Using MythTV
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.
Contents
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)
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 and 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 to increase/decrease the Vol
Press the to toggle the audio mute
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 key.
4:3
16:9
4:3 Zoom (Like Pan and Scan)
16:9 Zoom
16:9 Stretch (Eliminates black sidebars in TV signal)
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 Key on your remote the picture will freez, 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
While the picture stream is paused
Press the Keys to move forwards / backwards by 1 frame
Press the 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 Keys to move forwards / backwards in the stream
Press the 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 key to toggle the Time Stretch playback.
Press the 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 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
Press the key and the On Screen Menu will show.
Use the , keys to move up and down the menu. Use key to Select.
Select the Programme Guide and the Full EPG will show.
Use the , , , keys to move around the EPG
Use key to Jump Back to live tv at that channel. or just press 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.
Recording Live TV
While watching Live TV press the 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.
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 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 keys will just jump back and forth in the recording.
Press the key, and the OSD will show the position in the recording.
Use the , keys to move backwards and forwards in the recording.
Press the key, and the On Screen Menu for Recordings will show.
You can exit the watching recordings with the key.
If you try watching live TV and all the Tuner cards are busy recording, you will get the following screen.
Scheduled Recordings
You can programme recordings directly from the EPG
Select the show that you want to record and press the key repeatedly to cycle through the record options. A record icon on the guide will show which option you have selected.
How MythTV Records
Need some words here about Recording profiles, Ringbuffers, the changes in Live TV for 0.19
Managing Recordings
Some words on 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