[mythtv-users] TiVo-like program guide

Michael T. Dean mtdean at thirdcontact.com
Tue Jul 10 19:25:48 UTC 2007


On 07/10/2007 02:48 PM, Mike LaPlante wrote:
> Jay Mallar wrote:
>   
>> One of the outright *best* things about my TiVo is the program guide. 
>>
>> The TiVo guide is more vertical and has two panes.  On the left pane 
>> you get a list of about 10 channels and what is currently playing on 
>> each channel.  When a channel is selected in this pane the right hand 
>> pane displays the schedule  over the next several hours on that 
>> channel.  When you are in the right hand pane up/down move 
>> forward/backward in time on that channel.  When you are in the left 
>> hand pane, up/down move between channels.  As you move between 
>> channels, the right pane updates to reflect upcoming programming on 
>> that channel.
>>
>> Here's an example: http://www.pvrcompare.com/SATivo2TivoChannelGuide.jpg
>>     

Looks to me like that assumes that the user is more interested in
watching a particular channel than in watching a particular show.  It
puts the emphasis on channel--not on content.  Probably perfect for
selling the idea to networks, but, IMHO, not at all user-friendly.  (My
opinion does presume that a user wants to watch /shows/ and doesn't
really care on what channel they appear.)

>> It's *by far* the most efficient program guide I've ever seen.
>>
>> Is there any way to duplicate TiVo's guide style in MythTV?

Nope.  You'd have to code it yourself.

> Personally I always change the Tivo preferences to match more like Myth, 
> and that was even before I had seen Myth's. I just like that layout 
> more. I can see into the future on more channels in one glance.
>   

Right.  And you can see more shows.

After all, in the image from the OP's e-mail, you'd have to scroll over
a /lot/ of channels (it's showing up to channel 530) to see what's on
now.  Sure, you can go farther into the future on one screen, but it's
only for one channel.  If you want to go farther into the future,
consider getting a widescreen HDTV and you can actually change the
"Channels to Display" and "Time Blocks (30 mins) to Display" and get a
lot of info on the screen all at once.  (And, by adjusting the font in
your theme XML file, you can get even more. :).

Mike


More information about the mythtv-users mailing list