Reliable EPG recordings

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FOCUS0

64 posts

Master Geek

#148890 4-Jul-2014 11:37

Over the years there have been ongoing problems with trying to get recordings done reliably through the Freeview EPG with Freeview approved equipment.

I am raising this I have read through the forum topics where this has been raised and none state that the issue has been resolved with the equipment.

I have a TiVo and it works a charm and am looking to get a MYFreeview unit.

Does the EPG booking system work, i.e. What you book is what you get.

I don't want to be manually booking these programs or having to go in and correct things (Just the wife wants it simple).

I understand there are issues with those channels that have a +1 channel.

I am interested if all the problems have since been resolved or if it is still be present, however people have just given up.

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1961 posts

Uber Geek

#1080900 4-Jul-2014 12:44

I think you'll find it doesn't matter what brand or type of recorder you use, if you use EPG recording you need to check regularly that the record bookings remain set. The problems are with the EPG and not recording equipment. I have a Panasonic Recorder and when I checked a few days ago I found 3 programs that had disappeared from series link record but were still in the EPG and had to be setup again. It seems to be a problem with the service providers sometimes doing an EPG update which breaks the series link for some reason. Either we have to live with it or use timer record (daily or weekly) instead. It only takes a few secs to check every so often. EPG record setup is really the lazy way of going about things anyway. In the days of VCRs it was only possible to set timer record. If I wan't to record a mustn't miss program I use timer record and allow plenty of extra time in case it runs very late. Always works.

ADKM

860 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1080951 4-Jul-2014 13:24

Our experience is that it's almost 100% unreliable and must have been designed by a complete moron. Not only do programmes fail to record, recordings can end prematurely. If you have a second item setup +1 can take over and you'll miss it.

I believe Freeview do this on purpose - to discourage recording so you are forced to watch the ads. This is proven by their blackmailing the industry by forcing then to disable the skip-ahead playback feature included in every other country, except NZ.

I don't necessarily agree it's a "lazy" way of recording. It could work perfectly - and track programmes to adjust for lag etc. But there's no money in that!

scuwp

3885 posts

Uber Geek

#1080997 4-Jul-2014 14:28

Stick with the TiVo.

Lazy is such an ugly word, I prefer to call it selective participation

butlerboy

457 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1081009 4-Jul-2014 14:49

I've got a MagicTV in the lounge and find that it's reliable 99% of the time. The JC Matthews I have in the bedroom only has a 50/50 chance of recording a booked programme.

FOCUS0

64 posts

Master Geek

#1081026 4-Jul-2014 15:19

I've read that when booking a HD program on TV1, TV2, TV3 it frequently gets relegated to the +1 channel instead for no reason.
i.e. no conflicts over times or other recordings needing the time slot. The recordings end up being SD quality.

Is the Magic unit trouble free in this area.

butlerboy

457 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1081073 4-Jul-2014 16:34

FOCUS0: I've read that when booking a HD program on TV1, TV2, TV3 it frequently gets relegated to the +1 channel instead for no reason.
i.e. no conflicts over times or other recordings needing the time slot. The recordings end up being SD quality.

Is the Magic unit trouble free in this area.

I've never had any issues with this. The only time it records a +1 channel is when there is a recording conflict. Bear in mind I have the older MTV3600, but I assume the current MTV3700 is the same.

B1GGLZ

1961 posts

Uber Geek

#1081107 4-Jul-2014 17:35

FOCUS0: I've read that when booking a HD program on TV1, TV2, TV3 it frequently gets relegated to the +1 channel instead for no reason.
i.e. no conflicts over times or other recordings needing the time slot. The recordings end up being SD quality.

Is the Magic unit trouble free in this area.

Only time I've had this happen on my Panasonic is when I booked EPG record just a minute or two after the program actually started. Always starts on time on channel otherwise.

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FOCUS0

64 posts

Master Geek

#1081372 5-Jul-2014 11:36

butlerboy:

I've never had any issues with this. The only time it records a +1 channel is when there is a recording conflict. Bear in mind I have the older MTV3600, but I assume the current MTV3700 is the same.

Has your unit been unaffected by the code-2 issue currently being worked on by Dish ??

B1GGLZ

1961 posts

Uber Geek

#1081397 5-Jul-2014 12:13

FOCUS0:

Has your unit been unaffected by the code-2 issue currently being worked on by Dish ??

Never had a code-2 error show up. Never even heard of code-2 error til the DishTV problem arose. Always records what I want when I want although for 'must record' shows I use timer record just in case.

butlerboy

457 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1081445 5-Jul-2014 13:21

FOCUS0:
butlerboy:

I've never had any issues with this. The only time it records a +1 channel is when there is a recording conflict. Bear in mind I have the older MTV3600, but I assume the current MTV3700 is the same.

Has your unit been unaffected by the code-2 issue currently being worked on by Dish ??

Much like B1GGLZ I've never had a code-2 issue with my MTV3600. My JC Matthews DTR on the other hand throws a 'code-2' fit every time I try to set something up to record.

mattbush

784 posts

Ultimate Geek
Inactive user

#1081593 5-Jul-2014 20:13

Is there a recorder with the same number of tuners as the Sky box?

and

Is Tivo available in NZ anywhere?

HiroProtagonist

47 posts

Geek

#1084583 9-Jul-2014 10:22

ADKM: Our experience is that it's almost 100% unreliable and must have been designed by a complete moron.

While I find EPG series recording via Magic TV & my TVHeadend box quite reliable, the whole idea of timer recording via a digital broadcast seems moronic. A protocol that allowed the accurate identification of the broadcast program would be trivially easy to implement. A protocol that utilised this info to provide for accurate recording would again be very simple to design & implement.

I can only suppose it's not done because the advertisers would prefer you not to record so you have to sit through the ads.

Freeview should wake up and realise that nobody under 80 years old watches live TV anymore.

ADKM

860 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1085739 9-Jul-2014 14:24

HiroProtagonist: A protocol that allowed the accurate identification of the broadcast program would be trivially easy to implement. A protocol that utilised this info to provide for accurate recording would again be very simple to design & implement.

This is what Panasonic seemed to suggest does happen and the reason for missed recordings. Because the 'digital information' was corrupted or misread somehow.
Which beggers the question why does this 'digital information' not include data that the programme is running late so don't stop recording until it's finished.

HiroProtagonist:Freeview should wake up and realise that nobody under 80 years old watches live TV anymore.

Tried ringing them once let them know the EPG was wrong over many days. They couldn't care less and didn't even want my call. Tell your equipment manufacturer was all they'd say.

HiroProtagonist

47 posts

Geek

#1085836 9-Jul-2014 16:11

ADKM:
HiroProtagonist: A protocol that allowed the accurate identification of the broadcast program would be trivially easy to implement. A protocol that utilised this info to provide for accurate recording would again be very simple to design & implement.

This is what Panasonic seemed to suggest does happen and the reason for missed recordings. Because the 'digital information' was corrupted or misread somehow.
Which beggers the question why does this 'digital information' not include data that the programme is running late so don't stop recording until it's finished.

This is why I used the word 'moronic'. If there was a program ID that starts counting down from ~5 mins before a program starts, & is sent regularly during the broadcast, then your PVR could wake up before the scheduled time of the program, check for the program ID, & either wait for it to start, or go back to sleep for 5 mins if the ID is not sent.

The program data just needs to consist of the unique ID, minutes into the program, and a 'suspend' flag. The 'suspend' could be used for stuff like breaking news & lotto where the program will continue afterwards [could also be used for ads but good luck with that]. Could also include minutes to run, but you can get the length from the EPG & calc that. Naturally you'd checksum the data to protect against corruption.

This would avoid all recording problems except if a show started before the initial countdown was scheduled.

MurrayM

2455 posts

Uber Geek

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#1085846 9-Jul-2014 16:28

I've got a MagicTV 3600, had it for three or so years, never had any problems with recording from the EPG.

I have had a series get dropped for some reason, but I assumed it was just the EPG people screwing things up and it's easily fixed.

Never had any code-2 errors (in fact I don't even know what that is!) The only time the +1 channels are used is if there's a conflict on the normal channels (I was quite impressed when I first realised it had switched to a +1 channel for recording). I've got things set up to start recording a few minutes before the advertised start time, and to continue for 10 minutes after the advertised finish time; I've never lost any part of a program.

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