless commercial breaks. TV sitcoms used to do 22 minutes (for every 30) back in the day, but I think these modern reality shows (Pawn Stars, DIY network, Food porn, Cake Boss, et al.) only throw up about 18-19 minutes tops. I've yet to go digital since I can't afford a widescreen TV. Honest.

I've noticed that every single reality show family gets incredibly rich, from the psycho Kate Gosselin to the Chopperheads in New York to those smug little people in Oregon. In every show, they're always building monster businesses or mansions after they've been on the air for a while. Oh, and don't forget the world travel for everyone.

[superboyac]

When I do watch TV, I can only watch something that's been recorded. I can't tolerate the endless commercial breaks. TV sitcoms used to do 22 minutes (for every 30) back in the day, but I think these modern reality shows (Pawn Stars, DIY network, Food porn, Cake Boss, et al.) only throw up about 18-19 minutes tops. I've yet to go digital since I can't afford a widescreen TV. Honest.

I've noticed that every single reality show family gets incredibly rich, from the psycho Kate Gosselin to the Chopperheads in New York to those smug little people in Oregon. In every show, they're always building monster businesses or mansions after they've been on the air for a while. Oh, and don't forget the world travel for everyone.

I'm with you.  I never watch live shows anymore.  Sometimes, I don't have anything new to watch and I'll turn the TV on.  There always comes a point where I flip to 5 or more channels, and they are ALL showing commercials.  It makes me curse up a storm, and I just rewatch something I've already seen.  It's out of control.  It's disrespectful to the public, that's what it is.  They are saying they don't give two sh-ts about your time.  you have nothing better to do, you might as well spend your valuable time watching endless amounts of commercials.

[Deozaan]

This is why modern AC units no longer automatically restart after a power failure: it's potentially bad for the compressor and the local electric utility.

Interesting. My AC unit must be really old then. It was actually powered off one time, and then somehow it powered itself on when the electricity was restored after an outage.

[cranioscopical]

And you HAD TO get up out of the chair and walk across the room to do it!

Not if you had kids! 

[4wd]

This is why modern AC units no longer automatically restart after a power failure: it's potentially bad for the compressor and the local electric utility.

Interesting. My AC unit must be really old then. It was actually powered off one time, and then somehow it powered itself on when the electricity was restored after an outage.

It also depends how good the filtering is on the units' mains input.  When the mains comes back on there are usually small fluctuations, (or the mains flicks on/off a couple of times), before reaching it's normal "steady state" - the resultant transients are sometimes enough to trigger the unit on.

(EDIT: Ooops! sorry 4wd. I just noticed you already commented on that!  )

The more the merrier

This is why modern AC units no longer automatically restart after a power failure: it's potentially bad for the compressor and the local electric utility.

And I wish fridge/freezer manufacturers incorporated a time delay in their units to allow the compressor to 'decompress' since where I live gets brownouts and power flicks reasonably regularly and I always have to turn the fridge off for 15 minutes before the compressor will work again.
Otherwise the thermal cutout keeps switching in, a never ending cycle of compressor on/off which will eventually burn it out - bring back the good old units where the compressor motors had enough grunt to overcome this problem.

[40hz]

And you HAD TO get up out of the chair and walk across the room to do it!

Uphill...both ways...in the snow.

And we considered ourselves lucky to do it!

In Lincoln's day they had to watch TV by candlelight. 

[40hz]

I think these modern reality shows (Pawn Stars, DIY network, Food porn, Cake Boss, et al.) only throw up about 18-19 minutes tops.

Just one more thing to be grateful for IMHO. I'd like it even more if they could whittle it down to 10 minutes per episode.

[app103]

I remember YEARS ago when I was a kid and changing the channel was INSTANTANEOUS! Turning now is like waiting for the next ice age.

I remember YEARS ago, when I was a kid, changing the channel meant turning the knob to the next position where a copper switch contact would make.  It would be an instantaneous connection but then you had to adjust the "fine tuning" ring to get the picture in clearly.
And you HAD TO get up out of the chair and walk across the room to do it!

I remember having to wait a few minutes for the TV to warm up when you turned it on. 

[Target]

Just one more thing to be grateful for IMHO. I'd like it even more if they could whittle it down to 10 minutes per episode.

that shouldn't present any difficulties

now if they could just work some content in there somewhere...

[4wd]

Just one more thing to be grateful for IMHO. I'd like it even more if they could whittle it down to 10 minutes per episode.

that shouldn't present any difficulties

now if they could just work some content in there somewhere...

Actually, if they just told you the programme was 10 minutes of ads then there wouldn't be a problem - it's the sitting through ~20 minutes of crap to watch the ads that is so annoying.

I remember having to wait a few minutes for the TV to warm up when you turned it on. 

Nothing quite like the glow of some vacuum tubes to brighten your day

[steeladept]

I think these modern reality shows (Pawn Stars, DIY network, Food porn, Cake Boss, et al.) only throw up about 18-19 minutes tops.

Just one more thing to be grateful for IMHO. I'd like it even more if they could whittle it down to 10 minutes per episode.

What!?!  You mean you DON'T like seeing the preview before the commercial, seeing the actual event they previewed after the commercial, then seeing a recap of the same thing - EVERY SINGLE COMMERCIAL?  What kind of TV zombie are you anyway?