Disable Screen Saver & Call Display

[aboyaci]

Hi Everyone,

With the current Rogers Ignite TV boxes, is there a way to disable the screensaver, so that we can have the TV running continuous without having it turn on the screen saver. We would like the TV to run just like the old digital tv, where it keeps running without interruption. We really like to have a fix for this.

Also, could you please make sure the home phone call display works on the new Ignite TV boxes? We would like it if a software update fix is pushed out, so that the call display shows. These are important features for TV users.

Thanks,

Ari

*Added Labels*

[57]

1. If you go to Rogers - Settings - Device Settings - Screensaver, the longest time you can set currently is 5 hours.  If at any time during those 5 hours you press any buttons on the Rogers remote, that should "reset" the "timer" so that you get 5 hours from that time.  I believe you also get a warning asking if you are still there, at which time you can press any button on the Rogers remote to stay "active".  I believe this may have something to do with government regulations that mandate that new equipment powers down after a certain period of non-use to save energy.

2. TV Call Display has been requested quite often on this forum and the moderators have surely passed our requests on. However, there may be something inherent in the way that IgniteTV works with Home Phone that precludes an easy fix for this, otherwise, it would have been included, or would have been fixed in the 4+ years since IgniteTV started.  It may also have something to do with the fact that not many people have home phone from Rogers, either using cell phones, or other methods for telephony. 

[aboyaci]

Ahhh that's horrible. 5 hours in not nearly enough. Thats actually unacceptable and ridiculous if the reason is from government regulation. Government trying to control our TV functions now. I hope that is not the case, and a fix can be made. We dont have this issue with digital tv. Just ridiculous.

As for the call display, that's also terrible, it proves that the legacy home phone is far superior than ignite, and the fact that many people want that function, shows there is a real demand for it, regardless if there are less home phone users now. People want it. Plain and simple.

[57]

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@aboyaci wrote:

1. Ahhh that's horrible. 5 hours in not nearly enough. Thats actually unacceptable and ridiculous if the reason is from government regulation. Government trying to control our TV functions now. I hope that is not the case, and a fix can be made. We dont have this issue with digital tv. Just ridiculous.

2...legacy home phone is far superior than ignite

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1. The fact that the old boxes used so much power is exactly why these sorts of measures are now in place. I don't recall if there are actually laws/regulation,s or whether there was simply a government request for manufacturers to lower power consumption. If they didn't comply regulation would have come into play, so most manufacturers now design products that use a lot less power. There may actually have been regulation in Europe where they are far more energy conscious.  The old digital boxes were huge power hogs, especially since some homes had several of them.

2. There are plusses and minuses for any technology or service provider. Here's a copy of a post from yesterday that addresses IgniteTV vs. Legacy Digital Cable proving that IgniteTV is far better if you just give it a chance and realize that there are going to be differences:

Here's a link to my post after switching to IgniteTV from Legacy Digital Cable.  It's a long thread if you're interested in the other posts.

https://communityforums.rogers.com/t5/Ignite-TV/How-do-you-like-Ignite-TV-compared-to-Digital-Cable/...

The DD5.1 audio issue has been fixed, so there are only one or two negatives to IgniteTV, vs may positives.

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[aboyaci]

I believe rather than being able to express my concerns and issues that I am seeing with the new ignite service, I am being told to enjoy it and keep quiet.

Maybe instead, it would be a better idea to leave Rogers - and pull out the old TV antennas and the Roku streaming - instead of dishing out money on the current ignite.

I don't know why I even bother.

[mebe]

When you said you feel like you are being told to enjoy IgniteTv and keep quiet, it reminded me of the opening monologue from "The Outer Limits" ... There is nothing wrong with your television set. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling the transmission. If we wish to make it louder, we will bring up the volume. If we wish to make it softer, we will tune it to a whisper. We will control the horizontal. We will control the vertical. We can roll the image; make it flutter. We can change the focus to a soft blur or sharpen it to crystal clarity. We can deluge you with a thousand channels or expand one single image to crystal clarity and beyond.
For the next hour, sit quietly and we will control all that you see and hear. We repeat: there is nothing wrong with your television set. You are about to participate in a great adventure. You are about to experience the awe and mystery which reaches from the inner mind to the outer limits. 🚀

[mebe]

In the Xfinity forums, there are many complaints about the 5 hour, idle viewing time, until the screen saver appears.
About 4 months ago, somebody there posted about trying to have his tv set turn on, to be used as an alarm, however, the silent screen saver would appear when the tv turned on, so that was useless.
This is what the Xfinity/Comcast X1 box user did, to at least get sound:
 •  In Device Settings, I turned the HDMI Device Control (HDMI-CEC) to OFF.  This morning my TV that is programmed to turn on every morning, did indeed come on with audio and no screensaver.  I am happy now."
In another Rogers thread, it was mentioned that the HDMI-CEC option doesn't first appear when the box first turns on, but it does eventually appear. Does this solve your screen-saver problem? No, but I thought it might be useful to know that somebody out there beat the screen saver in some way that made him happy.

[mebe]

I don't think of IgniteTV as "real" tv, but rather Internet streaming of tv content.
If you can get the content you want from the Internet, without any help from Rogers, why bother with Ignite tv?
When I first tried the American IPTV services online, without the use of a set-top box, there was still a prompt asking if I was still there, after perhaps 4 hours of no button presses, and then the streaming stopped if I didn't respond to the prompt. The goal was to keep the services from being overwhelmed. Many people complained, but nothing was done to increase the time limit of the streaming shutoff.
At least the content was worth paying for, and I just used the radio or podcasts to fall asleep to, if need be.
If you did cancel Ignite TV, you might miss the content enough to seek out an alternative, however, "real" tv that doesn't rely on the Internet for many of its feeds is soon to be extinct ... Unless you cling to OTA broadcasts.
I liked the Ignite TV On Demand features when I tried them at a Rogers store. I also liked the voice remote capabilities, and I liked that I could watch tv in the store without having to worry about setting up a modem, or returning equipment by mail, once I was done with satisfying my curiosity.
I enjoyed my very brief Ignite TV experience at the store, but I wouldn't switch over from legacy TV, simply because my real TV experience isn't going to last much longer. Legacy Extinction is on the horizon. Fade to black. ⬛💣

[57]

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@aboyaci wrote:

I believe rather than being able to express my concerns and issues that I am seeing with the new ignite service, I am being told to enjoy it and keep quiet.

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Your concerns have been heard and have been expressed by many others many times.  What I was trying to explain was the reasons behind why things are the way they are and why it may not even be Rogers fault or decision as to certain functionality, like the screensaver.

[Sheeera]

I too find this forced screen saver annoying as well.

Is there really that much difference in power consumption between watching tv and flashing constant ads for crave or whatever other content is being advertised on the screen saver? It's not like it's going to a black/dark screen...
Also I think it's pretty disappointing that every option under the 'screen saver type' (landscape, animals, entertainment) has the same result which is of course ads for more content!

Also just throwing it out there if anyone knows if all new tv's have this kind of mandatory screen saver timeout with no ability to turn it off? My tv is older so I'm just wondering if the devices, that are the actual power consumers rather than just content providers like Rogers are also adding similar controls.
Thanks
S

P. S. Thanks for providing the information on where to find the screen saver settings. The 5 minutes timeout was driving me bonkers!

[DS256]

Adding my voice to this. I have a bed ridden relative, who can't work a remote, and goes to bed with the TV on. If she wakes up in the middle of night, the TV is on 'screen saver' and she can't get back to her channel until someone comes in in the morning. Why can't you disable the screen saver?

Another point, I think the 'screen saver' is mislabeled. We are past the CRT monitor technology where you could have a 'burn in' if the pixels were left on in one spot to long. The Rogers screen saver seems to be for promoting shows and movies.

[klkelly]

I came looking for an answer to this issue for a similar reason. My grandmother has dementia and watches tv from the moment she’s Jo until she goes to bed. But she’s forgotten how to operate the electronics. She can manage to turn it on but when the messages and screensavers pop up she gets confused. She does without until someone comes and fixes it. It’s terrible!

[vcr]

Come on.  There is no such law.   Governments have no teeth when it comes to controlling communications companies.  Carriers just want to reduce streaming costs by shutting off your stream, reducing the load on their servers.  Rogers is not bound to any such environmental concerns, even if it means I cannot receive the service level that I would expect , given the costs.  And they are happy when myths are propagated that point the finger at "guv'mint"

[57]

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@vcr wrote:

Come on.  There is no such law.   Governments have no teeth when it comes to controlling communications companies.  

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Actually, they do.  It wasn't a law, it was an agreement to preclude the need for a law, see link below:

https://energy.cablelabs.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/VOLUNTARY-AGREEMENT-ENERGY-EFFICIENCY-OF-SET...

Annex 7 outlines the signatories.  We've actually come a long ways with today's boxes requiring only 10-20% of the power of older STBs, depending on the capabilities of the old/new STB.

[vcr]

Sure, but the signatories are US companies, and do not include Rogers.  Also , rather than improve the actual power consumption by providing more efficient components, they just added a timeout, at the expense of customer experience, pretty much zero effort there.

[57]

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@vcr wrote:  Sure, but the signatories are US companies, and do not include Rogers.  

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Who do you think makes these boxes and writes the firmware for them? As a licensee of Comcast, Rogers has little to no say in the matter.

[LordDrakkon]

Rogers might have little to say but Rogers does get a customized version of the firmware as a part of the deal. Rogers could request this feature have a toggle or be removed but they won't. It is solely there to cut down on bandwidth usage.

[57]

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@LordDrakkon wrote:  ...It is solely there to cut down on bandwidth usage.

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Bandwidth and servers cost money, so this is good for most people since it saves some money.  I agree that in certain circumstances it would be valuable to be able to keep the box "on", especially since standby saves so little power.

I'm just trying to explain how all this came about.

[DS256]

I think Rogers needs to consider this an Accessibility Issue under the Accessible Canada's Act. They are required to report to the CRTC on their plans. 

The issue is the loss of watching TV more than the switch to advertising (which Rogers calls Screen Saver). My relative as mentioned relies on a PSW to operate the remote. She can't use the Voice interface.

[RogersCorey]

Good afternoon @DS256,

I can absolutely sympathize with our customers that need assistance operating the remote. 

We do offer an easier to use large button remote for customers that may struggle with our regular remote. I ordered one of these for my elderly mother and she hasn't needed nearly as much help operating the TV ever since. 

If you'd like to order one, please feel free to send a private message to @CommunityHelps so we can assist you further. For more information on how our Private Messaging system works, you can find out more here.  

Regards,

RogersCorey

[DS256]

Thanks @RogersCorey but she cannot use any size remote or the voice based services. 
It’s a simple request. Allow the screen saver to be disabled.