On-screen TV Guide feature

We have the on-screen TV Guide feature on our new Sharp TV. Something a
little odd, and I can't find anything in the manual that addresses
this....we're getting our picture, both analog and digital, from a set
top antenna (fancy rabbit ears, basically). Now, we don't watch the
analog channels much, so we cut them out of the scan of stations. In
other words, although one can still access an analog station by typing
its number directly into the remote, if we scan through stations we have
the TV programmed to skip most analog stations and just scan through the
digital ones.

Now, we've found that since we did this, we aren't getting the TV Guide
downloads anymore. We tried reverting back to having all channels in
the scan, and we get TV Guide again. We also never get any TV Guide
info for digital or HD stations, only analog.

Is this supposed to work this way or is there a way to get TV Guide to
download without having analog stations in the scan?

Thx.



John

--


Von Herzen, moge es wieder zu Herzen gehen. --Beethoven

Now, we've found that since we did this, we aren't getting the TV Guide
downloads anymore. We tried reverting back to having all channels in
the scan, and we get TV Guide again. We also never get any TV Guide
info for digital or HD stations, only analog.

I can't help but wonder if there is *ONE* specific channel you need
to leave in the scan, probably PBS, the one transmitting the guide.
Or maybe there's two sources of the guide and you lose it if you
lock out both of them.

You might try locking out the analog channels, one or a few at a time,
until the guide quits. Then bring them back in reverse order until
it comes back. Then try locking out everything you want to lock
out except that one station.

Gordon L. Burditt

The Man Behind The Curtain wrote:
We have the on-screen TV Guide feature on our new Sharp TV. Something a
little odd, and I can't find anything in the manual that addresses
this....we're getting our picture, both analog and digital, from a set
top antenna (fancy rabbit ears, basically). Now, we don't watch the
analog channels much, so we cut them out of the scan of stations. In
other words, although one can still access an analog station by typing
its number directly into the remote, if we scan through stations we have
the TV programmed to skip most analog stations and just scan through the
digital ones.

Now, we've found that since we did this, we aren't getting the TV Guide
downloads anymore. We tried reverting back to having all channels in
the scan, and we get TV Guide again. We also never get any TV Guide
info for digital or HD stations, only analog.

Is this supposed to work this way or is there a way to get TV Guide to
download without having analog stations in the scan?

Thx.



John



Yes John, that is the way it is suppose to work. The TV
guide information is transmitted via an analog TV station
for ALL analog channels (usually it is a PBS station but it
is also transmitted on cable channels like MSN). It is
received ONLY when your TV (or set top box for those that
have them) is off (some PBS stations only transmit the data
during the night). If you lock those channels out you will
get zero TV Guide EPG data for ALL analog channels.

The digital channels work quite differently concerning the
guide data. The guide data is transmitted by EACH station
using PSIP (Program and System Information Protocol). PSIP
also contains the mapping information (the digital stations
transmit on a different frequency than the analog one but
PSIP allows them to be mapped to the same channel number as
the analog station). PSIP is (or should be) available at
all times and since it comes from EACH channel your guide
for each station may vary a LOT depending on how much guide
information the station puts into the data stream. Most TVs
(and ATSC set top boxes) can store up to 16 days of data but
I have yet to see a digital channel that provides more than
15 hours worth of guide data.
--
Bill R

Remove "not_for_spam_" to reply by e-mail

Bill R wrote:

Yes John, that is the way it is suppose to work. The TV guide
information is transmitted via an analog TV station for ALL analog
channels (usually it is a PBS station but it is also transmitted on
cable channels like MSN).

So does this mean I can keep just the analog PBS station on to get all
the data?

It is received ONLY when your TV (or set top
box for those that have them) is off (some PBS stations only transmit
the data during the night).

Yes, that's how it's done here.

The digital channels work quite differently concerning the guide data.
The guide data is transmitted by EACH station using PSIP (Program and
System Information Protocol). PSIP also contains the mapping
information (the digital stations transmit on a different frequency than
the analog one but PSIP allows them to be mapped to the same channel
number as the analog station). PSIP is (or should be) available at all
times and since it comes from EACH channel your guide for each station
may vary a LOT depending on how much guide information the station puts
into the data stream. Most TVs (and ATSC set top boxes) can store up to
16 days of data but I have yet to see a digital channel that provides
more than 15 hours worth of guide data.

So how come we're not getting digital information at all?



John

--


Von Herzen, moge es wieder zu Herzen gehen. --Beethoven

The Man Behind The Curtain wrote:
Bill R wrote:

Yes John, that is the way it is suppose to work. The TV guide
information is transmitted via an analog TV station for ALL analog
channels (usually it is a PBS station but it is also transmitted on
cable channels like MSN).


So does this mean I can keep just the analog PBS station on to get all
the data?

It is received ONLY when your TV (or set top

box for those that have them) is off (some PBS stations only transmit
the data during the night).


Yes, that's how it's done here.

The digital channels work quite differently concerning the guide
data. The guide data is transmitted by EACH station using PSIP
(Program and System Information Protocol). PSIP also contains the
mapping information (the digital stations transmit on a different
frequency than the analog one but PSIP allows them to be mapped to the
same channel number as the analog station). PSIP is (or should be)
available at all times and since it comes from EACH channel your guide
for each station may vary a LOT depending on how much guide
information the station puts into the data stream. Most TVs (and ATSC
set top boxes) can store up to 16 days of data but I have yet to see a
digital channel that provides more than 15 hours worth of guide data.


So how come we're not getting digital information at all?



John


John, It is likely that it is the PBS station that is
transmitting the TV guide data but it could be another
station. I would un-block the analog PBS station and see if
you get the data. If not, it is transmitted on another
station. You will have to try them one by one.

As to why you are not getting the information for your
digital stations that could be the way you have your TV
setup OR it could be a limitation of your TV OR it could be
a different button on your remote (it is on mine). Some TVs
(mostly older models) do not use the PSIP data and therefore
do not have EPG information for the digital channels (I
seriously doubt that your new TV is that way but I will do a
little research). What is the model number of your Sharp TV?

--
Bill R

Remove "notforspam" to reply by e-mail

I have a slightly different problem with the "Guide Plus" on my Philips
TV. The local PBS channel (zip code 32819) now only broadcasts the ad
for the TV Guide magazine. I do not receive any channel listings
anymore. Try locking out all but the PBS analog channels.

Gordon Burditt wrote:

Now, we've found that since we did this, we aren't getting the TV Guide
downloads anymore. We tried reverting back to having all channels in
the scan, and we get TV Guide again. We also never get any TV Guide
info for digital or HD stations, only analog.


I can't help but wonder if there is *ONE* specific channel you need
to leave in the scan, probably PBS, the one transmitting the guide.
Or maybe there's two sources of the guide and you lose it if you
lock out both of them.

You might try locking out the analog channels, one or a few at a time,
until the guide quits. Then bring them back in reverse order until
it comes back. Then try locking out everything you want to lock
out except that one station.

Gordon L. Burditt

The Man Behind The Curtain wrote:
We have the on-screen TV Guide feature on our new Sharp TV.
Something a little odd, and I can't find anything in the manual that
addresses this....we're getting our picture, both analog and
digital,
from a set top antenna (fancy rabbit ears, basically). Now, we
don't
watch the analog channels much, so we cut them out of the scan of
stations. In other words, although one can still access an analog
station by typing its number directly into the remote, if we scan
through stations we have the TV programmed to skip most analog
stations and just scan through the digital ones.

Now, we've found that since we did this, we aren't getting the TV
Guide downloads anymore. We tried reverting back to having all
channels in the scan, and we get TV Guide again. We also never get
any TV Guide info for digital or HD stations, only analog.

Is this supposed to work this way or is there a way to get TV Guide
to
download without having analog stations in the scan?

Thx.



John

Is there something good about TVGuide? If your TV has source-PIP, you
can watch TV-OTA, TV-Cable, DVR, DVD, or PC and have one other source
in the PIP window. TVGuide doesn't hold a candle to the average
on-line guide - unless of course you have TiVo - the best guide of all
IMNSVFHO;-0)

If you can switch between PC guide sources and TV programming, even
without PIP, then who cares what channels you do or don't block? A
remote mouse is way better than a remote TV clicker, if you've set up
your PC well.

Bill's News wrote:

Is there something good about TVGuide? If your TV has source-PIP, you
can watch TV-OTA, TV-Cable, DVR, DVD, or PC and have one other source
in the PIP window. TVGuide doesn't hold a candle to the average
on-line guide - unless of course you have TiVo - the best guide of all
IMNSVFHO;-0)

If you can switch between PC guide sources and TV programming, even
without PIP, then who cares what channels you do or don't block? A
remote mouse is way better than a remote TV clicker, if you've set up
your PC well.


I have a DirecTV TiVo and I agree that the TiVO guide is
great but, on the other hand, the Interactive TV Guide that
comes on newer TV and DVD recorders isn't bad. You can very
easily schedule programs to record and it is a heck a lot
quicker than the on-line guides. For a lot of us the
on-line guides are not an option while we are watching our
HDTVs since our computers aren't in the same room.

--
Bill R

Remove "notforspam" to reply by e-mail

Bill R wrote:
Bill's News wrote:

Is there something good about TVGuide? If your TV has source-PIP,
you can watch TV-OTA, TV-Cable, DVR, DVD, or PC and have one other
source in the PIP window. TVGuide doesn't hold a candle to the
average on-line guide - unless of course you have TiVo - the best
guide of all IMNSVFHO;-0)

If you can switch between PC guide sources and TV programming, even
without PIP, then who cares what channels you do or don't block? A
remote mouse is way better than a remote TV clicker, if you've set
up
your PC well.


I have a DirecTV TiVo and I agree that the TiVO guide is
great but, on the other hand, the Interactive TV Guide that
comes on newer TV and DVD recorders isn't bad. You can very
easily schedule programs to record and it is a heck a lot
quicker than the on-line guides. For a lot of us the
on-line guides are not an option while we are watching our
HDTVs since our computers aren't in the same room.

You raise some excellent issues, Bill. Having been disappointed in
the past by on-screen TV Guides certainly does not mean that they
continue to be useless. And yes, a PC in every TV room may not be the
norm today - but it will be ;-)

We subscribe here to the cable company's DVR, which has a far inferior
guide to TiVo, but a far superior capability - it works with all
channels - I understand that this is also true of TiVo with DirectTV,
just not us cable users? So here, the web based viewer guides
provide the source for look up and search, while we give up one-click
scheduling of recordings (as if the cable box ever offered that!!!;-).

Perhaps a feature of TVs for years, but new to me, is the PIP by
source. So I can now have a PC window open within a TV or DVD program
or vice-versa. And DVI on a 1920x1080 screen makes for very readable
displays.

Never-the-less, the OP seems to have a problem with merely watching
preferred TV channels and getting access to the guide. And my comment
was directed to that. In his case, the feature is apparently
useless - or at least poorly implemented.

Bill R wrote:

John, It is likely that it is the PBS station that is transmitting the
TV guide data but it could be another station. I would un-block the
analog PBS station and see if you get the data. If not, it is
transmitted on another station. You will have to try them one by one.

As to why you are not getting the information for your digital stations
that could be the way you have your TV setup OR it could be a limitation
of your TV OR it could be a different button on your remote (it is on
mine). Some TVs (mostly older models) do not use the PSIP data and
therefore do not have EPG information for the digital channels (I
seriously doubt that your new TV is that way but I will do a little
research). What is the model number of your Sharp TV?

It's a Sharp Aquos LC-45GD5U. One other thing I don't get is why it
takes so long for the TV Guide feature to update. How long does it take
to transmit some text and the correct day and time? Sometimes the red
light on my set is on for 3-4 hours!



John

--


Von Herzen, moge es wieder zu Herzen gehen. --Beethoven