Using MythTV

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Revision as of 19:41, 28 January 2006 by Mikec (talk | contribs) (Recording Live TV)

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Using A Myth Box From Day To Day

Ah, yes; the part you've all been waiting for.  :-)

This section identifies all the things you can do with a MythTV unit, and explains how they work and how to control them. Hopefully, it will also identify things which can be done more than one way, and point out the most effective choice (and why you might want to do it another way anyway).

MythTV is, as we've said, a very capable, powerful, and most of all expandable system. The practical effect of this is that as we go along, we will describe things which can only be done with more than the basic configuration, or which work differently if you have more than the basic configuration.


Conventions and notes

Screenshots will vary depending on the Theme you have chosen. If you want to do screenshots of live TV you must turn off XV video acceleration. Use this command to run Mythfrontend. It does software rendering of the Video stream so is slow. Would suggest that you dont turn on any de-interlacing to help it along.

>NO_XV=1 mythfrontend

Please note: The images below are using only one of the several available OSDs. Personally, I (TylerDrake) prefer some of the other, "prettier", OSDs (no offense to the author of that OSD). Also note that some of the behaviors noted in this document will change with the release of 0.19 (mainly the LiveTV section).

The remote button Icons refer to common names for remote control keys. In reality these map to physical keyboard keys. You will need to setup your Remote Control to suit.

Content: Please keep configuration related items as well as deep technical explanations to a minimum in this section, These should be covered in the setup and config sections --Mikec 06:06, 28 January 2006 (UTC)


Remote Control Name Keyboard Key Remote Control Name Keyboard Key Remote Control Name Keyboard Key
RemotePause.png Pause p RemoteExit.png Exit ESC RemoteREW.png Fast Reverse Page Up
RemoteLeft.png Left Cursor Left Arrow RemoteVoldown.png Vol Down [or F10 RemoteFF.png Fast Forward Page Down
RemoteRight.png Right Cursor Right Arrow RemoteVolup.png Vol Up ] or F11 RemoteZoom.png Zoom, Size w
RemoteUp.png Up Cursor Up Arrow RemoteStart.png Start Home or Q RemoteProgup.png Prog +
RemoteDown.png Down Cursor Down Arrow RemoteEnd.png End End or Z RemoteProgdown.png Prog -
RemoteSelect.png Select CR RemoteRecord.png Record CR RemoteMute.png Mute F9
RemoteInfo.pngInfo i RemotePower.png Power User RemoteSlow.png Slow Motion A
RemoteMenu.png Menu m RemoteStop.png Stop User

Introduction

MythTV has been designed to be used via the "10ft Interface" ie you should be able to drive its day to day functions from 10ft away sitting on your sofa.

In many respects this is a compromise between functionality and simplicity. This is especially the case given that the average Remote Control only has about 40 to 50 keys (10 of which are numbers). Compare this with MythTVs over 100 keyboard functions.

MythTV users will also cite the much needed WAF or GAF , that is Wife/Girlfriend Acceptance Factor. The thought of handing her a keyboard to change channels does not bare thinking about! The good news is the 80/20 rule applies. You can do 80% of your day to day things with MythTV on about 20 keys on your remote.

Oh by the way, when you select a Remote Control, think about how easy it is to press the keys when you have beautifully polished/painted long finger nails.

Watching Live TV

Changing channels

While watching live tv you can change channels with the RemoteUp.png and RemoteDown.png Keys. There is a pause of several seconds while MythTV buffers the new channel. People often find this pause disconcerting as they are typically coming from a normal TV where they are used to "Channel Surfing".

The way to overcome this is to put MythTV into "Browse Mode", instead of changing channels with the Cursor keys, you just display information on the next/previous programme in the OSD. Then when you see the programme you want press the Select key and Myth will then jump to that channel. You can set this behaviour by checking the box "Always use browse mode when changing channels in LiveTV" under TV settings ->Playback-On Screen Display

You can also jump directly to a channel by pressing the the number keys. Press 1 and it will jump to the first channel in you channel list, press 12 it will jump to the twelve channel in your channel list etc. You can organise your channel list with the MythTV-Setup programme.


Changing Volume

Press the RemoteVolup.png RemoteVoldown.pngto increase/decrease the Vol

Press the RemoteMute.png to toggle the audio mute

LivetvVol.jpg

The OSD will show the Vol provided you have set MythTV to use its internal volume controls. It is possible to set MythTV to bypass its internal volume controls and send the audio directly to your soundcards SPDIF output. In this case you should programme your remote's volume up and volume down keys to control the volume on your AV amplifier.


Changing Aspect Ratio

You can step through the different screen aspect ratios with the RemoteZoom.png key.

4:3 Classic TV Aspect Ratio
16:9 True Anamorphic Widescreen
4:3 Zoom Crop top and bottom to fill Wide Screen TV
16:9 Zoom Crop sides to fill 4:3 TV
16:9 Stretch Resize 4:3 picture to fit a Wide Screen TV


Live TV Capabilities

MythTV offers some of the most sought after features of modern Media Centres.


Pause Live TV

Pausing live tv is great when the phone rings during a show or your little ones need a comfort break during a movie.

By pressing RemotePause.png key on your Remote the picture will freeze, and MythTV will start to buffer Live TV to the hard drive. An On Screen Display (OSD) will appear showing seconds behind realtime TV as well as how much live TV has been buffered as a percentage of total buffer space.

If you change channels or exit from watching Live TV then any buffered TV will be lost. This will change significantly in the 0.19 release.

LiveTVPaused.jpg

While the picture stream is paused

Press the RemoteRight.png RemoteLeft.png Keys to move forwards / backwards by 1 frame

Press the RemotePause.png Key a second time to unpause live tv, you will now be watching behind live TV. This is referred to as Chase TV Playback for obvious reasons.

Chase TV Playback

With Chase TV Playback the system can be recording live tv while you are watching the same programme behind realtime.

Press the RemoteRight.png RemoteLeft.png Keys to move forwards / backwards in the stream

Press the RemoteFF.png RemoteREW.png Keys to jump forward /backwards by the configured number of minutes (default is 10). This is great to skip quickly over commercials.

Time Stretch Playback

At the 0.17 release of MythTv the concept of Timestretch playback was introduced. Though, it's really 'time-compression'. This allows the user to adjust the playback speed slightly, but keeps the audio at the same pitch. If you're recording a lot of shows, timestretch lets you get through them faster. So now you can watch a 1 hour show in 40 mins without feeling like you are listening to the chipmunks.

During Live TV you can use this feature to play the TV Stream in slow motion, nice for instant reviews of sports events.

Press the RemoteSlow.png key to toggle the Time Stretch playback.

Timestretch.jpg

Press the RemoteRight.png RemoteLeft.png Keys to set the Time Stretch speed.

Electronic Programme Guide (EPG)

The Electronic programme guide will allow you to get more detailed information on what is being broadcast currently as well as programmes schedules that are coming up.

Press the RemoteInfo.png Key , and the OSD will show information on what you are currently watching. The OSD will stay up for a default of 3 seconds and then fade out. You can set the duration in the TV settings ->Playback Settings->OSD

Livetvinfo.jpg

Press the RemoteMenu.png key and the On Screen Menu will show.

Use the RemoteUp.png, RemoteDown.png keys to move up and down the menu. Use RemoteSelect.png key to Select.

LivetvOSM.jpg

Select the Programme Guide and the Full EPG will show.

LivetvEPG.jpg

Use the RemoteUp.png, RemoteDown.png, RemoteLeft.png, RemoteRight.png keys to move around the EPG

Use RemoteSelect.png key to Jump Back to live tv at that channel. or just press RemoteExit.png to go back to watching Live TV

The EPG also allows direct channel jumping by entering a channel number. By default, it is off. You can turn it on in the TV -> Guide Settings. When you press a number key MythTV gives you 2.5 seconds to enter additional digits, (These are displayed on screen as you press), after which it will jump to the closest channel it can find that matches the digits you have pressed.

Concurrent Channel Watching

If you have multiple tuner cards you can watch two channels at once using the Picture in Picture (PIP) facility. You can record one programme while you are watching another. Turn on the PIP via the Onscreen Menu.


LivetvPIP.jpg

Recording Live TV

While watching Live TV press the RemoteRecord.png key, MythTV will start recording the show at that point until the show is finished according to the Guide schedule. There will be a few seconds pause followed by a blank screen before MythTV switchs to recording mode.

RecordingRecord.jpg


The Tuner card being used to record from will be locked until the recording has finished or you explicitly cancel the recording. If you have multiple Tuner cards you can now change channels with the RemoteUp.png RemoteDown.png keys. MythTV will continue recording the current show and switch to the next available Tuner card. If there are no more available Tuner cards then the RemoteUp.png RemoteDown.png keys will just jump back and forth in the recording.


Press the RemoteInfo.png key, and the OSD will show the position in the recording.

RecordingInfo.jpg

Use the RemoteLeft.png, RemoteRight.png keys to move backwards and forwards in the recording.


Press the RemoteMenu.png key, and the On Screen Menu for Recordings will show.

File:RecordingOSM.jpg


You can exit the watching recordings with the RemoteExit.png key.

If you try watching live TV and all the Tuner cards are busy recording, you will get the following screen. RecordingBusyinput.jpg

Scheduled Recordings

You can programme recordings directly from the EPG If you have multiple tuner cards, MythTV will try and resolve schedule conflicts by searching for repeat broadcasts of the same show as well as trying to handle non broadcasts due to changes in schedules. For recording of multiple episodes of a show, MythTV will look at the episode information to identify unique episodes.

Select the show that you want to record and press the RemoteRecord.png key repeatedly to cycle through the record options. A record icon on the guide will show which option you have selected.

1. RecordingEPG1.jpg Not Recording
2. RecordingEPG2.jpg Record only this Programme at this specific time and this station. This is the best way to be sure that a certain showing is recorded. However, if the TV listings change and the show is not broadcast at that time, the show will not be recorded but will be marked as Not Listed to let you know that you should investigate.
3. RecordingEPG3.jpg Record a title once from any of the times that appear in the TV listings. This is useful for recording a movie or special that has multiple showings because it allows the scheduler to choose one that doesn't conflict. It is not a good choice for recording a single episode of a series because it records the first available showing of the title without regard to the episode information.
4. RecordingEPG4.jpg Record a show whenever the title is listed on the same channel, weekday and time. Note that if the TV station changes the schedule for a special episode, it would not be recorded. However, you can add a single record for the special episode.
5. RecordingEPG5.jpg Record a title once per week from any of the times that appear in the TV listings beginning from the time of the showing that was selected when the rule was set. This is useful for news, current events or other programs where the same episode is shown several times each week but the listings may not include descriptive information. This may not be a good choice if there are different episodes shown during the week.
6. RecordingEPG6.jpg Records a show whenever the title is listed for the time and station on any day of the week. Here again, a show will not be recorded if the time was altered by the station.
7. RecordingEPG7.jpg Record a title once per day from any of the times that appear in the TV listings beginning from the time of the showing that was selected when the rule was set. This is useful for news, current events or other shows where the same episode is shown several times each day but the listings may not include descriptive information. This may not be a good choice if there are different episodes shown during the day.
8. RecordingEPG8.jpg Records a show anytime the title is listed on this station. This is perhaps the most common rule to use for most shows.
9. RecordingEPG9.jpg Record this title on any station at any time. This can be useful if a station has sister stations where shows are rebroadcast allowing the scheduler to record rebroadcasts on the other station when the original airing cannot be recorded.


How MythTV Records

Need some words here about Recording profiles, Ringbuffers, the changes in Live TV for 0.19

Watching and Managing Recordings

MythTV by default holds all its recordings the /mount/store directory You can browse these recordings in Main Screen-> Media Library-> Watch Recordings from Mythfrontend

RecordingsBrowse.jpg

The recordings are organised into Recording Groups on the left of the screen. The Group "All Programmes" contains all recordings.

Use the RemoteRight.pngRemoteLeft.png keys to switch between recording groups and recordings themselves Use the RemoteUp.pngRemoteUp.png keys to select the recording group or recording

Press the RemoteSelect.png key to play the highlighted recording

Press the RemoteInfo.png to bring up the On Screen Menu

RecordingsBrowse.jpg


  • Expiring
  • deleting
  • editing recordings
  • Commercial flagging

Transcoding Recordings

Transcoding gets its own section

Archiving Recordings

Burning the suckers


Exporting Recordings

Ipods, external media players


Playing DVDs

0.19 introduces the concept of an internal DVD player as opposed to using Xine or Mplayer. You can enable this by entering "internal" for the player command.

Managing Media

Photos

  • importing
  • Rotating
  • Playing short movies
  • Slide shows and Transitions

Videos

  • Importing
  • Disc information
  • Cover Art

Music

Advanced Features

  • Job Queues
  • Advanced Search