[mythtv-users] Live TV playback frustration

[Paul Gardiner]

Joseph Fry <joe at thefrys.com> wrote:

>>
>> I can't believe all the anti-live-tv sentiment here.  There are
>plenty of
>>> reasons to watch live tv where scheduled recordings don't make much
>sense:
>>>
>>> 1. background noise:  I tune in to CNN while I work and just leave
>it on
>>> most of the day with the volume low.
>>>
>>
>> I've never understood playing a TV show with talking and pictures as
>> "background noise."  If I hear talking, I tend to listen to it.  I
>can't
>> imagine much TV is actually worth "listening to" without the
>> pictures--unless maybe you actually put on the "audio described"
>track so
>> they tell you what's happening.  I find that music is much better
>> background noise for me--since it's not distracting/doesn't pull me
>in
>> trying to follow some discussion, but is something to listen to.
>>
>
>I say background 'noise' but typically the volume is barely above
>the ambient noise level of my room... just loud enough to remind me its
>on
>so I look to it periodically.  CNN, and the other news channels, are
>very
>good about letting you know what's being discussed in a glance.
>
>
>>  2. severe weather:  If I notice things are looking particularly bad,
>I
>>> tune
>>> in to one of the local networks to see if they are saying anything
>about
>>> it... may need to scan a few channels to find one that didn't just
>finish
>>> talking about it.
>>>
>>> 3. breaking news: If I hear about something major going on, I flip
>through
>>> the major networks/news channels to see if anyone is reporting it.
>>>
>>
>> For breaking news/weather alerts, I'll actually schedule recordings
>on a
>> bunch of channels, then start watching one and if they're not talking
>about
>> the thing I'm interesting in hearing about, I'll use MENU to go to
>Jump to
>> Program and switch to one of the other programs.  I'll do this for
>each of
>> the recordings I started, then use JUMPPREV (no default binding) or
>> PREVCHAN (H) to flip through all of them--and I can jump backwards or
>> forwards in them to find the spots where they /do/ talk about the
>important
>> stuff...  It's basically channel surfing evolved--channel surfing but
>with
>> the benefit that MythTV keeps recording the shows when I'm "surfed
>away" so
>> I don't have to worry about missing the important stuff because I'm
>on some
>> other channel when they talk about it...
>
>
>I have 100+ channels and 3 tuners and a lot of recordings scheduled for
>thing I know I want... I can't dedicate tuners to recording a channel
>around the clock just in case I want to catch an unscheduled
>news/weather
>event.
>
>
>>  4. a change of pace:  I have a couple of dozen shows I record... but
>
>sometimes I want something different/new so I channel hop, watching a
>few
>>> minutes of this or that until I find something that keeps my
>interest.
>>>
>>
>> When I'm looking for a change of pace, I look at the guide and see if
>> there's anything interesting.  Since browsing everything means I'm
>unlikely
>> to find anything, I'll often browse a list of everything on a given
>channel
>> ( Manage Recordings|Schedule Recordings|Search Lists|Channels ) that
>tends
>> to air things I'd like (or one of the independents that typically
>pick up
>> cable shows I haven't seen once they go into syndication).  Sometimes
>I'll
>> use Manage Recordings|Schedule Recordings|Search Lists|New Titles to
>see
>> what new shows (premieres, movies, series, specials) are coming up
>(this is
>> how I found, "Solar Flares: Are You at Risk?").  Sometimes I'll look
>at
>> Manage Recordings|Schedule Recordings|Search Lists|Movies to find
>movies
>> that are airing that I never got a chance to see.
>
>
>I have a bunch of seldom watched recordings that I fall on most of the
>time... but sometimes nothing in that list suits my mood so I just burn
>an
>hour switching between a few different channels.  Sometimes I find
>something I like and set it to record, most of the time I just wish I
>had
>that time back.  But either way, even with hundreds of hours of
>recordings
>and movies, sometimes nothing strikes a fancy and I resort to good ole
>channel surfing.
>
>
>>  5. KIDS!!  I don't know about your family, but my kids will watch
>just
>>> about anything that airs on Disney and Nick... if I told them that
>live tv
>>> wasn't an option, they'd give me a list a mile long of shows they
>want
>>> recorded... I'd have two tuners running around the clock recording
>stuff
>>> for the couple of hours /week they actually watch tv.  Far better to
>just
>>> let them watch what is on, they don't complain, and I don't burn
>disk
>>> space
>>> needlessly.  I just record a couple of their favorites so they
>always have
>>> something... just in case.
>>>
>>
>> A friend of mine with kids sets up recording schedules for the kids'
>shows
>> with appropriate priority and sets a maximum number of episodes to
>keep and
>> "Record new and delete old".  He'll then move the ones they want to
>keep
>> watching over and over into Video Library.
>
>
>I do exactly this with several shows... always keeping 3 or 4 episodes
>of
>their favorites.  But they often prefer just to watch whatever is on
>their
>favorite channels... and I like that they can as then I don't have a
>bunch
>of recordings that will never get watched cluttering up my drives.
>
>One other example of when live tv is appropriate... when you have a
>guest
>who doesn't know anything about your system and you don't have time to
>teach them.  For example a babysitter on date night.  I can show them
>how
>to open "Watch TV" and how to change channels and they are good to go.
>Far easier than asking them what shows I should schedule and how to
>watch
>them.
>
>Anyway... 95% of the time I am watching recordings (excluding leaving
>the
>news on all day) but live TV does have a purpose.  Mythtv is not new to
>our
>household... I've been running since 0.12 (I think)... but we have
>always
>used live TV to some extent... not often, but enough that I feel it is
>a
>critical feature.

All makes sense to me.