Subsequent events are not recorded completely

[Daniel Richter]

When I record two subsequent events from the same channel, then me-tv does the following:
 * the first event will be recorded completely
 * then there is (by default) a 10 minutes buffer-time while the content will be attached to the first recording, although at this time, the second event has been started in most cases
 * after the 10 minutes - that's the most annoying thing - there are approximately 15 seconds, while it didn't record. Since the film is already running, this could be an important section which would be lost.
 * then the second event will be recorded. 10 minutes and 30 seconds to late…

In addition to the 15-seconds-hole it brings the disadvantage that the first Recording can be cleared only after the following has been watched too.

I think it would be better, when me-tv records to both files in the overlying buffer times.

I attached a picture that illustrates the problem.

I use Me TV 1.3.1.

[Frédéric Côté (frederic-cote)]

Check in the preferences dialog (View->Preferences). What is set to "Record extra before" and "Record extra after" ? Are they set to "0 Minutes" ?

[Daniel Richter (danielrichter2007)]

No it isn't set to 0 (record extra before: 5min, record extra after: 10min). You're right, disabling the buffer time would be a workaround but makes the recording less secure: when the event ends too late I would lose much content :-(

Today I set manually the buffer time between the events to 0, but then the event started a bit earlier than in EPG so a part was on the first recording and then the little recording hole stole something at the beginning.

[Frédéric Côté (frederic-cote)]

So it is not a bug, it is a missing feature. You should add a blueprint to ask for a "overlapping recording on same channel" functionality.

Almost all the time the EPG is right on time (if your computer is on time to) so I don't know if someone will give it a try.

[Michael Lamothe (lamothe-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount)]

I haven't had a lot of time to look into this but I thought that if there were 2 consecutive SRs then Me TV would just merge them into 1 recording file. You are saying that this does not happen any more. However, the proposed solution (the wish) is what makes the most sense to the user.

Unfortunately, it's not possible for me to do what you are asking (the wish). The issue is that broadcasters seem to send multiple EPG events for the same show (up to 4) and I don't know why this is or which ones are the obsolete events. This issue is overcome by simply allowing one recording per channel at any time. Features such as the EPG and auto-record rely on the simplistic from/to model when deciding what/when to record.

I'll have a look at this as soon as I get the chance. I will delay the release of 1.3.2 until I can work this out.

Please tell me if I've understood this correctly.

[Daniel Richter (danielrichter2007)]

I think you didn't understand this correctly…

To do this there isn't more than one device (SR?) required as there is only one source (both events are from the same channel… Me TV don't have to switch). The only multiple thing is the output - Me TV has to write the data to multiple files (at the overlapping section).

Technically I can't see the problem: I could simply run Me TV and playing the channel I want to record from. 5 minutes before my first event starts, I start a screen-recording-application that writes the output of Me TV to a file. Then, 5 minutes before the next event starts (the first recording session is still activated), I run a second instance of the screen recorder. At this time, my application would write the same content into two files. (10 Minutes after the end of the first event, the first instance of my screen recorder could be stopped… and so on)

I know it would be a problem when an event, broadcasted by another multiplex should be recorded after the first one… but this isn't what I want.

[Michael Lamothe (lamothe-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount)]

SR = Scheduled Recording.

Let me make it clear, due to the constraints I mentioned earlier, Me TV can only record to one file per channel at any time. The EPG display does a nice job of hiding the mess in the EPG data. There are generally multiple EPG events for each show (sometimes up to 4). There is no way to know which one you are trying to record so it's easier to simply use the start/end time to scheduled a recording and only use one file.

I'm not talking about another transponder/mutiplex, we are talking about a single channel with to consecutive EPG events.

[Daniel Richter (danielrichter2007)]

Oh, I just noticed that the events are merged to one file (as you sayed)… So my description of the actual behavior is wrong.

I still think that multiple individual files would be better to handle then one big file… but this can be done when there is enough time to do it (as far as I understood, this wouldn't be easy to implement).

[Michael Lamothe (lamothe-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount)]

So you based your bug report on how you thought Me TV might act in this scenario, rather than checking how it worked?

-1

[Daniel Richter (danielrichter2007)]

I was very sure... but maybe this is the behavior of an earlier release.

Sorry I will never do again :-[

[Michael Lamothe (lamothe-deactivatedaccount-deactivatedaccount)]

:)

I would love to be able to do individual files. It's just not possible ... all because I can't work out why some stations send multiple EPG events for the same program at the same time.

[Daniel Richter (danielrichter2007)]

But… after I set a recording queue. For example, this will be created by simply clicking the record buttons:

9:55 - 11:10: first event
10:55 - 12:10: second event

Then there are fix times. In opposite to the real recording, they are separate listed. I think an EPG isn't required to record this.