Changing channels as quick as possible

[moltas]

I don't know where to post this topic so if some admin wants to move it elsewhere that's ok.

I have used MP for about 8 months and like a lot. One thing that I haven't been able to tweak enough is the time it takes to change from one channel to another. (Btw, I have a Hauppage WinNova-T)

It really is painfully slow to change channels and it is much quicker in the app that came with my TV-card. In MP it's about 5 secs until the sound comes and another 2 secs until the image appears.

I have Timeshifting turned off which made it a bit better. I have tried the NVidia tweak found elsewhere on this board but that didn't do much.

So, what should I do? Does the Codecs matter in this case? Do different TV-cards have different "TV-channel-changing-speeds"?

Any bright ideas?

Kindly,
Moltas

[FlipGer]

Hi,

try Setup->Movies->OSD->ZAP OSD Delay Time = 0

Flip

[moltas]

Thanks for the tip. I have done that and it made a difference but it's still too long to be "acceptable". Could I improve the speed by changing TV-card? What Codec is the best?

/Mats

[moltas]

Not much too do it seems. I guess orher users are happy with 6-10 secs betweeen channels.

As it is much quicker in Win2000 I'd suppose it's somethin in the code. perhaps it has been improved in the up-coming 0.2.0...

/Moltas

[FlipGer]

Hi,

i "only" have analog cards, so there is no more hints from me. :?

But 6-8 seconds really is to much i think. No infos about your settings?

video / audio codec
video renderer
CPU, graphiccard etc.

We have a nice support tool, to grab most of the required information.

Flip

[msj33]

I also think this is big issue!

I want to Zap through the channels as I normally can do on my TV, but it is sooooo sloooooow.

Besides Mediaportal i Use Fly TV 2000 and it switches channel INSTANTLY.

This is the Best program that i have EVER used(And i have used a lot). I really think that mediaportal could use some of the functions in this Application.

So how do we solve the Slow switching problem.?

I also have a problem, when switching channels i have a flickering on my screen and then it retrieves the channel. Im using the driver from 13 Januar 2006 from Hauppauge driverpage.

I use latest release, tried different codecs and have a Hauppauge 150MCE - system specs are p4 1,7 with 256 MB ram, Geforce 6200 LP.

/Morten

[sciutand]

Slow channel change when timeshifting is on is in the bug list.
What happen when you change channel from the epg guide? (normally it's much faster for me). This mean the that the code that handles the tuning can be fast (and in some part of MP code already is), and that some clean up/optimization of the code used for zapping needs to be done to achieve faster channel change. I'm sure Frodo and Agree know this and we know they are already working on cleaning the code.

AS

[Roberto]

I have the same problem. I'm using a hybrid Hauppauge-HVR1100 (analog and digital) and the change channel is too slow (aprox. 6 secs). I've notice the difference between Mediaportal 1.xx and the release 2.xx. The previous release was more reactive - I've try to search into the forum other post having the same problem, but I've found very few threads about it. Other guys don't have that problem?
Regards
RP

[Taipan]

Originally Posted by Roberto

Other guys don't have that problem?

That's correct - for me channel changes are less than 2 seconds.

You need to provide much more information -
Are you referring to analog or digital?
Timeshift on or off?
How are you changing channels - keyboard, remote, mini OSD....?
What version of MP are you using?

[guytpetj]

I have various cards in my 2 HTPC's, but in general all analog and DVB-T cards change channels within 1 to 2 seconds.

Do you have enough RAM in your system? In the past I noticed a change on speed, opening windows, switching channels when I upgraded from 512MB to 1024MB. Now I have 2048MB and everything runs realy smoothly.

Software like WinTV does not use direct-X and .Net, and is designed to work with that manufacturers cards only. This software is always faster in responding, and uses less system memory and resources. This software does not have to deal with external codecs, since they are build in the software.