DVR Recordings Times Off

I've noticed that my recordings are starting about a minute before the show begins and that results in the last minute being cutoff. This problem seems to come and go.

I've discovered that the clock as displayed on the DVR is off by as much as a minute when compared to the clock on my PC which is synced to a reliable network time source (e.g. time-a-b.nist.gov). I.e. when setting the time on the DVR switches to 11:15, the time on the on the PC shows 11:15:57 which is off by 57 seconds. This would account for this problem. I see three possible solutions:

1. The DVR use a network time source to get the most correct time and maintain it to at least the nearest second. This assumes that the networks broadcast using a precise time, but my observations is that they do.

2. I could guess that when the DVR sets its time, it is only using HH:MM from the time it gets from its server. Changing it to saving HH:MM:SS could solve the problem. This is only a guess as I don't know how the DVR sets its time nor how accurate its source is.

3. Do what AT&T Uverse does and allow the customer set a buffer to start all recording 1 minute early and end 1 minute late. This does have the problem of creating a conflict if trying to record more than 3 or 4 shows simultaneously.

In any case, this seems to be a problem that has bothered a lot of people and it would be useful for Comcast to find a solution.

Responses

Andyr1

Gold Problem Solver

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8K Messages

2 years ago

The clock you see on an X1 DVR is not tied to recording. Recording is controlled by talking to servers. It tells the box when to start and stop. Comcast does have a pad option that adds 30 seconds to the beginning and end, if there are available tuners to handle other recordings. One issue is that all the processing going on to compress the video for cable adds more and more time. Plus, unlike in years past, most shows run end-to-end, with no real opening or closing titles anymore.

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rar1

Visitor

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5 Messages

@andyross Thank you! I did not realize that the box did not initiate the recording. I do notice that the time displayed elsewhere (e.g. the Guide screen) also has a discrepancy from the real time. I assume that is also pushed down from the servers.

You say that Comcast has a "pad option" to add 30 seconds. I can not find out how to enable (or disable) that. Can I? I had noticed what could be a 30 second pad before I started to miss the last part of shows, but recording seems to be starting more than 1 minute before the show actually starts. E.g. I get about a minute of the previous show before my show actually starts. Is this what you were referring to? I did have to enable that on AT&T Uverse and that solved my problem very well. I can understanding that the delays to compress the video could affect the recording timing, but I feel Comcast should be able to fix it.

2 years ago

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CCValerie

Official Employee

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974 Messages

Hi there, @rar1, thank you for taking the time to reach out to us through our Xfinity Forums. I am sad to hear you are experiencing issues with your recordings. I know how frustrating it would be to miss the final minute of a favorite show.

You can extend the stop time for three, five or thirty minutes for a recorded series. This article will help with setting that up. Have you done any troubleshooting on your own, restarting or rebooting the X1 box?

I no longer work for Comcast.

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Official Employees are from multiple teams within Xfinity: CARE, Product, Leadership.
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I am an Official Xfinity Employee.
Official Employees are from multiple teams within Xfinity: CARE, Product, Leadership.
We ask that you post publicly so people with similar questions may benefit from the conversation.
Was your question answered? Please, mark a reply as the Accepted Answer. tick

2 years ago

0

rar1

Visitor

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5 Messages

Thank you. I do know how to change the stop time for individual recordings, I would rather not do this for all my 50 or so recordings as this only became a problem in the last few weeks and did not want to spend the time making all the changes when it might just correct itself later. Also, I would prefer just a 1 minute extension, but that does not seem to be an option. I've have extended the times for a few recordings, but it is a pain. Not all shows go until the last minute of the scheduled time.

I have done multiple restarts and rebooting to try to fix this problem as well as others (e.g. streaming program just stops and suggests a restart) which does not fix this problem.

This should not be too hard to fix. The On Demand function saves the whole program and nothing more.

2 years ago

CCValerie

Official Employee

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974 Messages

Thank you for confirming that information, @rar1. I can definitely see the inconvenience that would be caused with extending over 50 recordings. Let's take a closer look into this for you. To get started, please send us a direct message with your full name and service address.

Here's the detailed steps to direct message us:

• Click "Sign In" if necessary

• Click the "Direct Messaging" icon (upper right corner of this page)

• Click the "New message" (pencil and paper) icon

• Type "Xfinity Support" in the to line and select "Xfinity Support" from the drop-down list

• Type your message in the text area near the bottom of the window

• Press Enter to send your message

I no longer work for Comcast.

I am an Official Xfinity Employee.
Official Employees are from multiple teams within Xfinity: CARE, Product, Leadership.
We ask that you post publicly so people with similar questions may benefit from the conversation.
Was your question answered? Please, mark a reply as the Accepted Answer. tick

2 years ago

0

cyoungman105

Visitor

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3 Messages

@rar1 go to settings, preferences,general,auto pad recordings and toggle ON. Tho I’m having the same issue as you and this did not solve it

2 years ago

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U

user_ae1038

Visitor

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3 Messages

2 years ago

Same issue over 6 months and the most annoying problem that takes away from customer satisfaction and experience.

Please help us..

1

CCZachary1

Problem Solver

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672 Messages

@user_ae1038 I am sorry to hear that you are experiencing the same issue. Would like to take a closer look at your current recordings and settings.

Could you please send our team a direct message with your full name and full address?

• Click "Sign In" if necessary

• Click the "Direct Message” icon (upper right corner of this page)

• Click the "New message" (pencil and paper) icon

• Type "Xfinity Support" in the to line and select "Xfinity Support" from the drop-down list

• Type your message in the text area near the bottom of the window

• Press Enter to send your message

Let me know if you have any questions.

I no longer work for Comcast.

2 years ago

0

U

user_3c9f65

Visitor

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1 Message

2 years ago

Xfinity,

The “bot” replies are not helpful. Please offer a real solution.

Subscribers/Customers are clearly experiencing a wide-spread issue that should be addressed by Xfinity, not put back on the subscriber/customer to work around.

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cyoungman105

Visitor

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3 Messages

2 years ago

Same issue here on every recording. You’re just forcing all of us to cut cable and stream instead.

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rar1

Visitor

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5 Messages

2 years ago

This has bugged me quite a bit and I've spent some time trying to see a pattern. Over the last few days, I've observed that the problems I had were when I was recording multiple shows simultaneously. For example, last night I had 3 shows being recorded at 8pm and 2 following them at 9pm. This means that with the overlap, there are about 5 shows recording at 9pm for 1 minute. It turns out that two of the 8pm shows were truncated by 1 minute. When I checked my cloud DVR (via the app for xfinity.com) the shows were complete on the cloud.

I'm wondering of others may have similar conditions.

0

X1

rar1

DVR Recordings Times Off

Andyr1

rar1

CCValerie

rar1

CCValerie

cyoungman105

user_ae1038

CCZachary1

user_3c9f65

cyoungman105

rar1

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