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Introducing... |
TV Guide On Screen Basic Use FAQ(This page is a work in progress and is still very much under construction) This page will address some questions about how to use TV Guide On Screen. It is not meant as a replacement for your user's guide or for Gemstar's official TV Guide On Screen home page, but since I don't have to churn the answers through a marketing department, I hope to provide more accurate, straightforward information than might be available elsewhere. For more detailed technical information about TVGOS and how it works, please refer to the Technical FAQ. Select a question or scroll down to peruse the entire Use FAQ. General Use
Working With Channel Lineups Recordings and Reminders General UseHow can I reset my TV Guide On Screen data and make it look for a new host channel? The easiest way to make TVGOS search for a new host channel is to change the ZIP code in setup. This causes TVGOS to search for a host channel with data for the new ZIP. If you like, you can change the ZIP code to something arbitrary, turn the TV off, turn the TV back on, then set the ZIP code back to your home ZIP. Alternately, you can issue a "reset" command to TV Guide On Screen by entering the Guide, selecting the "Setup" tab, pressing "down" once, then entering "653274147" on your remote. If you entered the code correctly, the screen will blank momentarily and the guide's internal settings will be wiped. Program listings and channel lineups are preserved, but the clock will not be reset until TVGOS finds a host station for your ZIP code. Unplugging or hard-resetting your TV may have the same effect. Also, if TVGOS cannot find data on its recorded host channels for three consecutive days, it will reset itself and begin searching for a new host channel. How can I contact Gemstar directly about problems with TV Guide On Screen? The short answer: You can't. When you call your TV manufacturer with TVGOS issues, they are supposed to troubleshoot the most common problems, then escalate the issue to Gemstar if necessary. Although "customer service" phone numbers for Gemstar have circulated from time-to-time on the internet, those phone numbers are supposed to be for cable companies and manufacturers. Calls from end-users are not returned or acted on. If your issue is escalated to Gemstar, one of their engineers or customer service people will contact you. I think the idea behind this labyrinthine customer service system is that Gemstar, who does not have a call center or large customer service department, wants the manufacturers to screen out the common easily-solved problems so they can focus on the real issues, such as broken VBI inserters, belligerent cable companies, and poorly-engineered TV's. I suspect that Gemstar aggregates the problems forwarded to them and only acts once there are multiple reports of the same problem. I don't think Gemstar realizes, though, how frustrating this can be to the end-user who feels like they are getting the runaround. Working With Channel LineupsIs there any way to automatically reorder the channels numerically? Not automatically. To put the channels in numerical order, you'll have to use the channel editor to move each one manually. While this is an arduous task, it should only need to be done once. TV Guide On Screen will remember your custom channel lineup unless the TV is hard-reset or without power for a period of time. I have heard rumors that TV Guide On Screen may add an "auto sort" function to the channel editor at some point in the future which will put your channels in numerical order. Recordings and RemindersIs it possible to set a reminder or a recording if there is no program data? Yes, but your clock needs to be correctly set. In TV Guide On Screen, select the "Schedule" tab and press the "Menu" button on your remote. Choose "Set manual recording" or "Set manual reminder" and enter the requested information. This should work on channels that have "No Listing" and even if your TVGOS has not downloaded your channel lineup, but for obvious reasons, the clock in TVGOS needs to have set itself. |
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Copyright 2006 Steve Derby.
Neither this website nor its developer is associated with Gemstar or TV Guide On
Screen in any official capacity whatsoever. This website has been created based
on the idea that the more information available about TVGOS, the more likely
people are to be able to troubleshoot their own TVGOS issues. TV Guide On
Screen™ is a registered trademark of Gemstar-TV Guide, Inc. and/or one of its
affiliates. |