Use real-clients mapped to virtual-clients for flexibility (1 Viewer)

[HappyTalk]

I thought about the way this could work back when using MythTV. I concluded that in the way TV's have always had Ext1, Ext2, Ext3 for switching between your dvd, video, satellite etc that Mediaportal chould use a similar method. You set up Mediaportal with as many virtual clients as you like. Then each virtual client is assigned a list of real clients able to control what it's doing or to view it. Each real client can then flick between any of the virtual clients it's assigned viewing status but only change channels etc on ones where it has control status.

This then allows me in the bedroom to just select EXT_PC1 and watch the same as is being played in the lounge on PC1. Or if PC1 is listening to music, viewing photos etc, see that (almost vnc like in effect but not in operation). If I want to watch a different TV channel in the bedroom I just select EXT_PC2 (to which bedroom PC2 is assigned as controller) and use my remote to watch what I want.

You could go to the recordings window (merge scheduled and recorded) to select an in progress or previous recording. You could be automatically taken here if there are no tv tuners left unused when you press tv. Obviously recordings would have precedence in grabbing tv cards, but when we are able to grab multiple dvb streams from a single dvb multiplex then theoretically with just 2 cards you could supply 12 different channels to 12 clients.


This flexibility would allow you to:-
1) Set up a single machine hosting both the server and 3 mediaportal clients, each assigned to a different video card (each with seperate remote control) routed throughout the house + another internet based web client using xvid streaming.

2) Using P.I.P (when available) I could set main image to EXT_PC1a, PIP window to be EXT_PC1b. I would set EXT_PC1b to playback a music playlist, so when ads are on I can easily flick to my music and back to TV when ads are finished.

3) Set up single server with 10 clients, all watching EXT_PC1 i.e the same tv show, or each watching their own channel on (EXT_PC1, EXT_PC2.... EXT_PC10) if enough cards or multiplex splits are available to supply them.

4) Flick over to EXT_PC3 (kids bedroom) to spy on what they are watching!

5) Just assign all clients able to view AND control any of 3 virtual clients. Set one virtual client up for playing music, one up for radio and one up for tv and have a bit of a free for all.

If it went the Myth route where every tv show being viewed is recorded then if virtual clients EXT_PC1 & EXT_PC2 were both grabbing the same tv show they could utilise this same recording and so be watching at different places. If a virtual client went into pause mode when it has no more real clients subscribing to it then the recording of this viewed channel would stop.


So summing up I'd have tv card objects that real clients may view or control via intermediary virtual clients. It'd be very simple to operate, yet very flexible and thereby cover most future wishlists in this area.

 

[joboehl]

I think what you described is more or less what already happens in the current engine, the differente is that the concept of virtual users are the streams, and they are created dinamically and the user creating it has the control over it.

So if you kids created stream3 you could simple choose the stream and whatch it.


The problems I see (and don't have a clear idea on how they should be handled) are mainly due to the ownership of such streams and the problem would propably happen on the virtual server scenario. Example:

- User 1 has stream1 (or virtual_user1) tuned on BBC. User_2 whan'ts to watch BBC so it is subscribed to stream1. What append if user1 now whant's to change to Discovery Channel for example? Should it bring user2 wth it? Should user1 not be able to change channels? Should user2 start watching Discovery? It's a tough call. BTW, this is a one tuner scenario just to show the potential problems.


The way I understand the current implementation, MP never reuses the same stream for more than one client unless the user specifically chooses it. So if two users whant to watch the same program on a multi-tuner environment, each one would have it's own stream and conflicts would be avoided.

If the user chooses to go and watch a stream owned by someone else, he is (hoppefully) conscient of the drawnbacks.

I think there are better methods of handling it, but maybe it would make things too complex for a first implementation. It will probably change overtime.

Anyway, just my two cents. The developer team is probably thinking on much clever ways for handling this.

Julio