IceTV and Consecutive Shows on the one Channel

curranbj · Post by **curranbj** » Wed Feb 17, 2010 20:31

As a Beyonwiz DP-P1 user for two years now, and having just purchased a DP-P2 unit, I finally decided to try out IceTV.

I temporarily have a long cable spread across the house to try it out (with the 3 month free trial) before purchasing a client based Wireless Access Point as mentioned in other forum topics.

Ice TV is really easy to use and programming the timer is a breeze. It is great to be able highlight favourites and keep an eye on series.

The major draw back is the inability to schedule consecutive programs on the one channel without having the end of one or the beginning of another in the wrong file (as mentioned elsewhere). I am so used to recording two consecutive programs by extending the duration with manual programming and then splitting them later. The idea of managing overlaps for recording consecutive programs on the one channel just seems too hard. Channel Ten does not provide the flexibility to be able to do this successfully as they do not have both HD and SD for the standard programs.

BEYONWIZ FEATURE REQUEST
==========================

It would be good if the Beyonwiz had the ability to combine two recorded files into a single file. You could then split the newly created single file into two files at the appropriate point so that you could create a complete recorded program without the head or tail cut off due to overlaps. Currently you can cut out a scetion of a file into a new file...but you can't put files back together. Or can you?

I will see how I go with Ice TV, but for me this will probably be the ice breaker for not continuing with the service and simply stick with the Free EPG. Althought I may stick with Ice TV for simply keeping track of what I wish to program manually and not worry about setting up a wireless access point on the Beyonwiz.

IanSav · Post by **IanSav** » Wed Feb 17, 2010 21:03

Hi Curranbj,

This wish has been posted on the wrong forum. This functionality is totally under the control of IceTV. You will need to push for this wish with IceTV.

Regards,
Ian.

tonymy01 · Post by **tonymy01** » Wed Feb 17, 2010 21:05

But then ICE loses the ability to track your show if the second show suddenly disappears from your timer list, so if the timeslot for either shows changes, chances are you won't be able to get it dealt with. Also this past week, I have had to do a lot of cancels and reschedules with all the many overlaps (ratings season starting, working out my higher priority shows vs meh shows), and you will lose the ability to individually control timers from ICE.
Regards

simoncasey · Post by **simoncasey** » Wed Feb 17, 2010 21:09

I don't believe this wish is totally within the control of icetv. Curranbj's wish is to be able to combine two recorded files on the BW and then subsequently split them at the correct point. This is functionality that BW could consider.
This would be useful functionality irrespective of whether recordings were made in icetv or in the FTA EPG.

However, I agree it would make sense if icetv could somehow manage the functionality of only recording a single file in the first place.

curranbj · Post by **curranbj** » Wed Feb 17, 2010 21:10

My apologies to all ... I did realise as soon as I submitted I posted to the wrong forum section...but couldn't move it. Sorry guys.

Gully · Post by **Gully** » Wed Feb 17, 2010 21:17

curranbj wrote:My apologies to all ... I did realise as soon as I submitted I posted to the wrong forum section...but couldn't move it. Sorry guys.

I've fixed that for you but I think the earlier posts were suggesting that you should post this request on the forum on www.icetv.com.au

IanSav · Post by **IanSav** » Wed Feb 17, 2010 21:19

Hi Simoncasey,

simoncasey wrote:I don't believe this wish is totally within the control of icetv. Curranbj's wish is to be able to combine two recorded files on the BW and then subsequently split them at the correct point. This is functionality that BW could consider.
This would be useful functionality irrespective of whether recordings were made in icetv or in the FTA EPG.

The Beyonwiz already has the feature to split recordings. (You copy the section to be duplicated and then cut it from the original copy.)

Regards,
Ian.

tonymy01 · Post by **tonymy01** » Wed Feb 17, 2010 21:19

simoncasey wrote:I don't believe this wish is totally within the control of icetv. Curranbj's wish is to be able to combine two recorded files on the BW and then subsequently split them at the correct point. This is functionality that BW could consider.

My point was that ICE does more than send a timer to your PVR and walk away from it. It manages timers. It sends them, and checks what is on, and deletes them as required (usually...). So by altering them on the device, suddenly the ability to manage them individually *from ICE* is lost. That was my point. Actually, PerlTGD for the Topfield 5K manages this fine, by breaking them apart again if need be, but I doubt ICE would go to the effort of turning a 2hour timer back into a 1hour timer if you decided (from ICE) to remove a show (nor would it delete the show if the Network timeslot for that episode changes after you have done the altering on it).

edit: Oh, you were answering Ians post, it seems 3 or 4 posts cropped up while I was typing my message out!!! I thought you were answering mine.

edit2: Ian, ICE sends individual timers. If the Wiz pools them together, this might be a nice thing to have, but then you lose the ability to control these as individual episodes should the need arise, so the splitting argument is not relevant for the situation where ICE is used. Yes, it is relevant for if the Wiz can combine 2 adjacent timeslots into the one timer of course.

IanSav · Post by **IanSav** » Wed Feb 17, 2010 21:31

Hi Tony,

Either IceTV controls the timers or the Beyonwiz controls the timers. They can't both do it. If they are both manipulating the same timers then clashes and problems will happen.

Regards,
Ian.

tonymy01 · Post by **tonymy01** » Wed Feb 17, 2010 21:36

Yep, exactly. I am sure if ICE had more intelligence, it could manage timers in both fashions (combined timeslots or individually) but it does require a bit of deleting and altering to work from time to time, and of course they don't anyway.

prl · Post by **prl** » Wed Feb 17, 2010 21:47

It's also possible to tell the Beyonwiz to just play one recording straight after the other (sort Old->New, select both with BLUE, then OK to play). You get a short (< 1sec) dropout when it switches from one recording to the next, but otherwise it just plays straight through.

Not as tidy as combining the recordings, but it works, now.

peteru · Post by **peteru** » Thu Feb 18, 2010 11:20

IanSav wrote:Either IceTV controls the timers or the Beyonwiz controls the timers. They can't both do it. If they are both manipulating the same timers then clashes and problems will happen.

The protocol has been designed to cope with bi-directional scheduler edits fairly well. It should be possible to control the timers from either end. In the case of any conflict, the semantics are such that the PVR will get to determine the final state of the recording schedule.

The current IceTV service implementation may be lacking when it comes to advanced features, but the underlying mechanisms have been designed to allow for such use. The fact that IceTV throttle the update rate severely impacts the user experience. The intent was for the PVR to be able to update the server as changes are made to accurately reflect the state of the PVR. If I recall correctly, IceTV implemented the throttling as a response to buggy Windows client software and imposed the limitations on all devices.