A Better TV-Client (1 Viewer)

mats_o

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September 18, 2011
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Wishlist of improvements for the TV-experiance in MP2

* Teletext Clock should update itself
* Move Tv Config to MP2 and make it work from a remote (get rid of Keyboard/Mouse req, more like a set-top box.)
* Reliable EPG
* Recording Shedules
*OSD behaviour while tuning
 
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chefkoch

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  • October 5, 2004
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    Approved, TV will be better :)

    Nah, kidding. We currently have a lot todos in the area, but we are happy to get any suggestions and ideas, no matter if it is features or usability in general, but if you are a bit more precise, the devs and descigners know better what you are looking for and the result might be more what you expect :)

    Screenshots and texts, step by step explanations etc. might help a lot.
    Looking forward to more suggestions and I totally agree, it should be more STB like / intutive at least in the default configuration, better error handling, more robust etc.......

    Cheers,
    chefkoch
     

    Lightning303

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    I fully agree with you guys. As @chefkoch said he would like to have some input on this, here i go :p.

    I actually dont think that the big problem of tv in mp/mp2 is the interface that lets you watch tv. The problem is more the configuration and getting everything to work. I personaly dont care if i have to tweak around in SetupTV and have to read some stuff up in the forum, however im more of the power user kind. Others, casual users i call them, have quiet big problems when it comes to mp and tv. Some time ago i set my father up with an htpc. He wanted to watch tv on it and do all the other stuff. Now everytime i visit him i become a system administrator instead of a son visiting. And he isnt a dau or anything.

    So, what i think should be improved for usability.

    Configure the main stuff for tv within MP2
    Doing a channel search, deleting channels, swtiching the position of channels and all that stuff should be able to do within mp2. And in a simple way, without all the extra options that are available in setuptv. It should look like an interface know from a tv.

    Getting EPG to work
    epg is in my opinion the biggist problem of the implementation at the moment. It seems that pretty much everybody is strugeling with it. DVB EPG should work pretty much always. As it is now, i enable dvb epg in the options, and then nothing. Im in mp/mp2 looking at my guide and everything is empty. The next day/after a few hours, if im lucky i get a few channels with epg information the rest is still empty. I never was able to get dvb epg reliable to work. Looking at other setups it seems to be a no brainer. In DVBViewer, i do a channel search, and without me doing anything all the epg infos are there. When using my tv instead of my htpc, i press guide button, again all infos are there.


    I hope that this helps a little bit, and i hope i didnt rant to much there ;p
    Thanks for you guys hard work.
     

    Lehmden

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    Hi.
    Personally I like to have the whole process more integrated. For now I need MySQL Database Server, MP1 TVServer, MPExtended and MP2 Client for such a "simple" task like watching TV. The experimental MP2 native TV Server did not work with my Tuner card so I can't use this. Aside this the MP2 Server also is running... It's a bit too much I think. MP2 is fast and need low amount of CPU power. As long as you don't watch TV...

    I would like to have TV Server integrated in MP2 Server as a plugin and MP2 Client communicate with TV Server via MP2 Server. So TV is just another "Media" nothing special to worry about..

    My main goal as it comes to TV is recording. Normally I don't watch Live TV. Only WorldCup Soccer or Formula 1 I prefer to watch live... So for me the scheduling process is most important. There are three or four kinds of schedules. Single Recordings (mainly for Movies or other once in a lifetime schedules). This is working already as it should. The next one is Series recording (like all Episodes from "Fringe" on all HD Channels). This is not available now (but my most used scenario). The third is Date/Time based scheduling (like every Friday 8PM 2 hours on Channel 7). This I don't use often, but it's fine if I can have it. And the fourth is rule based scheduling (like record all broadcasts on HD Channels with Dinosaur in Title or Topic but not the "Jurassic Park" movies). This isn't available in MP2 and also not in MP1. Some of those missing things we can compensate by using TVWishlist Plugin. But I prefer this to be fully integrated in TV Client.
     
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    Zoidberg77

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    Hi,

    I agree with Lightnings and Lehmdens posts (y)
    But personally what me bothers most is the Live TV integration in MP1. The zapping experience and OnScreenDisplay information to be precise. Every set top box I know is able to do channel tuning in the background independent from the OSD.
    E.g. when I zap I read the current/next program info on the OnScreen Display. This may take a second or two and then I decide to stay on that channel or zap to the next one. On my set top box after zapping the OSD displays instantly the info from the new channel, regardless if there is still a channel tuning in progress or not. That way I can quickly zap through all channels and never have to wait for the OSD information to be updated. In MediaPortal OSD behaviour is quite different. In the moment MP tunes to the new channel the OSD not updated anymore; meaning if I zap while channel tuning is in progress I will end up with the new (zapped) channel, but I won't get OSD info until the tuning is completed and the new channel is displayed. That way it's some kind of "blind zapping" while channel tuning is in progress.
    I know I can increase the zapping delay and then have more time to "read and decide" but this increases the whole channel change duration. This phenomenon is the only reason to have a zapping delay at all. If the OSD would be updated independently from channel tuning you wouldn't need any zapping delay.
    I have no idea if it is possible at all and I have to admit I haven't tested the latest MP2 release to see if the behaviour is the same, but this was the first thing what came to my mind as I read this thread.

    Cheers
     
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    mats_o

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    September 18, 2011
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    A small quick one just for starters then (with reservation for that my testrig is a little bit outdated right now :))
    In teletext in Mediaportal the clock is updated when you start the teletext function and newer more.
    In Media Center it actually updates itself each second
    That should be rather easy to fix and it do give a lot better user experiance
     

    chefkoch

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    Nice collection guys. Very precise points and targets. Keep it coming :)

    @mats_o Would you mind managing kind of a TOC in your first post?
    just an alphabetical list of topics like "Telextext clock is not refreshed" and a link to the post?
    This way we have a nice overview in case the thread grows more and more :)
     
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    mats_o

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    September 18, 2011
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    Nice collection guys. Very precise points and targets. Keep it coming :)

    @mats_o Would you mind managing kind of a TOC in your first post?
    just an alphabetical list of topics like "Telextext clock is not refreshed" and a link to the post?
    This way we have a nice overview in case the thread grows more and more :)

    I would be honoured :)
    I dont know how to link to a post but i guess I can get a little help with that :)
     

    Lightning303

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    Nice collection guys. Very precise points and targets. Keep it coming :)

    @mats_o Would you mind managing kind of a TOC in your first post?
    just an alphabetical list of topics like "Telextext clock is not refreshed" and a link to the post?
    This way we have a nice overview in case the thread grows more and more :)

    I would be honoured :)
    I dont know how to link to a post but i guess I can get a little help with that :)

    On the right bottom of a post is a little field with the number of the post (e.g. #9 for yours). There is your link for individual posts :).
     

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