Can anybody tell me if MediaPortal correctly manages one (or two) Colossus card(s) to produce nicely-padded recordings of back-to-back shows on the same channel?
Some background:
I currently use NextPVR to run a TV server for XBMC. I've got two Shaw HD Motorola boxes running into two Colossuses (component HD, with 5.1 AC3 over S/PDIF, and channel-changing via FireWire). I've also got an ATSC OTA card. After countless hours of messing around, and lots of assistance from the fine folks on the NextPVR forums, everything works pretty nicely -- but not perfectly.
With the single OTA card, if I schedule two back-to-back programs on a single channel (e.g. The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, on CTV) with some pre- and post-recording, I get two perfect recordings. Both the first show and second show have pre- and post-rolls. This is something that Windows Media Center could NOT do, so I'm pretty happy with this improved behaviour from NextPVR.
With a single Colossus card, if I schedule two back-to-back programs on a single channel (e.g. Disaster DIY and Income Property, on HGTV) with some pre- and post-recording, I get two imperfect recordings (just like I would with Windows Media Center). The first show has a pre-roll, and the second show has a post-roll, but there's a hard cut between the two that fouls up one of the two recordings, depending on where the real break between shows is.
Worse, this behaviour with the Colossus DOES NOT CHANGE even if I have two independent cards with independent HD sources! When padded recordings are scheduled back-to-back from a single channel, even with two Colossus cards, NextPVR completely ignores the idle Colossus that could record one of the shows, and fouls up the post-roll on the first show and pre-roll on the second show exactly as in the single-Colossus case!
The NextPVR developer, sub, has acknowledged this behavior of his software, but has not yet made any moves to change it. (In New Zealand, where he's from, apparently almost everything comes via DVB, so the nicely-optimized OTA-style scheduling works perfectly.)
What I want, of course, is the same sort of behavior for the Colossus as the OTA card: nicely padded back-to-back shows from one channel, from one Colossus. The next best thing would be nicely padded shows by way of distribution across two Colossuses.
In reading a good portion of the 98-page Support thread, I see that there are some people running more than one Colossus. I sure hope one or more of you has some insight into this...?
Some background:
I currently use NextPVR to run a TV server for XBMC. I've got two Shaw HD Motorola boxes running into two Colossuses (component HD, with 5.1 AC3 over S/PDIF, and channel-changing via FireWire). I've also got an ATSC OTA card. After countless hours of messing around, and lots of assistance from the fine folks on the NextPVR forums, everything works pretty nicely -- but not perfectly.
With the single OTA card, if I schedule two back-to-back programs on a single channel (e.g. The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, on CTV) with some pre- and post-recording, I get two perfect recordings. Both the first show and second show have pre- and post-rolls. This is something that Windows Media Center could NOT do, so I'm pretty happy with this improved behaviour from NextPVR.
With a single Colossus card, if I schedule two back-to-back programs on a single channel (e.g. Disaster DIY and Income Property, on HGTV) with some pre- and post-recording, I get two imperfect recordings (just like I would with Windows Media Center). The first show has a pre-roll, and the second show has a post-roll, but there's a hard cut between the two that fouls up one of the two recordings, depending on where the real break between shows is.
Worse, this behaviour with the Colossus DOES NOT CHANGE even if I have two independent cards with independent HD sources! When padded recordings are scheduled back-to-back from a single channel, even with two Colossus cards, NextPVR completely ignores the idle Colossus that could record one of the shows, and fouls up the post-roll on the first show and pre-roll on the second show exactly as in the single-Colossus case!
The NextPVR developer, sub, has acknowledged this behavior of his software, but has not yet made any moves to change it. (In New Zealand, where he's from, apparently almost everything comes via DVB, so the nicely-optimized OTA-style scheduling works perfectly.)
What I want, of course, is the same sort of behavior for the Colossus as the OTA card: nicely padded back-to-back shows from one channel, from one Colossus. The next best thing would be nicely padded shows by way of distribution across two Colossuses.
In reading a good portion of the 98-page Support thread, I see that there are some people running more than one Colossus. I sure hope one or more of you has some insight into this...?