Question About GBPVR

[broadband412]

Hi, don't really come on here but I was wondering why one cannot watch tv while recording with gbpvr? Is this tv card specific? I have a Hauppauge win TV PVR USB2 card with onboard hardware encoding. Sorry if this has been asked before. Thanks.

[HtV]

You mean: watch the program that you are recording? That should be possible.

[ricklous]

its a TV card specific thing. GBPVR only has as many tuners as your hardware has. So a single tuner = single source whcih can only be used to do one thing at a time. if you had two PVR USB2s', or any other permutation of tuners that are compatible with GBPVR, you could use one of the tuners to record while using the other to watch LIve TV.

The slightly confusing factor is that dual tuner hardware is becoming popular, so the Haup PVR 500 is basicly two PVR 150s mounted onto one PCI card.

but the rule stands regardless, one tuner = one source at any one time.

EDIT - trust me to make a brew in the middle of answering and getting beatten to the post hehe:-)

[HtV]

EDIT - trust me to make a brew in the middle of answering and getting beatten to the post hehe:-)

Allways keep your prioities right

[broadband412]

All other apps I've tried can record and be able to watch at the same time. Just curious, what's so different about GBPVR.

[sub]

I suspect you're not giving us enough detail in your question.

With multiple tuners you can record and watch multiple channels at the same time.

No app allows you to record and watch different different channels at the same time on single tuner system. (there are some exceptions to this rule when it comes to free to air DVB transmissions, but given you have a Hauppauge PVR USB2, that doesnt apply to you).

There is nothing to stop you watching a show while it is recording.

Exactly what is the scenario you dont think you can do in GB-PVR? Maybe you just dont like the behaviour where live tv exits back to the main menu when a recording starts rather than automatically switching to playback of the file that is recording?

[broadband412]

Hi sub, first off I just want to say this is some program you have built. This program is the only one that I have came accross with about zero lag when changing tv channels or access the menu on my external digital cable box. It's very fast compaired to others I have tired. I understand that one cannot watch and record on different channels at the same time with only one tuner. The senario I don't think I am able to do in GBPVR is watch the show as it is being recorded as I am able to do in other applications. Reason for looking at GBPVR is for stability. Other programs have the features but not the stability. Also, why is GBPVR kicking me out of Live TV a minute before a scheduled recording is about to begin? If I attempt to watch live tv, it will tell me there are no cards avilable to watch live tv on. I feel this message is an error is it not? Also why does GBPVR playback the file instead of playing live tv while a recording is in progress? This makes me me think something is going wrong with the program when it is time to record. Also I don't know what the deinterlacing setting my card should be set to. Thanks for you help.

[sub]

Also, why is GBPVR kicking me out of Live TV a minute before a scheduled recording is about to begin?

This was just the behaviour I preferred at the time.

I have recently decided to change it in the near to popup a box to tell you that the recording is about to take place. It'll give you the option to 'cancel the recording', 'watch the recording' or 'exit live tv'. If it doesnt get a response by the time the recording is due to start, it'll send the user back to the main menu like it currently does. This will be in either the next release or the one after.

If I attempt to watch live tv, it will tell me there are no cards avilable to watch live tv on. I feel this message is an error is it not?

This is not an error. Its just telling you what is really happening. There is no tuners available that you can freely use for watching live. There is one tuner that is currently recording 'Xxxxxx' and you are give the option to watch that show while its recording if you want.

why does GBPVR playback the file instead of playing live tv while a recording is in progress?

Thats just the way it works when the device is producing an MPEG2 video stream for recording. The same is true of SageTV/BeyondTV and all the others that I know of - with these apps you're just playing a file when this happens. These apps will automatically switch you to playback of that file while the recording takes place though.

This makes me me think something is going wrong with the program when it is time to record.

I guess its just a personal preference on how you would like it to behave. Hopefully the new popup window I mentioned above will be more to your liking. You may find that adding multiple tuners also makes it behave more like you expect.

[daphatty]

You may find that adding multiple tuners also makes it behave more like you expect.

Agreed. The OP may not realize it but he is asking for the ability to watch live tv (on any channel) while recording a show (on a specific channel). This cannot be done without at least two tuners in any application out there.

[broadband412]

Thanks sub and mvandere. Maybe, I'm being picky. Thanks for teaching me something new. I had no idea that one is in fact watching the file as it is being recorded and not watching live tv as it is being recorded. Seemes all the apps I have tried does this hiddenly. I understand now why I get thrown off by getting kicked back the main screen when a recording is about to start. Also does GBPVR make DVD compliant MPEG2 files? Files that do not need to be transcoded in order to put them on DVD? I'm happy with the app that I use for playing my media but it does not perform well for recording. I suppose I could use the program my PVR came with but I would like to be able to record all new episodes of some shows which always do not air at the same time or on the same day even. Also is there some way to work with one xml file instad of keep on downloading the same guide data for different apps? I like to play with different apps to chek out features and stability. Thanks guys.