Question on Pausing Live TV

Just wondering when you pause live tv, how long can you pause for? Is it just limited by disk space or by some other thing? Can this be added as a feature to set the maximum length of a pause?


I know my Tivo is 30 minutes and my moms DirecTv I think is 1 hour. But it would be nice to control that value.

Found this in the user guide:

For playback of live TV, Tablo has a feature that continues recording on the channel for an hour after the user has stopped watching the channel. This is so the user can re-join the channel and watch live TV without waiting 12 seconds for playback to start. 

But not sure that answers my question totally

@Jestep What you found in the user guide is certainly relevant, but mostly for tuning to two channels at once. For example, if you to tune to channel A first, and then switch to channel B, the Tablo will store channel A’s data for up to an hour. In regards to your original question: the Tablo should be able to sit on pause for several hours - I’ll have to ask one of the engineers for an exact number.


To expand, your Tablo can play Live TV and still enable you to pause, rewind and fast forward everything you’ve watched up to around 10 hours. I’ll have to see if this works the same way when paused.

@TabloTV WOW! 10 Hours? I can totally see my wife pausing and leaving multiple times. Anyway we can add a feature to set the limit then? Otherwise I can see my disk getting used pretty quickly by her :stuck_out_tongue:

@Jestep To clarify - none of this stuff is stored permanently on your disk. In order to FF/RW, the Tablo uses your HD’s storage, but it’s wiped out after you leave the channel. This works the same way whether you’ve been watching for 15 minutes or several hours. Hope this helps!

@TabloTV it does if it does not take up all my disk while I try to record other things. I just know my wife and I know she will walk away and leave things paused. Just worries me and not sure it would be that hard to implement a limitation on how long shows can be paused??? 

@Jestep Nope - it won’t take up any permanent storage on your disk. I’ll pass along the pause limitation request to the team - thanks for the feedback!

@TabloTV thanks for your explanations!

Wait! So with my new Tablo Quad, I can pause live TV? [yes, I do have an ext. usb drive hooked up]

Holy thread revival Batman!

revive and yet still waiting for a implied “I’ll get back to you…”

When paused Can live TV be paused for up to 10 hours? Or a combination of watching and pausing… accumulate 10hrs? There have been several firmware revisions since this and even new generations of hardware, and it’s been discussed - there’s no readily available answer.

I cannot seem to pause my LIVE TV. A little help here? Just to specify, if I am on my local OTA news, watching it at 5pm… and I get a call. I should be able to pause the news… and then come back to it via unpausing.

yes?

What streaming device are you using?

I believe you can’t if you’re running an app directly on the TV.

There may be variations between devices/apps, I can’t verify - it may depend how you’ve selected to watch the news. Weather you’ve selected the channel or selected a show, the news, to watch.

After the program is over it may jump back to the grid.


Tablo works across a variety of apps and devices Tablo Apps & Compatible Devices, so that’s not as specific as it may sound. There are slight variations between them. Not everyone will be using the same method you’re using, so their answer may be pointless for your situation.

I did a little research and it would seem that the app on the Samsung TV doesn’t support it. Now… I know…

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I installed the app on my XBOX one and that works!