Specific Recording (1 Viewer)

[David Abineri]

In common usage, when I say I want to record Breaking Bad (by clicking on that title in the EPG) each week at 8pm (for example), I DO NOT mean record whatever happens to be on at 8pm if that channel's schedule has changed.

Yes, there are two interpretations to this request ie Record at 8pm each week regardless of what is broadcast on that channel OR record Breaking Bad (the program I designated from the EPG) at 8pm each week meaning that if Breaking Bad is not on at 8pm, don't record it. MP apparently currently uses the first of these interpretations.

I wonder if MP could be made to interpret this request to mean that I want to record the program called Breaking Bad at 8pm and not another program. Or perhaps have the option to interpret this either way?

About three times a year where I am in the US our public tv shuts down regular programming for two weeks each time to fund raise. As a result, my MP records 6 weeks of fund raising requests over the course of the year in place of the many excellent programs that they offer and I record.

There is a cumbersome add-on called TVWishList but MP needs a choice at the point where recordings are specified.

I hope that this currently is seen as a major fault in MP and am optimistic that perhaps in can be addressed in some near-future version. Many thanks for an otherwise wonderful program. David Abineri

 

[CyberSimian]

In common usage, when I say I want to record Breaking Bad (by clicking on that title in the EPG) each week at 8pm (for example), I DO NOT mean record whatever happens to be on at 8pm if that channel's schedule has changed.

I am inclined to agree with you that MP does not yet have quite the right selection of recording options, despite the fact that it already has 8 different choices . If we accept that MP should always try to be upwardly compatible, that means that MP should not change the meaning of any of the existing choices. Hence MP would need to introduce some additional choices.

In the mean time, may I draw your attention to the choice that I use most often, namely "weekly on this channel" (option 8). This choice fixes the channel, and fixes the day of the week, but does not fix the time of day. So the programme can be broadcast at different times on that day of the week, and MP will still record it. Also, MP will not record anything for that recording request, if that programme is not broadcast one week due to schedule changes (e.g., live sport, or as in your case, fund-raising). One possible disadvantage of this choice is that it records all occurrences of that programme on that day of the week; this may or may not be what you want.

There are other choices that do not fix the time of day when the recording is made (e.g. "every time on this channel", and "every time on all channels"). These different choices all address different requirements, and in any particular case there may not be a choice that matches exactly your requirements, so you have to pick the choice that comes closest to your requirements.

-- from CyberSimian in the UK