Re: Thoughts on VDR evolution - my 2 cent

[Carsten Koch <Carsten.Koch@icem.de>]

Robert Schneider/MUC1/Lotus wrote:
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> after reading the postings about VDR evolution, I think it wouldn't be a
> bad idea to concert action a bit. I was having a conversation with Klaus
> recently, telling him many of the things that came up in the list recently
> and if we found more people to help out with programming, we all would
> benefit from the new features faster.
> 
> If I recall right what came up for enhancements, I get
> 
>      1. playing DVDs (see my other posting for the hack I did)
>      2. playing MP3 files
>      3. having teletext
>      4. having some kind of EPG (speak, improve the EIT stuff)
>      5. controlling vbox
>      6. playing regular audio CDs (that would be my add)

#1, #2 and #6 would be nice, but are not at all a priority
for me, because I have a (extremely cheap but very powerful)
Yamakawa DVD player that does all of them. It also does
them better than the DVB card ever will, because it supports
AC3 on its (coax and optical) digital outputs. Also, it does
them while I record something with vdr.

I do not know what a vbox is, so I guess #5 is not interesting
for me, either.

That leaves #3 and #4.

I'm willing to contribute to both - time and ability permitting.


#4 (EPG):
In fact, I already have contributed to #4 in a very simple way 
that nonetheless turned out to be extremely useful to me.
I highly recommend http://tvtv.de to everyone who has internet
access either on the vdr computer or on a computer on the same
LAN with it. 
Once a week, I click on the things there that I want to watch
and run a script that converts the resulting "merkliste" to a
channels.conf file. So, basically, programming the timer is
just one mouse click per film. Can't get much bettter...

In any event, if there is a chance to get the same luxory
on the vdr's OSD with my remote control, I'm willing to 
contribute. I have my doubts, though, because the OSD is
terribly slow and still quite unreliable.


#3 (teletext):
First off all, here are my thoughts on the re-insertion
versus OSD versus MPEG debate:

I agree with Klaus, it would be best to get re-insertion
going.

Here is an idea: maybe we could get rid of the OSD junk
altogether, simply by leaving the TV set in teletext mode
and generating teletext pages for the On-screen-displays
as well?

That way we would get not only re-inserted teletext, but
also (finally) fast and reliable On-screen-displays and
also a way to do timer programming via teletext and other
teletext content access.

We could even copy stuff to VHS with the OSD automatically
suppressed on the copy while it is still visible on the TV.

It may also free up some memory in the firmware that my turn
out to be useful.

Unfortunately, I have not the slightest idea what would
be required, so I cannot seriously offer help in this area
before I understand the basic technology of re-insertion.



Some general thoughts:

I very much like the stuff Klaus has done and it works
very nicely for me. I do not think it is exaggerated to
say that Klaus' VDR has given TV a new quality: vdr makes
it possible to select (using http://tvtv.de) what you might
want to watch, then forget about all worries like finding
the right tape or being there at the right time, switching
tapes, programming timers, setting stand-by mode, etc. 
After a while, the stuff is simplye there, just like live-tv, 
but better in many ways:

* I can zap between recordings instead of switching channels.

* I select between things that I want, not between things that
  happen to be on air when I have time to watch.

* Programmes always start at the beginning, not at a random
  point that invariably tends to be closer to the end when
  the quality is better. ;-)

* I can skip the advertising so easily that they virtually no
  longer exist. I have not seen an ad in months.

I also like the way how Klaus has done it: no bloat and
all well thought-out. I would really hate to see vdr overloaded
with stuff that will only make it less reliable, more
resource-hungry and more difficult to understand and maintain.

Do people remember Samelson's rule nowadays? They were teaching
it at the University back in the old days when I studied
computer science.  ;-)




Carsten.



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