DirecTV Genie Redesigned Menus

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Tom Speer

Tom Speer

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Jul 26, 2016
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The redesigned menu for all DIRECTV Genie servers and their clients is beginning to roll out. Within the Cutting Edge group, we have been using the redesigned menus and providing feedback to DIRECTV Product Development Engineering since April, under a strict non-disclosure agreement (NDA). We have been cleared to discuss the changes and provide guidance and helpful hints to people outside of the CE Forum as of today, as the first regular customers in the Denver DMA who have been upgraded to version 0x1B11 had the new menus enabled today. Other customers will start getting the redesigned menus throughout August, after the Olympics is over. I have started this thread as a place where cananswer questions about the new software version and the redesigned menus. Having version 0x1b11 or higher is enough to get the new menus.

Until this afternoon, only DIRECTV employees, software contractors, and Cutting Edge members have experience with the redesigned menus.
 
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CSM said:
On the Gemini did they add back the HDR On/Off?
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No. Most of our testers have had no problem with the Gemini always outputting HDR. They may have improved the mapping of SDR to HDR. When I replaced my C61K with a Gemini, I saw no problem. My TV reports that the input signal is always HDR10.
 
Tom Speer said:
No. Most of our testers have had no problem with the Gemini always outputting HDR. They may have improved the mapping of SDR to HDR. When I replaced my C61K with a Gemini, I saw no problem. My TV reports that the input signal is always HDR10.
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The Gemini has no problem with a TV that is not 4K or HDR capable. The interesting thing is that currently on my system the Gemini says that the TV is not HDR capable, but then it successfully negotiates a HDR10 signal over the HDMI. Most of the issues I have seen reported are from people who have a splitter, say with a TV and a projector, so that the HDMI negotiation does not correctly determine the capability of the display.
 
Tom Speer said:
The Gemini has no problem with a TV that is not 4K or HDR capable. The interesting thing is that currently on my system the Gemini says that the TV is not HDR capable, but then it successfully negotiates a HDR10 signal over the HDMI. Most of the issues I have seen reported are from people who have a splitter, say with a TV and a projector, so that the HDMI negotiation does not correctly determine the capability of the display.
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I have a Sony x930e 2017 model and HDR always looked dark even on the C61k 4k channels. Turning the HDR off on my TV made the 4k channels look brighter. Also having the 4k SDR setting on my Fire TV 4k cube makes the 4k shows look brighter.
 
HDr means High Dynamic Range That means that the darker parts of the picture are darker. HDr is best viewed in a darkened room. But many TV's allow adjusting HDR to be brighter or darker.
 
Tom Speer said:
HDr means High Dynamic Range That means that the darker parts of the picture are darker. HDr is best viewed in a darkened room. But many TV's allow adjusting HDR to be brighter or darker.
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I tried that on my TV, and it didn't work. Not sure if it had to do with, I got Dolby Vision with a software update it didn't come with it built in. Also, on the C61k HDR is only on the 4k channels. However, with the streaming apps HDR would always be on anyway. Not sure why they couldn't do that the same way on the Gemini. I returned the Gemini because the HD channels looked too dark.
 
WE need to create separate discussion threads for publicly released software versions, and another one for Gemini issues with publicly relased Gemini software. This thread is about the Redesigned menus.
 
CSM said:
Ok, sorry. Can you post a photo of what the guide looks like?
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The guide is not changed much, if any. The changes are all in the menu.
 

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CSM said:
Thanks for posting. Just what I was going to say nothing new on the guide.
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Most people will probably not notice any changes. Unless you are hitting the menu button to do something, the menus that have shortcut buttons are the same. I use List and Guide buttons, I'm not going to browse things from the menu.
 
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Someone on dbstalk is reporting that his HS17 started getting locals from an attached AM21 a week ago. He said he's located in Colorado, so I guess he was in the Denver DMA and thus one of the first people to get this new update.

So I take it that was part of the update? I wonder what took them so long.
 
slice1900 said:
Someone on dbstalk is reporting that his HS17 started getting locals from an attached AM21 a week ago. He said he's located in Colorado, so I guess he was in the Denver DMA and thus one of the first people to get this new update.

So I take it that was part of the update? I wonder what took them so long.
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Denver is the market where they started rolling out the new software cycle that includes the capability of turning on the redesigned menus. The rest of the country will start getting version 0x1B11 or subsequent versions, Genie mini client software upgrades and Gemini software upgrades after the Olympics. It will be rolled out slowly at tfirst then more rapidly toward the end of August.

They had to write new drivers for the HS17 to support the LCC, but the first time we tested them, no one reported problems, except some problems getting good guide data. DIRECTV will not support the AM21. But it is an added bonus to the LCC support, for people who have an AM21. I don't know when they will announce support for the LCC. The guy in Colorado who happened to have an AM21 plugged in to his HS17 when he got version 0x1B11 surprised them
 
Tom Speer said:
Denver is the market where they started rolling out the new software cycle that includes the capability of turning on the redesigned menus. The rest of the country will start getting version 0x1B11 or subsequent versions, Genie mini client software upgrades and Gemini software upgrades after the Olympics. It will be rolled out slowly at tfirst then more rapidly toward the end of August.

They had to write new drivers for the HS17 to support the LCC, but the first time we tested them, no one reported problems, except some problems getting good guide data. DIRECTV will not support the AM21. But it is an added bonus to the LCC support, for people who have an AM21. I don't know when they will announce support for the LCC. The guy in Colorado who happened to have an AM21 plugged in to his HS17 when he got version 0x1B11 surprised them
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I think that is a very positive change that they are now discounting for users that don't need locals via satellite and investing in better support of locals via antenna, something they have not done in many years. LCC (or AM21) on the Genie 2 was something I never thought we would see.
 

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