How long does it take to change the channel? About 1.9 seconds
by Richard Lawler 
posted Oct 17th 2008 at 2:35PM
Thanks to TV watching robots and other Quality of Service technology, French analysts at Witbe have determined the average channel change takes 1.9 seconds, using the up/down button on a remote, 3.4 if it's chosen directly by number. Whether this will come into effect the next time you choose a service provider is hard to say, but after measuring 30 different services in 16 countries it apparently found Microsoft Mediaroom-based systems the fastest at .6 seconds, on average, with satellite systems taking twice as long as IPTV providers. Just a bit to think about the next time RUWT? alerts you to an upset in progress and you're frantically punching the remote to click over in time to see the top-ranked team go down.
Filed under: Other hardware
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
drphil7 @ Oct 17th 2008 2:47PM
UVerse is extremely fast.
John @ Oct 17th 2008 3:08PM
U-Verse is powered by Microsoft's Mediaroom technology, the winner in the "channel off". Apparently they can do tv fast but not operating systems...
Chad @ Oct 17th 2008 3:07PM
I agree. I got U-Verse last week and I immediately noticed the difference from my Dish service. It does slow a bit if I have both the HD sets pointing to an HD channel though.
rbodeman @ Nov 13th 2008 10:35AM
I have Cablevision iO digital and the changes are terribly slow. 1.9 seconds would be a dream. I have timed 5 and 6 second changes. I can get up and get a snack in the time it takes to change channels. I called Cablevision and they told me this is normal. Thats totally unacceptable if you ask me.
TB @ Oct 17th 2008 3:18PM
That's what I miss about the analog days... the FAST channel switching. Now with digital is takes *forever* in couch-potato time. And if you got a pretty good analog signal, that definitely trumped the compressed digital channels Comcast sends (not comparing to the compressed HD, but the regular digital channels).
andy @ Oct 17th 2008 3:59PM
I have Cablevision/Optimium Cable, over the digital box (DVR), it is very slow, 1.9 seconds sounds about right. I am more used to the faster analog cable speed in the good ole' days
Xyzzy @ Oct 17th 2008 7:32PM
What is this "channel flipping" you're talking about?
I DVR everything I want to watch so it doesn't matter.
Matt @ Oct 18th 2008 3:25AM
I switched to FiOS a year ago from Comcast, and slow channel changes when pressing up and down seem like a thing of the past. Its probably because Verizon doesn't compress the video streams.
Al @ Oct 18th 2008 2:11PM
I use StarChoice (satellite) and I definitely notice the time it takes to change channels. While I'm not one to change my service over something like this, it's really noticeable if I'm changing back and forth between 2 channels (to, say, check if one's commercial break is over. at least 2 seconds to change to it, and then at least 2 to change back. not a huge deal, but noticeable).
CO @ Nov 7th 2008 10:45AM
I find the slow channel changing so annoying. It seems like we have taken two steps backward. I am one that is happy with my VCR/DVD combo TV. I switch back and forth all the time; but it is starting to make funny noises. My husband likes new technology, so we bought a LCD HDTV for our room. I was so frustrated with the slowness. I didn't realize this is an industry problem. Plus, with the TV we bought you couldn't delete channels so I had to go through HD channels 11, 11.1, 11.2, etc. He said if we get a box (Comcast) it will be better. I don't want a box or a separate DVD player. I want a new tv with a DVD built in with fast channel changing. I guess I can live w/o the DVD, but the fast channel changing is a must. Are there TVs out there that have fast channel changing w/out switching from Comcast or getting a box? We have too many TVs to switch to Verizon.