6.2 Versus 4.x... Menus and Guide Speed Comparison Test

[rbautch]

I've seen many posts asking about the increased speed of 6.2 with respect to guides and menus, which of course is very true. But exactly how much faster is it? To satisfy my curiousity (and have some fun), I've decided to do a semi-scientific side-by-side comparison between 6.2 and 4.01b menu and guide speeds. Instead of a stopwatch, I'm going to capture the analog output of my two identical HDVR2's and overlay a digital stopwatch (accurate to one hundredth of a second) as I navigate through the menus and guides. I will then render a composite avi video file with the stopwatch overlay, so folks can see the side-by-side speeds in real time. I'll host the resulting avi(s) myself. I tested this setup to make sure it works, and it does (screen capture attached). I plan to measure the exact time it takes to do the following:

1. Live TV to Tivo Central
2. Live TV to Now Showing
3. Live TV to Guide
4. Page up/down in Guide
5. Change Channel via Guide
6. Start Recording via Guide
7. Now Showing to Folder Contents
8. Folder Contents to Show Description
9. Show Description to Play (start actual playing)
10. Enter Season Pass

I've already rehacked one of my 6.2 Tivos back to 4.01b with a clean image. To make sure I have apples to apples, I did a clear and delete everything on both Tivos, and then loaded about 45 hours worth of programming into each now playing list. I installed and started the same hacks on both (basically everything in my signature).

Any comments on the test plan or my setup are appreciated.

edit: results posted here, and summarized in post 5 below.

[RavenStL]

OMG, i love people like you

I really only hate how long it takes for my guide data to populate the screen in 4.01b. Now Showing is fast enough, even on the networked ones.

waiting on #4

[rbautch]

I added a low-res mpeg file to the attachments in the first post to show how the digital stopwatch overlay works, and how I'll show 4.01b and 6.2 side by side. This is just a sample I did to confirm I could set up the overlays correctly, not an actual test. I'm using the Sony Vegas 5.0 non-linear editor for the overlays. I'll post the results in a day or two.

edit: Sample removed. See post below for actual test results.

[rbautch]

Attached is the result of the first test, a simple channel change. I did 5 runs and each result was simliar...6.2 changes channels about 20% faster than 4.01b. I'll host the remaining results myself at a higher resolution, rather than attaching them here.

[rbautch]

You can view the final comparison tests between 6.2 and 4.01b guide and menu speeds here . The results were pretty interesting. The biggest difference between the two software versions is the guide speed. Paging up and down within the guide was almost 8 times faster in 6.2, and just bringing up the guide from LiveTV took 4 times as long in 4.01b. Another significant difference is the speed at which you can begin recording a show from the menu, which took almost 4 times as long in 4.01b. Entering a season pass took 6 times longer in 4.01b. Once you get into NowPlaying, navigating through folders and menus revealed very little differences. Check out the link above to view side by side tests in real time, with digital timer overlays. All tests were based on the average of 3-5 individual runs, YMMV.

[Thinkdiff]

Very cool.. I immediately noticed the speed in setting a recording and season pass on 6.2. it is SO much better.