[mythtv-users] Fwd: Playback of recordings end prematurely

Michael T. Dean mtdean at thirdcontact.com
Thu Aug 28 01:42:05 UTC 2008


On 08/27/2008 07:12 PM, Julian Cerruti wrote:
> I wonder if someone could give me some advice on how to go about 
> resolving this issue.
>
> For a long while (I don't know when this started, probably about a 
> year ago) all the recordings from shows end earlier than their real 
> length when played from the mythTV "watch recordings" page. For 
> example, when I record a program of 30 minutes length, playback shows 
> a duration of 23:47. I noticed that the recording is indeed longer 
> than that, for example, by playing back the .mpg file externally using 
> mplayer. Also, depending on how playback is configured in mythTV, it 
> would continue playing past 23:47, only the progress counter would 
> stop moving (it remains in 23:47 of 23:47) and also many navigation 
> functions (FFWD, RWD) are lost. Also is commercial auto-skip. In fact: 
> I have a slight suspicion that in many cases, commercial flagging is 
> not worken as well as it could because of this.
>
> A couple more details: I notice that the "end time" reported by the 
> mythTV player is suspiciously similar for similar length recordings. 
> Something like: 30 mins -> 23:47; 1hr -> 47:58; etc. Also, I verified 
> the guide data is reasonably OK (this time discrepancy doesn't seem to 
> come from there). I am currently running mythtv 0.21 from mythbuntu 
> 8.04.1 out-of-the-box. I use a Hauppauge 500 with ivtv 1.1.0. Only 
> unusual setting is that because of my location (Argentina) I'm using 
> Pal-Nc and a custom-written XMLTV grabber.
>
> Any advice on how to go about diagnosing this or tips to try to fix it 
> would be greatly appreciated.

The approach Myth uses to calculate duration of the recordings is 
imprecise with certain types of shows (i.e. shows broadcast with one 
frame rate while part--such as commercials--use another).  The "issue" 
is purely cosmetic but fixing it properly is a /lot/ of work, so fixing 
it has been very low priority (for the couple of years the plan has been 
in place to fix it).

There are tickets related to the issue and it will eventually be fixed.  
Until then, just get used to how your local channels work and "adjust" 
in your head.  Soon, when someone says, "Let's meet in an hour," you'll 
show up 1 hour 8 minutes and 34 seconds later and get accused of being 
late, but you'll know--from watching your TV shows--that 52:30 is really 
one hour, so you're actually on time.  :)

Mike


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