[mythtv-users] using the same channel from two different sources

[Michael T. Dean]

On 07/31/2008 12:07 PM, Steve Hill wrote:
> On Wed, 30 Jul 2008, Michael T. Dean wrote:
>> The channel callsign, on the other hand, is used to tell Myth that two
>> channels carry "substantially" identical content (i.e. should be treated
>> as the same channel for the purpose of scheduling).
>>     
> What happens if the EPG data is different between two channels with the 
> same callsign?  For example, is it sane to give all the different "BBC 1" 
> regions the "BBC 1" callsign, since they carry "substantially" the same 
> content, even though different regions sometimes show different content so 
> the schedules sometimes won't match?
>   

The definition of "substantially identical" is very subjective.  
IMH(but, admittedly OC)O, it means "completely identical," but Myth 
attempts to do its best to identify when the content is different.  Even 
when given the same callsign and channel number, in mythfrontend's 
program guide, the 2 DB channels will still be listed if the content 
differs in the current view.  In MythWeb's program guide, only one will 
be shown (as it takes quite a bit of code to figure out if the user who 
said the content is identical was wrong/lying and MythWeb doesn't have 
that code) and you'll have no idea what's on the other channel.

As far as the scheduler goes, it will never record a show that you 
didn't tell it to record, so if the show you're trying to record is on 
one of the channels and not the other, but only the other is available 
for recording due to conflicts, the show won't be recorded (due to 
conflicts).

While I refuse to give any numbers/rules of thumb/advice for choosing 
when to assign the same callsign to different channels in the DB, I will 
say, feel free to assign the exact same callsign to any number of DB 
channels.  And, if things don't work, you probably know why.  :)  The 
farther your channels diverge from completely identical content, the 
more likely your trying to tell Myth they have the same content will 
cause problems.

Mike