How do I use my digital video recorder?

The digital video recorder (DVR) truly offers the best TV experience. Most notably, as it’s recording, you can pause and rewind, even if you’re watching a live show. You can even record two shows at once.

Good to know: The shows you record are private and confidential. Nobody can access them other than you. However, Cogeco reserves the right to access this type of information for the purpose of customer support and running diagnostics testing on any of your digital receivers.

Choose from one of the following topics to jump to a section:

• How to record live TV
• How to schedule a recording
• How to view your recordings
• Organizing your recordings
• About recording capacity
• When your hard drive is full
• Scheduling conflicts and priority list management
• Viewing deleted or cancelled recordings

How to record live TV

To record the program you’re currently watching, you just need to press the REC button on your remote.

How to schedule a recording

With the i-Guide, you can schedule your recordings in three ways:

1. Using your remote control

Press the REC button at any time while watching TV or while you’re navigating the guide to start recording a program that’s on right now.

2. From i-Guide itself

From the listings, highlight a program and press the INFO button on your remote. Then, highlight the Record icon (a large red dot) and press the OK/SELECT button to start recording at the scheduled start time.

Good to know: If you choose to record a program by its name in the guide and the program is moved, the scheduled recording may be cancelled by the guide, given that the program is no longer present.

3. By setting up a manual recording

You can set up a manual recording by following the steps below:

1. Select DVR from the main menu.
2. Select Set a Recording.
3. Select the date, as well as the start and end times of the recording, and select Continue to confirm your settings.
4. Select the channel to record from the list of channels.
5. Select Record to save the recording.
   • On the confirmation page, you can also select View recording settings for additional settings such as how long to save the recording.

How to view your recordings

You can access and view your recordings from the main menu under DVR > My Recordings, or by pressing the LIST button on your remote. Use the arrows on your remote control to select one of them by date, channel or title.

Good to know: If you set multiple versions of the same show to record, all recordings will have the same name and will be listed starting with the most recent.

Organizing your recordings

In the DVR Setup menu, you can toggle the following settings:

• DVR Folders - Groups recordings together when they are part of the same series.
• Live Program Notice - Provides reminders to extend recordings for live programs.
• DVR Clipping - Automatically clips up to 5 minutes from the start of a show to avoid recording conflicts.

About recording capacity

It’s important to be aware of the recording capacity of your DVR so that you don’t accidentally run out of space. Your current capacity is always noted at the top of your My Recordings page (e.g., "50% Full").

Depending on the model, your DVR may be able to hold between 20 and 90 hours of programming in high definition (HD), or between 100 and 360 hours of programming in standard definition (SD).

When your hard drive is full

When your hard drive is full, the oldest recording set to “Save Until Space Is Needed” will be deleted automatically.

If all recordings are set to “Save Until I Delete”, your new scheduled recording will be cancelled. Because of this, it’s best to periodically check your hard drive and upcoming recordings to manage your space.

Good to know: When your hard drive is 80% full, you will get a warning message. Your DVR will then proceed with the prearranged settings for your individual recordings.

Scheduling conflicts and priority list management

Your DVR automatically creates a Series Priority List. The first series you set to record has the highest priority, and will be the one recorded if there’s a scheduling conflict.

You can easily change your Series Priority List so that the series of your choice is recorded when a conflict exists.

To do this, follow these steps:

1. Select DVR from the Main Menu.
2. Choose Series Recordings.
3. Highlight a program and use the Page + and Page - buttons on your remote to adjust the priorities.

Viewing deleted or cancelled recordings

The DVR History feature allows you to see recordings that have been deleted as well as any scheduled recordings that were cancelled before the broadcast dates. By selecting a title from within your deleted or cancelled recordings, you can view a list of upcoming broadcasts to schedule another recording.