[mythtv] SoC 2006: Configuration Revamp Information

[Andrew M. Bishop]

"Justin M. Hunt" <beyonddeath at focushere.ca> writes:

> There are several settings which I have identified which may be
> removed, unless there is compelling reasons not to.  Please look
> through the following list of options, and reasons, to see if there
> are any which you feel should not be removed.

> Aggressive sound card buffering: Never had any problems using it,
> and more buffering is never a bad idea

More buffering can be a bad idea in certain situations and selecting
this option causes less buffering to be used.  I am the original author
of the aggresive sound card buffering patch and there was a good
reason for it that still applies today.

The original e-mail that I sent with the patch said:

: I thought about this for a while and realised that it was because the
: buffer in the soundcard was much too big.  For example I use 32000
: samples per second for audio, my soundcard has a 128K buffer.  This
: means that it can buffer 1 second of audio (32000 * 2 channels * 16
: bits).  When pressing pause during playback it does seem like there is
: a 1 second delay before the sound stops after the video stops.  There
: is then a corresponding delay after the video is started again before
: there is any sound.
: 
: The solution is therefore obvious, get a soundcard with a smaller
: buffer.  Since this is impractical the next solution is to fix it in
: software.  Make the Nuppel Video player think that the soundcard
: buffer is smaller and you will get a smaller audio delay when pressing
: pause.

If you try pausing a recording with the option enabled or disabled you
will hear that it makes a difference.  It doesn't seem as bad as I
remember it (not 1 second), so it is possible that other changes have
made it less important.

There were problems with some soundcards when this option was selected
which is why it was made an option in the first place.  If you always
enable this then you may find that it doesn't work for some people.


> Channels to display: causes problems when changed
> Time blocks to display: causes problems when changed

I have not seen problems when changing these (others have already
mentioned this).


> List newest recordings first: does anyone not have this on?

I don't have this on.  I want to watch programs in approximately the
order that they were broadcast.  This means that I want to start by
selecting one of the oldest stored programs and it is useful if this
is at the top of the list.

-- 
Andrew.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Andrew M. Bishop                             amb at gedanken.demon.co.uk
                                      http://www.gedanken.demon.co.uk/