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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ziphnor" data-source="post: 222946" data-attributes="member: 14215">It is interesting to hear about all those alternatives to MediaPortal in regards to TV functionality, as well as the complaints about MP's TV functionality <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite1" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":)" /> It is probably true that if you live in the US and want to watch digital TV, then maybe there are other programs out there that will work better currently, but i wouldn't know since i live in Europe. Maybe we need some more US developers? (i really wouldn't know, i don't have a complete overview of our team, which reminds me: please note that this post is not in any way on behalf of the MP developers but rather just my personal remarks).However, if you live in Europe and want to watch scrambled digital (DVB) broadcasts (for which you have a valid subscription of course) , then i personally have not been able to find anything to drag me away from MP. Before i became a developer for Mediaportal (and actually also after) i have tried a host of different programs trying to find the perfect HTPC program. In the end i came to the conclusion that while MP was not the perfect HTPC program for me, it was the closest i could get, and even more importantly i could actively assist in improving it in the areas i felt were lacking (for example i spend alot of time implementing an autocropper and working on DVB teletext subtitles ). As to alternatives, i tried DVB Viewer for a while (its actually the non-MP HTPC program i tried for the longest time) but it turned out to be even more unstable than MP's TV module. While it supports DVB and teletext subtitles it doesnt get the timing anywhere near correct. Also, while i normally dont really care whether or not programs are user friendly, DVB Viewer's interface seems to get in the way alot (IMHO).Windows MCE only (officially) supports unscrambled DVB-T broadcasts i believe. No type of subtitles are supported. Microsoft have themselves admitted that they are not focusing on the European market with MCE for now. With various hacks you can get DVB-S/C support for some cards. Using multiple tuners requires even more hacks. I tried (and i tried hard because it otherwise seemed nice and stable) but i never got it to work correctly. It also annoyed the hell out of me that changing any non-trivial setting involved hacking the registry.I briefly tried GBPVR only to find that it doesnt support watching scrambled channels (otherwise a nice program).Showshifter i never managed to get working with my dual Twinhan DVB-C cards.SageTV i just now tried on my dev machine which just has a dual USB DVB-T tuner. For that simple purpose it worked great and was setup in no time. However on my main HTPC (with DVB-C cards) i was unable to view any channels at all. Finally it doesnt seem to support either DVB or teletext subtitles.That summary of alternatives aside, there is the discussion about whether or not there is enough focus on the TV part of Mediaportal. Given that Mediaportal relies completely on volunteers there is a limit to how much structure there can be in the development process. Unlike in a real workplace you cant just tell people order people to do what is most needed, you have to allow them to work on what they find interesting (to some extent at least) because otherwise they will just stop contributing. However, quite a few developers and testers are focused almost solely on TV related functionality. What you need to understand is that there is a reason that so few programs offer full-featured TV functionality (digital pay TV etc). The broadcasters for example have a tendency to subtly break standards for broadcasting. This is no problem when you are using their set-top box (which they prefer), but rather a nightmare if you are trying to build a generic HTPC program. Furthermore, TV cards usually have driver problems of their own, codecs are bugged and sometimes even the windows components that relate to digital TV simply doesnt work correctly. Finally there is the fact that the standards themselves require alot of work to understand and implement. It should make you stop and think that Microsoft decided to delay DVB-S/C support, even for them its apparently not something you can just go ahead and do easily.As for support requests about the TV functionality going unnoticed: We dont have the manpower to answer all support requests, and its hard enough to find time to filter through bug-reports. However, people who have even a little bit of experience can help. Get out there on the forums and in the wiki and provide whatever support and documentation you can. If you encounter a problem and no-one replies, then try the IRC channel and do your best to see if you can find anyone else with similar issues ( multiple users reporting/confirming the same issue will significantly affect how likely it is that a tester or developer takes a close look).</blockquote>

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