Whats the current state of play with Play TV EPG?

Forums › Home Theatre (including HTPC and EPG Collector) › Whats the current state of play with Play TV EPG?

cgreenwood

201 posts

Master Geek

#105098 27-Jun-2012 10:19

Thinking of gettting a Play TV for my PS3, I know there has been issues with the EPG on this. Can anyone tell me what the current situation is? Ta

Jaxson

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#646894 27-Jun-2012 11:06

You get a full EPG for some channels, and only the now/next data for the rest.
The data for channels with a full EPG is supplied via the internet.

TechSol

299 posts

Ultimate Geek

Technical Solutions Aust

#646897 27-Jun-2012 11:10

The current situation is hopeless.... I'm sorry this isn't a very useful post, but as a result of the different TV stations, and Sony mucking around with the EPG, I ended up giving my play TV away.

Jaxson

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#646909 27-Jun-2012 11:25

Evilg: The current situation is hopeless.... I'm sorry this isn't a very useful post

I disagree, I think that's very useful. Sony started selling this device without the necessary agreements in place to secure a working EPG for it's customers. If you just want it to view freeview then it's fine though, so it will depend on what use you have intended it for.

Add that it's not a twin tuner device in the conventional sense, as in you can't record two channels at once and it's use is fairly limited now; compared to the likes of TIVO recently at $199, with 320GB hard drive, real twin tuner support, web interface etc and a full working EPG.

cgreenwood

201 posts

Master Geek

#646911 27-Jun-2012 11:28

Thanks guys - Answered my question.

Not getting one (even though they are only $88 new now).

Jaxson

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#646922 27-Jun-2012 12:05

cgreenwood: they are only $88 new now.

That's still a great price, especially if you're looking to upgrade to viewing freeview only, with an occasional record. The thing is that now, several years on, most TV's have freeview in them, so the need for a view only freeview box is diminishing, (especially in this case as most owners of a PS3 have a modern TV as well).

Initially the freeview HD boxes were $250, so PlayTV was a great option if you owned a PS3 already. Now with TV's having freeview built in, standalone boxes being cheaper, and freeview PVR's being more common, it's not appealing to such a wide market. Sony aren't progressing the EPG situation either.

mattRSK

822 posts

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#646924 27-Jun-2012 12:07

Jaxson: You get a full EPG for some channels, and only the now/next data for the rest.
The data for channels with a full EPG is supplied via the internet.

I seem to only get now/next for all the channels. Can you elaborate on the ones with full EPG?

For the OP, we pretty much use the PS3 for everything now that we have PlayTV. It is great having the pause and record functions.

Jaxson

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#646951 27-Jun-2012 12:48

It's an addon you buy on the PSN store from memory. Someone here will have it and will let you know. Costs about $15 I think and it then fills the EPG from a service called TVTV or something over the net.

The problem is/was that Sony haven't been able to supply a full EPG for all channels. So you pay them more money for this addon and it populates only half of your EPG....

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mattRSK

822 posts

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#646997 27-Jun-2012 13:40

Jaxson: It's an addon you buy on the PSN store from memory. Someone here will have it and will let you know. Costs about $15 I think and it then fills the EPG from a service called TVTV or something over the net.

The problem is/was that Sony haven't been able to supply a full EPG for all channels. So you pay them more money for this addon and it populates only half of your EPG....

Oh ok thanks, I bought the PlayTV second hand off trademe so I don't have the store features which makes sense.

Jaxson

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#647011 27-Jun-2012 14:09

mattRSK:

Oh ok thanks, I bought the PlayTV second hand off trademe so I don't have the store features which makes sense.

Anyone can buy the PlayTV TVTV EPG add on, you just head off to the shop and purchase it I think.

cgreenwood

201 posts

Master Geek

#647042 27-Jun-2012 15:19

Wouldn't it have just been easier for them to have the Play TV download the guide data from the broadcast? I suppose that would not have solved the legal issues though.

Jaxson

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#647061 27-Jun-2012 15:51

cgreenwood: Wouldn't it have just been easier for them to have the Play TV download the guide data from the broadcast? I suppose that would not have solved the legal issues though.

Yes, but the problem initially was that the PlayTV software actually had a great EPG in it, one that worked across most of the world as many countries simultaneously broadcast EIT data as well as MHEG5. The TVTV route delivers the EPG via the web where the data can't be extracted directly from the broadcast itself.

(The very limited EPG info the PlayTV unit does display is the few now/next events freeview transmits as EIT data. On the satellite service freeview broadcast a full EIT data set as well as the MHEG5 version.)
Ironically the PlayTV advertising specifically mentions that it is MHEG5 capable?!

So, if Sony had modified this to work here in NZ then yes, they could have got it to work with the NZ official freeview MHEG5 EPG. However I suspect the market simply wasn't big enough here to justify what would have been a major program redesign of what is a global product, simply for the NZ market. Either way, be it Sony or freeviews fault, what they have released here is a halfbaked attempt that is a bit rude for the NZ customer.