How long before idle timeout (Live TV)

[kansanian]

This is probably answered somewhere, but I can't seem to find any info on it.
How long will Media Center stay 'tuned' to a live channel without timeout?

It's a random thought, as, even though I've had the system for many years, it'll now be used more "full time" (notably, by wife, who likes to park it on a channel for several hours at a time...).

I left it on last night, and it'd timed out back to the guide/screensaver by morning, but the TV itself was off. In the past, I have not really ever noticed how long it stays "live" and thought I'd ask

[mark1234]

As long as the channel is still broadcasting, Media Centre won't ever "time out". It'll happily show the same channel live 24x7.

[kansanian]

As long as the channel is still broadcasting, Media Centre won't ever "time out". It'll happily show the same channel live 24x7.

That's what I thought... perhaps it backed out to guide/screensaver since TV was off and it detected this after a certain time?

[webminster]

The screensaver will kick in if enabled, and a menu (guide, main menu, whatever) is overlaying the live TV display. It won't if you are just displaying Live TV. I've never seen WMC back itself out to any menu display unless you were, say, playing back a recording and it displayed the recording details when that ended.

[kansanian]

The screensaver will kick in if enabled, and a menu (guide, main menu, whatever) is overlaying the live TV display. It won't if you are just displaying Live TV. I've never seen WMC back itself out to any menu display unless you were, say, playing back a recording and it displayed the recording details when that ended.

Interesting... I've seen it back at the guide in the past after leaving it playing live TV before, but this has been after either TV is off, or input was switched over to another device (Dish, for example).

Perhaps my build is just too old, and has some awkward bug. The OS install has been in place for over 4 yrs. now. That, or it's just "how it works" if it detects that the display/input isn't active. No matter the case, as long as it's "live" for more than 4hrs., that beats the current Dish box's current setting Just wish it'd stay "live" after TV was off, as that makes things much simpler when the TV is turned back on (having it already showing a live channel).

[mark1234]

The screensaver will kick in if enabled, and a menu (guide, main menu, whatever) is overlaying the live TV display. It won't if you are just displaying Live TV. I've never seen WMC back itself out to any menu display unless you were, say, playing back a recording and it displayed the recording details when that ended.

A more eloquently written version of what I was trying to say. This matches my experiences.

[Crash2009]

How long will Media Center stay 'tuned' to a live channel without timeout?

Mine will time-out if WMC is in Windowed mode. Full Screen will play forever.

Check event viewer for more clues to what is happening during the night.

[CyberSimian]

Full Screen will play forever.

If the HTPC is playing protected content and the TV is switched off, won't that break the HDCP negotiation between the HTPC and TV, and hence stop the TV stream from the HTPC? The original poster mentioned that he switched the TV off with live TV running.

We don't have protected content on DVB-T broadcasts in the UK, so I have no personal experience of this.

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

[Crash2009]

If the HTPC is playing protected content and the TV is switched off, won't that break the HDCP negotiation between the HTPC and TV, and hence stop the TV stream from the HTPC?

Excellent point, yes it might, I keep forgetting that not everyone has solved the EDID handshake problem.

http://www.extron.com/company/article.aspx?id=uedid

Kansanian, get yourself an emulator. See the above article to find out what that is.

There are more modern emulators in the link below.

http://connectpro.com/video-solutions/ddc-emulators/

[Crash2009]

I just finished a 1 hour test. I turned on WMC in Full Screen/Non Windowed mode and tuned Starz HD (channel 1980 here in zip code 48103), then shut off the HDMI display which is a cheapo Insignia 1080 TV. When I turned on the display 1 hour later, Starz was still playing. As far as I know Starz is oozing with DRM.

I am using an HD44 HDMI 4X4 Matrix Switcher which functions similar to an emulator.

http://www.a-neuvideo.com/pdf/UG-HD-44G.pdf

As I recall the switcher was less than $200. I installed the switcher in Nov or Dec 2013. It has been ON, doing whatever it does since that time.

[kansanian]

Very weird. My system must be possessed, lol.

Thing is, I also thought it might be a DRM thing too. Only recently has it even had a HDHomerun Prime added. It did this with just OTA/ClearQAM, and seems to still do it on a local channel, for example.
Last night, I think my wife hit the "power" button on the remote, thus putting the system into standby - which actually worked somewhat reliably this time when I turned it on this AM, but that's another story (perhaps the new hardware is better at this than the old).

In any case, she left it on a channel all morning yesterday without any trouble, so that's good. I'd just like to see it be "on" when the TV is fired back up in the morning. Further testing is definitely in order.

[Crash2009]

Have a look at your advanced power settings. Down near the bottom, multimedia.