Re: [mythtv-users] Multiple viewers
Brett Stevens wrote: Thanks for the info. However can I ask for some design tips. There will be a backend server and 4 clients with a max of 4 very selfish and demanding users. The server will cope with more than that, in fact I think it is probalbly able to handle double. The clients Im thinking of via epia m and minimith via nfs 100/1000mb wired lan I was orriginaly thinking of tuners in the clients as this would allow the live tv function but what about recording. LiveTV will work on any frontend regardless of which backend the tuner is on--i.e. the tuner does not have to be local for LiveTV. If I allow for, say 2 recorders in the server this would allow for 1/2 the users to watch and record at the same time this may be a problem. However if recording can be done from one of the set top boxes this would be ok. Yes, you can create combined frontend/backend machines. You can have as many backends as you want (one primary/master and the others are slaves). You can have as many frontends as you want. Frontends and backends are logically separate--even if they exist on the same machine--so you get the same result having a separate frontend and backend as you get with a combined frontend and backend. Now I know that this can be done but what happens if someone wants to use this set top whilst a recording is underway or what happens to the scheduled recording. If a tuner is free--regardless of which backend has that tuner, it can be used for LiveTV or recordings. If no tuners are in use and a machine is a combined backend/frontend (i.e., it has a local tuner), that tuner gets a higher priority than remote tuners (although this can be altered with user-specified priorities). But, if the local tuner is not available, a remote one can still be used. Even if a combined frontend/backend is in the process of recording something, the frontend can be used for something unrelated to the current recording (i.e. watching a DVD, a video, or a previously-recorded program). I never watch TV while it's being recorded (so I can skip commercials and playback at faster-than-real-time), and I only have a single combined frontend/backend, so it's often recording shows (sometimes multiple) while I'm watching a previously-recorded program. Can it be automatically switched to an idle card, either in the server or a free set top? Instead of moving the already-in-progress recording, the frontend will simply request the services of an idle card. Mike ___ mythtv-users mailing list mythtv-users@mythtv.org http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
RE: [mythtv-users] Multiple viewers
Thanks for the info. However can I ask for some design tips. There will be a backend server and 4 clients with a max of 4 very selfish and demanding users. The server will cope with more than that, in fact I think it is probalbly able to handle double. The clients Im thinking of via epia m and minimith via nfs 100/1000mb wired lan I was orriginaly thinking of tuners in the clients as this would allow the live tv function but what about recording. If I allow for, say 2 recorders in the server this would allow for 1/2 the users to watch and record at the same time this may be a problem. However if recording can be done from one of the set top boxes this would be ok. Now I know that this can be done but what happens if someone wants to use this set top whilst a recording is underway or what happens to the scheduled recording. Can it be automatically switched to an idle card, either in the server or a free set top? Thanks Brett Stevens -Original Message- From: Michael T. Dean [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, June 29, 2005 10:47 AM To: Discussion about mythtv Subject: Re: [mythtv-users] Multiple viewers Brett Stevens wrote: > Still tying to figure out the ultimate design. > > If I have multiple tuners, say one per free to air channel so as to > avoid any arguments about selection. Can more than one watch the same > channel using "LiveTV" viewing but starting at different times. If so > is there anything special or differrent in the setup? Basically, you need one tuner per viewer for LiveTV. If, however, your viewers communicate with one another, and you realize that multiple people want to watch the same show, they should record the show. Then, each viewer could--using his/her frontend--start watching the show (from the recordings section, not from LiveTV) any time he/she desires (even while the show is still recording--starting from the moment the recording starts until it's deleted--even while other viewers are watching the same show) and Myth is only using one tuner to record it regardless of the number of viewers. So using LiveTV hogs a tuner while recordings don't. If you're interested why LiveTV consumes a whole tuner, try to come up with an algorithm for maintaining an X megabyte ring buffer with multiple people watching the same channel from the same tuner. Depending on how much pausing is going on, it's quite possible that the person who's closest to real time is more than X megabytes ahead of the person who paused LiveTV to go make some dinner. So, it's quite easy to go beyond the allowed limit for the buffer to ensure each person has his/her fair share of rewindability. And, then again, there's the whole, "If my list of recorded shows isn't more appealing than the things that just happen to be on now, then I know I'm not using the DVR properly" perspective (to quote Bruce J. Markey). Basically, once you get used to the DVR, you'll likely record anything and everything you might possibly want to watch. This also has the benefit that (much to Jamie Kellner's horror), you don't have to watch/wait for the commercials (even while it's recording thanks to Chris Pinkham's near-real-time commercial flagging). Not to mention you can playback at faster than real-time and watch the show in significantly less time with no losses (1.75X!!! Thanks Mark Spieth!). But, then again, not everyone is a DVR convert like me. Mike ___ mythtv-users mailing list mythtv-users@mythtv.org http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users ___ mythtv-users mailing list mythtv-users@mythtv.org http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
Re: [mythtv-users] Multiple viewers
Michael T. Dean wrote: If you're interested why LiveTV consumes a whole tuner, try to come up with an algorithm for maintaining an X megabyte ring buffer with multiple people watching the same channel from the same tuner. Depending on how much pausing is going on, it's quite possible that the person who's closest to real time is more than X megabytes ahead of the person who paused LiveTV to go make some dinner. So, it's quite easy to go beyond the allowed limit for the buffer to ensure each person has his/her fair share of rewindability. OK. Just realized that the buffer is X megabytes before real-time--not around current viewing position--so this isn't a problem. However, control of the card is a problem. If 5 people are watching LiveTV on the same card and one changes the channel, what should happen? Should the user wanting another channel get kicked to another tuner? If so, what if there are no additional tuners? Probably many more issues I can't think of... Sorry for my confusion... I'll try to think through my thought experiments better next time... :) Mike ___ mythtv-users mailing list mythtv-users@mythtv.org http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
Re: [mythtv-users] Multiple viewers
Brett Stevens wrote: Still tying to figure out the ultimate design. If I have multiple tuners, say one per free to air channel so as to avoid any arguments about selection. Can more than one watch the same channel using "LiveTV" viewing but starting at different times. If so is there anything special or differrent in the setup? Basically, you need one tuner per viewer for LiveTV. If, however, your viewers communicate with one another, and you realize that multiple people want to watch the same show, they should record the show. Then, each viewer could--using his/her frontend--start watching the show (from the recordings section, not from LiveTV) any time he/she desires (even while the show is still recording--starting from the moment the recording starts until it's deleted--even while other viewers are watching the same show) and Myth is only using one tuner to record it regardless of the number of viewers. So using LiveTV hogs a tuner while recordings don't. If you're interested why LiveTV consumes a whole tuner, try to come up with an algorithm for maintaining an X megabyte ring buffer with multiple people watching the same channel from the same tuner. Depending on how much pausing is going on, it's quite possible that the person who's closest to real time is more than X megabytes ahead of the person who paused LiveTV to go make some dinner. So, it's quite easy to go beyond the allowed limit for the buffer to ensure each person has his/her fair share of rewindability. And, then again, there's the whole, "If my list of recorded shows isn't more appealing than the things that just happen to be on now, then I know I'm not using the DVR properly" perspective (to quote Bruce J. Markey). Basically, once you get used to the DVR, you'll likely record anything and everything you might possibly want to watch. This also has the benefit that (much to Jamie Kellner's horror), you don't have to watch/wait for the commercials (even while it's recording thanks to Chris Pinkham's near-real-time commercial flagging). Not to mention you can playback at faster than real-time and watch the show in significantly less time with no losses (1.75X!!! Thanks Mark Spieth!). But, then again, not everyone is a DVR convert like me. Mike ___ mythtv-users mailing list mythtv-users@mythtv.org http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
