Recordings back to back, same channel?

lewiswlawrence

Standard Member
Joined
Apr 24, 2005
Messages
55
Reaction score
1
Points
15
Hello folks,

Wondering if anyone else has a similar issue to me when it comes to recording TV shows that are on back to back on the same channel?

My media center has two Sweetspot PCI TV cards, and happily supports recording two shows simultaneously on separate channels. If you are watching something else, Media Center warns you that it needs to change channel to successfully record.

The weirdness happens when you have a scheduled recording for two shows on back to back on the same channel. As media center is set to start and stop some time before and after the show is scheduled, it would need to use both tuners to accomplish this.

Sadly it doesn’t seem to do that, instead it just stops recording the first show at the same time it starts the second, and you end up with the last of your first recording on the beginning of your second. It makes no difference if it is being used to watch TV or not, it just doesn’t work like I think it should.

Has anyone else experienced this? Is there a workaround?

Thanks and best regards,
-----
Lewis
 
That's never happend to me, when I had two tuners and was recording two shows back to back on different channels, it would finish recording one tv show 3 mintues after then use the 2nd tuner to start recording the other show 3 minutes before...., but i've never done back to back on the same channel with two tuners...
 
I've only got one tuner in my PC. Last night there were two episodes of Farscape on back to back. My PC only recorded the 2nd episode. Bummer.
 
Would someone with two tuners in their Media Center machine please try scheduling two recordings back to back on the same channel and advise me if their machine works the same way I described earlier?

I am wondering if it is an OS problem, or something to do with the card drivers. Once I know that I will start digging a bit more in the appropriate direction.
-----
Lewis
 
Not sure if it makes you feel better but Sky+ does the same thing on both standard and the 160 model.

Oh, and my MCE twin Black Gold does the same thing.
 
Thanks for that. I am beginning to strongly suspect that this is an O.S. limitation. That said, my sweetspot cards do use the same drivers as your blackgold’s so I am not ruling that out just yet.
 
I think you'll find its a design feature of all twin tuner systems. OK let me see if I can explain this properly.

In a twin tuner system one tuner is dedicated to recording and one to viewing. The only way to record two channels is to have each of them switched to the channel you are recording.

In your scenario the recording tuner would be recording the first programme, when it started the second recording it would switch the viewing tuner, on which you are watching another channel, to the same channel as the recording tuner to be able to record the overlapping 3 minutes. In this way your system would effectively be using the same channel on both tuners. This was decided as unsatisfactory better to have the recording channel finish the first programme early and start the second programme late so you get all the programme. If the Programme change time, the EPG time and the PC time were perfectly in sync the change would happen precisely when one ends and the other starts.

Without this functionality you would not be able to record one channel whilst watching another during that overlap period.

In meansizzler's case he must have been watching one of the channels that he was recording so that doesn't happen because each tuner is switched to a separate channel.

Not sure I've explained this clearly if not perhaps someone else can put in their two pennies worth.
 
I can currently use both tuners to record simultaneously, in that I can record two programs from different channels showing at the same time. Media Centre is smart enough to handle this, and if I am watching something else, it comes up and warns me that I have a recording scheduled and asks if it is OK to switch channels, or whether I would like to cancel the recording.

The problem described with back to back recordings on the same channel occurs whether I am watching TV or not. It isn't a huge issue, as minimal (barely a second of TV) data is "lost", and it does at least record both. The problem comes if the second recording gets deleted before the first one has been watched.

My suspicion is that there might be a limitation with the drivers or within Media Centre that somehow prevents both cards being on the same channel simultaneously.
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom