Options Service - Recordings

Recorder - overview - Hardware

One Click Programming (EPG)

Sometime program times can change and there is no possibility to detect this automatically. So it is a good idea to let the timer start automatically a few minutes earlier and end a few minutes later to make sure the whole program is recorded.

Time before

If you program timers with the EPG this value is subtracted from the start time of the timer (which lets the timer start xx minutes earlier).

Time after

If you program timers with the EPG this value is added to the end time of the timer.

Use PDC to monitor the EPG (if available)

The german public stations (and ORF, possibly SRG, too) are sending a PDC descriptor with a PIL (Program Identification Label) for each EPG entry. This PIL is unique and serves as identifier for an EPG entry (per sender EPG ID), even if the broadcasting time/duration is changed.

During setting a timer from web interface, the PIL is stored in the timer also. So the timer "knows" to which program/show it does belong. If the broadcasting time/duration is changed, the timer will adjust its data automatically to the new times. This works even during a recording when the duration is changed and the station reflects this in EPG. However only prolongation of the timer is supported, not shortening, to be on the safe side.

Assumptions for a working PDC:

• Timer should have a short "Time before" (2 minutes), so that a recent EPG can be applied.
• Timer must be created via web interface or auto search. DVBviewer itself does not yet recognize this setting and PIL will get lost during editing/creating with DVBviewer.
• With repeating timers this function is not available.
• Changing the timer to repeating timer or changing the station sets PIL to 0. Setting back does not recreate the PIL, the timer has to be created from scratch via web interface.
• Works only with EIT EPG (=normal DVB EPG). SFI and the likes do not work.
• Receiving EPG be enabled for hardware and the stations.
• EPG monitoring must be enabled for the timer (during creation of auto search, within timer editor or as global setting in "Options").
• Start/End times of the time cannot be changed manually. It will be overridden when EPG monitoring is active. Time before and after however can be changed anytime.
• In timer editor is the monitoring function only available, when the timer or the EPG contains a PIL>0.
• If a station sends PDC PIL you can see in the EPG details window, at the bottom the PIL is shown (if available)
• Timer with activated PDC function will be shown in web interface/timer list with a "*" at the end of the description.
• All changes on the timer will be logged in the file epgdebug.log.
• These functions are completely dependant on a correct broadcasting of the relevant EPG data through the station!

Monitor for recording start

This function siumulates the VPS function. The timer is started and stopped depending from certain data (EPG Running Status or VBI PDC signalling in Teletext).

• Only with EPG entries with PDC (see previous chapter) this function will work. All assumptions mentioned there are also applied to this function.

• If this function is activated, the timer is started without writung a file and monitors the data stream (EPG or TTX) until the proper signalling is received from the station. Not till then the timer begins writing data to the disk. As soon as the matching end signal is received, the timer is ended, and the "end time" and "time after" are ignored.

• Should you have activated the VBI PDC method for a station without VBI VPS signalling, the recording to disk will start after one minute, when no VBI VPS signal can be found. The timer is then acting as a normal timer.

• VBI PDC/Running status changes are logged in epgdebug.log.

• These functions are completely dependant on a correct broadcasting of the relevant data through the station!

Attention: Incorrect data can lead to defective recordings, when this function is activated.

Actions

Here you define the default values for programmed timers. You can adjust the settings for each timer individually in the timer edit window.

Default Recording Action

This the default recording action value used for every new created timer.

Record

Record the programme.

Tune only

Tunes the channel at the given time. No data is written. This function is useful for Siehfern Info updates or selective EPG updates.

Action After Recording

Sets the default action which is executed after a recording.

• Nothing Does nothing.

• Shutdown The DVBViewer Recording Service shuts the PC down.

• Standby The DVBViewer Recording Service sends the PC into Standby mode.

• Hibernate The DVBViewer Recording Service sends the PC into the Hibernate mode.

The DVBViewer Recording Service can create a wakeup timer for the modes "Standby" and "Hibernate", which wakes the PC at the given time. For the Power Off mode this is not possible.

Task after Recording

Here you can program the default process task which will be run after each recording, if it wasn't changed on a per timer basis. You have to create the process tasks on the Task page. For further informations see also After recording tasks.

Default Priority

Here you define the default priority of new timers.

If two timers with different priorities start at the same time the one with the higher priority is preferred, if there are not enough DVB-devices. A higher priority timer can also stop a lower priority timer to get a device.

File Naming Scheme

Here you set up how the file name of a recording is composed. Only use in a file name allowed chars.

You can use this variables which are replaced with the actual values:

• %year the year

• %date sortable month and day

• %time the time

• %station the channel name

• %event the title

• %title the subtitle (if present). It will be shortened if it is longer than 240 chars.

• %tshort the subtitle (if present) shortened to 80 chars.

• %m moth
• %d day of the month
• %h time hour
• %M time minute
• %g the Genre (if present)
• %D day of the week (Mo, Tue etc)
  
• Additional you can define sub folders.

Example:

 %station\%date_%time_%station_%event does: 
[..]kabel eins\01-13_20-10-06_kabel eins_first strike - jackie chans erstschlag.ts
 

You can use more than one sub folder. The sub folders are generated automatically. You can also use a predefined Folder name...

Create Information File

If this option is activated, the Recording Service creates for each recording a text file with the same name. This file contains the EPG Data and further informations regarding the recording.

Save EPG as File Info

The NTFS-Filesystem (Windows 2000/XP/Vista) can store additional informations for a file. If this options is enabled the recording service uses this to add the EPG data to a recording file. If you copy the recording onto a non NTFS drive (example: a DVD or a FAT32-Partition) you will loose the additional data. Editing (Demultiplexing, cutting) a recording will also remove this additional data, because most programs do not care about this data. To copy the data to the edited recording you can use the File Property Copier.

You can see the additional informations in the following places (for Vista32 you need to install the DVBViewer Recording Properties plugin, Vista64 users can not see the data):

• In the explorer as tool tip if the mouse hoovers over the file entry.

• In the properties of the file (right click...) tab „Fileinfo“.

• In the detail view of the Explorer, if the according detail columns are enabled.

The Information file and the file info can be used to rebuild the recording database of the DVBViewer Recording Service. From this database the DVBViewer Recording Service gets all its informations about the recordings.

Write Log-file

If enabled the Recording Service creates a log-file for each recording and writes into it which DVB device was used, how high the average data rate was and if and when errors (Discontinuities) in the data stream occurred.

See also

• Timer concept of the DVBViewer Recording Service

Recorder - overview - Hardware