How many of you complainers are posting first time, and are not FiOS customers?

I guess I can anwer my own question. At lease about everyone posting in this thread is a FiOS user.

All comments

I don't really understand it myself. I was having problems with my TV Guide Display too but not anymore. It was just hard on my eyes and annoying to read with the colors clashing and bleeding into each other with fuzziness, and sure I complained about it. It's human nature to complain at times and we're all creatures of habit. I've been a long time Verizon Fios customer but I soon learned that the issue was not because of my STB, but because of the limited resolution of my analog TV, which I have now replaced with a flatscreen. So that solved the problem and I agree that the new 1.9 display is better and I think it's actually a lot quicker with easier access to the information. It took some going back and forth to come to a solution to the problem but I was willing to work through it.

And mind you, I can be very stubborn at times about change and replacing things that I have wanted to keep for a long time.

It seems like people keep posting and complaining about this very same thing with one post after another. I stopped reading the posts because it's about the same complaint over and over again. It's tiring to keep seeing so I don't read them now and the shame of it is that in the meantime, some very good suggestions like replacing the STB and my suggestion of making sure that your TV is a flatscreen have been posted on here many...many times. The solution is right there. I mean....what's the point of reaching out for help if we're going to turn down a suggestion and not do anything about it? We have to move on. I had intially decided to leave the problem alone but since I realized that it was bothering me and decided it wasn't right to settle, I did something about it.

I suppose too that it could also be due to dissatisfaction with something else. I don't understand the idea of just waiting for something to happen because life just doesn't work that way.

prisaz-

I am an extremely happy FiOS customer and would be even happier if 1.9 comes to NY quite soon Smiley Wink

I just had to ask. I know for some there are very legitimate complaints. Yes all of mine are now flat panels. My last tube went bye bye last year due to power issues. I believe it makes a big difference. I just thought I would start this controversy here and see where it went. Oh well.

Oh no, I'm not saying the complaints mentioned are not legitimate because I complained too. Some of the complaints I've seen can be over petty stuff in my opinion and to still complain even after a problem has been resolved doesn't make a lot of sense to me but either way, I'm just a person who doesn't want to keep complaining about the same thing while doing nothing about it. At some point, I have to choose the best way to respond and to solve the problem. And honestly, with the way some of the complaints here are embellished, you would think it's the end of the world, all over something that is so easily fixable.

I think Verizon is a good company that provides a very good product. And for a corporate giant with all of the profits going to its CEOs, that's a good thing to know. I now understand why my landlord signed a contract with Verizon to make the Fios available here because it really is the best deal for a phone, TV, and Internet service provider. I just feel that improvement is needed in Verizon's communication with customers, i.e. making sure everyone is informed about upcoming changes and what steps to take if they're having residual problems from the changes. That's one remaining constructive criticism that I still stand by because I was just in the dark about this for a while.

prisaz, if your TV is a flatscreen and your STB is the 7100 series or higher, then you should be fine.

I did notice my 1.9 was loaded and worked just fine. When I rebooted it the next day just to see what the box would do, I received a message talking about improvements. I don't think the reboot had anything to do with it, but perhaps it was just Verizon's way of saying we changed things and here is why. The mesage was not there after the img update, and it just showed a day later. I think it was a good idea.

@NNard wrote:
prisaz-
I am an extremely happy FiOS customer and would be even happier if 1.9 comes to NY quite soon

Smiley Very Happy

I an just outside of D.C. and a happy FiOS customer just like you. So I hope you get your update soon. But really have nothing to do with it. Like I had said before, we were supposed to be last, and I would rather be last and have it work. So there were issues up your way that caused delays.

ukbritt

Smiley Very Happy Woman Very Happy I love the new guide...I like that I can delete all at once for programs under a folder...yeah..the font maybe a little hard to read...but it's really a non-issue. If you are accessing a computer, you are dealing with a smaller font than that..

Justin46

Maybe slightly off topic, but take a look at this: a user named clifton4 registered today (10/28) and has made 7 posts so far, every one of them negative about 1.9. I guess I just wonder how typical that is, for people to come here, register, and just post, post, post negative things, and that makes some think that every FiOS customer hates the new system?

For the record, I have had 1.9 for 3 or 4 months, and am a very happy user, works great on all three of my STBs.

__________________________________
Justin
FiOS TV, Internet, and phone user
QIP7232, QIP7100-P2, IMG 1.9A
Keller, TX 76248

nascar

There is a pattern of complaints just after a new area gets 1.9. I completely understand the frustrations with the colors, contrasting, and fonts. Also the vast inconsistencies among the different screens and menus. I have voiced my concerns all throughout beta. There are probably reasons beyond anyone's control to try to achieve a true HD guide. But it can be improved.

I will say that after a couple of weeks, once all of the really nice features in 1.9 are realized, the complaints dwindle.

"Maybe slightly off topic, but take a look at this: a user named clifton4 registered today (10/28) and has made 7 posts so far, every one of them negative about 1.9. I guess I just wonder how typical that is, for people to come here, register, and just post, post, post negative things, and that makes some think that every FiOS customer hates the new system?"

Yep! That's what I'm talking about. And all of that over a TV Guide display. That's just silly after a while. It really makes you wonder. I don't understand myself what the really accomplishes, just posting endlessly all for the sake of complaining? I'm sure there are many people who are satisfied with this new system. I'm satisfied...now, after some delay, but at least I got there.

I was just looking at that photo of your display that you had posted, justin. The only difference I see between mine and yours is the size and shape of our TVs. Yours is more square shaped. Mine is a 26" widescreen so my display is a little more stretched out but that's to be expected.

dcgaijin

I don't understand the complaints. Even on a 20 year old tv set, the contrast is good between the text and the background in the guide. the text isn't the sharpest, but neither is the picture on the tv. on my hdtv, the guide is excellent.

I can't comment on the new guide (as I am in NY and don't have it yet) but I imagine a lot of user complaints have poorly calibrated HDTV's or analog TV's with too much contrast or brightness.

It's not meant for an analog TV if you ask me. Lowering the contrast and brightness on that only makes the picture worse on your TV programs. I already went down that road. An analog TV can't handle the HD, though I suppose it could still be OK depending on what kind of analog TV you have and the capability of its pixels. There is nothing wrong with keeping an existing analog TV if you can get along that way. On mine, it stunk and was hard on my eyes with fuzziness and clashing with the colors and all of the settings on it were set correctly but now with my new HDTV, it's fine. That sort of complaint I had was legitimate but I have resolved it now, so I have moved on.

I think the analog TV has become a dinosaur because the technology has made it obsolete and mine was only 6 years old.

My new HDTV is great and my STB is up to date. I don't know what a "poorly calibrated" HDTV means.

I should have said properly and not poorly calibrated. It just means that most HDTV's out of the box have their picture settings set higher - When you walk into an electronics store and see the displayed HDTV's that are properly calibrated, they look fantastic. Thanks for posting your positive experiences with 1.9-

retiredme

TV calibration is a fascinating topic, and deals with the art of properly tuning the electronics for the best picture in terms of brightness, contrast and color purity. TV industry standards have been devised to which professional calibrators strive to set TV sets. There are two sets of menus available - the set that consumers can access with controls for bright, color, contrast, and various modes like "standard" or "theater"; and a second hidden menu available to service technicians through the use of a service code. This hidden menu is where the serious calibration occurs, and requires additional professional level equipment to do so. From the factory, most TV's are not optimum and usually set in the consumer menu to maximum brightness and contrast - what many call "torch mode". This is so TVs look good on display floors where brightness counts to sell the picture - it's normal for the human eye to perceive "bright" as "good". It isn't always the case. Factories also do not calibrate TV's in the service menu with the care of a professional - they come close to the undustry standards (6500K temperature), but often are off some. The consumer level menu controls can bring even a badly calibrated TV into tolerable range, but it will never be optimum. A professional can even reset colors to industry standard reference points so that they look truer, with lifelike greens, and reds that are not orange. The service menu is hidden and accessible only by code because it is too easy to really mess up a TV. For more information and technical detail, check avsforum.com. Also, Sound and Vision magazine, or Home Theater magazine, provide technical calibration data for every set they review. They have also done a couple of reference primers for those that are curious.

HokieDave

I passionately detest the new guide. It's too "busy" and there is a hoard of wasted screen real estate on there. Why not take away some of the wasted space and show me twice as many channels per page?

Things I do like:

1. The ability to extend an in-progress recording. Before I switched to FIOS, I had that capability with my old service provider and was greatly annoyed that I lost it with FIOS. I record all Tech games and when it runs late, I want to be able to extend it.

2. The stored search feature. This is a HUGE improvement. There are only a few things I ever search for and not having to retype them is nice.

3. Deleted bug solved? I used to have the problem where you'd delete something and never got the free space back CONSTANTLY. It happened 3-4 times per week, at least. I have not seen it since the upgrade, so I'm hoping it's solved.

4. Ability to output a 4x3 pan+scan signal. Sometimes I want to dub a football game to my DVD recorder. When you can only do it as 4x3 letterbox, that's a bit annoying. If you wanted just a straight 4x3 copy, you had to record the SD broadcast. Now, you can just dub the HD broadcast in pan+scan.

5. Search results will now show in date order instead of only channel order. I hated it that when you searched for a show you want to watch today, you had to sift through channels that weren't showing it for 2 weeks.

What I'm concerned about:

Now that deleted doesn't really mean deleted any more, the hard drive seems to be running a heckuva lot more. I wonder if fragmentation is really getting a lot worse. It used to be that when you deleted five programs, those five programs could form a contiguous space that it could overwrite. But now that deleted doesn't really mean deleted, I'm betting fragmentation gets really bad really fast.

Things I really wish existed:

1. A prioritization for delete as needed, other than time. I would like to be able to specify that a show should only be deleted as a last resort. In other words, if it's delete this or don't record something, fine, delete it, but otherwise delete anything else first.

2. Hide all SD channels that are copies of HD channels. I might be interested in watching something on CBS College Sports SD since FIOS doesn't get the HD version of that channel (hint hint), but I have no interest whatsoever in seeing anything on ESPN SD.

Justin46

@HokieDave wrote:
I passionately detest the new guide. It's too "busy" and there is a hoard of wasted screen real estate on there. Why not take away some of the wasted space and show me twice as many channels per page?
Things I really wish existed:
2. Hide all SD channels that are copies of HD channels. I might be interested in watching something on CBS College Sports SD since FIOS doesn't get the HD version of that channel (hint hint), but I have no interest whatsoever in seeing anything on ESPN SD.

I get 7 channels per page. I don't see how they could add any more channels without using a smaller font, and people are already complaining that the font is too small (I Don't agree, it is just fine for me). They can't put stuff too close to the edges of the screen because some TVs don't display the entire image and data would be lost. And to me at least, I need the time of day and day/date info, and some way to see which Favorites I am using or the Full Guide. So to me all of the info displayed is important, I don't want to lose any of it, and I really don't see any place where channels could be added.

What model DVR do you have? Maybe you do not have the best settings for that model.

Here is the Guide I see:

What would you remove to add more channels? Cram them closer together vertically? I think that would make it very difficult to read.

2. That is what the Favorites feature is for. Makes it easy to not include in the Guide any channels you dont want to see, like those available in both HD and SD.

__________________________________
Justin
FiOS TV, Internet, and phone user
QIP7232, QIP7100-P2, IMG 1.9A
Keller, TX 76248

HokieDave

If the very top and very bottom channel gets cut off for some users, why is that a problem? When you scroll up and down, the focus stays in the center f the screen, so there's no reason not to extend the channel list for those who can see it.

So with two simple changes (adding an extra channel to the top + bottom and getting rid of the channel logos), I have added an extra half hour off to the right and two extra channels.

You could even take it one step further and get rid of all of the wasted space between shows - every show is twice as high as it needs to be - you have the show title and the gradient space above it. Get rid of that gradient space and make the colors something more neutral/readable and you can easily pack a lot more information onto the screen without reducing the font.

Original guide:

My guide:

Justin46

@HokieDave wrote:
If the very top and very bottom channel gets cut off for some users, why is that a problem? When you scroll up and down, the focus stays in the center f the screen, so there's no reason not to extend the channel list for those who can see it.
So with two simple changes (adding an extra channel to the top + bottom and getting rid of the channel logos), I have added an extra half hour off to the right and two extra channels.
You could even take it one step further and get rid of all of the wasted space between shows - every show is twice as high as it needs to be - you have the show title and the gradient space above it. Get rid of that gradient space and make the colors something more neutral/readable and you can easily pack a lot more information onto the screen without reducing the font.
Original guide:
My guide:

I cannot see whatever images you have posted (you can, the rest of us can't). Either you have not been here long enough to post images or your images have not yet been approved.

You originally said something about "doubling" the number of channels. How would adding 2 partially viewable channels "double" the number? What percent of the users would actually be able to see those partially viewable channels and thus make use of them? I have no idea whether I would be able to see any, part, or all of them on my TV, why would I or Verizon or anybody else want that? I sure don't, 7 channels per page is plenty for me, 9 would not make much if any difference IMO.

Getting rid of the channel logos? Have you not seen the complaints that came in when Verizon accidentally stopped displaying them for a while some time back? People came unglued, apparently some (lots) can't find the channel they want to watch without the logo. Now, since I cannot see your images, let me ask: what did you do with the live mini-picture in the upper left corner of the Guide? I very much like having that there, at least I can keep track of what is on the channel I was viewing when I decided to take a look at the Guide. How could removing the logos and not removing the live picture provide an additional half hour? And honestly, 2 1/2 hours is not enough? Plenty for me.

Maybe eventually your images will be viewable and I can see better what you have done, but for me, it would be a worthless effort for Verizon to make the changes you suggest, at least based on your description.

__________________________________
Justin
FiOS TV, Internet, and phone user
QIP7232, QIP7100-P2, IMG 1.9A
Keller, TX 76248

nascar

Yes. Your photos show how space could be used more efficiently. Could not agree more.

I guess I can anwer my own question. At lease about everyone posting in this thread is a FiOS user.