1. when watching a PPV movie does the PVR buffer it? ie. can I rewind, pause etc.

I have also seen on this thread that it's not possible to record PPV, what a bunch of BS. I should be able to record it with an expiry of 24 hrs or something like that.


I recently sat down and watched "Super Size Me" which I ordered via PPV and set my 6208 to record. When the show started I was getting constant freeze-ups and sound dropouts and couldn't figure out why. My roommate wondered whether or not it was due to the recording I had set. Sure enough after telling to 6208 to stop recording the picture and sound were back to normal and we enjoyed the rest of the movie.

After the movie was over I went back into my recordings and watched the part the 6208 did record. It was perfect, no dropouts or pixelation.

So while I think you can record PPV I don't think it's worth doing, you might as well just watch it when you know you're not going to be interrupted.

When watching a show that is recorded on the DVR I am asked for the pin when I start it up, as it should. But then it will ask for the pin again at the top and bottom of the hour. While the pin is being put in the recorded show continues to play. Is this a feature or a bug?Sounds like a bug. Just a guess, but perhaps the later prompts are for whatever is being tuned in by the tuner (ie. whatever is on the live TV channel while you are watching the recording). I'd report it to Shaw, maybe they can get a fix for it in a future version.

So while I think you can record PPV I don't think it's worth doing, you might as well just watch it when you know you're not going to be interrupted.

I've recorded nearly a dozen PPV's with no problems at all. I usually set them up to record in the middle of the night and then watch them at my leisure once they've been recorded. Plus you can save them for as long as you want.

Hello,

I've had a Shaw 6208 since Sept 04 and have run into the PPV freeze problem (also with "Super Size Me"). I found that if i changed the channel when this occurs and then go back that the problem clears itself. Also, just as an aside, you can record PPV and keep them just as you can for any other program.

I had been following the dct6208 forum since the box was 1st made available by Shaw. Interested but the $798 price tag too steep. The $498 price tag made it more palatable and we got one at Christmas.

Overall impression is very positive. We don't watch a lot of tv but we used our VCR quite a bit to tape and then watch shows when the kids are in bed or when its more convienent. The 6208 makes recording so much easier than a VCR. I had read that using the pvr changes your viewing habits. I belief that as I don't think we will watch much live TV. If we do, I like the fact that one can pause, rewind, replay with a live broadcast as the 6208 is recording the channel your on. Very Handy for obvious reasons.

We both like the 30 second skip as one can quickly bypass commercials.
As mentioned in this forum, the fast forward and rewind is slow compared to other products but its 100% better than a VCR. Frankly, its not a concern.

The 80 gig harddrive I think will be big enough for our needs. We use the digital timeshift channels and digital Movie Central channels to record the bulk of what we watch. At any time, we might have 6-8 hours worth of content taking up 15% of available harddrive space.

Honestly, the HD channels are a bonus. The recording ability was the prime motivation for the purchase. We have a HDTV ready Television and it is great to see what High Definition looks like. We have the movie package and I can see us recording movies but I don't think we would record television shows (not often anyway). The 80 gig harddrive is not big enough to record everything in High Definition.

The fan is noisy on the box but I only seem to notice it when I'm very close to the box or when the house is silent. Not a big concern.

The right top side of the box is very warm however. One would probably not put anything on top of the 6208.

As mentioned in previous threads, the analog channels viewed through the dct can be poor. I'm hoping that SHAW will go all-digital with the hope that the quality of the reception would be better.

For our needs, the box works great and would recommend it.

The 6208 has been working fairly well since I got it in August. The exception would be that I have had to unplug the unit every month or so and let it reset completely. (It just gets slower and slower, over time, in its response to channel changes or other functions when in the 301+ range.) The resetting has worked until yesterday.

I suddenly had a message upon powering on (on every channel) that the channel should be available shortly. There was no response to the List (of recorded programs) or any other function. After talking to a Shaw CSR this morning and trying things he suggested and waiting while he did things at his end, we finally gave up. A service rep is meant to be coming in a few days. Would love to solve this problem, if possible, without having to wait for that. Any similar problems out there or suggested solutions?

I've had the 6208 since August and have finally decided it's time to do some calibration. The main problem is crushed blacks, i.e. lack of detail in black areas. I'll get out my Digital Video Essentials for this, but before I start working on my projector to create a saved profile for the 6208 (separate settings from my two DVD players), is there a menu anywhere on the 6208 for adjusting black levels, gamma etc? Any IRE adjustment for choosing between 0 IRE and 7.5 IRE standards? (and if it's not selectable, does anyone know which standard it outputs at - over component?)

gesundheit

The 6208 does not have adjustments for setting picture controls like contrast, brightness (black level), colour, tint or gamma. These all have to be set on your display device.

How do you calibrate HD signal on your own without expensive equipment? It would be nice if Shaw would broadcast calibration patterns once in a while.

I have a D-VHS version of Digital Video Essentials to adjust my HD picture settings. After adjusting with the D-VHS signal, the 6208 signals are pretty good but not great. I had done this before I had the 6208 so I don't know if this improved or degraded the 6208 signal. I certainly improved the quality of the D-VHS playback of HD content. I wouldn't call it a true calibration though.

I also would like to see calibration signals offered on one of the HD channels. I remember someone mentioning on this forum that one of the HD channels he was receiving had a calibration signal in the middle of the night on one day of the week. My poor memory says it as a Detroit channel but I am not sure and I haven't heard whether it is still being broadcast. I know it was a channel I didn't get on Shaw here in Kelowna.

It should be better than using the D-VHS input signal as there may be differences in the settings of the two signals. However differences in settings between the HD broadcasting channels and program contnet may be significant. I know that is true when using calibration patterns to adjust the analog settings on my TV. Checking the settings with the DVD version of Digital Video Essential disc through the composite output and several analog and digital channels from Shaw's DCT2000 composite output show that there are noticeable differences in the TV settings I get from the various sources. I usually just use the mean settings and if a program is particularly poor in quality I will adjust for that program by eye and then reset.

Alan where did you order the dvhs dve? I'd like one as well. Do you have a good local source for svhs or dvhs blanks? I guess fuji are considered the best svhs for use on the jvc dvhs decks. I've seen the jvc dvhs tapes 120s at fs on line but at $29 they are a bit steep. I think I'll mod my jvc deck and use the best svhs tapes I can get. Here's one thing I'm wondering. Can I hook the firewire to the jvc and then component to the tv and watch the 6208 content with the jvc just passing the signal? Just wondering about my connection options. I'll likely hook up the 6208 via dvi and the jvc to component...then firewire between the 2 (already have the cables).

I ordered my DVE D-VHS from the Widescreen Review web site a couple of years ago. Very expensive. About $150 Canadian by the time I had paid for everything.

I bought some blank D-VHS tapes online but forget where. This was more than a couple of years ago. I think it was from Insight Canada but am not sure. I do know it was from a Canadian online web site. They were expensive. $50 or $60 dollars apiece for JVC DF-300 tapes as I recall.

I don't know about your proposed hookup. I have component cables from the 6208 to my A/V receiver, component from the D-VHS to my A/V Receiver, Firewire from the 6208 to D-VHS recorder and component from the A/V Receiver to my TV. I haven't tried to watch from the recorder while I am recording so don't know whether that works or not.

I remember someone mentioning on this forum that one of the HD channels he was receiving had a calibration signal in the middle of the night on one day of the week. My poor memory says it as a Detroit channel but I am not sure and I haven't heard whether it is still being broadcast. I know it was a channel I didn't get on Shaw here in Kelowna.

On Saturday evenings ABC goes off the air, and at 4:00 AM or so they will broadcast the color bar test pattern with the black bars in the pattern. It's only upconvert though, so take it for what it's worth. It's a start I guess.

I've seen HD color bars broadcast a few times... Once for a PBS concert special. The few CBC HD broadcasts have been precursed with 10-15 seconds of color bars too - best bet is to try to catch one of those on the pvr and never delete it. Too bad the PVR doesn't allow you to cut stuff off the beginning and end of a program.

Anyways... The best bet to catch HD bars would be on the mixed HD channel just before a special live event.

gesundheit

The 6208 does not have adjustments for setting picture controls like contrast, brightness (black level), colour, tint or gamma. These all have to be set on your display device.

Thanks Alan. At least I can save separate settings for my different inputs. I'll use plain DVE (not the hi-def one) to try to get most of the settings near optimum. Anyone else find that black detail is sorely lacking? I've only played with it a bit so far, to little avail.

And my question about the IRE output level (0 or 7.5)? Anyone?

I'm in North Vancouver on Shaw Cable using the DCT6208

So what happened the other night when Alias was broadcast from 9:03pm to 10:03pm? Specifically, was anyone able to set it to record along with something else at 10:00pm from the guide or did you get a scheduling conflict and have to record the 10pm show manually to start when Alias finished?

I've heard a nasty rumour about the networks doing this more often to make us watch live tv more and kick our recording habits. Ha, networks! Good luck!

I also have an RCA DRS7000N dvd player/hdd recorder that comes with a built-in TV Guide. I happened to record Alias on it the other night and when it finished, it automatically popped over to channel 49 to record Survivorman that was already in progress! Great machine! What's wrong with our 6208 i-guide software?

This is probably a dumb question, but what universal remote does the 6208 from shaw come with? Is it the standard millenium 4 that they have used for years?

AFAIK it is the millenium 4 same as the dct 6200.

The DCT-6208 comes with the Atlas DVR/PVR 5-Device remote.

http://www.shaw.ca/en-ca/CustomerCare/TechnicalSupport/DigitalTV/UserGuides/RemoteControlCodes.htm

Oops...good to know. The millenium 4 wouldn't be the best remote for a pvr unit as you'd have to keep flipping the panel open to control stuff.

I should add that I hated the layout and ergonomics of the Atlas remote. :o