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The '''Video Disk Recorder (VDR)''' is a free, non-commercial project from Klaus Schmidinger to realize a ''digital video recorder'' with standard PC components. It is possible to receive, record and playback digital TV after the DVB standard. The program runs under Linux, is available as source code and lies under the GNU General Public License.
=Video Disk Recorder User's Manual=
==Introduction==
This is a somewhat edited version of the file MANUAL that comes with [[VDR]].


==Implementation==
==Remote Control Keys==
In the probably most common use case VDR behaves extensively as a normal digital receiver. The picture is send to the television an the control happens through a remote control. A simple but functional ''On Screen Display (OSD)'' simplifies the handling of VDR, at channel switching ''Electronic Program Guide (EPG)'' information are shown, like the title of the current next next show. In the main menu are diverse functions, like channel list, schedule, timer programming, or the list of already recorded titles. The channel list is freely sortable, the EPG function allows displaying the shows of only one telestation, or of all current broadcasts in "What's on now?/next?". Commercials can be removed from the recording with the help of the cutting functions.
The following remote control keys are used to control the VDR operation. To keep the number of different keys as small as possible, several keys have different meanings in the various modes
{| border=1 cellpadding=2 cellspacing=0
|- bgcolor=#efdead
!Key
!Normal
!VDR
!Channels
!Timers
!Edit/New
!Recordings
!Replay
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef|Up ||Ch up || Crsr up ||Crsr up ||Crsr up ||Crsr up ||Crsr up ||Play
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef|Down ||Ch down || Crsr down ||Crsr down||Crsr down||Crsr down ||Crsr down ||Pause
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef|Left ||Prev group|| - ||Page up ||Page up ||Decrement ||Page up ||Search back
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef|Right ||Next group|| - ||Page down||Page down||Increment ||Page down ||Search forward
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef|Ok ||Ch display|| Select ||Switch ||Edit ||Accept ||Play ||Progress disp.
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef|Menu ||Menu on || Menu off ||Menu off ||Menu off ||Menu off ||Menu off ||Menu on
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef|Back || - || Menu off ||VDR menu ||VDR menu ||Discard ||VDR menu ||Recordings menu
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef|Red || - || Record ||Edit ||Edit ||ABC/abc ||Play/Commands(2)||Jump
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef|Green || - || Language ||New ||New ||Ins/Ovr ||Rewind ||Skip -60s
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef|Yellow|| - || Pause live ||Delete ||Delete ||Delete ||Delete ||Skip +60s
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef|Blue || - || Stop/Resume||Mark ||On/Off(1)|| - ||Summary ||Stop
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef|0..9 ||Ch select || - || - || - ||Numeric inp.||Exec cmd(2) ||Editing
|}


==Features==
In a numerical input field (like the response to a CAM enquiry) the keys 0..9 are used to enter the data, and the Left key can be used to delete the last entered digit.
VDR also masters time shifting, that is, a broadcast can be recorded to hard disk and played back at once or after some time, but still while recording. This way one can jump over commercial or halt the playback to go to the kitchen,...


If there is more than one DVB card in the system, it is possible to record more than one broadcast at a time. This is already possible with only one DVB card, but only those who are broadcasted from one transponder only.
If your remote control provides additional keys, they can be used for the following functions:


==Extensions==
{| border=1 cellpadding=2 cellspacing=0
Besides the basic function of VDR, there exists, thanks to a large community, a barely manageable quantity of extension in for of [[patches]], [[plugins]] and other programs or scipts.
|- bgcolor=#efdead
!Key
!Function
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef|Play ||resume normal replay
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef|Pause ||pause replay or live video
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef|Stop ||stop replay
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef|Record ||instant recording
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef|FastFwd ||fast forward
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef|FastRew ||fast rewind
|-
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef|Channel+ ||channel up
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef|Channel- ||channel down
|-
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef|Power ||shutdown
|-
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef|Volume+ ||volume up
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef|Volume- ||volume down
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef|Mute ||mute
|-
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef|Schedule
|rowspan=6| directly access the VDR main menu functions
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef|Channels
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef|Timers
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef|Recordings
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef|Setup
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef|Commands
|-
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef|User1...9 ||additional user defined keys for macro functions<br/>(defined in ''keymacros.conf'')
|}


There are extention that change or add
Note that in normal viewing mode (no OSD active) the color keys can have user defined functionality, as configured in ''keymacros.conf''. The default assignment is
* OSD functionality
* playback of other than the native media format (MP3/(S)VCD/DVD/DivX/...)
* Webinterface
* creation of DVDs
* ...


The hardware fraction fiddles about HTPC and and the buildup of the ideal living room compatible PC (case, fans, noise reduction,...). Other things are LC-Displays, infrared remote controls and receiver, extension boards for DVB cards. In general one can say, this area needs lots of manual work and some previous knowledge or at least the willingness to learn. The newbie we encourage to first familiarise himself with the basic function of VDR and Linux. There are some ready to use Linux distributions dedicated to VDR.
Red Recordings menu
Green Schedule menu
Blue Timers menu


==Alternative scenarios==
# The '''On/Off''' button in the '''Timers''' menu only works if sorting the timers has been enabled in the '''Setup''' menu. Otherwise the Blue button is used to '''mark''' a timer for moving.
There are other use cases than the above possible. The VDR computer could be used as a server in the cellar or the attic. The video signal would then be fed into the home cable net through a modulator, or directly be streamed over the computer network.
# See '''Processing Recordings''' below.


==Aim of VDR Wiki==
==Navigating through the On Screen Menus==
This wiki should centralise the knowledge of the german discussion forum http://www.vdr-portal.de and the mailinglists, so beginners could easily find the necessary information to start with VDR.


== Links ==
The '''VDR''' menu can be called up with the '''Menu''' key of your remote control unit. The '''Up''' and '''Down''' keys are used to select a specific item. The '''Left''' and '''Right''' keys can be used to change options, and the numeric keys allow direct input of numeric data. The '''Ok''' key confirms any changes (or switches to a channel in the '''Channels''' menu). The '''Back''' key goes back one level in the menu structure, discarding any changes that might have been made in the current menu.
{|

| [1]
In the '''Timers''' menu, the current timer can be enabled or disabled with the '''Blue''' key (this is only possible if the '''Timers''' list is sorted, otherwise the '''Blue''' key is used to mark a timer in order to move it to another position in the list). Enabled timers are marked with ''>'', timers that are currently recording are marked with ''#''. If a timer has the '''First day''' set so that it will start recording only on the given date, it is marked with ''!''. The '''Blue''' key toggles through the '''enabled''' and '''disabled''' states, and for repeating timers that are currently recording also a state that ends this recording prematurely and sets the '''First day''' date so that it will record again the next time the timer hits. '''Ok''' here opens the '''Edit timer''' menu.
| http://www.cadsoft.de/vdr

| Klaus Schmidingers VDR homepage
Textual options, like channel names or recording file names, can be edited by pressing the '''Right''' button (which puts brackets around the current character as in '''[R]TL'''), selecting the desired character position with '''Left''' and '''Right''', and changing the character with the '''Up''' and '''Down''' keys. '''Ok''' then confirms the changes. The '''Red''' key toggles between upper- and lowercase characters, while the '''Green''' key switches between insert and overwrite mode. The '''Yellow''' key deletes the current character (or the one to the right of the cursor in insert mode).

The '''Red''', '''Green''', '''Yellow''' and '''Blue''' buttons have special meanings in various menus and are listed at the bottom of the on-screen-display.

At any point in the menu system, pressing the '''Menu''' key again will immediately leave the menu system (discarding any pending changes).

==The '''Schedule''' Menu==
The '''Schedule''' menu implements VDR's '''Electronic Program Guide''' (EPG).

Select '''Schedule''' from the '''VDR''' menu and you get a list of all upcoming broadcasts on the current channel.

'''Up''' and '''Down''' can be used to scroll through this list, and pressing '''Ok''' displays detailed information about the selected programme. Pressing '''Ok''' again (or pressing '''Back''') gets you back into the '''Schedule''' menu.

From the '''Schedule''' menu, the '''Green''' button opens the '''What's on now?''' menu, which displays all programmes that are currently running on all channels that broadcast their programme information on the current transponder, or from channels that have been current lately (VDR stores all information it gathers in an internal list). The more channels you have been switching through lately, the longer this list will be. The '''Yellow''' button opens the '''What's on next?''' menu, which lists all programmes that will start next on all channels.

Inside the '''What's on now/next?''' menus the '''Green''' button toggles between the '''Now''' and '''Next''' display, and the '''Yellow''' button takes you to the '''Schedule''' menu of the current channel in the list.

The '''Red''' button allows you to instantly program a timer to record the selected programme. You will get into the '''Edit Timer''' menu in which everything has already been filled in, and you can make any modifications you may want to apply. Note that the Start and Stop time are offset by the MarginStart and MarginStop parameters (see Setup) in order to make sure the entire programme is recorded in case it doesn't exactly adhere to its published start/stop times. Of course, no guarantee can be given that the default margin values will be sufficient, so in case this recording is really important you may want to add an extra margin ;-)

The '''Blue''' button can be pressed to switch to the channel with the selected programme.

The following markers in these menus give additional information about the status of the events:

t there is a timer defined for this event which covers only part of the event
T there is a timer defined for this event which covers the entire event
V this event has a VPS time that's different than its start time
* this event is currently running (the validity of this marker depends on
whether there is currently a DVB card receiving the transponder this channel
is on).

==Selecting a Channel==
There are four ways to select a channel:

#With no On Screen Menu displayed press the '''Up''' or '''Down''' key to switch to the next higher or lower channel.
#Press the '''Menu''' button to bring up the On Screen Menu, select '''Channels''' and browse through the list with the '''Up''' and '''Down''' key; to switch to the selected channel press '''Ok'''.
#Directly type in the channel number with the numeric keys (''0''..''9''); if no key is pressed for about one second, the digits collected so far will define the channel number.
#From the '''Now''', '''Next''' and '''Event''' menus (accessible through the '''Schedule''' menu) by pressing the '''Blue''' button.

Pressing the ''0'' key in normal viewing mode toggles between the current and the previous channel. A channel is considered '''previous''' if it has been selected for at least 3 seconds.

After switching to a different channel the channel number and name, as well as the current time are displayed at the top of the screen. If available, the ''current/next'' information will be displayed below this line. This display automatically goes away after about five seconds, or if any key is pressed. To bring up the channel display without switching channels you can press the '''Ok''' button.

==Selecting language specific audio track==
If the current channel provides different audio tracks (typically for different languages), the '''Green''' button in the '''VDR''' menu can be pressed to toggle between these. There can be two different audio PIDs per channel, assuming that typically a channel broadcasts a country specific language plus the movie's original soundtrack. Recordings made form such channels will contain both audio tracks, and when replaying the desired audio track can be selected the same way.

==Switching through channel groups==
If the ''channels.conf'' file contains '''group separators''' you can switch through these groups by pressing the '''Left''' and '''Right''' key while no menu is being displayed. The channel display will show the name of the group, and if you press the '''Ok''' button while the group name is being displayed, you will switch to the first channel of that group.

Channel groups can be whatever you decide them to be. You can either group your channels by '''Bouquet''', by language, genre or whatever your preferences may be.

==Instant Recording==
You can start recording the current channel by pressing the '''Red''' button in the '''VDR''' menu. This will create a timer event named '''@channelname''' that starts at the current time and by default records for 3 hours. If you want to modify the recording time you need to edit the timer. Stop instant recording by pressing the '''Menu''' button and selecting '''Stop Recording''', or by disabling the timer. The default priority, lifetime and recording time can be defined in the '''Setup/Recording''' menu.

==Pausing live video==
If you want to pause the live programme you are just watching, simple press '''Menu/Yellow''' or '''Pause''' on your remote control. VDR will start an instant recording of the current channel (just as if you had pressed '''Menu/Red''' or '''Record''') and immediately begin replaying that recording. Replay will be put into '''pause''' mode, so you can attend to whatever it was that disturbed your live viewing session. Once you're back, simply press the '''Up''' or '''Play''' button and you'll be watching the current channel in time shift mode, right from the point where you left off. The instant recording VDR has started will use the parameters for '''Pause priority''' and '''Pause lifetime''' as defined in the '''Setup/Recording''' menu. Recording time will be the same as for any other instant recording, so by default it will record 3 hours (which should be enough for any normal broadcast).

==Replaying a Recording==
All recordings are listed in the '''Recordings''' menu. Browse through the list with the '''Up''' and '''Down''' button and press '''Ok''' (or the '''Red''' button) to start playback. New recordings are marked with an '*'. If the Setup parameter RecordingDirs has been set and there are recordings from repeating timers organized in a subdirectory structure, only the directory is displayed and it can be opened by pressing '''Ok''' (or the '''Red''' button). A directory entry displays the total number of recordings within that directory (and any possible subdirectory thereof) as well as the total number of new recordings (as opposed to a recording's entry, which displays the date and time of the recording).

If the setup parameter '''Use episode name''' was turned on when a recording took place, VDR adds the '''Episode name''' (which is usually the name of the episode in case of a series) to the recording's name. The '''Recordings''' menu then displays all recordings of a repeating timer in chronological order, since these are usually the individual episodes of a series, which you may want to view in the order in which they were broadcast.

Playback can be stopped via the '''VDR''' menu by selecting '''Stop replaying''', or by pressing the '''Blue''' button outside the menu. A previously stopped playback session can be resumed by pressing the '''Blue''' button in the '''VDR''' menu.

==Processing Recordings==
The configuration file ''reccmds.conf'' can be used to define system commands that can be applied to the recording that is currently highlighted in the '''Recordings''' menu. The '''Red''' button in the '''Recordings''' menu opens the '''Recording commands''' menu if there are commands defined in the file ''reccmds.conf''. Pressing one of the keys ''1''..''9'' in the '''Recordings''' menu executes the corresponding command from ''reccmds.conf'' (see also '''Executing system commands''' below).

==Replay Control==
The following keys have the listed meaning in Replay mode:

{| border=1 cellpadding=2 cellspacing=0
|- bgcolor=#efdead
!Key
!Description
|-
|-
| [2]
|bgcolor=#efefef| Up || Resumes normal replay from any '''pause''', '''forward''' or '''backward''' mode.
| http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html
| GNU General Public License
|-
|-
| [3]
|bgcolor=#efefef| Down || Halts playback at the current position. Press again to continue playback.
| http://www.linuxtv.org/mailinglists.xml
| DVB/VDR mailing lists
|-
|-
| [4]
|bgcolor=#efefef| Blue || Stops playback and stores the current position, so that playback can be resumed later at that point.
| http://www.vdr-portal.de
| german speaking Forum (also has a international section)
|-
|-
| [5]
|bgcolor=#efefef| Left ||rowspan=2| Runs playback forward or backward at a higher speed; press again to resume normal speed. If in Pause mode, runs forward or backward at a slower speed; press again to return to pause mode. Pressing and holding down the button performs the function until the button is released again. If '''Multi Speed Mode''' has been enabled in the '''Setup''' menu, the function of these buttons changes in a way that gives you three fast and slow speeds, through which you can switch by pressing the respective button several times.
| http://www.dvb.org
| DVB Project
|-
|-
| [6]
|bgcolor=#efefef| Right
| http://www.haile.ch/vdr/praesentation
|-
| Presentation in PDF/PPS (german)
|bgcolor=#efefef| Red || Jump to a specific location. Enter the time you want to jump to and then press '''Left''' or '''Right''' to jump relative to the current position, '''Up''' to jump to an absolute position, and '''Down''' to jump and pause at an absolute position.
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| Green ||rowspan=2| Skips about 60 seconds back or forward. Pressing and holding down the button performs the function until the button is released again.
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| Yellow
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| Ok || Brings up the replay progress display, which shows the date, time and title of the recording, a progress bar and the current and total time of the recording. Press '''Ok''' again to turn off the progress display.
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| Back || Stops replaying and brings up the '''Recordings''' menu. This can be used to easily delete a recording after watching it, or to switch to a different recording.
|}
|}

==Editing a Recording==
While in Replay mode, the following keys can be used to manipulate editing marks

{| border=1 cellpadding=2 cellspacing=0
|- bgcolor=#efdead
!Key
!Description
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| 0 || Toggles an editing mark. If the mark indicator shows a red triangle, the current mark is deleted. Otherwise a new mark is set at the current position.
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| 4, 6 || Move an editing mark back and forward. You need to first jump to an editing mark for this to work.
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| 7, 9 || Jump back and forward between editing marks. Replay goes into still mode after jumping to a mark.
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| 8 || Positions replay at a point 3 seconds before the current or next '''start''' mark and starts replay.
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| 2 || Start the actual cutting process.
|}

Editing marks are represented by black, vertical lines in the progress display. A small black triangle at the top of the mark means that this is a '''start''' mark, and a triangle at the bottom means that this is an '''end''' mark. The cutting process will save all video data between '''start''' and '''end''' marks into a new file (the original recording remains untouched). The new file will have the same name as the original recording, preceeded with a '%' character (imagine the '%' somehow looking like a pair of scissors ;-). Red bars in the progress display indicate which video sequences will be saved by the cutting process.

The video sequences to be saved by the cutting process are determined by an '''even/odd''' algorithm. This means that every odd numbered editing mark (i.e. 1, 3, 5,...) represents a '''start''' mark, while every even numbered mark (2, 4, 6,...) is an '''end''' mark. Inserting or toggling a mark on or off automatically adjusts the sequence to the right side of that mark.

Use the keys described under '''Replay Control''' to position to, e.g., the beginning and end of commercial breaks and press the '0' key to set the necessary editing marks. After that you may want to use the '7' and '9' keys to jump to each mark and maybe use the '4' and '6' keys to fine tune them. Once all marks are in place, press '2' to start the actual cutting process, which will run as a background process. When replaying the edited version of the recording you can use the '8' key to jump to a point just before the next cut and have a look at the resulting sequence.

Currently editing marks can only be set at I-frames, which typically is every 12th frame. So editing can be done with a resolution of roughly half a second. A '''start''' mark marks the first frame of a resulting video sequence, and an '''end''' mark marks the last frame of that sequence.

An edited recording (indicated by the '%' character) will never be deleted automatically in case the disk runs full (no matter what '''lifetime''' it has).

==Programming the Timer==
Use the '''Timer''' menu to maintain your list of timer controlled recordings. The parameters in the '''Edit Timer''' menu have the following meanings

{| border=1 cellpadding=2 cellspacing=0 width=100%
|- bgcolor=#efdead
!Parameter
!Description
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| Active || Defines whether the timer will be processed (set it to ''no'' to temporarily desable a timer).
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| Channel || The channel to be recorded (as defined in the '''Channels''' list). Any changes made in the '''Channels''' list (like renaming or reordering channels) will be automatically reflected in the timers settings.
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| Day || The day on which this timer shall start. This can be either a '''day of month''' (1..31), which allows programming a '''single shot''' timer that hits once and is deleted after it ends. Single shot timers can be programmed up to one month into the future. Another option here are '''repeating timers''' which are defined by listing the days of the week on which they shall record. For example, a timer that shall record every monday and wednesday would have a Day setting of '''M-W----'''.
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| Start || The start time of the timer in '''hh:mm''' as 24 hour ('''military''') time.
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| Stop || The stop time of the timer.
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| VPS || Defines whether the timer shall use VPS (if available). If this option is set to ''yes'', the start time must exactly match the programme's VPS time, otherwise nothing will be recorded. If VPS is used, the stop time has no real meaning. However, it must be different than the start time, and should correspond to the actual stop time of the programme, just in case there is no real VPS data available at the time of recording, so VDR has to fall back to normal timer recording.
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| Priority || The Priority (0..99) is used to decide which timer shall be started in case there are two or more timers with the exact same start time. The first timer in the list with the highest Priority will be used. This value is also stored with the recording and is later used to decide which recording to remove from disk in order to free space for a new recording. If the disk is full and a new recording needs more space, an existing recording with the lowest Priority (and which has exceeded its guaranteed Lifetime) will be removed. If all available DVB cards are currently occupied, a timer with a higher priority will interrupt the timer with the lowest priority in order to start recording.
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| Lifetime || The number of days (0..99) a recording made through this timer is guaranteed to remain on disk before it is automatically removed to free up space for a new recording. Note that setting this parameter to very high values for all recordings may soon fill up the entire disk and cause new recordings to fail due to low disk space. The special value 99 means that this recording will live '''forever''', and a value of 0 means that this recording can be deleted any time if a recording with a higher priority needs disk space.
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| File || The name under which a recording created through this timer will be stored on disk (the actual name will also contain the date and time, so it is possible to have a '''repeating timer''' store all its recordings under the same name; they will be distinguishable by their date and time). If the file name contains the special character ''~'', the recording will be stored in a hierarchical directory structure. For instance, a file name of '''Sci-Fi~Star Trek~Voyager''' will result in a directory structure '''/video/Sci-Fi/Star_Trek/Voyager'''. The ''~'' character has been chosen for this since the file system's directory delimiter ''/'' may be part of a regular programme name. Repeating timers create recordings that contain the ''Episode name'' information from the EPG data in their file name. Typically (on tv stations that care about their viewers) this contains the episode title of a series. The episode name is appended to the timer's file name, separated by a ''~'' character, so that it results in all recordings of this timer being collected in a common subdirectory. If this field is left blank, the channel name will be used to form the name of the recording.
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| First day || The date of the first day when this timer shall start recording (only available for repeating timers).
|}

A timer can also be programmed by pressing the '''Red''' button on the '''Schedule''', '''Now''', '''Next''' or '''Event''' menus.

==Parameters in the '''Setup''' menu==
Select '''Setup''' from the '''VDR''' menu to enter the setup menu. From there you can modify the following system parameters (note that '''boolean''' values will be displayed as '''no''' and '''yes''' in the '''Setup''' menu, while in the setup file they are stored as '0' and '1', respectively):

===OSD (On Screen Display)===
{| border=1 cellpadding=2 cellspacing=0 width=100%
|- bgcolor=#efdead
!Parameter
!Default
!Description
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| Language || English || Defines the language used to display the OSD texts.
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| Skin || ST:TNG Panels || Defines the '''skin''' used to display the OSD menus.
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| Theme || Default || Defines the '''theme''' to use with the current skin.
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| Left || 54 || The left offset of the OSD. The valid range is left=0...672
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| Top || 45 || The top offset of the OSD. The valid range is top=0...567.
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| Width || 624 || The width of the OSD. The valid range is width=480...672 and must be a multiple of 8
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| Height || 486 || The height of the OSD. The valid range is height=324...567.
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| Message time || 1 || The time (in seconds) how long an informational message shall be displayed on the OSD. The valid range is 1...60.
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| Use small font || 1 || Defines whether the small font shall be used.
* 0 : means never use the small font,
* 1 : means use the small font wherever the current skin wants to,
* 2 : means always use the small font.
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| Channel info position || bottom || The position of the channel info window in the OSD (either 'bottom' or 'top').
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| Info on channel switch || yes || Turns the display of the current/next information on or off when switching the channel. The information is always displayed when pressing the '''Ok''' button in normal viewing mode.
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| Scroll pages || yes ||
* no : when pressing the '''Down''' ('''Up''') key while the cursor is on the last (first) line of a list page, the list is advanced by a full page and the cursor will be at the top (bottom) of that page
* yes : dto., but the cursor remains at the bottom (top) of the page (this mode allows for faster scrolling through long lists).
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| Sort timers || yes || Turns sorting the timers in the '''Timers''' menu on/off. Timers are sorted by ascending start times, with the first one being the next timer that will start.
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| Recording directories || yes || Turns displaying the Recordings menu as a hierarchical directory structure on or off.
|}

===EPG (Electronic Program Guide)===
{| border=1 cellpadding=2 cellspacing=0 width=100%
|- bgcolor=#efdead
!Parameter
!Default
!Description
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| EPG scan timeout || 5 || The time (in hours) of user inactivity after which the DVB card in a single card system starts scanning channels to keep the EPG up-to-date. A value of '0' completely turns off scanning on both single and multiple card systems.
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| EPG bugfix level || 2 || Some TV stations transmit weirdly formatted EPG data. VDR attempts to fix these bugs up to the given level:
* 0 : no EPG fixing
* 1 : basic fixing of text location (Title, Episode and Extended Description)
* 2 : removal of excess whitespace and hyphens, mapping of wrongly used characters
Note that after changing the setting of this parameter any EPG data that has already been received will remain in its existing format - only newly received data will be fixed accordingly. Restart VDR if you want to make sure all data is fixed.
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| EPG linger time || 0 || The time (in minutes) within which old EPG information shall still be displayed in the '''Schedule''' menu.
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| Set system time || no || Defines whether the system time will be set according to the time received from the DVB data stream. Note that this works only if VDR is running under a user id that has permisson to set the system time. You also need to set the option '''Use time from transponder''' to a channel that you trust to transmit a reliable time base (not all channels seem to have access to a correct time base...).
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| Use time from transponder || 0 || The frequency of the transponder that shall be used to set the system time. The Setup menu will offer the full list of channels, even if several of them are on the same transponder. Also, when selecting a channel, saving the Setup and opening the Setup menu again, there may be a different channel listed here, since the first one in ''channels.conf'' that is on the given transponder will be taken. Note that in order to set the system time from the transponder data the option '''Set system time''' must also be enabled.
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| Preferred languages || 0 || Some tv stations broadcast their EPG data in various different languages. This option allows you to define which language(s) you prefer in such cases. By default, or if none of the preferred languages is broadcast, any language will be accepted and the EPG data will be displayed in the first language received from the data stream. If this option is set to a non-zero value, the menu page will contain that many '''Preferred language''' options which allow you to select the individual preferred languages. If an actual EPG data record is received in different languages, the preferred languages are checked in the given order to decide which one to take.
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| Scan || || The '''Red''' button in the '''Setup/EPG''' menu can be used to force an EPG scan on a single DVB card system. If pressed, and the primary DVB device is currently not recording or replaying, it will loop through the transponders once and then switch back to the original channel. Any user activity during the EPG scan will also stop the scan and bring back the original channel.
|}

===DVB===
{| border=1 cellpadding=2 cellspacing=0 width=100%
|- bgcolor=#efdead
!Parameter
!Default
!Description
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| Primary DVB interface || 1 || Defines the primary DVB interface (i.e. the one that will display the menus and will react on input through the remote control). Valid values range from '1' to the number of installed DVB cards. If more than one DVB card is installed and a recording is to be started, the program will try to use a free DVB card that is different from the primary DVB interface, so that the viewer will be disturbed as little as possible.
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| Video format || 4:3 || The video format (or aspect ratio) of the tv set in use (4:3 or 16:9).
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| Update channels || 4 || Controls the automatic channel update function.
* 0 : means no update,
* 1 : will only update channel names,
* 2 : will update channel names and PIDs,
* 3 : will perform all updates and also add newly found channels, and
* 4 : will also add newly found transponders.
|}


===LNB===
{| border=1 cellpadding=2 cellspacing=0 width=100%
|- bgcolor=#efdead
!Parameter
!Default
!Description
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| SLOF || 11700 || The switching frequency (in MHz) between low and high LOF
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| Low LNB frequency || 9750 ||rowspan=2| The LNB's low and high local oscillator frequencies (in MHz, these have no meaning for DVB-C receivers)
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| High LNB frequency || 10600
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| Use DiSEqC || no || Generally turns DiSEqC support on or off.
|}

===CICAM===
{| border=1 cellpadding=2 cellspacing=0 width=100%
|- bgcolor=#efdead
!Parameter
!Default
!Description
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| CICAM DVBn m || || Defines the '''Conditional Access''' capabilities of the DVB card 'n'. Each DVB card can provide up to two CICAM methods ('m' = [1, 2]).

In the ''setup.conf'' file the value consists of the card number, followed by a list of decryption method values (defined in ''ca.conf''). For instance CaCaps = 3 101 102 would define that card number 3 is able to decrypt '''Premiere World''' and the '''ORF'''.
|}


===Recording===
{| border=1 cellpadding=2 cellspacing=0 width=100%
|- bgcolor=#efdead
!Parameter
!Default
!Description
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| Margin at start || 2 ||rowspan=2| Defines how many minutes before the official start time of a broadcast VDR shall start recording, and how long after the official end time it shall stop recording. These margins are added automatically to timers that are created from the EPG data.
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| Margin at stop || 10
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| Primary limit || 0 || The minimum priority a timer must have to be allowed to use the primary DVB interface, or to force another timer with higher priority to use the primary DVB interface. This is mainly useful for recordings that should take place only when there is nothing else to do, but should never keep the user from viewing stuff on the primary interface. On systems with only one DVB card, timers with a priority below PrimaryLimit will never execute.
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| Default priority || 50 ||rowspan=2| The default Priority and Lifetime values used when creating a new timer event. A Lifetime value of 99 means that this recording will never be deleted automatically.
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| Default lifetime || 99
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| Pause priority || 10 ||rowspan=2| The Priority and Lifetime values used when pausing live video.
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| Pause lifetime || 1
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| Use episode name || yes || Repeating timers use the EPG's 'Episode name' information to create recording file names in a hierarchical structure (for instance to gather all episodes of a series in a common subdirectory). This parameter can be used to control this.
* no : don't use the 'Episode name'
* yes : use it (and create subdirectories)
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| Use VPS || 0 || Defines whether a timer that is created from an EPG entry (by pressing the '''Record''' (red) button in the '''Schedules''' or '''What's on now/next?''' menu) will automatically use VPS if the event it is created for has a VPS time.
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| VPS margin || 120 || Defines how many seconds before a VPS controlled timer is scheduled to start, VDR will make sure that one of the DVB devices is tuned to the transponder that timer shall record from. This is necessary for the '''Running Status''' information that is broadcast in the EPG data to be seen by VDR.
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| Mark instant recording || yes || Defines whether an '''instant recording''' (started by pressing the '''Red''' button in the '''VDR''' menu) will be marked with a '@' character to make it distinguishable from timer recordings in the '''Recordings''' menu.
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| Name instant recording || TITLE EPISODE || Defines how to name an instant recording. If the keywords TITLE and/or EPISODE are present, they will be replaced with the title and episode information from the EPG data at the time of recording (if that data is available). If this parameter is empty, the channel name will be used by default.
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| Instant rec. time || 180 || Defines the duration of an instant recording in minutes. Default is 180 minutes (3 hours). The stop time of an instant recording can be modified at any time by editing the respective timer in the '''Timers''' menu.
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| Record Dolby Digital || yes || Turns recording of the Dolby Digital audio channels on or off. This may be useful if you don't have the equipment to replay Dolby Digital audio and want to save disk space.
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| Max. video file size || 2000 || The maximum size of a single recorded video file in MB. The valid range is 100...2000. Default is 2000, but you may want to use smaller values if you are planning on archiving a recording to CD.
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| Split edited files || no || During the actual editing process VDR writes the result into files that may grow up to MaxVideoFileSize. If you prefer to have each marked sequence stored in a separate file (named 001.vdr, 002.vdr, ...) you can set this option to 'yes'.
|}

===Replay===
{| border=1 cellpadding=2 cellspacing=0 width=100%
|- bgcolor=#efdead
!Parameter
!Default
!Description
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| Multi speed mode || no || Defines the function of the '''Left''' and '''Right''' keys in replay mode. If set to 'no', one speed will be used, while if set to 'yes' there will be three speeds for fast and slow search, respectively.
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| Show replay mode || no || Turns displaying the current replay mode on or off.
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| Resume ID || 0 || Defines an additional ID that can be used in a multi user environment, so that every user has his/her own resume files for each recording. The valid range is 0...99, with 0 resulting in a file named 'resume.vdr', and any other value resulting in 'resume.n.vdr'.
|}

===Miscellaneous===
{| border=1 cellpadding=2 cellspacing=0 width=100%
|- bgcolor=#efdead
!Parameter
!Default
!Description
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| Min. event timeout || 30 ||rowspan=2| If the command line option '-s' has been set, VDR will automatically shutdown the computer if the next timer event is at least MinEventTimeout minutes in the future, and the user has been inactive for at least MinUserInactivity minutes. Setting MinUserInactivity to 0 disables the automatic shutdown, while still retaining the possibility to manually shutdown the computer.
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| Min. user inactivity || 120
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| SVDRP timeout || 300 || The time (in seconds) of inactivity on an open SVDRP connection after which the connection is automatically closed. Default is 300, a value of 0 means no timeout.
|-
|bgcolor=#efefef| Zap Timeout || 3 || The time (in seconds) until a channel counts as '''previous''' for switching with '0'
|}

==Executing system commands==
The '''VDR''' menu option '''Commands''' allows you to execute any system commands defined in the configuration file ''commands.conf'' (see vdr(5) for details). The '''Commands''' option will only be present in the '''VDR''' menu if a valid ''commands.conf'' file containing at least one command definition has been found at program start.

This feature can be used to do virtually anything, like checking for new mail, displaying the CPU temperature - you name it! All you need to do is enter the necessary command definition into ''commands.conf'' and implement the actual command that will be called. Such a command can typically be a shell script or a Perl program. Anything that command writes to stdout will be displayed on a result screen after executing the command. This screen will use a 'fixed' font so that you can generate formatted output. In order to avoid error messages going to stderr, command definitions should redirect stderr to stdout (see vdr(5)).

{{Box Warning|
<pre>
WARNING: THE COMMANDS DEFINED IN 'commands.conf' WILL BE EXECUTED UNDER THE
======= SAME USER ID THAT VDR IS RUNNING WITH. BE VERY CAREFUL WHEN
DEFINING THESE COMMANDS AND MAKE SURE THEY DON'T HARM YOUR SYSTEM,
ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE RUNNING VDR UNDER A HIGH PRIVILEGED USER ID
(LIKE 'root').
</pre>
}}

Revision as of 11:52, 23 September 2004

The Video Disk Recorder (VDR) is a free, non-commercial project from Klaus Schmidinger to realize a digital video recorder with standard PC components. It is possible to receive, record and playback digital TV after the DVB standard. The program runs under Linux, is available as source code and lies under the GNU General Public License.

Implementation

In the probably most common use case VDR behaves extensively as a normal digital receiver. The picture is send to the television an the control happens through a remote control. A simple but functional On Screen Display (OSD) simplifies the handling of VDR, at channel switching Electronic Program Guide (EPG) information are shown, like the title of the current next next show. In the main menu are diverse functions, like channel list, schedule, timer programming, or the list of already recorded titles. The channel list is freely sortable, the EPG function allows displaying the shows of only one telestation, or of all current broadcasts in "What's on now?/next?". Commercials can be removed from the recording with the help of the cutting functions.

Features

VDR also masters time shifting, that is, a broadcast can be recorded to hard disk and played back at once or after some time, but still while recording. This way one can jump over commercial or halt the playback to go to the kitchen,...

If there is more than one DVB card in the system, it is possible to record more than one broadcast at a time. This is already possible with only one DVB card, but only those who are broadcasted from one transponder only.

Extensions

Besides the basic function of VDR, there exists, thanks to a large community, a barely manageable quantity of extension in for of patches, plugins and other programs or scipts.

There are extention that change or add

  • OSD functionality
  • playback of other than the native media format (MP3/(S)VCD/DVD/DivX/...)
  • Webinterface
  • creation of DVDs
  • ...

The hardware fraction fiddles about HTPC and and the buildup of the ideal living room compatible PC (case, fans, noise reduction,...). Other things are LC-Displays, infrared remote controls and receiver, extension boards for DVB cards. In general one can say, this area needs lots of manual work and some previous knowledge or at least the willingness to learn. The newbie we encourage to first familiarise himself with the basic function of VDR and Linux. There are some ready to use Linux distributions dedicated to VDR.

Alternative scenarios

There are other use cases than the above possible. The VDR computer could be used as a server in the cellar or the attic. The video signal would then be fed into the home cable net through a modulator, or directly be streamed over the computer network.

Aim of VDR Wiki

This wiki should centralise the knowledge of the german discussion forum http://www.vdr-portal.de and the mailinglists, so beginners could easily find the necessary information to start with VDR.

Links

[1] http://www.cadsoft.de/vdr Klaus Schmidingers VDR homepage
[2] http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html GNU General Public License
[3] http://www.linuxtv.org/mailinglists.xml DVB/VDR mailing lists
[4] http://www.vdr-portal.de german speaking Forum (also has a international section)
[5] http://www.dvb.org DVB Project
[6] http://www.haile.ch/vdr/praesentation Presentation in PDF/PPS (german)
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