Now that GBPVR is very stable it is perhaps time to consider adding more features :-)
The below list is a few things I miss not having in GBPVR.
1. Support for DVB radio channels.
2. Indication when scanning for channels as to whether the channl is TV or radio. An Icon might do it next to channel name in scan list.
3. Indication in scanned channel list if channel is encrypted or free to air. Another icon in list ought to do the job.
The next bit might be controversial (or might sound like madness) so I will explain.
There is currently no legal way to watch lots of TV channels in the Uk from pc TV cards. Sky for example do not make a cam for thier sky channels so even if ultimately GBPVR supports encrypted channels via legal pay cards etc then there will still be no way to watch sky. Similarly top-up-TV on DVB-T in UK also has no cam support (as far as I know).
There will thus always be a need to have external boxes to decrypt such channels and then GBPVR is then required to do viewing and recording via (e.g. composite inputs on MPEG PVR cards).
This produces and integration problem for an HTPC in that there is no easy way of getting the EPG for the external boxes into GBPVR. The holy grail of the HTPC is to have a single UI and single remote providing access to all channels and media sources.
Direct download of channel EPG is by far the easiest way of getting EPG data into any app. xmltv works but not all channels are supported and it is hard work setting it all up.
Given a DVB-S and DVB-T card in a pc then it ought to be possible to grab EPG data and have this data mapped to channels on the compoiste input PVR card. I presume (though dont know for certain) that EPG data is available for encrypted channels - so that you can know what you are missing :-) )
The existing arrangements for sending messages to girder to change channels on external boxes would then allow seamless channel changing and then the single GBVR EPG browsing window would be useful to control even the essential external boxes.
So
4. Allow EPG data from one source to be mapped to another source.
5. Allow the config app window to be resized (to allow channel data to be more esily viewed etc.)
6. Add an extra column in channel list to show card id (to give a clue as to which card the channel is mapped to). In the .mdb file I think this is called Capture device oid.
I can link into my home computer from work (had to use port 8080 because of company firewall).....can see home PC TV guide fine, and have done a couple of recordings successfully - can see them in manage recordings.
Question 1 - why can't I play them remotely? When I try to Play Program, my work PC reports I need a Codec, but what Codec does it need? (there's not much I'm allowed to install on this pc).
Question 2 - why didn't my Firewall ask someone at home to 'allow' me to connect from work via Port 8080? It just let me straight in.
I really want to get the transcoding feature to work, but the only option that has settings is the WMV option. I wanted something like nero recode's mp4 compression, but i'm not sure what setting under wmv might be near that one. I see the psp option (which should be mpeg4), but the settings button is greyed out and I don't think it does anything.
Every time I try to go to the 'web' selection and then click one of the buttons (like 'alternative' or 'classical') I get a requester popping up telling me: "failed to download stations list for genre".
I've only noticed this after upgrading to 0.95.14. I do not see any strange things in the log files...
I just installed GBPVR today and I want to try it out. Problem is even though I have signed up for Zap2it through the GBPVR settings option, it gives me an error when I hit Update EPG, tells me that it is not configured correctly and to check my settings. The only settings I see are my username and pw which I have repeatedly verified.
Any suggestions? The only thing I can think of is that it is because I am on very slow dial up internet.
BTW I am using Hauppauge pvr 350 attached to my Starchoice receiver. Setup works fine with Beyond TV, just wanted to try another program.
Maybe it is just me, but I'm having difficulty seeing the difference in the new system tray status icons. How can I get the old ones back? Is there a way to extract them from a previous version install file? Or, can the new icons' colors be made more contrasted -- say red and green?
I updated GBPVR to 95.11 and, at the same time, I installed the Christmas skin. Since then I have noticed that some of my scheduled recordings are placed into a "Manual Recording" folder. In GBPVR they appear to have "failed" to record. See attached pics and you'll see what I mean.
This does not happen for all recordings, most are OK. It also isn't channel specific as I've had the same named programme on the same channel (for those in the UK it's Coronation Street on Wednesday and then Friday night) one was OK the other put into the Manual Recording folder. Neither programme had another scheduled recording immediatelly before / after it.
Also, I do not use CDK Scheduler.
BTW, I haven't posted earlier as I've been away for the week and just catching up.
There is a lot of talk about making plugins easier to skin. So, I ask all skin developers to post thier thoughts on what makes an easy-to-skin plugin.
I was thinking of including a 'skin helper' readme file in my plugin releases but what type of info would be useful? At the moment it's just a plain English guide on how the plugin uses the skin; when are the different sections used, explaining the non standard parts / names etc etc.
