Tablo: What could be done better?

While I agree the reboot on an extended bad signal is one of the bigger issues with the Tablo, here is the Tablo response back in May.

So I’m guessing they have seen issues where the tuner(s) send data to the Pixelworks chip that’s off the wall. Heat issues, RFI, EMI, etc.etc. Something to cause the tuner to loose it’s mind or get out of sync on the data stream. I still kind of question why they can’t just reset the tuner and not the entire device. Hmm…thanks for the answer…but still have questions.

Haa, I wonder if they have the reset lines all connected together.

It’s definitely not the preferred solution, though I know my various Rokus will reboot too under certain conditions.

My best guess is that if the Tablo doesn’t reboot, the tuner that is in trouble just stops working. And if that channel sends more bad data to the Tablo, another tuner stops working. Eventually, all the tuners are dead and the Tablo has to be rebooted anyway.

Ideally, I would like to see a message from the Tablo such as “A tuner failed while tuned to channel XXX. To fix, please reboot the Tablo at your earliest convenience.” That way the user controls the reboot and also knows what channel might be having issues.

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At this point I’ve accepted they are problem doing the best they can do with the actual hardware and there may be some limitations preventing them from doing what I consider the best solution, which would be if there are other recordings (especially multiple other recordings) going on do NOT reboot and cause issues with those recordings as well. I would rather just lose the one recording and have to deal with that than lose everything.

I’m just glad they don’t make Airplanes.

Yeah, ask Boeing about that. :wink:

So I guess then from my prospective just try to get Thumbnails on Live TV Pause, RR FF and then it would be a pretty good product. Commercial skip issues I’m sure will get worked out in time.

My wife hates the fact that live TV doesn’t have Thumbnails, she’s use to DirecTV which has the thumbnails all the time. Yes granted DirecTV doesn’t trans-code the original signal. I say if you have a 4 tuner model and a tuner is free put it to work in the background making those thumbnails.

It does, just AFTER the entire recording has completed. I wonder if it’s because it can’t multi-task both thumbnails and the real-time transcode while the recording is in progress.

Ok, so I wonder if they can use an unused transcoder to create the thumbnails while the file is still being written. Even if they are just temp thumbnails that are tossed out later.

I guess that depends on how you look at it?

I already purchased two TabloTVs, the original 4-tuner and now a new Quad.

There are two possible ways for me to make the company more money moving forward:

1: I’m so happy with my current device that when all my locals switch to ATSC 3.0 and there’s an ATSC 3 TabloTV, I upgrade right away.

2: I’m so happy with my current device I recommend it enthusiastically to anyone I discuss my family’s cord-cutting (mis)adventures with, and they in turn buy TabloTVs.

Continued improvements, based on customer requests, make both more likely? Not just in my case, but I’m sure with many other TabloTV owners?

They already have a great product, that’s why we bought it and keep using it, right? It doesn’t quite sell itself, but it ticks allot of those boxes that someone doing a google or amazon search will like? So, if they wanted to maximize profits in the short term, don’t do anything until they’re ready to release an ATSC 3.0 version? Or, they can continue to improve, and focus on features the competition begins to offer, just enough to make sure those check boxes remain fairly equally ticked? Or, they can focus on feature requests from their users? We’re a larger sample size than any single focus group, we surely will recommend only the best new features they could possibly add? :wink:

Or, they can do what they seem to be doing, trying to find a balance between those approaches?

I’ll continue to hope that we’ll see AppleTV App integration at some point, as well as an option to view more detailed signal (strength and quality) information to aid in antenna setup. (This would be a big selling point to people I talk to, as the entire area is a tough signal area? Which is why people ended up on cable/sat in the first place?)

What could be better?

My Short list -

1: An option to view more detailed signal/strength/quality data. Preferably, live signal data from each of the two/four tuners. This would greatly improve the user experience for those who live in areas where signal issues are common, (likely why they got cable/sat in the first place)

2: AppleTV App integration. Just the option to select recordings to play from the AppleTV app would be an improvement to the experience?

3: Likely something that will require changes on the hardware side, (Wait for the ATSC3 TabloTV?) but better handling of signal issues so that the entire unit doesn’t reboot when there’s a signal issue on one tuner, especially when other tuners are recording as well.

Honestly, that’s all I’ve got. I’m happy with the original 4-tuner, and my family loves the Quad. I need to do some tree trimming again to help with some reception issues on the CW sub channel …again. But, unless Nuvyyo wants to get into the tree trimming business, not sure they can help there?

(ppssstttt, there is no tabloTV https://www.tablotv.com/products/)

That’s if they upgrade/update to the voluntary specification. It’s unclear how much this will impact a DVR since a large part of this include interactive two-way communication. Counterintuitive for a DVR. Still, there may be great benefits, including higher resolution if your device can reproduce it.

Great, but “cord cutting” isn’t the same thing to everyone… and it’s not for every household. Depending on path taken, it can be an adjustment. Other’s just want to save money, many can’t do with out the convenience they’ve been indoctrinated with.

Sure, but I bet analytical data collection and statistical marketing makes for better business decisions. But customer input doesn’t cost anything.

Yes, but depends who you ask. Some post in the forum tell a different story. I suspect human error, but I do have my issues with it and found ways to make it work for me.

Not sure, tablo, recst, tivo, channel master all have/are OTA DVR and vary greatly in the way the function or interact with users and hardware. None really focuses on each other, yet this keeps coming up.

A single focus group!??! Everyone who uses a proprietary OTT streaming device is in a focus group, these are data mining devices! Every service you use with your device puts you in a “focus group”. Marketing knows what people are doing, how the interact with media, how they react with it… how often they actually use it and what for. So, if you think a survey make you matter… :see_no_evil: :hear_no_evil: :speak_no_evil:

In conclusion:. It never going to good enough - by everyone’s standards.

Find what best suits you needs. Make adjustments to your tolerance levels, find ways to work around issues which bother you, discover other outlets or consider discussing with a professional - why is every one else always wrong😎

Very true in all aspects of products and life in general.

Or wait for the next product that destroys the last product. It always happens if a market exists. If your loyal to your product you’ll want it to improve. If it doesn’t improve and a market exists it’ll go bye bye. The fact that Amazon has a product that’s in a competing market tell’s me this product will either be bought up or just wiped out. Amazon has far far far too much money to loose if they don’t want to. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon…and for the rest of it’s life.

I don’t agree. Their product is tied to their ecosystem. There will always be users who don’t want to buy into that ecosystem.

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I was going to say something similar. IF that product supported playback devices OUTSIDE their ecosystem, I could maybe see your statement being true @Codebest.

However, stuff like this has me trusting Amazon less and less…

Not that it speaks to their competing product at all, but it does speak to a pattern that we are seeing play out over time with consumer services part of the company. We happen to be a Google household and I fully understand the same is possible with them, and in some cases has already happened as well, which is exactly why we don’t buy as many Nest products as we used to.

Fair enough on the ecosystem argument, point is other companies will come along with far more capital and infrastructure, Google might get into the market. It appears some Tablo loyalist want the product left alone. That has proven throughout history to be a fatal mistake. Lucky for them they’re not running the company.

Totally agree. Honestly I re-assess my situation constantly to see if there is a better solution that fits my use case (and budget). Right now, there isn’t. And if Amazon restricts theirs to just their ecosystem I have zero interest in it long-term.

This almost implies indefinite waiting.

I agree - not everyone wants it. During Prime Day events there are reports of 100million prime members world wide (no sources just now). That’s a vast resource to draw on.

But you don’t really believe it’s limited to Amazon devices? While other companies will pass on the data mining? …a cahbillion dollar industry.

I’m starting to feel as if this forum might have just a few Trolls…just maybe…not sure yet.

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