[mythtv-users] Commercial Skip

[Chris Pinkham]

> I've been using the "All" method since I upgraded to .17, and I still 
> occasionally see short false positives (9 or 11 seconds).  I think the 
> idea of a user setting for min/max commercial break length would be kind 
> of handy.

This can occur even with ALL if the following are true:

* You're using software encoding
* You watch the recording before the post-recording mythcommflag job is
  completed.
 
When using software encoding, Myth flags blank frames during the
recording process.  Then when the recording finishes, it does a quick
routine to generate the commercial break list from the blank frames.  Then
a job is queued up in the JobQueue to run mythcommflag which runs the full
scan on the video and uses the other detection info to get better
detection.

> Also, I see from the setup menu that it uses blank frame, scene change, 
> and logo detection (and combinations) to find the breaks.  Are any other 
> methods used (and just not listed)?  Specifically, I was thinking of 
> volume level -- a lot of channels will ratchet up the volume during a 

Currently the only other thing that ALL uses is aspect ratio change
detection and letter/pillarbox detection.  I plan on adding more detection
methods, some related to sound, but I am sidetracked on a few other things
right now.  I'm trying some better edge logo detection code right now since
the current code doesn't work as well for some logos.  Once that is working,
I plan on using part of that code to detect the rating symbols that stations
in the U.S. have to display.  Lots of other things could be used as well.

> That being said, the commercial detection in MythTV is very good ... one 
> of the [many] reasons I don't like watching regular TV any more!

Thanks.

-- 

Chris