Improving adding and editing record rules

[nickk]

We are looking at ways to improve the UI for adding and editing record rules.

Today the low level logic can apply any of the following to a series rule:
RecentOnly
AfterOriginalAirdateOnly
ChannelOnly
TeamOnly
DateTimeOnly

The UI concept of a one-time-recording is a rule with ChannelOnly and DateTimeOnly set.

You can have multiple rules within the same series, for example to record multiple sports teams.

Within any rule you can set:
Priority
StartPadding
EndPadding

If the recording rule part of the UI annoys you and you think you can do better, now is the time to propose improvements. We are very open to concepts here to improve the user experience relating to recording rules.

We will post our own mock concepts as well - feedback encouraged...

[FoodLioon]

Select multiple channels for a rule. I get 2 FOXs, 2 NBCs and 2 CBSs. I would like to pick the FOX, CBS and NBC I want for NFL recordings.

[MonkMad]

I second FoodLioon's suggestion below. We had a related discussion when the "Record This Channel" feature was released. Basically, more granular control over recordings will exponentially increase the usability and utility of the DVR engine, espoecially for households with several tuners. If there is concern that some of these low-level or granular controls can be too much for novice users to handle, maybe there can be a toggle in Settings (like Kodi) where you can switch between "Standard" and "Advanced" modes for setting up recordings. The Standard mode can be the same as the current UI, and the Advanced mode could simply provide users with a multi-select UI for the low-level settings per rule mentioned by Nick, such as:

• RecentOnly
• AfterOriginalAirdateOnly
• ChannelOnly
• TeamOnly
• DateTimeOnly

and another section for

• Priority
• StartPadding
• EndPadding

What would be icing on the cake , is if there was a "Preview" feature for the Advanced mode (perhaps in a frame to the side/bottom of the screen), which would update a list of upcoming recordings based on what you select/deselect. This would allow power users to experiment and come with the exact settings to get their rules working just as they like.

Yet another feature (hey, we can always dream, right? ) could be the selection of certain tuners/HDHR devices per recording rule. This would allow users who have both PRIME and an OTA tuners, to devise separate recording strategies for cable vs broadcast (and many other permutations)

Please let me know if these make sense, and if you'd like more details on any of these. Thanks!

Select multiple channels for a rule. I get 2 FOXs, 2 NBCs and 2 CBSs. I would like to pick the FOX, CBS and NBC I want for NFL recordings.

[Alister]

What you call padding - prerecord and post record - have the global default be a software setting

Very useful for the BBC in UK that can over run / timings on SD be off from OTA

[shawn_75]

I would love to have the ability to select the maximum number of episodes to keep on the DVR for a series recording rule. If the maximum number of episodes already exists on the DVR and a new recording is going to occur, delete the oldest episode. An extension to this would be to give the option to treat the deletion as a deletion of a one-off recording (it would re-record according to series rules if it occurs again) or treat it as a deletion of a series recording (it would not re-record if it encounters this episode again).

Another like to have, the ability to discover / set recordings via an app. Perhaps using the already existing view app. If it cannot detect any tuners (i.e. I'm not at home), allow it to still let me browse discover and set rules. I suppose I'd have to login to the app so you'd know which devices and what lineups to show.

I appreciate you asking for our feedback.

[ronintexas]

Typically, when I record programs it is either one of two scenarios:

1) Current programs - "new" shows only (i.e. current Good Doctor on ABC, new episodes only) - padding 2 minutes before, 5 minutes after.
2) Old shows - I record all of them, unless there is a duplicate - for example, recording "Wild, Wild West" to obtain a complete collection of the shows to watch at my leisure - usually with padding as well.

There are several programs that appear on multiple channels in my area, and giving priority to channels would be beneficial, especially if one is HD and the other is SD (maybe just priority to HD channels?). There could also be situations where reception is better on specific channels.

One big issue I often encounter - during NFL season, NCIS Los Angeles & NCIS New Orleans can be delayed due to the football game running late. Not sure if there is a way to determine that occurred, and adjust the recording start/end times.

[PghCordCutter]

I would like to see a choice whether a recording may begin for an airing already in progress or not, and if allowed, mark as a partial recording.

[Ken.F]

If It's not too late to add suggestions I'd like to have an option to re-record previously deleted episodes.

[titantractor271]

I've been using a xyz Ucurse DVR for a while, some of the recording features I like are as follows:

1. Series recordings which I can choose how many I keep., for now I am using the API published in the other forum section and I set with this.
2. The ability to flag the recordings to keep until I delete (if this same flag could be available by API that would be good also). Thus other recordings would be deleted before my keepers until the storage if full.
3. Manual recording of a certain time because the guide was not correct.
4. The ability to prioritize series in case a recording conflict came up.
5. If you hit the record now button and the system is already recording, it would define the recording as a series. If you hit it one more time it would abort the recording.

For now, those are the key features I've been using for years.

[Bud Melman]

Just fired up my new HD Homerun 4K device. Very happy. It's paired with a ClearStream 4MAX and it works much better than I anticipated. HD stations are brilliant. Cant wait for ATSC 3.0.

All that said, is it possible to name the channels on a Samsung TV? Right now they only show up as a folder, and inside the folder is the channel call sign, but it's difficult for my kids to know which is ABC/NBC/CBS, etc. Any way to edit the channels in the App (for Samsung's)? I do have Plex, but the buffering sucks.

For those of you wondering why I'm asking for this feature, Samsung TV's do NOT support the HD Homerun App. However, it does show up as a source but lacks the guide and naming convention like the HD Homerun app does e.g. on an LG TV.

Lastly, will there ever be a working HD Homerun APP for Samsung TV's? There's a whole bunch of us that have Samsung TV's.

Thanks, Silicon Dust. Great product.

[Bud Melman]

Just realized I posted this in the wrong discussion thread. I'll post new. Sorry about that.

[SpencerC]

I'd like to see a "to do" list of upcoming recordings instead of going into each season pass to see if something is going to be recorded.

[virbing]

I'd like to see a "to do" list of upcoming recordings instead of going into each season pass to see if something is going to be recorded.

The to-do list would be a huge improvement for me.

I have a list of 30 to 40 shows in Tasks. I am recording a lot of shows in seasons and in syndication. I have a total of 5 tuners (3 Prime, 2 Connect) and there are a lot of shows that don't get recorded because they have been previously recorded. When I go to the Discover tab, I often see 3 or 4 red dots to indicate recording but they are not really recording because they are repeats. Most of the time I have no idea whether a show is recording or not, and I am mostly expecting/hoping that the most recent shows for current shows this season are getting recorded. Having a to-do list to know exactly what is recording and what is scheduled to record would be awesome. Also, being able to prioritize recordings in the to-do list if there are too many programs to record would be great, but even just knowing what will record would be a huge improvement.

Looking though the logs, I am not sure if you actually build a schedule or not. It mostly looks as though you are just looking at the Task list and when you get ready to record, you check to see if the program has recorded before and make the decision just before the recording event. I understand it would require a lot of work to actually build a scheduling engine, but it would make the whole DVR much more user friendly.

[Metalman]

Yes, a "to do" list of upcoming recordings would be nice.

[ELaw]

What I would love to see (or is it there somewhere and I missed it?) is the ability to specify automatic deletion of programs.

For example I'd like to record the news a couple of times a day so I can watch it if I miss it... but I don't want all the recordings kept forever as it fills up the drive! For me, the ability to tell the system to delete the oldest instances of a given program once a certain number of recordings have been stored or the programs reach a certain age would be fantastic.

Kind of related, it would be nice if the software could filter and not record duplicates of the same show. For example with PBS I often have a show set to record "all channels" so if not enough tuners are available to record a show at one time, it can grab a rebroadcast on a different channel at a different time. But that often results in the same program being recorded multiple times.