"Seamless" TV recording actually possible with MP?

[Cronos]

I have noticed that every time I record two consecutive TV programmes (i.e., no time gap in between), I lose a few seconds after the first recording until the second starts. This obviously results in small "jumps" within the cut/joined files in my video archive.
I wonder whether this is a known bug or if there is a trick or workaround.

In case this issue should be configuration specific, my setup is the following:

Area: Media Portal Program
MediaPortal Version: 0.2.0.4
MediaPortal Skin: MCE
Windows Version: Windows XP (SP2)
.NET CLR Version: 2.0.50727
DirectX Version: 4.09.00.0904 (9.0c)
Audio Codec: MPA Decoder
Video Codec: MPV Decoder
CPU Type: Intel Pentium 4 - 2.53GHz
Memory: 503 MB
Motherboard: EZ65 (AOpen)
TV Card Model: WinTV PVR-USB2
TV Card Type: Hardware
TV Card Driver: 2.2.73.23178 (IR:2.50.24040)
Video Card Model: Intel(r) 82865g Graphics Controller (64 MB)
Video Card Driver: -
Video Card Resolution: 800x600
Video Render Type: -
Audio Card Model: Realtek AC'97 Audio
Audio Card Driver: -

[ASiDiE]

When you say a few seconds.... do you really mean a few seconds as in 2... or more than that.

[Cronos]

hmm, hard to tell because I haven't seen the programmes I recorded so I don't know exactly how much is missing...
But I guess it must be a bit more than 2 seconds, maybe 5 to 10 i'd estimate. Will try to check it out and report back later.

[Paranoid Delusion]

If it's on different channels, not surprised with one TV card (especially USB) maybe even the same channels may do that, as everything confirms that the right program gets recorded. Think thats why a lot of people have dual cards to overcome this delay.

Regards

[lar282]

what is your pre/post record?
When I do this I get 3 files!
I asked about it in another thread but I am still unsure how it should work.
http://forum.team-mediaportal.com/sh...2619#post72619

//Lasse

[Cronos]

Ok I think I didn't make the point clear enough. Of course I referred to recordings on the same channel. If there was any channel switching involved a small gap would be a logical consequence. But recording the same channel shouldn't necessarily lead to gaps I think (at least it used to work perfectly in myHTPC which I used before MP).

@Lasse: I couldn't imagine how pre/post settings should matter. I might give it a shot with 0/0 though, but as the record is from one channel only that almost certainly won't solve the issue. It would just make the gap appear earlier (and if I am lucky and programmes aren't delayed, within the commercials).

BTW, I think I noticed the "gap issue" on another machine with a Hauppauge PVR150 PCI card installed. So I doubt the issue is caused by the USB. Will try to do some more testing though.

What I would like to know is if other users can confirm these gaps between recordings or not. Maybe this will be looked into by the devs in a later version (as I understand it, there will be major changes to the recording engine over the next releases).

Thanks for any input,
~Cronos

[lar282]

here is my log of rec on same channel with 2 shows that has no gap inbetween. One can see that the first show does not end until post rec is finished (1 minute) so the gap is always post rec,,,right?


2006-08-28 14:39:12 340 [Info.] Twinhan: send PMT cam:viaccess 1 len:117 video:0x419 audio:0x418
2006-08-28 14:39:12 371 [Info.] SetStructure() returned ok 0x0
2006-08-28 14:42:06 418 [Info.] Recorder: Send announcement for recording:Record once Ordjakten, forts on TV4 from 2006-08-28 14:45 - 2006-08-28 15:35
2006-08-28 14:44:06 699 [Info.] Recorder: time to record 'Ordjakten, forts' on channel:TV4 from 14:45:00-15:35:00 id:9 priority:2147483642 quality:NotSet Once
2006-08-28 14:44:06 699 [Info.] Recorder: program:14:45:00-15:35:00
2006-08-28 14:44:06 699 [Info.] Recorder: No card found, check if a card is recording a show which has a lower priority then priority:2147483642
2006-08-28 14:44:06 699 [Info.] Recorder: no recordings have a lower priority then priority:2147483642
2006-08-28 14:45:07 043 [Info.] Recorder: time to record 'Ordjakten, forts' on channel:TV4 from 14:45:00-15:35:00 id:9 priority:2147483642 quality:NotSet Once
2006-08-28 14:45:07 183 [Info.] Recorder: program:14:45:00-15:35:00
2006-08-28 14:45:07 183 [Info.] Recorder: No card found, check if a card is recording a show which has a lower priority then priority:2147483642
2006-08-28 14:45:07 183 [Info.] Recorder: no recordings have a lower priority then priority:2147483642
2006-08-28 14:46:00 480 [Info.] TVCapture.Proces() Card:1 recording has ended 'Nyheterna' on channel:TV4 from 14:40:00-14:45:00 id:8 _cardPriority:2147483643 quality:NotSet
2006-08-28 14:46:00 558 [Info.] TVCapture.StopRecording() Card:1
2006-08-28 14:46:00 574 [Info.] DVBGraph:stop recording...
2006-08-28 14:46:00 683 [Info.] Recorder: recording ended 'Nyheterna' on channel:TV4 from 14:40:00-14:45:00 id:8 priority:2147483643 quality:NotSet
2006-08-28 14:46:00 683 [Info.] diskmanagement: recording Nyheterna ended. type:Once max episodes:2147483647
2006-08-28 14:46:00 699 [Info.] Recorder: recording state changed
2006-08-28 14:46:00 699 [Info.] TVCapture.StopTimeShifting() Card:1
2006-08-28 14:46:00 699 [Info.] DVBGraph: StopTimeShifting()

//Lasse

[Cronos]

As I read your log, MP continues to record until 14:46:00 which is when your post rec (1 min) ends. Or am I wrong on this?
If my inference is correct, I don't see any problem with this unless the next recording fails to start at 14:46:00 (which can't be seen from the log). By "gap" I meant that you miss some of the TV stream between two programmes. Does that happen to you?

I haven't had the time to find out the amount of seconds I miss between recordings (too busy at work atm), hopefully I will be able to report back with some more information soon.

Regards,
~Cronos