[mythtv-users] Live TV playback frustration

Joseph Fry joe at thefrys.com
Fri Aug 24 19:29:48 UTC 2012


> Again, notifying the user and letting them /choose/ to exit Live TV and
> watch the in-progress/previously-**recorded version of the episode would
> be a good thing.  But it needs to be a conscious decision the user makes
> and not some "I'll just force you out of Live TV" approach.  And, FWIW,
> reserving a tuner but not using it is a waste.  And, yes, with that
> statement, I'm *also* implying that Live TV itself is, by definition, a
> waste (because it reserves a tuner and potentially records something that's
> already being recorded)...  :)  There's no way to make Live TV not be a
> waste because the implied contract of control involves wasting resources on
> Live TV.  (Thus my--possibly over-the-top--distaste for Live TV.)


Reserving a tuner is far less wasteful than recording two copies of the
same program... additionally, it can potentially free that tuner for use in
the event that the system needs it (with appropriate prompting to the user,
as livetv does now).



>
>  Or more importantly, why should a user /Care/ about tuners?  When they
>> hit Watch TV, it should just work and let them view either of the
>> currently recording programmes, or something else from those mux.  There
>> shouldn't really be a need to tell the user that a tuner isn't available.
>>
>
> That's exactly how it works now (in 0.25+), with the exception of
> informing them of/letting them easily switch to recorded episodes.  (Note
> that you /can/ switch to recorded episodes through the OSD Menu, but with
> current MythTV you would have to know to do that.)
>
> Users are never told that tuners aren't available.  They're only told if a
> channel they're trying to tune isn't available (and only if it's not
> possible to tune it anywhere).


I think I would much rather tear up the livetv one-tuner-per-user
contract... with the way that myth will now happily switch between tuners,
the contract has already been broken anyway.

Users should care about tuners... they are the key to this whole system and
the user should be aware that the system can only record a limited number
of things at a time.  If I try to tune to a channel that is unavailable, I
would rather get a message saying "no available tuner can tune the selected
channel"... its far less confusing then your channel not changing at all.

When watching livetv, you should in reality be jumping from one in progress
recording to another... if you select a show that is not being recorded, a
new recording rule (with appropriate priority) is created that says "record
any show on this channel until I say stop" and lets the system select any
tuner it wants to meet that rule. (could even shuffle the tuners during
show transitions if it wants). If the same channel appears in multiple
sources, it should switch sources based on priorities... for example, I
have two QAM tuners with 3 virtual channels each, and a Prime with only 3
tuners (no virtual).  I would much rather my system use the QAM tuners
whenever a channel is available there and leave the Prime free for those
channels that only it is capable of tuning.

The only other limitation that livetv should place on the system is that if
mythtv tries to use the last remaining tuner capable of tuning the channel
you are *currently watching*; you should be prompted that the system would
like to "interrupt recording of this channel to support the recording of
XXXX" and provide you the option to allow it... it shouldn't dump you to
the menu if the recording your watching still has time remaining.

I suppose, like Mike, I feel that "live tv" shouldn't exist in it's current
form... replace it with instant ondemand recording rules... leave the
backend to manage the tuners because if mythtv does one thing well, it's
optimizing its use of hardware.
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