2011-08-30, 07:51 PM
When I added the DCR-2650 to my system last night, I came up with a few questions about exactly how it is working and how it should (ideally) be configured. When I went into the device configuration for the 1st tuner, I did a Scan. The scan resulted in a channel listing which appears to be every channel on my cable company's lineup (plus a few extras which appear to be test, diagnostic, etc. from their names). NPVR gave them channel numbers which match the channel numbers published by the cable company. That seems good. And it gave them channel names which I will call "short descriptions." Sometimes these "short descriptions" are just a broadcast channel's call sign (i.e. "WCCO"), other times it is supposed to be a "friendly version" of a call sign (i.e. "WCCO HD" whose call sign in Schedules Direct is "WCCODT"), and other times it is a longer description (i.e. "National Geographic HD" whose call sign in Schedules Direct is "NGCHD").
So, now the questions:
1. When NPVR gets the channel listing from the cable company, does it just have the logical channel number and this "short description" or does it also have a "call sign" which would/should match the Schedules Direct "call sign"?
2. Since I was adding new channels to an already setup channel listing with channels already configured for XMLTV EPG source, I couldn't use the bulk map feature. However, even if I could have, I don't think that it would have been very successful since (I believe) that it would be trying to match the "short descriptions" from the DCR-2650 to the "call signs" from the Schedules Direct XMLTV file, correct? In these CableCard cases where the logical channels are coming from the cable company and directly match the Schedules Direct cable lineup channel numbers, I think that the matching should be done on the channel numbers. How do you do it with something like the HD-PVR?
3. In NPVR, the channel names tend to be expected (by skins in TV Guide, recordings info, etc.) to be shorter like the "call sign" (i.e. "NGCHD") rather than medium-length like the "short descriptions" (i.e. "National Geographic HD") coming from my cable company. So, my initial thought was to go and change all of the channel names in NPVR to be the "call sign" from the Schedules Direct XMLTV file. But then I got worried about what would happen when (not IF--WHEN) the cable company makes changes to the lineup. I'm presuming that NPVR won't just automatically detect and adjust for it like set-top boxes do. Instead, I expect I'll have to go into the device and do another scan. But then how will NPVR match up the old channels currently used in the database (for recurring recordings, existing recordings, etc.) to the new channels now coming from the cable company lineup? You couldn't use the channel numbers since they might have changed. So I'm thinking that you will have to use the "short description" which is coming from the cable company/DCR-2650. Now, if I have changed the channel names in NPVR from the "short description" to the "call sign" from the Schedules Direct XMLTV file, they won't match up, and it will look like there are all of these new channels, right? Argh!
So, now the questions:
1. When NPVR gets the channel listing from the cable company, does it just have the logical channel number and this "short description" or does it also have a "call sign" which would/should match the Schedules Direct "call sign"?
2. Since I was adding new channels to an already setup channel listing with channels already configured for XMLTV EPG source, I couldn't use the bulk map feature. However, even if I could have, I don't think that it would have been very successful since (I believe) that it would be trying to match the "short descriptions" from the DCR-2650 to the "call signs" from the Schedules Direct XMLTV file, correct? In these CableCard cases where the logical channels are coming from the cable company and directly match the Schedules Direct cable lineup channel numbers, I think that the matching should be done on the channel numbers. How do you do it with something like the HD-PVR?
3. In NPVR, the channel names tend to be expected (by skins in TV Guide, recordings info, etc.) to be shorter like the "call sign" (i.e. "NGCHD") rather than medium-length like the "short descriptions" (i.e. "National Geographic HD") coming from my cable company. So, my initial thought was to go and change all of the channel names in NPVR to be the "call sign" from the Schedules Direct XMLTV file. But then I got worried about what would happen when (not IF--WHEN) the cable company makes changes to the lineup. I'm presuming that NPVR won't just automatically detect and adjust for it like set-top boxes do. Instead, I expect I'll have to go into the device and do another scan. But then how will NPVR match up the old channels currently used in the database (for recurring recordings, existing recordings, etc.) to the new channels now coming from the cable company lineup? You couldn't use the channel numbers since they might have changed. So I'm thinking that you will have to use the "short description" which is coming from the cable company/DCR-2650. Now, if I have changed the channel names in NPVR from the "short description" to the "call sign" from the Schedules Direct XMLTV file, they won't match up, and it will look like there are all of these new channels, right? Argh!