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gigahurtz
Premium Member
join:2001-10-20
USA

gigahurtz

Premium Member

High Definition On-Screen Guide?

I know this has been discussed in the past and I realize how big of a transition it would be, but I heard some rumblings over in AVForums about a possible on screen HD guide being rolled out for BHN customers. Any truth to this?

neonhomer
Dearborn 5-2750
Premium Member
join:2004-01-27
Edgewater, FL

neonhomer

Premium Member

The tech that came out to bring me my two DTA's and fix my dropout issue, said that there was supposed to be an update sometime around the end of this month/beginning of Feb that was supposed to give the option for the HD guide. He then went into some screen on the STB and said "Yeah, you have one of the newer boxes, so you should get it. The older boxes won't."

Here's hoping for it, since we can't stand the small guide on a widescreen TV. We used to use the "stretch" function of the TV, but we are tying to avoid that.
BHNtechXpert
The One & Only
Premium Member
join:2006-02-16
Saint Petersburg, FL

BHNtechXpert to gigahurtz

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to gigahurtz
said by gigahurtz:

I know this has been discussed in the past and I realize how big of a transition it would be, but I heard some rumblings over in AVForums about a possible on screen HD guide being rolled out for BHN customers. Any truth to this?

An update is coming soon... I will discuss more about this soon enough

gigahurtz
Premium Member
join:2001-10-20
USA

gigahurtz

Premium Member

said by BHNtechXpert:

said by gigahurtz:

I know this has been discussed in the past and I realize how big of a transition it would be, but I heard some rumblings over in AVForums about a possible on screen HD guide being rolled out for BHN customers. Any truth to this?

An update is coming soon... I will discuss more about this soon enough

Great news, looking forward to the update. Thank you.
Wally173
join:2013-05-08
Lithia, FL

Wally173 to BHNtechXpert

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to BHNtechXpert
Gary, any more info you can tell us please? Is it a fully redesigned HD interface? (Not just a different color and font update like last time :P) I am so ready to get a cool new looking interface on these cable boxes. Please?
Happydude32
Premium Member
join:2005-07-16

Happydude32

Premium Member

Click for full size
Click for full size
Click for full size
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DirecTV HD Guide
Click for full size
TW HD Guide
For an idea of what's to come and exactly what it will look like, just take a look at what's being said about ODN 7.2.0_5 on Time Warner. And it appears ODN 7.2.0_8 is in a few markets that fixes a few bugs. It's no big secret, all of the information is out there. It's a full HD guide, that shows 2 hours of programming information from 7 channels at a time. All menus/banners are HD. It is the same black/grey/white color scheme as the 4:3 guide (Unless you change it to the other color scheme). The DVR List and management is completely redesigned and there's folders, program cover art is included when you go to play a recorded event. The new software will not be on older boxes. No Scientific Atlanta boxes will get the update. It's for the Cisco's, most if not all Samsung's and the newer Motorola's.

Last two pictures are ones I took shortly after we got the HD guide comparing apples to apples the new HD guide on Navigator and DirecTVs HD guide. Pretty obvious which one is better.
Aprel
join:2013-09-14

Aprel

Member

Really cool.
said by Happydude32:

The DVR List and management is completely redesigned and there's folders, program cover art is included when you go to play a recorded event.

If that's the upgrade that will be rolled out to BHN, I hope it won't affect already recorded programs. I remember a few years ago with the last guide upgrade, customer service called all subscribers to inform them there was a possibility series manager data would be lost...not a big deal, can't remember if they mentioned the possibility of loss to recorded data now. It didn't affect me.

Although I had recordings I never bothered to delete on my previous box that were >5 years old and didn't play. Probably been there for over one Guide upgrade. To be expected, and not a big deal. They always tell you the DVR is not for longterm storage. I just hope there's no danger to recordings only a few months old.

motorola870
join:2008-12-07
Arlington, TX

motorola870

Member

said by Aprel:

Really cool.

said by Happydude32:

The DVR List and management is completely redesigned and there's folders, program cover art is included when you go to play a recorded event.

If that's the upgrade that will be rolled out to BHN, I hope it won't affect already recorded programs. I remember a few years ago with the last guide upgrade, customer service called all subscribers to inform them there was a possibility series manager data would be lost...not a big deal, can't remember if they mentioned the possibility of loss to recorded data now. It didn't affect me.

Although I had recordings I never bothered to delete on my previous box that were >5 years old and didn't play. Probably been there for over one Guide upgrade. To be expected, and not a big deal. They always tell you the DVR is not for longterm storage. I just hope there's no danger to recordings only a few months old.

I got the update here in the Dallas area on 1/14 and it didn't delete my recordings also the update should be seamless there may be a firmware upgrade along with the software upgrade. I have a Motorola DCX3510M running navigator the new update seems very quick compared to ODN 6.0.0_19.
Happydude32
Premium Member
join:2005-07-16

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to Aprel
There is absolutely no reason why that won't be will BHN will deploy. Among many other similarities, BHN and TWC use the exact same software on the exact same boxes. The only difference will be the BHN logo instead of the Time Warner logo. ODN 7.2.0_8 is what you will more then likely see. Any recordings and scheduled recording should remain untouched.
Aprel
join:2013-09-14

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to motorola870
said by motorola870:

I got the update here in the Dallas area on 1/14 and it didn't delete my recordings also the update should be seamless there may be a firmware upgrade along with the software upgrade. I have a Motorola DCX3510M running navigator the new update seems very quick compared to ODN 6.0.0_19.

Thanks for the reassurance. Had a lot of recordings pile up during holiday travel that I haven't gotten to yet.
Wally173
join:2013-05-08
Lithia, FL

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Steve thank you for posting this!
madmonk
join:2012-09-28
Marion, IN

madmonk to gigahurtz

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to gigahurtz
when do BHN get it
wbrightfl
join:2004-07-15
Fort Lauderdale, FL

wbrightfl to Happydude32

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to Happydude32
If that is the new BH guide I like the full screen and showing 2 hours of programming but hate the black/grey/white color scheme. That color scheme is one of the reasons I changed to TIVO for my DVR. I love my TIVO but miss the functions BH doesn't allow on a TIVO and would like to one day go back to a BH DVR. That new guide, if it's really it, is better than the current guide, but the color scheme still sucks. They need to give us a couple of color schemes to chose from or go with a guide with some color like the TIVO or Dish guide.

gigahurtz
Premium Member
join:2001-10-20
USA

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Everything looks great except the rubbish you are watching Thank you for posting.

mixdup
join:2003-06-28
Alpharetta, GA

mixdup to Happydude32

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to Happydude32
said by Happydude32:

Last two pictures are ones I took shortly after we got the HD guide comparing apples to apples the new HD guide on Navigator and DirecTVs HD guide. Pretty obvious which one is better.

Actually at first I didn't catch that DirecTV screen shot. The TWC ODN software is *so close* to it, it's kind of crazy. And, the thing is, it's not related to the DirecTV software in any way, so they had to specifically work to make it look like that. They don't share an operating system or base platform or anything like that.

I do have to think, though, that darker colors are obviously better because all of the STB software out there that actually cares about user experience in any way (DirecTV, Dish, TWC ODN, TiVo) is moving to those darker blue/greys.

gigahurtz
Premium Member
join:2001-10-20
USA

gigahurtz

Premium Member

I had DirecTV and I really liked their guide interface. From the colors to the layout of the DVR. I'm looking forward to seeing this update on my boxes!

Milkman0
join:2011-03-10
Brooksville, FL

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to gigahurtz
said by gigahurtz:

Everything looks great except the rubbish you are watching Thank you for posting.

Yeah I am not a big hockey fan either, but at least he is somewhat intelligent and is watching a HALF WAY decent news source like Fox News.

telijah
Premium Member
join:2013-04-22
Brandon, FL

telijah

Premium Member

said by Milkman0:

and is watching a HALF WAY decent news source like Fox News.

You're in danger of sending this thread way off the rails

Milkman0
join:2011-03-10
Brooksville, FL

Milkman0

Member

He started it.
Mark80
join:2004-01-19
Lake Mary, FL

Mark80 to gigahurtz

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to gigahurtz
said by gigahurtz:

I had DirecTV and I really liked their guide interface. From the colors to the layout of the DVR. I'm looking forward to seeing this update on my boxes!

My mom had DTV when they switched over to their current dark themed guide. She mentioned to me that it made it harder for her to read. She had cataract surgery in both eyes last year, so maybe it will be better for her if she switches back. I had switched her to Charter with the triple play about two years ago and the guaranteed price is about up. She did mention going back to them because she even like the guide better than their MOXI and Motorola guide that they have. (They came and replaced the MOXI with the motorola due to problems a while back.) However, cost is the major factor, and it would help if Charter had a cheaper internet plan. It's going to be fun researching the prices for her soon.
said by Milkman0:

HALF WAY decent news source like Fox News.

Oh lord. Best to bite my tongue here.
wbrightfl
join:2004-07-15
Fort Lauderdale, FL

wbrightfl to gigahurtz

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to gigahurtz
The darker BH guide with blacks/greys is harder for me to read as well. If the font is much larger in the new version it might help but I am hoping they add some color back. I prefer the Navy blue background, white font with yellow highlighting of the TIVO guide. I know you can't please everyone so it would be great if they gave the option to chose a color scheme and gave 2 or 3 options.

gigahurtz
Premium Member
join:2001-10-20
USA

gigahurtz to Milkman0

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Viewers are the most uninformed, each and every year. Enough said.

On another note, you will not be invited to my birthday party either.
gigahurtz

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to wbrightfl
It would be great to have options on the guide color themes. I realize there is a lot that must go into this, but having a few options shouldn't be too much for coding this software, should it?

mixdup
join:2003-06-28
Alpharetta, GA

mixdup

Member

You have to keep in mind that the memory on these boxes is very, very limited. Depending on how that UI is drawn it may not be possible to have color schemes. For example, if those are bitmapped textures instead of an instruction "draw this bar XYZ color" then that takes up a lot of space. It would make sense for them to have a high contrast option at some point, though.

gigahurtz
Premium Member
join:2001-10-20
USA

gigahurtz

Premium Member

You make a great point, that thought never crossed my mind but makes complete sense. I would imagine a high contract option would be here at some point.

Milkman0
join:2011-03-10
Brooksville, FL

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1 thing to say....

LOL... Pot kettle black.
jwb1977
join:2013-09-07
Orlando, FL

jwb1977 to mixdup

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said by mixdup:

You have to keep in mind that the memory on these boxes is very, very limited. Depending on how that UI is drawn it may not be possible to have color schemes. For example, if those are bitmapped textures instead of an instruction "draw this bar XYZ color" then that takes up a lot of space. It would make sense for them to have a high contrast option at some point, though.

Wow, flashback. That just made me recall my early Unix days and the dreaded "Cannot allocate color map entry" on X11. My window manager had a limited number of colors on the screen simultaneously. It happened mostly when running Netscape due to the number of colors it used. It was quite annoying since webpages would just stop rendering. I would've preferred if it mapped to a 16-bit high color palette rather than running out of colors. You make a great point on the potential UI rendering limitations on these boxes.
Gator5000e
join:2013-09-02
Altamonte Springs, FL

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to gigahurtz
This can't get here soon enough!! Especially folders for series episodes, if we get that!
jwb1977
join:2013-09-07
Orlando, FL

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said by Happydude32:

The new software will not be on older boxes. No Scientific Atlanta boxes will get the update. It's for the Cisco's, most if not all Samsung's and the newer Motorola's.

If true, that would be a bummer. My 8300HDC runs ODN, I read the older 8300HD (no C) were the only stuck pre-ocap.

gigahurtz
Premium Member
join:2001-10-20
USA

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I completely agree. One of the things I miss most about my DirecTV service was the easy to use DVR menu. It was nice to have programs grouped in menus.

Gary: any updated information on when this will be released?