BeyondTV 5.0

[ccarlin]

Originally Posted by Fonceur

So SnapStream simply would have to publish on which cards they support CC and how to enable it, that would remove the guess work...

I think it also has to do with what codec you use to display the output as well. Meaning the combinations could get a little tricky. But it would be nice if they had a simple known working standard so you buy capture card X and video card that supports codec Y and you can have smooth captioning.

[imnee]

1) MP3, Picture, & DVD playback.

2) Fix the parental controls. The previous effort did nothing for me. I simply want to be able to create a video folder (Rated R) that requires a password to view. There are a ton of shows I would record if I could keep the kiddos from accessing them.

[vancedailey]

I would like a better way to browse through the hundreds of channels I have in the program guide.

Color coding by type of program is one idea.

A simple idea is to show on the guide is a show is a re-run or if it is a first aired.

I would like to assign one or more tags to each channel and then browse only channels with that tag. I could set up a tag for the networks, one for the sports channels, one for HD channels and so on. The idea is similar to how I organize my gmail.

So, my number one priority is the ability to tag channels.

[Darkk]

Originally Posted by Fonceur

So SnapStream simply would have to publish on which cards they support CC and how to enable it, that would remove the guess work...

I would agree. Seems SS is in huge favor of Hauppauge cards would be nice if the manufacture would give them a hand at this.

Darkk

[schuman]

Vancedailey, As I am very new to Beyond TV I'm not sure if this woudl work so bear with me please. When I was figuring out how to display/hide channels in the webadmin page, I noticed in the snapstream.net setting(Settings/Basic Settings/SnapStream.net) there is a feature to import a Third Party program guide (it's the 4th setting). Before I used BTV for viewing, I would use the Titan TV web site (www.titantv.com) to show my cable and my local HD channels. They are also color coded by type of programming as well. All you do is set up a free account and use your zip code. I'm thinking this might work? I plan on trying it sometime soon, but if you do first, let me know if it works.


Mark Schu

[sdsalsero]

My requests:

- option to allow PC to go to sleep even if UI is loaded (e.g., when my wife leaves the UI 'on' all day)

- options for overscanned displays: A) limit the UI (but not the playback) to 1152x648 of a 1280x720 desktop, or; B) allow a different screen-res for playback vs UI. The goal is to get pixel-perfect playback and ideally you'd have both options, to match different system abilities.

- replace the existing FF 'mode' titles (x1 x2 x3) with how fast they are, e.g. FFx2, FFx4, FFx10 (or whatever it uses)

- make the FF modes update the screen preview more consistently. I'd about given-up on this but, with the recent 4.8.2 update, I tried the 3D-accelerated mode again and now my HD recordings FF much nicer. But SD recordings still stutter along.

[Rich A]

Smash Labs has been back with new episodes as of the past couple weeks. Rather than make some features more "automatic" I would rather have some areas made more user friendly.

One time consuming thing for me is managing the hundreds of recordings in the priority listing. This option shows a list of all the scheduled shows listed by their priority. It is tedious to have to scroll through several pages trying to find one show to edit, delete or change priority.

In the past I have suggested to give the user an option to sort that list alphabetically to make it easier to maintain. Of course once any edit or delete is done, the listing would revert back to priority view so you could still change that.

But I've since thought an even more elegant way to do this would be to have a search option on that screen.

For example ... Show the list normally but leave a blank line at the bottom where you could enter a search string that will put the focus on the show (at it's position in the list) that you are looking for.

So I could have a couple hundred shows. And at the bottom of that screen there would be "Search for: -----". I could still scroll the list normally. Or type in a show name. If I use the search, then the list would automatically scroll to that show and give that show focus.

That would make it infinitely easier for those of us who have a large number of recordings to manage our data base of shows.

[schuman]

Sorry, I didn't realize I was posting in an ongoing discussion for BTV 5.0 features. I would love to see a color coded guide as well. Has anyone tried to import other guides, though? Do any work well?

Schuman

[emmanova]

Is funny how all of u guys spend the time writing wish list and I know SS ppl dont care. At the end they will do whatever they want, unnecesary features that nobody use and we are going to uprade to that version anyways lol. No offense guys, but even that I love the SS program compared to others like MCE, either SS ppl are too busy for us or they just don't care. I'm one of the old users of this program and I've seen here ppl requesting the same thing over and over again:
1. Integration with BM
2. PIP
3. Close Caption
4. QAM Recording
5. Parental Control
6. All the plugins from BM like DVD library, etc
7. Even been able to change the noisy sounds of SS and what is their answer "turn the sound off"

They haven't done anything like that. But they did implemented BUZZ, like if I care what other ppl watch. LOL

[Nick Burns]

Originally Posted by emmanova

Is funny how all of u guys spend the time writing wish list and I know SS ppl dont care. At the end they will do whatever they want, unnecesary features that nobody use and we are going to uprade to that version anyways lol. No offense guys, but even that I love the SS program compared to others like MCE, either SS ppl are too busy for us or they just don't care. I'm one of the old users of this program and I've seen here ppl requesting the same thing over and over again:
1. Integration with BM
2. PIP
3. Close Caption
4. QAM Recording
5. Parental Control
6. All the plugins from BM like DVD library, etc
7. Even been able to change the noisy sounds of SS and what is their answer "turn the sound off"

They haven't done anything like that. But they did implemented BUZZ, like if I care what other ppl watch. LOL

Well... speak for yourself.... I've been using BTV for a year and when I first started using it, one of the first "requests" I had was to have frame-by-frame advance. Guess what? In either 4.7.1 or 4.8.1 it was added. So yeah, I firmly believe that SS listens to their customers. It's also been stated many times that the feature request is a "mile long" obviously they can't integrate all those features at one time, and those that they do, they have to make sure that other things don't break. I like the new PlaceShifting, which many people have requested, though I'm not sure when I'll ever use it.

My mantra with programming is: With time, anything is possible.

SS!

[Rich A]

Added <edit>

Opps ... I think I was out of line with the highlighted sentence below. Somehow I got your sig. mixed up with someone else. I see you joined the group in 2004. I could have sworn it was like 2008 or something. But I guess I got it wrong. My apologies with the "no offense" dribble about not being around long. I should have checked your post again after reading it. But the rest of my post still stands. I may have got the idea you were a new guy because some of the things you were complaining about not being done, were indeed added within the last couple years. Still my off the cuff remark was uncalled for.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

I agree with Nick. No offense intended but you haven't been around long enough to speak from experience. I've been with SnapStream since around 2002. Joined this forum in 2003. Sure there are some things that haven't been implemented. But what about the stuff that HAS been. Like I said. I've been here a "long" time and I've seen MANY requests filled specifically from user requests.

I have done beta testing for other companies I can tell you from experience that SnapStream is one of the most responsive to customer's requests I've ever encountered. And their programming crew is one of the most active I've ever seen.

Just a few things recently done. And I believe these were all bantered around by users for a while before being implemented:

DVD burning
Frame by frame advance
h.264 encoding
smart searching using string modifiers
Place Shifting
Sorting recorded shows in several different ways
Email error warnings
Transcoding recorded shows to external media player profiles (ie I-pod etc.)
Improved conflict resolution and notification
ShowSqueezing using multiple CPU cores (show squeeze 2 shows at the same time with a dual core processor)
Divx support
OTA Digital support
Clear QAM digital support
Improved guide organization.

And well there are probably what? Over a hundred other things? Most of those mentioned were added the last year or two. And most are the result of SnapStream's interaction with it's beta testers.

When I read the normal "release notes" provided with each new build, I am amazed at the amount of work these guys do.

They can't give everybody everything they want. But I gotta tell ya that they sure do try. No I don't work for SS. I just know a good thing when I see it.

[kandlg]

Originally Posted by emmanova

4. QAM Recording
7. Even been able to change the noisy sounds of SS and what is their answer "turn the sound off"

I've been recording QAM for over a year.
You can change or modify the sounds yourself. I loaded them with a WAV editor, 1/2'ed the volume of them and resaved over the originals. I didn't like sounds for certain things (e.g. skip forward) and just deleted that file from the folder. Be sure and save them because you have to copy them back with each upgrade.

[senor_blanco]

Originally Posted by sdsalsero

My requests:

- options for overscanned displays: A) limit the UI (but not the playback) to 1152x648 of a 1280x720 desktop

Huh? Playback Settings / Adjust Display does exactly that (A). Leave res at 1280x720, UI is reduced, but playback is still 1:1.

(Now if I could just get Arcsoft TotalMedia Theater to do the same..)

[sdsalsero]

Originally Posted by senor_blanco

Huh? Playback Settings / Adjust Display does exactly that (A). Leave res at 1280x720, UI is reduced, but playback is still 1:1.

Sweet! I'd tried that setting before but thought it also adjusted the playback window.

[Sylentwulf]

Still no mkv support.... one of the most common formats out there.
MKV!