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PLUS POINTS
INTRO
If you're
still having trouble programming the timer on your VCR you might be interested
in a new idea that will help to make sure you don't miss out, it might even
help you record the satellite channels...
COPY
If you've ever returned home to find that the timer on your VCR has
unaccountably recorded the wrong
programme at the wrong time on the wrong channel, after you spent twenty
minutes programming it, join the club... A couple of years ago a research study
commissioned by a leading consumer electronics manufacturer discovered that
almost three quarters of VCR owners admitted they could not program the timers
on their VCRs. That should come as no
surprise to anyone over thirty; in spite of numerous attempts to endow VCR
timers with some sort of user-friendliness, they have become a standing joke.
Now, at long last, the joke is over, well, almost... Video Plus is
here, it's a VCR timer programming system that is as near foolproof as it is
possible to get. Instead of messing about with times, dates and channel numbers
all you have to do is enter a short string of number (from one to eight digits
long), into the keypad on a remote control handset. The number, known as the
'Plus Code', you may have seen them printed alongside program schedules in
daily newspapers and TV listings magazines
COMPUTER
CODES
The Plus Code is the key to a computer program called an algorithm
which the Video Plus system uses to work out the time the program you want to
record begins and ends, what day it is on, and on which channel it will be
shown. To make it even easier to use shorter Plus Codes, normally only two to
four digits long, are used for popular programmes shown at peak viewing times,
and the same Plus Codes can be used for serials, soaps and programmes shown at
the same time each day. But what about printing errors? Well, they've thought
of that too; the newspapers and magazines which publish Plus Codes use
specially written computer software, incorporated into their typesetting and
page layout systems, to generate the numbers automatically, virtually
eliminating the possibility of human error, well, that's the theory at least.
Video Plus was launched in the UK nearly two years ago, it first
appeared in the form of a remote control-style handset, available from multiple
outlet and high-street electrical retailers where it sells for around £60. The
handset is factory-programmed with the infra-red operating codes for hundreds
of different makes and models of VCR so it could work with almost any machine,
provided it had infra-red remote control; there are of course a few exceptions,
but dealers selling the handsets are, or should be aware of them. The handset
remains very popular but within the last year or so an increasing number of
VCRs now have Video Plus built-in, as a standard feature.
PLUS FOR
DISHES?
This is all good news for anyone who wants to make timer-recordings of
terrestrial TV programmes, but can Video Plus be of any help to timerphobic
satellite TV viewers? The answer is a guarded yes, however, there's a few ifs and buts, especially for those with
older STV receivers. Several newspapers and magazines now publish a full set of
Plus Codes for the satellite channels, including the new ones, so it can
simplify VCR programming, setting it to
record at the appropriate time, on its designated 'satellite' channel, but
unless the satellite receiver is also equipped with a built-in timer, it will
have to be left switched on, and tuned to the appropriate station. Moreover, on
receivers without multi-event timers, it will only be possible to record on one
channel, and although most receivers are rated for continuous operation it's
nonetheless a concern for some people to have to leave a piece of electrical
equipment switched on, possibly for several days at a time. Video Plus reduces
the potential for error but it doesn't eliminate it completely as the satellite
receiver's timer still has to be set.
So why not incorporate satellite receiver commands into the Video Plus
handset, or build Video Plus into satellite receivers? The problem with putting
STV commands into the existing Video Plus handset is the lack of space needed
for the scores of extra control codes, and the added difficulty in making sure
it can control both items of equipment. It seems unlikely we'll be seeing Video
Plus built into satellite receivers, for a while at least, it would add an
unwelcome premium to what is a very price sensitive product. However, one
manufacturer, Ferguson, has come up with an ingenious method of using Video
Plus to control both the VCR and a satellite receiver. The machine in question
is the FV74LVX, a stylish, dual-speed machine that sells for just under £400.
The FV74 uses the Plus Code to set it's own on-board timer, and when the
recording is about to begin, transmits a series of infra-red commands from a
set of powerful IR emitters, to a nearby satellite receiver, switching it on
and setting it to the correct channel; when the recording has finished it
switches the receiver off.
The FV74 has a multi-brand control system, so it can operate a number
of different makes and models of
satellite receiver, including, of course, their own. As a matter of
interest the FV74 also has a Startext facility which can alter the timer
settings to compensate for programme overruns or late changes to the published
schedule, though at the moment this only works on Channel 4 as they are the
only broadcaster to transmit the appropriate codes which are needed to update
the VCRs timer.
Video Plus is a big step in the right direction and has already helped
a lot of people to come to terms with VCR timers but its not the final
solution, that, as we all know is to enlist the help of a ten-year old child...
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© R.Maybury
1993 0309
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