Perhaps I’m wrong but I thought that the problems with the cover art were supposed to be resolved with the most recent updates?
I haven’t yet seen more than 60% at any given time!
I currently have exactly 105 recordings appearing in my “all” recordings folder. Most of which are current, mainstream shows.
35 have no cover art! That’s over 30%!
It varies from time to time. Sometimes even from one day to the next.
Some reappear, some disappear.
Some never appear. It’s a guessing game!
Hence my topic " Consistently inconsistent".
Why is this such an insurmountable problem for Tablo, when other providers seem to have flawless results with the same type of data??
A perfect example…“iHeartRadio Music Festival”. Night one has cover art. Night two (the following day) has only the generic title with a blue background!
Both brand new, current recordings (10/2 and 10/3/21 respectively).
This problem has persisted for close to (if not over) a year! It was supposed to be fixed with the most recent updates. Clearly it’s not!
It’s not the fault of Gracenote’s data.
It’s the (failed) implementation of that data by Tablo.
When, if ever, will this really get fixed?
…or is it the hope that users will just give up?
…even though it’s one of the features that we’re actually paying extra for!
Any (unbiased and non-defensive) feedback would be greatly appreciated!
That it’s self is biased and defensive.
Are you looking for followers?
- Only respond if you agree with me!
Is that what you mean by unbiased and non-defensive?
No. What I actually meant was that I would appreciate some (refreshing) open-mindedness, since the trend (at least by several here) has been to defend this product under any and all circumstances.
Either accept it and don’t dare ask for (practical and even essential) improvements…or move on to something else! Pretty narrow-minded!
I don’t understand what is going on, either. I could understand if a new show didn’t immediately have art, but I’ve seen long standing shows like Grey’s Anatomy have art on Friday when I looked at what had recorded, and then the next day it is gone. Makes no sense and makes the Tablo product look unprofessional, like it was some homebrew project.
I hope Tablo takes this seriously and gets to the bottom of this quickly.
For me, the missing cover art is not a big deal as long as all other aspects of the Tablo system are working correctly.
Yes, the randomly missing cover art does make this product look a bit unprofessional, but it doesn’t particularly bother me.
Actually, in some cases, it’s easier for me to see (read) the title of a program without the cover art. Some cover art obscures the program title making it somewhat difficult to know what the program is if you don’t already know what the cover art should look like.
Whenever new cover art comes out, with what used to be a predominantly green background is now predominantly red, I find myself temporarily “loosing” that program when I visually scan the program listings.
For me, Commercial Skip is the issue I complain about. It’s great when it works, a pita when is does not.
But you, yourself aren’t open to any opinion or view which varies from your doctrine. Open-mindlessness – as defined by you.
Many have issues with their tablos. They have opened their minds to realize they aren’t going to change it to meet their own personal needs and desires. A revolt isn’t going to move a corporation who’s already profited from you… if your motive is customer satisfaction – what have they got to gain making a handful happier? there’s no more profit from you – that’s real.
I’m not asking to drink the kool-aid, just figure out how to make it work for yourself (without throwing a fit) - or move on since this isn’t for you. Spending life being displeased just seems depressing.
It’s as though you want Windows Media Center to return.
Having cover art one night and none the next is definitely strange and is 100% unrelated to the issues addressed in some recent updates.
Usually when you see blue squares with text instead of cover art images, this is related to subscription status.
Without a subscription, you won’t see any cover art, just blue squares.
But you have an active subscription, and it sounds like the art is available for some shows but not all at certain points.
If you have other examples of this as noted for iHeartRadio, please make a note of it and let the support team know so they can investigate further.
There is iheartradio music festival 1 on saturday - one episode. And a completely different show iheartradio music festival 2 on Sunday - one episode.
The saturday show doesn’t have cover art on roku,fire stick, browser. It just says iheardradio music festival night 1 in big bold white letters.
I actually like it better then the sunday one with cover art. It’s much easier to read. Maybe we should dump cover art and go with the alphabet.
If tablo wants to fix the “cover art” they need to address the difference between how the various apps work.
On Roku while I may not have all the cover art at least the text appears in the cover art box. And on Roku I do eventually get the cover art for dancing with the stars, the view, grey’s anatomy. It just takes a while. Still waiting to see if the “X’s” disappear from fire stick - not yet.
But on fire tv stick that is not the case.
let’s use ABC’s current schedule as an example. I have 10 cover art boxes with nothing in them except a big “X”. The text will scroll below. Such shows as dancing with the stars, grey’s anatomy, the view, etc. Then you might have no cover art but text like “a night in the academy museum”.
Maybe that’s why I prefer Roku.
In the Prime Time tab - 216 shows. Missing 6 graphics (not counting 3 for local news).
Statically insignificant, although that may not make it any less annoying if these happen to be the shows you record. Then there’s up to 6 in the scheduled tab of ~40. Still a small number, but the annoyance level varies by user.
Despite the “try re-scanning” from support, it seldom seems to do much, but they always have to start at the beginning.
Note: all my recording and scheduled have graphics… and I’m not overly concerned. I agree, some graphics obscure the text, but that’s something different.
Using an Roku Ultra 4660. It should have plenty of memory and power.
1014 TV shows. 110 without art. A little over 10%. And while on a Roku you can read the text. The big “X” of fire tv stick would be a problem. You don’t get the crawler text unless you hover over the “X”.
Case in point…
Accept it as is or move on to something else.
Don’t even try to influence change.
Just be passive and simply accept things the way that they are.
Don’t expect basic, user-friendly functionality (again, not new “features”) that has existed for many years with other products.
Just deal with it and don’t expect this company to implement any real improvements.
Exactly what I meant by “narrow-minded”!
Thanks for your input!
…but “takes this seriously and gets to the bottom of this quickly”
Please don’t hold your breath!
“It will be fixed in a month or so”
The “or so” serves as a disclaimer!
This has been ongoing for close to (or over) a year! They don’t seem to be in any rush!
I could care less about the cover art on Roku. I almost prefer the pure text. It’s much easier to read.
But the big “X’s” on the fire tv stick is another problem and has been around for awhile. It might have something to do with when the preview app was redesigned to make it have a more “modern” look. The crawler text is just one of it’s issues. That redesign seems to display more graphics but also less real information on the screen resulting in more clicks to view the same information as before the change.
And if that design makes it’s way to Roku I’ll just pull the tablo plug and join the wife on Plex. I already have all the iron that runs Plex DVR.
Or…what about the option to either utilize the cover art or not. A user controlled option.
…or is that too open-minded for them to even consider?
Somewhat like another suggestion that I had months back…a true “one touch” record option that could be turned on or off by the user.
This way, if some prefer the original (convoluted) method, fine…but if they want the ability to highlight a show from the guide, push one button and then move on (my preference), they’ll have that option as well. Crazy ideas!..right, Tablo??
“Or…what about the option to either utilize the cover art or not. A user controlled option.” - That is a feature.
Fix the bugs.
And here is a bug for you. Assuming tablo will continue to sell and support 2-tuners.
I have a 2-tuner with extend live option turned on. I use it on Saturdays to record College football games coming from 2 channels. Let’s call them channels 10 and 30. At 12:30PM a game starts on both channel 10 and 30. The channel 10 game ends at 3:30PM and channel 30 game ends at 4PM. At 4:30PM a new game starts on channel 30. So at 4:30PM both the channel 10 and 30 games are in the extends live time frame. What happens at 4:30PM is that both games recordings are terminated and the 4:30PM game only started. And why doesn’t the logic blow only the channel 30 game away and leave the channel 10 game to continue on.
There are a number of combinations to this bug. It’s almost the decision was made based on common core logic.
You know, I’ve said it before. You make some very valid points @Displeased, the issue is your approach.
The missing cover art is a bug.
I only suggested the ability to switch to simply titles for the few (such as yourself) that would prefer just the titles.
I wouldn’t ever expect them to entertain that option, since they prefer to ignore far more important things!
Nor do I think that the average user would consider sacrificing the cover art (especially if they could ever get the implementation right).
I understand that it’s impossible to please everyone…but certain things (that have been consistently ignored) would be for the greater good.
My “business model” would be to produce a product that I would take pride in, knowing that I’m doing my absolute best to fix the bugs and also improve upon it, so as to please as many customers as possible.
Call me crazy!
Their “business model”? Not so much!
Insofar as your conflict example, get a four tuner model.
By today’s standards, the two tuner approach is history!
It’s designed primarily to sell a replacement to many customers that thought a two tuner model would be adequate.
A clever marketing approach!
Sure, but this isn’t a social movment! It’s a device from a "for profit corporation. They spend on marketing research, if this “movment” was an issue… it wou,would, be an issue.
Again, you’re not going to generate more profit for the, to bend to your will - its not a social shift you’re fighting.
Pretending they make all your modifications, will you buy a brand new one? …so they can profit from investment. (Making the claim it should have already been there isn’t an answer)
I may not buy a new one (why would I if they were to do the right thing and incorporate those improvements into the existing units?)
However, I wouldn’t need to consider a competitors device (which, unfortunately, is certainly realistic).
…but I certainly would (proudly) influence others to buy one (and they might influence others and so on).
Have you ever heard of word of mouth advertising?
Does having a truly better product design and implementation matter (based upon your approach)?
Based upon how neglectful this company has been, how excruciatingly long it takes for them to release updates (and then they don’t necessarily work properly) and their ridiculous, non-consumer centric approach to customer service (at least when it comes to phone support), I wouldn’t even consider recommending this product!
Perhaps eventually…but eventually may never come at the rate this is taking.
Certainly not when certain basic, common sense functionality and certain practical improvements are basically being ignored by them!
Not if it’s just a “work on progress” (with only limited progress) for such a long period of time!
I’ll reiterate, it has its strong points…but after such a long period of time, it’s still half-baked and they can’t seem to fix (at least some of) the bugs!
Case(s) in point, the excruciatingly long time it takes for the guide to populate (if you dare go beyond one day or especially several days)!
The sounds good on paper but almost never works well “commercial skip” (that we’re paying extra for but it seems to still be in beta)!
The cover art implementation problems that haunt these units/apps (that all they seem to do is make excuses for and can’t ever seem to resolve)!
These are just a few examples.
I’m sorry that I seem to be a “lone wolf” here but there comes a point when making excuses for them and defending them (no matter what) needs to end!
…so that perhaps all of the squeaky wheels might finally get the oil!