[mythtv-users] is mythtv smart enough to do this (overlap/back-to-back) with recordings?

[Steve Hodge]

On 7/27/06, Michael T. Dean <mtdean at thirdcontact.com> wrote:
> Or having an appropriate number of capture cards for the amount of
> recording you want to do.  If you want to watch 2 TV shows at the same
> time from your satellite or digital cable TV service, how many
> satellite/cable receivers do you buy?  So, if you want to record 2 shows
> at the same time, how many capture cards should you buy?

If I have two tuners I expect to be able to record/watch two
_channels_ at once. That is how it works with VCRs, cable/satelitte
boxes, and TVs. But with MythTV, it means I can only record two
_programs_ at once. That is the difference that suprises people coming
to MythTV. And it doesn't seem like it is technically necessary.

How about implementing this way: if two shows are consecutive treat
them as a single program and record them into a single file. Have a
marker for the start of the second program (start time less the start
early setting) so that when it is accessed from the recorded programs
screen playback starts from where you'd expect it to. But don't delete
the file until both programs have been deleted. This does mean that
deleting a program may not free up any space but other than that it
should be a pretty unobtrusive way of implementing this functionality.

Steve