Freeview records beyond adverstised time if necessary?

vasilis · Post by **vasilis** » Fri Dec 17, 2010 17:36

I think I saw an ad saying that Freeview recorders will continue recording a program even if the movie runs beyond the adverstised time. It sounds like it dynamically reschedules the recording, if it happens to run late.
Can anyone confirm if this is true, and if I can use this feature with my Freeview-free DP-P2?

Paul55 · Post by **Paul55** » Fri Dec 17, 2010 21:30

Impossible to confirm as this will only apply to the next generation of 'Freeview' EPG compatible machines and they don't exist yet (if they do, they are well hidden).

The original 'Freeview' PVRs and STBs can't access the new 'Freeview' EPG.

Expect anything to do with 'Freeview' to wrapped in obfuscation and deceit.

Your DP-P2 won't be able to access this feature - if it ever actually comes to exist - unless some clever hacker can find a way to access and manipulate the 'Freeview' data.

IanSav · Post by **IanSav** » Fri Dec 17, 2010 21:36

Hi Vasilis,

This *is* a feature of Freeview EPG. It requires/relies upon the MHEG5 system within the Freeview EPG capable device.

This is a "protected"/"copyright" feature of Freeview EPG and is thus quite unlikely to be available/accessible on a non Freeview EPG device.

The system will rely on the TV station broadcasting a program ID that the PVR can track. While the program ID is present and unchanged the PVR will continue to record. When the ID changes then the program has finished and recording can stop. This can be programmed such that the program ID can override the start and end times of the timer.

Regards,
Ian.

madmax · Post by **madmax** » Fri Dec 17, 2010 22:59

It all sounds great in theory, until you throw into the mix a simultaneous timer or two. Then it quickly becomes a PVR programmer's nightmare. I bet the Freeview specs don't tell them how to cover these scenarios.

IanSav · Post by **IanSav** » Fri Dec 17, 2010 23:38

Hi Madmax,

Issues like this are probably why the new Freeview EPG based Beyonwiz is not yet in the stores.

Regards,
Ian.

Paul55 · Post by **Paul55** » Sat Dec 18, 2010 08:09

IanSav wrote:The system will rely on the TV station broadcasting a program ID that the PVR can track. While the program ID is present and unchanged the PVR will continue to record. When the ID changes then the program has finished and recording can stop. This can be programmed such that the program ID can override the start and end times of the timer.

Regards,
Ian.

Is this also the way timers will be started? - by program ID? If so, the 'zero' break that some networks use between shows is going to cause problems, especially if the PVR is coming out of standby.
Guess we'll just have to wait to see when (or if) this much heralded system sees the light of day. Like everything 'Freeview', I expect it provide much less than it promises.

download · Post by **download** » Sat Dec 18, 2010 13:12

vasilis wrote:Can anyone confirm if this is true, and if I can use this feature with my Freeview-free DP-P2?

Freeview are anticipated to start broadcasting accurate "What is On now and next" information early next year. This probably in large part because networks will be required to transmit accurate Parental Ratings information for the first time. But not to look a gift horse in the mouth its a long awaited FTA feature/viewer right.

At the moment this information appears to be being transmitted openly (ie unencrypted) so its not known if any PVR maker might not use it to provide more accurate recordings. However there's no requirement that any PVRs (Freeview or otherwise) actually use the information provided. Its up to individual PVR makers decide how they might want to. Its almost certain any existing PVRs (Freeview or otherwise) will not have their FW updated to use any to the minute accurate info. Mores the pity

I'd expect this new potential functionality to be introduced slowly. The first implementation will probably be a simple "Extend Current Recording" if a show is not yet finished and a tuner is spare. A little more sophisticated would be allowing a user to choose that catching the last few minutes of a show is more important than the first few minutes of another show.

Regards

Peter Gillespie

download · Post by **download** » Sat Dec 18, 2010 13:22

madmax wrote:It all sounds great in theory, until you throw into the mix a simultaneous timer or two. Then it quickly becomes a PVR programmer's nightmare. I bet the Freeview specs don't tell them how to cover these scenarios

I don't think its all that much of an issue. This isn't a 'revolution' in TV, its just another piece of information that might be useful. At its simplest it just kicks in if a tuner is available (covers 75% of recordings probably). Then it can be used to ensure a timer ends is more important than a timer starting. Maybe the next 20%). So in 5% of cases if you've scheduled three things at once you miss out a bit.

That said stuff I thought was obvious and simple in writing JustEPG probably will never see the light of day in a commercial PVR EPG.

Regards

Peter Gillespie

vasilis · Post by **vasilis** » Sat Dec 18, 2010 13:52

Hi guys and thanks very much for all the replies.

It sounds like I understood the ad correctly. However, although they gave the impression that this is something available right now, they probably (and sneakingly) used the future tense rather that the present.

It is obviously an attempt to differentiate and convince people that Freeview is "more for free" (or whatever they say, I can't remember the exact propaganda).

Hopefully some Beyonwiz user wiz will come up with a way to implement this feature for Freeview-free machines.

Thanks again

IanB · Post by **IanB** » Mon Dec 20, 2010 13:39

Quoting from the recent Freeview advertisement playing on TV :-

Never miss the end of a program again*

*Excludes late changes, digital outages & some regional areas.

_

netmask · Post by **netmask** » Mon Dec 20, 2010 13:42

I've been known to simply add 1 hour to the time and then trim it off later.

madmax · Post by **madmax** » Mon Dec 20, 2010 15:44

IanB wrote:*Excludes late changes, digital outages & some regional areas.

Hmmmm, aren't all overruns just 'late changes'??

IanSav · Post by **IanSav** » Mon Dec 20, 2010 17:05

Hi,

As is common with Freeview this whole feature could be much ado about nothing.

Regards,
Ian.