[mythtv-users] Please Wait...

[Dave Day]

On 04/25/2010 09:34 PM, Harry Coin wrote:
> Are there any settings or other changes I can make to reduce the time 
> between choosing a recording and when it plays, or choosing a live 
> channel before it starts?
> I'm wondering what is going on during the 'Please Wait...' that 
> happens between when a recording is selected and when it starts 
> playing.  It just takes so much longer than commercial DVR's that come 
> with dish, cable etc.    It makes 'surfing channels' pretty much 
> impossible.
> My setup is a master backend, a couple of slave backends, and a couple 
> of frontends.   Whether the frontend is a really fast box or an older 
> model seems not to matter.  Whether the show is 'dish 301 low def' or 
> ATSC OTA hidef appears to matter little as well.   What settings or 
> setups can improve the time between the choosing of a recording / 
> channel and when it begins?
>
> Thanks for such a great effort, all the minutes I don't watch 
> commercials, what a gift.  An online version of 'no erectile 
> dysfunction or reverse mortgage' spam filter.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> mythtv-users mailing list
> mythtv-users at mythtv.org
> http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
That very small delay is due to the fact that Myth buffers the program 
to disk before presenting it to you, since you now have the highly 
convenient ability to pause/rewind/fastforward LiveTV very much like you 
are already used to doing on DVD's or your VCR.  It's a mighty small 
price to pay, I'd say......

Most Myth oldtimers don't "surf" much.  Instead they go "Advanced" -> 
"Manage Recordings" -> "Schedule Recordings", where you can browse the 
EPG, or browse lists of programs by many categories, or alphabetically, 
etc.  For instance, I just ticked off the movies I want recorded for the 
next two weeks.  And I already have the various repeating shows that I 
like scheduled so I mostly browse the EPG for new ideas every few days 
and check the list of recorded shows when I find myself needing some 
down time/entertainment.

I had for years complained that I had 200 channels and nothing to 
watch.....  Myth has made us realize how wrong that was.  There was way 
more to watch (and of good quality) than we could ever have time for.  
It just wasn't being shown during my down time.   And Myth's search 
functions have help me find programming that I thought had completely 
disappeared but had just switched to  more obscure times and channels.  
As a matter of fact, we decided that we had so much more good content 
available that we canceled cable and now use OTA TV and still have more 
content than we have time to watch.  And it is saving us $125/month to boot.

For instance, right now I have 30 recording rules defined.  Those rules 
will have 87 "hits" over the next two weeks.  47 of those will record 
(the others are shown multiple times and so don't need re-recording).  
Now, that means about 24 programs a week!  I can tell you right now, we 
don't have time to watch all those, so we will have the pleasant task of 
sampling and selecting the best and watching those.  Additionally, I am 
a bit of a cabinet maker/carpenter so some of them are crafty shows that 
I skim and keep the best of for future reference in case of similar 
projects.

So, when we do have some down time, we go straight to "Recorded 
Programs" and pick from that list.

Enjoy,
Dave




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