[mythtv-users] ease of [clear qam] channel scanning

[Joseph Fry]

On Thu, Dec 16, 2010 at 11:41 AM, Brian J. Murrell <brian at interlinx.bc.ca>wrote:

> On Thu, 2010-12-16 at 08:28 -0800, Robert McNamara wrote:
> >
> > Because your TV has to be concerned with one television standard.
> > Yours.  Myth has to be concerned with every television standard, some
> > of which overlap in various locales.
>
> Couldn't the channel scanner start with "where are you?" and give a list
> of locations for the various standards?  i.e. I am in Canada so surely I
> could just choose Canada and then scanning could be made as simple and
> intuitive as my TV, yes?
>
> > This part could be better.  We've opted not to rewrite the Qt-style
> > scanner interface in favor of the complete mythtv-setup rewrite, thus
> > until that is done, this is what you get.  (for free, I hasten to add)
>
> Yeah, free.  I get it.  I'm just trying to relay my frustrations and
> confusion as an
> only-somewhat-technical-with-regard-to-broadcast-standards user.
>
> > Easier, maybe, as easy as your TV, no.
>
> Once you know where you are scanning in, why not?
>
> > I don't suppose this e-mail comes with any intention on your part to
> > actually work on scanner usability?
>
> I'm afraid not.  But does that mean that you are not interested in the
> experience of the common user, so as to make the software better?
>
> > I hope that you don't think that
> > it just hasn't occurred to us that some part of myth, the scanner
> > included, are unintuitive or hard to use.
>
> No, but what I was considering was that like much FOSS written by people
> who are technically experts at the underlying technologies, the
> interfaces are written with the assumption that the users have the same
> technical depth, which they don't more times than not.
>
> I should add that there are also 3 choices in the frequency table for
> none/IRC/HRC, so together with the qam-64, qam-128 and qam-256 choices,
> I end up having 9 scans I have to do if I don't know beforehand which
> standards my cable operator is using in this area.
>
> b.


b,

 I would stop now while your ahead.

Robert is one of the most active developers of mythtv, and probably the only
of the major contributers who still monitors the user forums daily.  While
we all know that improvments could be made to nearly every aspect of mythtv,
arguing with one of the few who actually works to see that it happens only
slows him down and frustrates him.

While we all wish mythtv could be as easy to configure as your TV, it
probably will never be.  For several reasons. For example, in your case,
even if you could scan for channels as easy as you can on your TV... how
then do you relate those channels with the guide data, channel icons, etc.
And what about channels that are not really channels at all... for example,
when I scan QAM I get a bunch of music channels, on demand movie channels
(that may or may not be broadcasting at that moment), and even data
channels.  Of course, mythtv devs could chose to dumb the process down, but
that too would come at a cost (such as no use of those "hidden" channels).

Please, even though your frustrated, keep your comments positive and
inquisitive.  Robert and most of the others who participate on these forums
respond well to good attitudes and folks who are willing to learn.  Mythtv
is not a piece of software... its a hobby... if you treat it as a fun way to
waste time and money, you will not be disappointed.  If you just want
software and a place to complain if it doesnt meet your expectations, check
out snapstream.com or one of the other commercial products.
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