[mythtv] Brainstorming a new idea for the program guide

Jeff junk_inbox at verizon.net
Tue Sep 22 16:47:38 UTC 2009


On Mon, Sep 21, 2009 at 5:42 PM, Raymond Wagner <raymond at wagnerrp.com>wrote:

> Robert McNamara wrote:
>
>> 2) The massive load downloading banners for all programs would create
>> on our (open, free) sources.  I think that all myth users downloading
>> art for all shows (or even all those they bring up in the EPG) would
>> probably very quickly put TVDB out of commission.
>>
>>
> This could probably be alleviated by TVDB offering the 300x168 5KB
> thumbnails over the API, instead of the full 1920x1080 500+KB fanart.


That was exactly my thought as well - to lower the bandwidth requirements by
provinding much smaller images for use on the screens which full-HD artwork
is completely un-necessary.

That being said, Robert's concerns are 100% valid - as he explained in his
reply, tmdb is quite taxed already.  I can see why he's concerned about
their environment already, as 0.22 isn't released yet, and they're already
close to the breaking point.

Perhaps tmdb will have to implement a subscription fee for the HD artwork,
but could provide lower-resolution artwork for free.  I'm sure there will be
users that complain about a fee, but at the same time, there will be many
who understand the economy, and that servers, electricity, and internet
bandwidth all cost money, and would be glad to subscribe to their services
for the HD artwork -- especially if it's a choice between "We have to do
this, or shut down..."

Many squawked when zap-2-it stopped providing free listings in the US, but
then SchedulesDirect was formed, and although I wasn't initially overjoyed
about paying for program listings, I knew it was the best (and only Legal)
solution for us in the US.  (And they quickly had enough users to drop the
price from $40/yr to $20/yr - yeah!)

J-e-f-f-A
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