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How does pausing live TV work with Sky+ and Virgin+?

How does "pausing live TV" work on Sky Boxes?

  • I've wondered about the magical feature and how it works. This is the "Pause Live TV" feature on the newer Sky Boxes. It's weird how anyone can pause the TV programme and resume whenever they want. How does it work anyone?

  • Answer:

    I don't know about Sky, but normally there are two ways: 1. The system pauses at a specific frame (e.g., when you press the 'pause' button), then when you resume the system goes to whatever frame being broadcast. This way you can 'freeze' a frame, but everything that comes after it is gone because it's been broadcast already. 2. more advanced - the system continuously records everything being broadcast on the channel you're watching once you pause, you then can resume to the very next frame - this happens because the system has recorded all the following frames and this way you don't miss anything. However, you will lose sync with live broadcasting, and this is only resumed when something intervenes the current broadcast - e.g., you change the channel, switch the system off...etc..

KarlosCh... at Yahoo! Answers Visit the source

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Other answers

When you press pause, the box continues to receive the TV feed, and records it to a hard drive. When you press play, it starts playing back off the hard drive, whilst still recording the live broadcast. It carries on recording and playing back later like that until you catch up with live TV (for example by fast forwarding commercial breaks).

jdan9

it just pauses it and temporarily records what is on until you press resume, it just plays what it has recorded

LightninLew

sky box is a simple computer with a hard disc. There are two receivers for the satellite signal. The box allocates a % of the hard disc to record the channel you are watching ( receiver one ) If you pause the picture the box displays the image as it has stored it on the hard drive, hence you can live rewind back too - the amount of time recorded as you watch can be user defined in the settings. If you are recording two programmes at once ie using both receivers you must watch either one of those channels, or a programme you have already recorded.

Charles

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