Extend recording time?

We asking all new users to read the articles below, before creating their first posting or thread.

  • 4. Instruction Articles

      • Please note, in this forum are only English threads and postings allowed, without any exception!

      Please follow the forum rules, thank you for your understanding.

1st Official Post

    Because of the overhead involved in streaming, what we're watching is usually a minute or two behind the original broadcast. In fact, something I was watching tonight was a bit over 3 minutes behind!

    It would be extremely helpful to be able to add a minute or two (or three :winking_face: ) to recording times in MOL in order to ensure we don't miss the end of a show. Perhaps this could be added to the queue of wishlist items for future updates!

    It's possible this has been suggested elsewhere on the forum, but a search turned up nothing relevant.

    You’re right about catchup + provider. They’d need to do it on their end.

    As for recordings, if the developers were to make this feature available, I suggest they devise the feature such that each time the user presses the record button to record something, an option comes up to add time to the beginning and end, rather than making it a default option as I’ve seen on other apps (i.e. ALWAYS record X mins before and Y mins after). Why? Well if you wanted to record something on channel 1 from 9-10 and then something on channel 2 from 10-11, you want to make sure there are no overlaps. Overlaps could cause problems for users who only have a 1-connection subscription and you don’t want users getting in trouble with their providers. Note: MYTVONLINE doesn’t even allow overlaps currently (meaning, you can’t record one channel and watch another). But if MYTVONLINE were ever updated to support multiple streams, this overlapping issue could be a problem for 1-connection subscribers.

    Food for thought

    I tested a few recordings again last night, and I really feel this should be a high priority item... in my oh-so humble opinion, of course! :winking_face:

    Seriously, though... most streams have a delay, so cutting off the end of (nearly) every recording really reduces the value of being able to record.

    I guess my perspective is that the Z7+ and MOL are such outstanding pieces of kit in most other ways, it's unexpected that we'd run into such a significant limitation.

    One thing I’ll say, is if you’re watching TV and you press record, press record again and an option will come up where you can add time to the end. But this only works in this exact scenario. If you’re scheduling a recording in the future or setting up a recording via the EPG guide, I don’t think you can add time.

    Next best thing is to just record the show after also

    Quote from seanns32

    One thing I’ll say, is if you’re watching TV and you press record, press record again and an option will come up where you can add time to the end. But this only works in this exact scenario. If you’re scheduling a recording in the future or setting up a recording via the EPG guide, I don’t think you can add time.

    Next best thing is to just record the show after also

    Well... umm... I'm sure I thought at one point "Heck... in a pinch, I'll just record the show following the one I want!" but somehow it subsequently completely disappeared from my (apparently) overworked brain! :face_with_tongue:

    Simple solution to a simple problem... since it would only cause an overlap problem with another channel on rare occasion.

    Thanks for the gentle reminder!

    Quote from Centurybreak

    Thanks! I thought something similar had been mentioned somewhere before, but implementing it with catch-up would be at the discretion of the provider, as they set the time of recording a program for their subscribers to watch later, no?

    In any case, both catch-up and local recordings both need this option. :smiling_face:

    This is incorrect. The catch-up offset can be handled by the box in the same vein as you are suggesting with recordings.

    Quote from Jrizzill

    This is incorrect. The catch-up offset can be handled by the box in the same vein as you are suggesting with recordings.

    How is this the case? The start and end times of catch-up are determined by the provider, not by the box. That is, if I select a previously shown program to play, I get whatever the provider sends, and it's whatever they've recorded.

    That is, of course, unless I'm missing something obvious... or well-hidden! Am I?

    Recording the show before or after may not even be a workaround I have found that it will record the first show and the 2nd show right after will not record on the same channel.

    • Official Post

    There are 2 separate issues/features that are being requested here

    1. Extra Recording Time (pre/post recording)
      • This is a known feature request and will be implemented when manual (VCR-style) recording is implemented
        • Manual recording will allow users to setup scheduled recordings even when EPG event data is missing.
      • The extra recording time option will most likely be a global setting in the MOL Settings menu where users can adjust the amount of pre/post recording time for all recordings.
    2. Catchup Playback
    • As pointed out by another astute user, catchup recording and mapping to EPG events is handed on the server-side.
      • There is a limited number of things we can do with the data provided from the server.
    • We plan to release a new Autoplay feature in the late August/September software update.
    • This will allow catchup playback to continue automatically, disregarding the currently selected catchup EPG event length
    • This does not address the issue of starting playback of the catchup event earlier however.
    • I suppose we can implement this in steps. First being the autoplay feature and second being the early-start feature.
    • While the early-start feature is under development, the workaround would be to start playback of the previous catchup event, enable autoplay, and then fast forward to the beginning of the next event.

    Hope that clears things up

    Unsolicited PMs for support will be ignored.

    Duplicate support requests to the forums and helpdesk will be ignored.

    Quote from 175n

    There are 2 separate issues/features that are being requested here

    <snip>

    Hope that clears things up

    Thanks! :smiling_face:

    Is there a timeframe for implementing #1 (extra time/manual recording)? As I mentioned earlier in this thread, the Z7+ and MOL are outstanding in most other ways, and NOT having the endings of nearly every program cut off would make this the most nearly-perfect solution for IPTV.

    • Official Post

    Manual recording should be implemented in the late Fall/Early Winter update.

    There is a possibility it could be implemented sooner, but I don't want to over-promise anything.

    Unsolicited PMs for support will be ignored.

    Duplicate support requests to the forums and helpdesk will be ignored.

    Quote from seanns32

    I believe so yes. That’s how he worded it in his original post. Although this could cause an issue if you have back to back recordings (on different channels), it’s a start!

    True, but it's a huge step forward in terms of no longer missing the last minute or two or three of a recorded show! :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

    Of course, now I'm repeating myself redundantly... :face_with_tongue:

    Quote from 175n

    There are 2 separate issues/features that are being requested here

    1. Extra Recording Time (pre/post recording)
      • This is a known feature request and will be implemented when manual (VCR-style) recording is implemented
        • Manual recording will allow users to setup scheduled recordings even when EPG event data is missing.
      • The extra recording time option will most likely be a global setting in the MOL Settings menu where users can adjust the amount of pre/post recording time for all recordings.
    2. Catchup Playback
    • As pointed out by another astute user, catchup recording and mapping to EPG events is handed on the server-side.
      • There is a limited number of things we can do with the data provided from the server.
    • We plan to release a new Autoplay feature in the late August/September software update.
    • This will allow catchup playback to continue automatically, disregarding the currently selected catchup EPG event length
    • This does not address the issue of starting playback of the catchup event earlier however.
    • I suppose we can implement this in steps. First being the autoplay feature and second being the early-start feature.
    • While the early-start feature is under development, the workaround would be to start playback of the previous catchup event, enable autoplay, and then fast forward to the beginning of the next event.

    Hope that clears things up

    Regarding Catch Up...

    For services such as Vader Streams, the Catch Up uses the same protocol as live TV (in other words, catch up programs are not a pre-generated file, but rather a live TS stream with an associated timecode parameter that is generated from the EPG timecode). Therefore, for Catch Up, all we're requesting is that instead of queueing up 4:00:00 to 4:30:00 for a show -- just add ~5 minutes and queue up 4:00:00 to 4:35:00 (or whatever number the user has configured). Knowing this, the post-recording setting that you are developing for recordings would be the same value that you would want to use for Catch Up.

    As far as starting Catch Up earlier, I'm not sure this would be needed as the provider should never be ahead of schedule. If you still plan on developing it, I would make that feature a very low priority.

    I also think the autoplay feature is a great idea! Keep up the good work!

    Quote from Jrizzill

    Regarding Catch Up...

    For services such as Vader Streams, the Catch Up uses the same protocol as live TV (in other words, catch up programs are not a pre-generated file, but rather a live TS stream with an associated timecode parameter that is generated from the EPG timecode). Therefore, for Catch Up, all we're requesting is that instead of queueing up 4:00:00 to 4:30:00 for a show -- just add ~5 minutes and queue up 4:00:00 to 4:35:00 (or whatever number the user has configured). Knowing this, the post-recording setting that you are developing for recordings would be the same value that you would want to use for Catch Up.

    As far as starting Catch Up earlier, I'm not sure this would be needed as the provider should never be ahead of schedule. If you still plan on developing it, I would make that feature a very low priority.

    I also think the autoplay feature is a great idea! Keep up the good work!

    Thanks for the additional info.

    Do you know if this protocol (a live TS stream for Catch-Up) is common for other providers using TS or (fairly) unique to Vader?

    Quote from Centurybreak

    Thanks for the additional info.

    Do you know if this protocol (a live TS stream for Catch-Up) is common for other providers using TS or (fairly) unique to ****?

    I personally do not know, but my guess is that it would be pretty common.

    A typical ****live TS url looks like...

    http://vapi.****.tv/play/2480.m3u8?token=SOMETOKEN

    A typical ****catch-up TS url looks like...

    http://vapi.****.tv/play/dvr/${start}/2480.m3u8?token=SOMETOKEN&duration=3600

    ${start} is replaced with the current Unix timestamp -- `duration` is the "chunk" of TS to receive is milliseconds. Depending on the the client handles catch-up, they might receive the program in hundreds of little chunks (this is how Live TV is delivered), or request one giant chunk. Either way, the client should have complete control over requesting an additional X minutes at the end of any program.

    Edited once, last by Jrizzill (August 3, 2018 at 4:49 PM).

    Thanks again.

    The "dvr" tag in the catch-up url is telling. The separate archived stream tends to be a lot more compressed than the (almost) live stream... in my limited experience!