Recording via EPG could be easier (1 Viewer)

[Paul_G]

One reason I used to use WMC over MP is the ease of use, it just worked (although MP is more flexible and advanced). Here's what I think should be improved:

1) When in the EPG and I see something I want to record, I'd like to press the record button on my remote to record that program on that channel and at that time, not bring up a list of that programme on different channels and different times. Why not have that particular option by pressing more (I)nfo on remote?

2) It would also be nice if MP is minimised that the icon could change to a red 'blob' or glow the MP icon so you can see MP is currently recording. There has been times when using WMC that I saw it was recording something so it stopped me shutting down my PC at night.

I hope the devs can see this post

 

[morpheus_xx]

1) When in the EPG and I see something I want to record, I'd like to press the record button on my remote to record that program on that channel and at that time, not bring up a list of that programme on different channels and different times. Why not have that particular option by pressing more (I)nfo on remote?

You posted inside MP1 forum, but just for reference: this feature is available inside MP2. The default actions on program are "watch now", "record", "extended schedule". The last one does what you want and shows all airings of the given program title.

Regarding point 2: I think in Windows 10 (or maybe even earlier) the PC can enter "Away" mode, if you press the power button (which would have to be configured to use standby).This way the screen and audio goes off, but background tasks like TV recording will go on.

 

[mm1352000]

Hi Paul

1) When in the EPG and I see something I want to record, I'd like to press the record button on my remote to record that program on that channel and at that time not bring up a list of that programme on different channels and different times. Why not have that particular option by pressing more (I)nfo on remote?

I can understand how the suggested behaviour with the record button would usually make it easier to record one-off programmes. However I think the suggestion fails to adequately consider series. If the programme is an episode of a series, surely it's more likely (or at least plausible) that the intention is to record the series (...rather than just the single episode, which is what would happen if we implemented your suggestion).

2) It would also be nice if MP is minimised that the icon could change to a red 'blob' or glow the MP icon so you can see MP is currently recording. There has been times when using WMC that I saw it was recording something so it stopped me shutting down my PC at night.

An indicator is easy to miss. If you're really serious about not missing or messing up recordings, the combination of away mode (which has been around since Windows XP MCE Edition 2005) and MediaPortal's PowerScheduler plugin can solve that problem easily.

 

[Paul_G]

Thanks for your responses I appreciate it.

Regarding recording on MP1 can you not have the same dialogue box as MP2?

I think I may take a look at MP2 although I think some of my plugins/skin may not be compatible.

 

[morpheus_xx]

I think I may take a look at MP2 although I think some of my plugins/skin may not be compatible.

Please be aware that MP1 and MP2 are completely different products, so MP1 plugins and skins will not work for MP2.

 

[Paul_G]

Sorry, I meant that the MP2 versions of the plugins/skin might not be available.

 

[Jasmeet_181]

I can understand how the suggested behaviour with the record button would usually make it easier to record one-off programmes. However I think the suggestion fails to adequately consider series. If the programme is an episode of a series, surely it's more likely (or at least plausible) that the intention is to record the series (...rather than just the single episode, which is what would happen if we implemented your suggestion).

DJBlu's custom builds have something like this, that's configurable, added to them.

 

[CyberSimian]

I can understand how the suggested behaviour with the record button would usually make it easier to record one-off programmes. However I think the suggestion fails to adequately consider series. If the programme is an episode of a series, surely it's more likely (or at least plausible) that the intention is to record the series (...rather than just the single episode, which is what would happen if we implemented your suggestion).

One solution to this would be to make a distinction between pressing the OK button and pressing the RECORD button:

OK button:
The list of programmes with the selected title is displayed, allowing the user to select either a single programme to record, or repeated recording. This is the current behaviour.

RECORD button:
Schedule the selected programme for a single recording.

Note that WMC allows the RECORD button to be pressed a second time, which turns a single recording into a series recording (if the programme is a series). However, this is not practical in MP1, since MP1 does not yet offer true series recording. So MP1 still needs to give the user the choice of which flavour of repeated recording he wants to use.

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

 

[Paul_G]

Looks good Jasmeet, where's the custom version?

 

[Jasmeet_181]

The latest version based on 1.13.0 is here but there are some reports of possible problems, 1.12.0 is here, there's some more information and links in the first post of that thread.