Sky doing Auto StandBy

[grabbi]

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/digitalt...c-standby.html

Well that's just Stupid...

What are people already doing to their boxes overnight?

Especially cable. I always turn mine off. I mean, if I need something recording, and I'm in bed... even if I am on the computer, I always turn it off.

And what if people want it on for a legit reason? Like recording something straight to a VCR/DVD?

[Stuart C]

You may find that most people leave their boxes on.

As for if the box is busy, well, I suspect it'll postpone autostandby until it's finished it's task (be it copying to tape or recording). I also suspect it can wake itself if it needs to record.

[AndyCambs]

But does standby vs on save that much power?
Surely the only way to save power would be to turn the box off from the mains socket?

It sounds more like a marketing ploy than anything that will save you electricity.

[Stuart C]

Depends on the device. My NTL box saves almost nothing. My DVD recorder (according to the specs) uses about 30W when on, but idle, and 18W when in standby.

My Sony 28inch Wega TV (and I measured this) consumes around 110W - 120W when on, and less than 1 when in standby.

[savvychels]

The V+ will record in standby. It also goes to 'sleep' if not used overnight, but even in 'sleep' mode it records.

I would suspect the sleep mode is similar power usage to standby. So as long as the box still records and does what it's supposed to I wouldn't object if it automatically went into standby overnight.

Just my .02

Originally Posted by AndyCambs

But does standby vs on save that much power?
Surely the only way to save power would be to turn the box off from the mains socket?

It sounds more like a marketing ploy than anything that will save you electricity.

They are only doing the HD and Sky + boxes initially. The Harddisk can be stopped, so there are savings on the harddisks power consumption.

---------- Post added at 09:47 ---------- Previous post was at 09:16 ----------

Originally Posted by Stuart C

Depends on the device. My NTL box saves almost nothing. My DVD recorder (according to the specs) uses about 30W when on, but idle, and 18W when in standby.

My Sony 28inch Wega TV (and I measured this) consumes around 110W - 120W when on, and less than 1 when in standby.

But theres no real point in putting the DVD recorder (unless making timed recordings) or the TV (none whatsoever) into standby other than being lazy and not wanting to turn it off completely. A million people do that and an extra 1MegaWatt of electricity is wasted.
Whereas a STB continues to process the incoming transport stream whilst in standby. For a standard STB (no hard disk) then only the UHF TV modulator internal to the box can be switched off so there is little power saved. However 2 million customers all saving little bits adds up to alot.

[Stuart C]

Originally Posted by Creative

But theres no real point in putting the DVD recorder (unless making timed recordings) or the TV (none whatsoever) into standby other than being lazy and not wanting to turn it off completely. A million people do that and an extra 1MegaWatt of electricity is wasted.
Whereas a STB continues to process the incoming transport stream whilst in standby. For a standard STB (no hard disk) then only the UHF TV modulator internal to the box can be switched off so there is little power saved. However 2 million customers all saving little bits adds up to alot.

However, there is actually no need for the STB to process the Transport Stream overnight. Any software updates or channel updates can be done later.

[gazzae]

I imagine it would be a bit annoying if you were watching a film and just as they were about to reveal who the killer is the box switches off!

[AndyCambs]

Originally Posted by grabbi

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/digitalt...c-standby.html


Especially cable. I always turn mine off. I mean, if I need something recording, and I'm in bed... even if I am on the computer, I always turn it off.

Turn it off at the mains, or just put to standby?
The recommendation is that STB should not be turned off at the mains, otherwise you will not get the updates sent through.

The V+ box does go into a sort of hibernation anyway overnight - mine has the rather twee message "V+ is sleeping"....

[Stuart C]

Originally Posted by AndyCambs

The recommendation is that STB should not be turned off at the mains, otherwise you will not get the updates sent through.

While the recommendation may be to leave the STB on, if you switch off at the mains, you actually get the update when the box is turned on.

Originally Posted by Stuart C

However, there is actually no need for the STB to process the Transport Stream overnight. Any software updates or channel updates can be done later.

By using the ability to target specific boxes overnight they can minimise call centre impact. If people woke up, booted up their box and found it did a code download then some would call ntl to see what was going on, which costs ntl. The ability to target a number of boxes overnight means that equipment like UBR's can be monitored closely to make sure the number of STB's re-connecting at any point in time is not sufficient to make the UBR fall over.
Also some people would complain about ntl updating their box when they wanted to watch it.
It makes sense for providers to do this work overnight.

[Mr Clean]

I unplug my STB every night at the mains. Along with the TV, VCR, DVD. Just habit I guess. Never used to do it when I had BB through the STB but now since I had a SACM it goes off everynight, unless recording something.

[Central]

The Sky boxes can record while in stand by to. Mine does anyway

[Stuart C]

Originally Posted by Creative

By using the ability to target specific boxes overnight they can minimise call centre impact. If people woke up, booted up their box and found it did a code download then some would call ntl to see what was going on, which costs ntl. The ability to target a number of boxes overnight means that equipment like UBR's can be monitored closely to make sure the number of STB's re-connecting at any point in time is not sufficient to make the UBR fall over.
Also some people would complain about ntl updating their box when they wanted to watch it.
It makes sense for providers to do this work overnight.

I have to admit, I don't know what preventative maintenance goes on over night. I suspect, however, that Virgin aren't accessing every box all night every night. I don't see why each box can't stop monitorring the transport stream overnight, then start monitoring at a pre-determined time (which would be sent by virgin at some point during the preceding day).

[Chrysalis]

someone on digitalspy did actually measure the power used and found standby does save a lot of power.