my top 10.5 improvement suggestions for Tv-Server (1 Viewer)

markius

Portal Pro
December 26, 2006
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Maidstone, UK
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I like TV Server. Roy, this is not a rant.... :D


Very briefly, below are my top 10.5 improvement suggestions for Tv-Server. They are in no particular order.

Bear in mind that I don't necessarily understand every last detail of TV server internal operation but I think these are all valid suggestions even if I'm essentially suggesting a major re-design & re-write.



1. Bind to 0.0.0.0 instead of a specific IP address. This would resolve the issues associated with changing IP addresses in a DHCP environment/slow wireless cards/etc. See also #5

2. Re-write the SetupTV application to be an MMC snap-in. Much of TV server is heirachical (Servers to TV Cards, Channels to TV cards, Channels to Groups etc). MMC is designed for this... why re-invent the wheel?

3. Allow the TV Service to be remotely configured (using the MMC snap-in above). Even for a single-seat setup (like mine) it would be nice to be able to manage the TV service on my HTPC from my laptop.

4. No direct client connection to the TV database. Instead, all access to TV Server should be via a single port/API + RSTP(or similar) for media playback.

4.5 Dump MySQL / MSSQL. Do we _really_ need a full blown RDMBS? Is there any way we can possibly avoid it? SQL-Lite is nice.

5. In single seat setups, TV Client should still connect via IP using the API but use 127.0.0.1
Is seems that at the moment TV client directly accesses the recorded TS files in a single seat setup.
Access through a single port+RSTP in all cases would be neater and make the whole solution more modular.

6. Streaming of AVI/MKV/MP3 located on the TV server machine.

7. Graceful handling of low disk space conditions. IE, some kind of helpful messages & advanced warning.

8. Get rid of Powerscheduler. Controversial I'm sure but why not allow Windows to do the power management. TV Service can reject PM requests when recording/timeshifting and refresh the wakeuptimer as required. I don't see the need to do much more than that... why re-invent another wheel?

9. Make better use of idle DVB cards. I have 4 tuners in my system. If I'm only using 1 card to watch a TV channel, the other 3 should be grabbing EPG from other channels or perhaps even scanning transponders looking for new channels?

10. Program Delivery Control. Certainly in the UK most broadcasters transmit 2 types of EPG information... the full-blown 7 day EPG and a short Now&Next EPG. The Now/Next EPG should be used to automatically extend, delay or otherwise adjust scheduled recording where necessary. This is the way that SKY+ works and it's aces.



Please feel free to flame/ridicule/praise my suggestions. I'd be intersted to hear the thoughts of others.

Cheers
Mark
(Midly pedantic IT professional & occasional analyst/programmer)
 

funkstar

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  • August 9, 2005
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    I agree with pretty much all of that. And that is not a critisism of mediaPortal as it is :)

    Liek you I don't have a great deal of knowledge of the inner workings of MP, but I do think that a lot of the failings of the current setup is due to the way it has grown over the years. For instance it wasn't designed to be a multi seat application. MediaPortal 2 on the other hand will be, so a lot of the limitations in place at the moment shouldn't be there.
     

    SilverXero

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    August 16, 2008
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    I would agree that these suggestions would be a move in the right direction (in either MP1 but definitely MP2). MHEG support for the UK would also improve the WAF.
     

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