Sky 'auto standby' to roll out from today
 

"Steve Bosman" wrote in message
oups.com...
On Mar 20, 9:49 am, "Ed" wrote:
The boxes will go to "sleep" after 11pm if they detect they have not
been used for two hours.


In principle I agree with this change [1], but I'd like to know how it
copes with the situation of watching a long(ish) film (i.e. longer
than 2 hours) that ends after 11pm. I would hope for, but don't expect
to get, software clever enough to go into standby after the last
selected programme finishes.

I don't know how Sky works it, but what the Virgin V+ box does is that after
midnight if the box isn't being used it shuts down the hard drive and
various other bits, but it doesn't shut off the picture it just puts
"Resting" on the screen at the bottom left.

Sky 'auto standby' to roll out from today
 

On 20 Mar 2007 02:49:50 -0700, "Ed" wrote:

SKY is to introduce technology that automatically switches digital
boxes to standby mode overnight - slashing energy bills by £7.5MILLION
a year.

The boxes will go to "sleep" after 11pm if they detect they have not
been used for two hours.

How on earth can a broadcaster detect whether a home receiver is being
"used" or not? When I'm "using" a receiver, either to watch a
programme directly, or to make a timed recording from it, I'm not
pushing any buttons or doing anything to it that could possibly be
sensed by the electronics.

Is it perhaps just a crude auto-off timer within the box, based on the
assumption that nobody watches anything longer than two hours, and
always indulges in channel-hopping between programmes? If so, I think
they'll just end up wasting even more time fending off complaints from
their customers who think their receivers have gone faulty, and
explaining to them how to switch this anoying feature off.

Rod.

Sky 'auto standby' to roll out from today
 

"Steve Bosman" wrote in message
oups.com...
On Mar 20, 9:49 am, "Ed" wrote:
The boxes will go to "sleep" after 11pm if they detect they have not
been used for two hours.


In principle I agree with this change [1], but I'd like to know how it
copes with the situation of watching a long(ish) film (i.e. longer
than 2 hours) that ends after 11pm. I would hope for, but don't expect
to get, software clever enough to go into standby after the last
selected programme finishes.

Steve

[1] I tend to put the box into standby before I go to bed anyway
(maybe 5 days out of 7).

The box still records if you put it in standby, don't see it making any
difference that way.
The only thing that worries me is another software update, I'm sure this is
what causes my recordings to sometimes disappear!


--
RobertJM

Sky 'auto standby' to roll out from today
 

"Roderick Stewart" wrote in message
...
On 20 Mar 2007 02:49:50 -0700, "Ed" wrote:

SKY is to introduce technology that automatically switches digital
boxes to standby mode overnight - slashing energy bills by £7.5MILLION
a year.

The boxes will go to "sleep" after 11pm if they detect they have not
been used for two hours.

How on earth can a broadcaster detect whether a home receiver is being
"used" or not? When I'm "using" a receiver, either to watch a
programme directly, or to make a timed recording from it, I'm not
pushing any buttons or doing anything to it that could possibly be
sensed by the electronics.

It's not that the broadcaster is sensing whether the receier is being used
after 11PM. I imagine that they will be broadcasting updated firmware over
teh next few weeks which all the boxes will use to reprogram themselves so
they have the auto-shutdown facility. Auto-shutdown probably relies on i) is
the box in full-on mode and ii) is it recording a timed event. If it's on
and recording, I'd sincerely hope it will continue working as normal. If
it's on but not recording (eg because you are watching but not recording)
then I'd expect it to flash a message "about to shutdown" which you can
override from your remote to give you another hour or so "stay of
execution". But if you are not using the box, either to record or to watch
live, why leave it fully on? Why not shut it down, as you would with a VCR
or a TV? Are Sky boxes different in that they will make a timed recording
even when they are left fully on, unlike VCRs which will only do so from
standby mode?

Sky 'auto standby' to roll out from today
 

On Mar 20, 12:46 pm, "Martin Underwood" wrote:
"Roderick Stewart" wrote in message

...

On 20 Mar 2007 02:49:50 -0700, "Ed" wrote:

SKY is to introduce technology that automatically switches digital
boxes to standby mode overnight - slashing energy bills by £7.5MILLION
a year.

The boxes will go to "sleep" after 11pm if they detect they have not
been used for two hours.

How on earth can a broadcaster detect whether a home receiver is being
"used" or not? When I'm "using" a receiver, either to watch a
programme directly, or to make a timed recording from it, I'm not
pushing any buttons or doing anything to it that could possibly be
sensed by the electronics.

It's not that the broadcaster is sensing whether the receier is being used
after 11PM. I imagine that they will be broadcasting updated firmware over
teh next few weeks which all the boxes will use to reprogram themselves so
they have the auto-shutdown facility. Auto-shutdown probably relies on i) is
the box in full-on mode and ii) is it recording a timed event. If it's on
and recording, I'd sincerely hope it will continue working as normal. If
it's on but not recording (eg because you are watching but not recording)
then I'd expect it to flash a message "about to shutdown" which you can
override from your remote to give you another hour or so "stay of
execution". But if you are not using the box, either to record or to watch
live, why leave it fully on? Why not shut it down, as you would with a VCR
or a TV? Are Sky boxes different in that they will make a timed recording
even when they are left fully on, unlike VCRs which will only do so from
standby mode?


It will surely not try to shut down if the same programme is being
watched. i.e. it will have to satisfy the following criteria before
shutting down
Is it past 11pm
Has two hours elapsed since last interaction (e.g. button being pressed on remote)
Has the programme being broadcast changed in the last two hours

Obviously many sports events and movies last over 2 hours and viewers
will not want a banner popping up in the middle saying the box is
going to go to sleep.

Sky 'auto standby' to roll out from today
 

Ed wrote:
On Mar 20, 12:46 pm, "Martin Underwood" wrote:
"Roderick Stewart" wrote in
message

...

On 20 Mar 2007 02:49:50 -0700, "Ed" wrote:

SKY is to introduce technology that automatically switches digital
boxes to standby mode overnight - slashing energy bills by
£7.5MILLION
a year.

The boxes will go to "sleep" after 11pm if they detect they have
not
been used for two hours.

How on earth can a broadcaster detect whether a home receiver is
being "used" or not? When I'm "using" a receiver, either to watch a
programme directly, or to make a timed recording from it, I'm not
pushing any buttons or doing anything to it that could possibly be
sensed by the electronics.

It's not that the broadcaster is sensing whether the receier is
being used
after 11PM. I imagine that they will be broadcasting updated
firmware over
teh next few weeks which all the boxes will use to reprogram
themselves so
they have the auto-shutdown facility. Auto-shutdown probably relies
on i) is
the box in full-on mode and ii) is it recording a timed event. If
it's on
and recording, I'd sincerely hope it will continue working as
normal. If
it's on but not recording (eg because you are watching but not
recording)
then I'd expect it to flash a message "about to shutdown" which you
can
override from your remote to give you another hour or so "stay of
execution". But if you are not using the box, either to record or to
watch
live, why leave it fully on? Why not shut it down, as you would with
a VCR
or a TV? Are Sky boxes different in that they will make a timed
recording
even when they are left fully on, unlike VCRs which will only do so
from
standby mode?


It will surely not try to shut down if the same programme is being
watched. i.e. it will have to satisfy the following criteria before
shutting down
Is it past 11pm
Has two hours elapsed since last interaction (e.g. button being
pressed on remote) Has the programme being broadcast changed in the
last two hours

Obviously many sports events and movies last over 2 hours and viewers
will not want a banner popping up in the middle saying the box is
going to go to sleep.

Also it's not unheard of for people to watch consecutive programmes on the
same channel.

Sky 'auto standby' to roll out from today
 

What brings it out of Standby? And what's the problem with it being in
Standby until required all day? Surely most box's only ever get used during
the evening, other than weekends.

Sky 'auto standby' to roll out from today
 

On Tue, 20 Mar 2007 13:03:10 -0000, "Adrian A"
wrote:

It will surely not try to shut down if the same programme is being
watched. i.e. it will have to satisfy the following criteria before
shutting down
Is it past 11pm
Has two hours elapsed since last interaction (e.g. button being
pressed on remote) Has the programme being broadcast changed in the
last two hours

Obviously many sports events and movies last over 2 hours and viewers
will not want a banner popping up in the middle saying the box is
going to go to sleep.

Also it's not unheard of for people to watch consecutive programmes on the
same channel.

I already have various bits of equipment such as computers, digital
cameras, phones, and yes TV recording machines - disk and tape - with
"auto-off" or "power save" features, but they're all just simple
timers. If this is all that Sky are proposing, then it's not exactly
new, and in all existing cases I can set the time interval myself or
switch it off. I'm glad I'm not a Sky customer.

Rod.

Sky 'auto standby' to roll out from today
 

On Tue, 20 Mar 2007 13:27:09 -0000, "John Russell"
wrote:

What brings it out of Standby?

Presumably the user or a scheduled recording.

And what's the problem with it being in
Standby until required all day?

Nothing.

Surely most box's only ever get used during
the evening, other than weekends.

Yes, but a lot of people probably keep them running during the day
anyway.
--
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Help make Usenet a better place: English is read downwards,
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Sky 'auto standby' to roll out from today
 

Yes, but a lot of people probably keep them running during the day
anyway.
You mean some people just turn the TV off (sorry put it in standby) and
forget about the digibox?
So it's of no benefit to those of us who already put the box in standby
whenever we stop watching?
Why make such a big thing of this when the problem is the fact that even in
standby some power is still consummed? The Goverment has asked the industry
to look and minimisng the power thats' required in standby, not just
introducing Auto Standby.