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How do you like Ignite TV compared to Digital Cable?

OLDYELLR
I'm a senior advisor

First of all, I'm not an Ignite customer.  In fact, I cancelled Rogers digital cable when I went to an IPTV package from my ISP using fibre that was installed in my area last summer.

 

My transition was more of a surprise than for most of you moving from Rogers Digital Cable to Ignite TV because I had a SA8300HD PVR on the SARA system, with none of the fancy shmancy graphics of the NAVIGATR interface, but it was simple, user friendly and had several features the later interfaces had dropped.  My legacy VIP also had way more channels, although, unfortunately, not the ones I really wanted.

 

Here are a couple of annoyances I found switching from Digital Cable to IPTV.

1. When playing cloud recordings I find the FF button skips in bigger steps than it did  with digital recordings on my hard drive.  Do you also see that on Ignite?

2. With my new IPTV service, I find that some SD channels do not display or record with the correct aspect ratio.  TV Ontario is weird because it displays correctly live, but record in SD, horizontally compressed. How is it on Ignite TV?

 

I ask these questions not only for my own edification, but so Rogers customers switching from Digital Cable to Ignite TV know what they'll be getting, because you can't switch back.

 

 

***Added Labels*** 

 


Rogers PayGo. Location: S-W Ontario
125 REPLIES 125

Re: How do you like Ignite TV compared to Digital Cable?

57
Resident Expert
Resident Expert

@User2225676 wrote:

 1) No way to HIDE repeat channels

 5) No button to FAST FORWORD 3 MINS to eliminate commercials!!!  WHY?

  9)  Before I had the option to start MY RECORDINGS up to 3 HOURS EARLY now I ONLY GET 3-5 MINUETS OPTION . WHY?

 10)...RECORD ALL EPISODES of this show on TSN1, it will record all episodes but one day this week it is not on TSN1, but on TSN2-TSN3-and TSN5, I WILL MISS MY RECORDING!!!!!!!! 


I have the follow explanations for your "WHY" questions.  I don't have Ignite myself, however, I have been following the threads here very closely as I would like to switch to Ignite once the items that bother me are addressed, as discussed earlier in this thread.

 

1. The reason the channels are repeated are so that they can be associated into groups like "movies, kids, sports, timeshift, HD etc"  Consequently some channels are repeated several times

5. Although the 3 minutes was useful for some commercial breaks, many are not exactly 3 minutes, so the 30 second skip that you can programme as outlined above may actually be more useful for commercial breaks that are 2.5 minutes, 3.5 minutes, etc.

9. With Ignite there should be no need to extend recordings at either end since the IPG is updated "live". This means that even if a programme ends late or starts early, Ignite should catch that eventuality.  No guarantees.  You can always record the programme that goes before or after...  One reason for not allowing long extensions is that server space is limited for recordings, so cost would rise if this option were enabled.

10.  I believe it depends how you set up your recording if you do it from the guide, it will record only that channel. If you set it up from a search, then it should get the programme from whatever channel airs it...  You may, or may not be able to modify your scheduled recordings from the scheduled recordings list...

 

 

 

Re: How do you like Ignite TV compared to Digital Cable?

-G-
Resident Expert
Resident Expert

@57 wrote:

9. With Ignite there should be no need to extend recordings at either end since the IPG is updated "live". This means that even if a programme ends late or starts early, Ignite should catch that eventuality.


Yes, on Ignite, the IPG does update more frequently, and is more accurate, more current, and more detailed than on Digital TV... and recordings are automatically extended for some live events, but not always.  Also, over the past week, there were a few times where sporting events on US networks ran late, and the late-night shows that follow (airing on Global) got delayed but the Guide never gets a "live update" in those situations, so you would end up missing the first 30-45 minutes of those shows when you record them.  However, those shows can be viewed later on-demand, and depending on which version is available at the time (replay/restart vs. on-demand) and the rights associated with it, you may be able to skip through commercials.

Re: How do you like Ignite TV compared to Digital Cable?

OLDYELLR
I'm a senior advisor

@57 wrote:

9. With Ignite there should be no need to extend recordings at either end since the IPG is updated "live". This means that even if a programme ends late or starts early, Ignite should catch that eventuality.  No guarantees.  You can always record the programme that goes before or after... 

 

 


I wonder how that worked for people watching Formula 1 Qualifying on Ignite today.  Q3 was beyond the time slot due to rain, running long.  When I had Rogers digital cable with SARA, I routinely extended all F1 recordings by an hour to allow for delays. I can't do that with my new (non-Rogers) IPTV cloud DVR, but I haven't been scheduling the next program either (usually Sports Desk).  However, my IPTV has this "Catch-Up TV" feature where I can go to the Guide and go back up to 24 hours and watch the next program that I missed. That's what I did today and I do that whenever 60 Minutes gets delayed by a long running  sports event.  Does Ignite have anything like that?

 

 


Rogers PayGo. Location: S-W Ontario

Re: How do you like Ignite TV compared to Digital Cable?

-G-
Resident Expert
Resident Expert

@OLDYELLR wrote:

I wonder how that worked for people watching Formula 1 Qualifying on Ignite today.  Q3 was beyond the time slot due to rain, running long.

 

However, my IPTV has this "Catch-Up TV" feature where I can go to the Guide and go back up to 24 hours and watch the next program that I missed. That's what I did today and I do that whenever 60 Minutes gets delayed by a long running  sports event.  Does Ignite have anything like that?


I just checked.  Gave the "Formula One" Voice Command which brought up the "Formula 1 Racing" program screen.  Qualifying event was there for viewing and I could fast forward to the end.  Unfortunately, the On Demand program did not get extended so it also missed the ending.  I will let you know if an extended version shows up later.

 

With Ignite TV (unlike some other IPTV platforms) you cannot go back to a previous program in the Guide and watch a previous program directly.  However, on those other platforms, you would also be equally stuck if your provider did not have "replay" rights for the program in the next timeslot, following the event which ran late.

Re: How do you like Ignite TV compared to Digital Cable?

OLDYELLR
I'm a senior advisor

@-G- wrote:

With Ignite TV (unlike some other IPTV platforms) you cannot go back to a previous program in the Guide and watch a previous program directly.  However, on those other platforms, you would also be equally stuck if your provider did not have "replay" rights for the program in the next timeslot, following the event which ran late.


Yes, that's what my IPTV service says. I haven't used my replay feature much, but so far it's worked for the programs I needed. So I guess Ignite users will need to record the next program on the schedule as well just in case there's a delay.


Rogers PayGo. Location: S-W Ontario

Re: How do you like Ignite TV compared to Digital Cable?

Babylegs1
I plan to stick around

I've had ignite tv since December 2018 and LOVE IT! 

I would never go back to digital tv given the choice.

Re: How do you like Ignite TV compared to Digital Cable?

57
Resident Expert
Resident Expert

@OLDYELLR wrote:

Yes, that's what my IPTV service says. I haven't used my replay feature much, but so far it's worked for the programs I needed. So I guess Ignite users will need to record the next program on the schedule as well just in case there's a delay.


This topic has been discussed in a previous thread, links below:

 

For programming less than 2 hours, you can extend by up to 30 minutes:  For programming 2 hours or more, you can extend by up to 90 minutes.

 

https://communityforums.rogers.com/t5/Ignite-TV/Manually-Set-Recording-Times-Beyond-the-Presets-for-...

 

You can also set up a manual recording for up to 12 hours:

 

https://communityforums.rogers.com/t5/Ignite-TV/Manually-Set-Recording-Times-Beyond-the-Presets-for-...

 

Of course it may be simpler to set a recording for the previous programme(s) or following programme(s), depending on need...

 

 

Re: How do you like Ignite TV compared to Digital Cable?

schmidtp
I plan to stick around
Same goes for Sunday night programming ....the Football games always go over the allotted times and the programs set to record after that are messed up.

Re: How do you like Ignite TV compared to Digital Cable?

attiliomario
I've been here awhile
I regret moving to ignite. I have had it for a few months now and still having ongoing issues. A lot of slowness and interuption. I wanted to move back to cable and Roger's said no because the technology was becoming obsolete. Im still waiting for a technician to fix the issue and im still expected to pay for the service. Rosa Pacheco. I suggest not yo switch over and instead go with Bell. Im hearing really good stuff from Bell.

Re: How do you like Ignite TV compared to Digital Cable?

Outside of having a specific issue, that may only effect a specific area.

As has been described in this thread..  90+% of all issues with ignite, are due to bad setup, bad signal, etc.
IF all those things are done right/corrected, almost ALL the issues that people have with it, should not be present.

Bell's product is good, i have seen it, know people with it.
BUT you can run into just the same sort of things there.   Took my brother in law 6 months with his bell (only option where he is right now) to get them to fix it /get it all working right.

A bad signal, a bad setup, will effect it PERIOD, regardless of company.

Re: How do you like Ignite TV compared to Digital Cable?

Ferkner
I plan to stick around
Overall I like IgniteTV, but there are things that aren't as good as digital cable. One is that surround sound doesn't work on cloud pvr recordings. Another is that the IgniteTV remote is awful. The buttons are really stiff, there is no dedicated Recordings button, and the fast forward and rewind is terrible. You're fast forwarding and then your stop when you see the show starting and it jumps back a minute or so so you have to fast forward again. It NEVER stops where it should. That annoys me the most.

Re: How do you like Ignite TV compared to Digital Cable?

ColdGranite
I'm a senior contributor

@Ferkner wrote:
Overall I like IgniteTV, but there are things that aren't as good as digital cable. One is that surround sound doesn't work on cloud pvr recordings. Another is that the IgniteTV remote is awful. The buttons are really stiff, there is no dedicated Recordings button, and the fast forward and rewind is terrible. You're fast forwarding and then your stop when you see the show starting and it jumps back a minute or so so you have to fast forward again. It NEVER stops where it should. That annoys me the most.

I keep reading about this "surround sound doesn't work on cloud pvr recordings."... Yet my older 6-speaker Sony system blasts out all 6 when I play a recording.  So am I misinterpreting something???

 

I am amazed that you would find the TV remote "awful".  It is much simpler than the Digital one, and the voice control gives you one-button access to pretty much everything.  You can call on a channel, you can call on a program, you can call "recordings" , and it gives your list of recordings.

 

Furthermore, you can call on "forward" or " rewind" and exact amount of time..."rewind 10 seconds" "rewind 10 minutes".  So it you want to fast-forward through a long movie, for example, it is a lot easier to say "forward 60 minutes" than it is to sit on the FF key.  And it gets you there WAY faster.

 

And, if you really want to do it with keys just to skip a commercial... the "page up" will go forward 30 seconds, and the page-down will rewind 15 seconds.  So to skip a typical 3-minute commercial:  Pg-up,  Pg-up, Pg-up, Pg-up, Pg-up, Pg-up will get you there, and if it is too far, a quick pg-down will put you pretty close.

 

 

Re: How do you like Ignite TV compared to Digital Cable?

57
Resident Expert
Resident Expert

@ColdGranite wrote: I keep reading about this "surround sound doesn't work on cloud pvr recordings."... Yet my older 6-speaker Sony system blasts out all 6 when I play a recording.  So am I misinterpreting something???

Please read posts 95, 99 and 101 of the following thread on Surround Sound.  It depends on the settings in the IgniteTV box and in your AVR.

 

https://communityforums.rogers.com/t5/Ignite-TV/IgniteTV-Surround-Sound/m-p/472720#M9274

 

 

Re: How do you like Ignite TV compared to Digital Cable?

Ferkner
I plan to stick around
The page up and page down buttons for skipping commercials is fantastic. that's the sort of thing I was wanting. Using voice to skip is handy too, but I keep forgetting the voice option is even there 🙂

Re: How do you like Ignite TV compared to Digital Cable?

ColdGranite
I'm a senior contributor

@Ferkner wrote:
...snip..., but I keep forgetting the voice option is even there 🙂

 

The voice control is almost the ONLY button in use in this house.  Nobody remembers 160 TV channel numbers.

We ALWAYS call our channels by name. 

Or programs... so we want to record something from next Thursday or Friday, but what day did they say it was on??? what time??? 

Call the program by name, and you get a list of all the upcoming episodes.  Now you can record it without even worrying about channel or time.

 

Re: How do you like Ignite TV compared to Digital Cable?

Ferkner
I plan to stick around

@ColdGranite wrote:

The voice control is almost the ONLY button in use in this house.  Nobody remembers 160 TV channel numbers.

We ALWAYS call our channels by name. 

Or programs... so we want to record something from next Thursday or Friday, but what day did they say it was on??? what time??? 

Call the program by name, and you get a list of all the upcoming episodes.  Now you can record it without even worrying about channel or time.

 


It's certainly something I'll need to get used to using!

Re: How do you like Ignite TV compared to Digital Cable?

Hermantk
I've been around

The system is great but Rogers screwed up. One of the TV boxes they sent me had seen previous use and was not properly tested before it was sent to me. (New boxes have clear film on their sides and this one did not. It also had a dirty bottom surface). SO, after some time trying to make it work, and thinking that, of course, I had to be the idiot, I called Rogers tech service. After an hour with them, it was decided that the box was faulty.

Why do they get to be sloppy and I get to waste time AND go for a few days without my system

Re: How do you like Ignite TV compared to Digital Cable?

schmidtp
I plan to stick around
There is nothing wrong with using boxes units. The old big digital TV boxes were almost all refurbished ones.

Re: How do you like Ignite TV compared to Digital Cable?

Babylegs1
I plan to stick around
Love love love ignite

Re: How do you like Ignite TV compared to Digital Cable?

schmidtp
I plan to stick around

Like it but definitely not as enamored with it as you.
I miss the back button to go to last channel. I miss the phone display on the TV when someone calls.
I don't like that you have to keep re-booting the box. I don't like that you cannot remove unwatched channels from the guide list. I don't like that it blacks out every so often. I don't like that he sound goes off. I don't like that when using voice command it often says sorry, we are having a problem....and on and on.

Re: How do you like Ignite TV compared to Digital Cable?

-G-
Resident Expert
Resident Expert

@schmidtp wrote:

Like it but definitely not as enamored with it as you.
I miss the back button to go to last channel. I miss the phone display on the TV when someone calls.


Those are all fair comments.  There are aspects of the Ignite TV user interface that some will really like and some that they will find really annoying.  Same goes for Digital TV, Bell Fibe TV, or any other platform.

 

My biggest complaint about Ignite TV is that the product is just one part of a connected-home ecosystem that is totally controlled by Comcast, and much-wished-for improvements to the TV service (or any other aspects of the Xfinity X1 platform and ecosystem, from us or from their own customers) come at a GLACIAL pace.  That said, the TV service is a very mature product.

 

I don't like that you have to keep re-booting the box. I don't like that you cannot remove unwatched channels from the guide list. I don't like that it blacks out every so often. I don't like that he sound goes off. I don't like that when using voice command it often says sorry, we are having a problem....and on and on.


You should not be seeing any of these issues.  I run into the odd glitch every so often that requires me to reset equipment every few months but for the most part, Ignite TV and Ignite Internet have been EXCEPTIONALLY solid for me.  No drops, no glitches... and it's technically possible for me to run Ignite TV over my own network hardware.  I will take that any day.

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