[mythtv-users] Slightly OT: MythTV as Senior Project?

Brad Templeton brad+myth at templetons.com
Fri Mar 4 22:07:29 UTC 2005


On Fri, Mar 04, 2005 at 04:34:15PM -0500, Joseph A. Caputo wrote:
> On Friday 04 March 2005 14:19, Brad Templeton wrote:
> > Excepting, of course, the search facilities which use a keyboard
> Simple text can be entered using the remote, as with a cell phone 
> keypad.  If the search text boxes don't support this, they should be 
> converted to use the Myth text input widget that handles this.

It might.  I would have to imagine users would be pretty desperate
to do it this way.   I greatly hate tivo's alphabetic input mode as
well (though at least it's 2D, Myth's finder is 1D, as is SA-HD3000s)

Of course I remain amazed at what people will text on cell phones.

> Any reasonble 'universal' remote has plenty of buttons for the common 
> playback functions; anyway, for this particular feature, why require a 
> browser, keyboard & mouse for something that is being proposed for a 
> single button press?

The problem is that, especially since the universal remotes do not have
myth labels on them (unless they are smart screen remotes) we are now
past the number of buttons a user can be expected to remember.  Part of
that is we have a large number of seeking methods:
        Seek 30s and -8s
        Seek +10M and -10m
        Seek +/-(n) minutes
        Enter time stretch mode (and all its settings)
        2x and 3x smooth FF and Rew
        5x -> 180x jerky FF and Rew

Some are combined using sticky keys:  But I will use them all.

(In fact it might be time for a unified FF/Rewind which merges time
stretch, 3xFF and 5-180xFF)
In live tv add channel change, brwose mode, channel history,
tuner change and input change as a real function.

Then you've got edit mode, the menu key, info key, volume, pause, stop/quit,
closed caption, aspect ratio, picture adjustments, fav channels, sleep,
seek in ringbuffer, change audio stream


> I'm looking at this feature more broadly.  It would be really nice if 
> basic Myth scheduling features could be accomplished without exiting 
> playback.  The EPG already supports this in LiveTV mode; I've long been 
> in support of extending this feature to other screens.  I don't think 
> that would be an 'obscure' feature.  I wish I had time to code it 
> myself; I keep hoping someone with the time & expertise eventually has 
> the same 'itch'.

I guess you watch more ads (and more live TV) than I do.  I have to admit
that on the Tivo, which put more effort into live TV, I watched a little
more live TV than on the Myth, where I effectively watch none.  But
it's definitely true if you are going to watch live tv, you need to be
able to pause it and do anything else, just as you can while watching
a recorded show.   Not sure why there is a strong need to do things
without pausing, but to each their own tastes, of course.

Presumably Tivo's own code can be reverse engineered if VBI is available.

However, as far as interesting methods to pick TV are concerned, I think
an even more interesting trick would be a web plug in which allows people
to make links which cause a person's myth to record a show.    Thus
I could put a link in a document and if you clicked on it, your myth
box would record as it requested -- with confirmation of course.

I already have the logic in tvwish for remote creation of recording
requests.

In theory zap2it or tv guide could even put in these links so you could
be browsing their listsings and click to record in myth.  Or somebody's
blog.    Anybody got experience writing browswer plugins and want to help?


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