Disabling Live TV Buffer in Vista Media Center

Hi,

I have been googling around for a way to disable the live tv buffer
that media center has, which seems to be about 2 seconds as far as I
can tell.

I have Dish Network and my reciever comes with a built in dvr so I do
not need this feature.

Currently my TV Tuner card (PCI) is getting input from a RF modulator
(via coax). The RF modulator has my Nintendo Wii (via rca cables) and
Satelite service (via coax) connected to it. I have my TV settings
in Vista Media center set to Analog (NTSC) and the video and audio
come in fine - except for the delay which basically prevents from
playing my Wii.

Is there any registry setting? Or modification available to change
this behavior? Maybe a plugin? The PowerToys is only available for XP
version Media Center so that is useless here.

FYI - i have a projector connected to this system so if anyone is
wondering why I do this - a 150 inch screen - thats why :)

John_F

I do not believe that disabling the live TV buffer will help you. I believe
the live TV buffer is actually around 30 Mins. What you are most likely
experiencing is the time it takes to encode a block of video. The TV tunuer
or its driver is most likely not designed to be a realtime encoder (i.e. low
latency).

If your projector has multiple inputs I would suggest you hook up your game
console to different input. This will elimate the encoding delays you are
experiencing.

B.D.

"John_F" wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I have been googling around for a way to disable the live tv buffer
> that media center has, which seems to be about 2 seconds as far as I
> can tell.
>
> I have Dish Network and my reciever comes with a built in dvr so I do
> not need this feature.
>
> Currently my TV Tuner card (PCI) is getting input from a RF modulator
> (via coax). The RF modulator has my Nintendo Wii (via rca cables) and
> Satelite service (via coax) connected to it. I have my TV settings
> in Vista Media center set to Analog (NTSC) and the video and audio
> come in fine - except for the delay which basically prevents from
> playing my Wii.
>
> Is there any registry setting? Or modification available to change
> this behavior? Maybe a plugin? The PowerToys is only available for XP
> version Media Center so that is useless here.
>
> FYI - i have a projector connected to this system so if anyone is
> wondering why I do this - a 150 inch screen - thats why :)
>

The live TV buffer the OP is referring to is the delay between what is input
into MCE and what is seen on the screen, this is a few seconds, the 30
minutes you are referring to is the rewind feature.

--

----
Crosspost, do not multipost http://www.blakjak.demon.co.uk/mul_crss.htm
How to ask a question http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375
Help Us Help You http://dts-l.net/goodpost.htm



"Bill Davis" <BillDavis@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:C62690E5-9A35-4BD7-8F55-7494C0C3D1E5@microsoft.com...
> John_F
>
> I do not believe that disabling the live TV buffer will help you. I
> believe
> the live TV buffer is actually around 30 Mins. What you are most likely
> experiencing is the time it takes to encode a block of video. The TV
> tunuer
> or its driver is most likely not designed to be a realtime encoder (i.e.
> low
> latency).
>
> If your projector has multiple inputs I would suggest you hook up your
> game
> console to different input. This will elimate the encoding delays you are
> experiencing.
>
> B.D.
>
> "John_F" wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> I have been googling around for a way to disable the live tv buffer
>> that media center has, which seems to be about 2 seconds as far as I
>> can tell.
>>
>> I have Dish Network and my reciever comes with a built in dvr so I do
>> not need this feature.
>>
>> Currently my TV Tuner card (PCI) is getting input from a RF modulator
>> (via coax). The RF modulator has my Nintendo Wii (via rca cables) and
>> Satelite service (via coax) connected to it. I have my TV settings
>> in Vista Media center set to Analog (NTSC) and the video and audio
>> come in fine - except for the delay which basically prevents from
>> playing my Wii.
>>
>> Is there any registry setting? Or modification available to change
>> this behavior? Maybe a plugin? The PowerToys is only available for XP
>> version Media Center so that is useless here.
>>
>> FYI - i have a projector connected to this system so if anyone is
>> wondering why I do this - a 150 inch screen - thats why :)
>>

Thanks Bill but I do not believe the tv tuner is the problem. If I
use the software provided by Pinnacle (tv tuner manufacturer) I can
play just fine.

You are right, I dont want to disable the live tv buffer - what I want
to disable is the 2 - 3 seconds of video/audio data that gets buffered
by media center in order to do the accomplish the ability to pause,
forward etc. I do not know what the term for this is :(

I guess I am looking for the ability to modify the 'live tv' behavior
to be more 'live?'

Is is possible that media center does not use the proper decoder?
Maybe thats what causes the delay?



On Dec 15, 2:21*pm, Bill Davis <BillDa...@discussions.microsoft.com>
wrote:
> John_F
>
> I do not believe that disabling the live TV buffer will help you. *I believe
> the live TV buffer is actually around 30 Mins. *What you are most likely
> experiencing is the time it takes to encode a block of video. *The TV tunuer
> or its driver is most likely not designed to be a realtime encoder (i.e. low
> latency).
>
> If your projector has multiple inputs I would suggest you hook up your game
> console to different input. *This will elimate the encoding delays you are
> experiencing.
>
> B.D.
>
> "John_F" wrote:
> > Hi,
>
> > I have been googling around for a way to disable the live tv buffer
> > that media center has, which seems to be about 2 seconds as far as I
> > can tell.
>
> > I have Dish Network and my reciever comes with a built in dvr so I do
> > not need this feature.
>
> > Currently my TV Tuner card (PCI) is getting input from a RF modulator
> > (via coax). The RF modulator has my Nintendo Wii (via rca cables) and
> > Satelite service (via coax) connected to it. * I have my TV settings
> > in Vista Media center set to Analog (NTSC) and the video and audio
> > come in fine - except for the delay which basically prevents from
> > playing my Wii.
>
> > Is there any registry setting? Or modification available to change
> > this behavior? Maybe a plugin? *The PowerToys is only available for XP
> > version Media Center so that is useless here.
>
> > FYI - i have a projector connected to this system so if anyone is
> > wondering why I do this - a 150 inch screen - thats why :)

Since MC writes the input data using disk cache and displays it the same
time the delay in response time is not really caused the maintaining the
time shift buffer. AFAIK the delay is very deliberate in order to insure
that when watching live TV that another program can not get get control of
the CPU and cause a stutter in the TV display. By having the small delay MC
is able to prevent this from happening. Other TV applications supplied by
the tuner card suppliers do not have a deliberate delay and in many cases do
not even require that analog broadcasts be encoded prior to input.
"John_F" <johnfrancis04@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:86323615-37a5-4f76-85d8-9c9c9d7ed08a@x16g2000prn.googlegroups.com...
Thanks Bill but I do not believe the tv tuner is the problem. If I
use the software provided by Pinnacle (tv tuner manufacturer) I can
play just fine.

You are right, I dont want to disable the live tv buffer - what I want
to disable is the 2 - 3 seconds of video/audio data that gets buffered
by media center in order to do the accomplish the ability to pause,
forward etc. I do not know what the term for this is :(

I guess I am looking for the ability to modify the 'live tv' behavior
to be more 'live?'

Is is possible that media center does not use the proper decoder?
Maybe thats what causes the delay?



On Dec 15, 2:21 pm, Bill Davis <BillDa...@discussions.microsoft.com>
wrote:
> John_F
>
> I do not believe that disabling the live TV buffer will help you. I
> believe
> the live TV buffer is actually around 30 Mins. What you are most likely
> experiencing is the time it takes to encode a block of video. The TV
> tunuer
> or its driver is most likely not designed to be a realtime encoder (i.e.
> low
> latency).
>
> If your projector has multiple inputs I would suggest you hook up your
> game
> console to different input. This will elimate the encoding delays you are
> experiencing.
>
> B.D.
>
> "John_F" wrote:
> > Hi,
>
> > I have been googling around for a way to disable the live tv buffer
> > that media center has, which seems to be about 2 seconds as far as I
> > can tell.
>
> > I have Dish Network and my reciever comes with a built in dvr so I do
> > not need this feature.
>
> > Currently my TV Tuner card (PCI) is getting input from a RF modulator
> > (via coax). The RF modulator has my Nintendo Wii (via rca cables) and
> > Satelite service (via coax) connected to it. I have my TV settings
> > in Vista Media center set to Analog (NTSC) and the video and audio
> > come in fine - except for the delay which basically prevents from
> > playing my Wii.
>
> > Is there any registry setting? Or modification available to change
> > this behavior? Maybe a plugin? The PowerToys is only available for XP
> > version Media Center so that is useless here.
>
> > FYI - i have a projector connected to this system so if anyone is
> > wondering why I do this - a 150 inch screen - thats why :)

Unless something has been modified in Vista (from XP MCE), you can't change
that behavior in Media Center.

Over the years many people have asked that same question here and on other
MC forums. The answer is that the couple of second pause is deliberate and
was probably initially programmed in to ensure smooth video with lesser
powered systems.
--
James
Orlando (Goofy says "Hey!"), FL

"John_F" <johnfrancis04@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:86323615-37a5-4f76-85d8-9c9c9d7ed08a@x16g2000prn.googlegroups.com...
> Thanks Bill but I do not believe the tv tuner is the problem. If I
> use the software provided by Pinnacle (tv tuner manufacturer) I can
> play just fine.
>
> You are right, I dont want to disable the live tv buffer - what I want
> to disable is the 2 - 3 seconds of video/audio data that gets buffered
> by media center in order to do the accomplish the ability to pause,
> forward etc. I do not know what the term for this is :(
>
> I guess I am looking for the ability to modify the 'live tv' behavior
> to be more 'live?'
>
> Is is possible that media center does not use the proper decoder?
> Maybe thats what causes the delay?
>
>
>
> On Dec 15, 2:21 pm, Bill Davis <BillDa...@discussions.microsoft.com>
> wrote:
>> John_F
>>
>> I do not believe that disabling the live TV buffer will help you. I
>> believe
>> the live TV buffer is actually around 30 Mins. What you are most likely
>> experiencing is the time it takes to encode a block of video. The TV
>> tunuer
>> or its driver is most likely not designed to be a realtime encoder (i.e.
>> low
>> latency).
>>
>> If your projector has multiple inputs I would suggest you hook up your
>> game
>> console to different input. This will elimate the encoding delays you are
>> experiencing.
>>
>> B.D.
>>
>> "John_F" wrote:
>> > Hi,
>>
>> > I have been googling around for a way to disable the live tv buffer
>> > that media center has, which seems to be about 2 seconds as far as I
>> > can tell.
>>
>> > I have Dish Network and my reciever comes with a built in dvr so I do
>> > not need this feature.
>>
>> > Currently my TV Tuner card (PCI) is getting input from a RF modulator
>> > (via coax). The RF modulator has my Nintendo Wii (via rca cables) and
>> > Satelite service (via coax) connected to it. I have my TV settings
>> > in Vista Media center set to Analog (NTSC) and the video and audio
>> > come in fine - except for the delay which basically prevents from
>> > playing my Wii.
>>
>> > Is there any registry setting? Or modification available to change
>> > this behavior? Maybe a plugin? The PowerToys is only available for XP
>> > version Media Center so that is useless here.
>>
>> > FYI - i have a projector connected to this system so if anyone is
>> > wondering why I do this - a 150 inch screen - thats why :)
>

You can not disable it.

regards,
S.Sengupta[MS-MVP]

John_F wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I have been googling around for a way to disable the live tv buffer
> that media center has, which seems to be about 2 seconds as far as I
> can tell.
>
> I have Dish Network and my reciever comes with a built in dvr so I do
> not need this feature.
>
> Currently my TV Tuner card (PCI) is getting input from a RF modulator
> (via coax). The RF modulator has my Nintendo Wii (via rca cables) and
> Satelite service (via coax) connected to it. I have my TV settings
> in Vista Media center set to Analog (NTSC) and the video and audio
> come in fine - except for the delay which basically prevents from
> playing my Wii.
>
> Is there any registry setting? Or modification available to change
> this behavior? Maybe a plugin? The PowerToys is only available for XP
> version Media Center so that is useless here.
>
> FYI - i have a projector connected to this system so if anyone is
> wondering why I do this - a 150 inch screen - thats why :)

On Dec 16, 5:10*am, "S.Sengupta" <ssengup...@msn.com.invalid> wrote:
> You can not disable it.
>
> regards,
> S.Sengupta[MS-MVP]
>
> John_F wrote:
> > Hi,
>
> > I have been googling around for a way to disable the live tv buffer
> > that media center has, which seems to be about 2 seconds as far as I
> > can tell.
>
> > I have Dish Network and my reciever comes with a built in dvr so I do
> > not need this feature.
>
> > Currently my TV Tuner card (PCI) is getting input from a RF modulator
> > (via coax). The RF modulator has my Nintendo Wii (via rca cables) and
> > Satelite service (via coax) connected to it. * I have my TV settings
> > in Vista Media center set to Analog (NTSC) and the video and audio
> > come in fine - except for the delay which basically prevents from
> > playing my Wii.
>
> > Is there any registry setting? Or modification available to change
> > this behavior? Maybe a plugin? *The PowerToys is only available for XP
> > version Media Center so that is useless here.
>
> > FYI - i have a projector connected to this system so if anyone is
> > wondering why I do this - a 150 inch screen - thats why :)


Thanks all for the comments. Looks like I will have to switch
programs to play Wii but that's the price you pay I suppose :).

I could write a plugin for windows media player I suppose but it
sounds like opening pandora's box instead :(