EyeTV Lounge • View topic - What are your top 3 feature requests for EyeTV?

by **jennieblue22** » December 28th, 2007, 8:26 pm

EyeTV is fantastic but my top three include:

1. better Front Row integration

2. Hmm, another one would be better Front Row integration.

3. Oh, and of course, better Front Row integration!!

I know I'm the nine zillionth person to ask for a feature that really Apple should give, but I would love this. Also more international support (for example - Canada and India, and expand from there to Latin America, etc) would be fantastic - I have family and friends from Canada, Latin America, and India, and all of us who have heard of these products absolutely LOVE EyeTV.

by **j-christ** » January 1st, 2008, 1:06 am

Many people in this thread have requested commercial skipping. I've done it. See

http://forums.elgato.com/viewtopic.php?f=91&t=775

for details.

by **sfatula** » January 3rd, 2008, 7:11 pm

1. DD input (yes, with analog video). I am a sound guy more than a picture guy. Why not use the Macs optical input in the same manner you use the optical output? Yes, analog video still won't be HD but better sound = much more enjoyment for me. I would think this would be doable. This would be fantastic for making recordings off of my Dish DVR as while I can't get HD video, it comes out pretty good and the DD sound would make it awesome.

2. Schedule future recurring events. On my DIsh DVR, it allows at least all NEW shows for a given name, one time, or, all times.

3. Menu structure is cumbersome overall. Take a look at a TIVO, or, DirectTV or Dish DVR for ideas as to a better interface.

by **evil_josh** » January 7th, 2008, 1:04 pm

I love eyeTV but one thing drives me mad - why is it that eyeTV has it's own volume control, and a non-logarithmic one at that?

This presets a prbem when moving between eyeTV and front row which I do often - when I am in front row the apple system volume is used which alters the volume level when I return to eyeTV.

I would like the option of using the Apple volume for eyeTV, maybe a check-box in the audio preferences?

edit: I am using eyeTV with a twinhan alpha on a macbook using the analogue audio output.

Cheers,

Josh.

by **evil_josh** » January 7th, 2008, 1:11 pm

Also I would like eyeTV to ba able to search the EPG for shows. for example I would like to tell eyeTV to record every simpsons episode, whatever channel, whatever time. Or if I record a show every week and the network puts on a double episode I would like eyeTV to detect this and record the second episode.

Anyone who is wondering what I am talking about should have a look at webscheduler, arguably the best recording software in the world today, but only available for the PC.

Josh.

by **Lycestra** » January 7th, 2008, 6:27 pm

evil_josh wrote:Also I would like eyeTV to ba able to search the EPG for shows. for example I would like to tell eyeTV to record every simpsons episode, whatever channel, whatever time. Or if I record a show every week and the network puts on a double episode I would like eyeTV to detect this and record the second episode.

Anyone who is wondering what I am talking about should have a look at webscheduler, arguably the best recording software in the world today, but only available for the PC.

Josh.

The image in my head on this one was kinda a Smart Playlist kind of thing, but a recording. Fundamentally, like all Smart folders/playlists, its just a saved search. If this were added, you could have it search for a program name (with or without wild cards), channels, and maybe even time range for extra credit. This would require EyeTV's search functionality be expanded to start. Also, searching would need to permit using "repeat" or "new" tags. At least I'd think. Showtype, in case you just want all the cooking shows on one channel (assuming that info is in the DB.)

Schedule collisions would be interesting... maybe a priority level for recordings, and the one with the highest rating is the one recorded. And that'd have to be smart about it. For example, 2 half hour shows, one after another, one having a high priority, one having a low, and then you have a 1 hour show on another channel with a middle rating spanning the same time. The result I would expect is that the half hour shows are recorded because one of those have a high priority, and since half of the mid priority show is useless (maybe a preference to set), it ignores that and records the other low priority show in whole instead.

Hand-scheduled recordings would default to high priority. There's still likely to be some anger from missing shows, so likely there would be a conflict list where the user can override priorities (hot-wire it to an otherwise unavailable ultimate high priority). Can of worms...

Just thinking out loud. I like the idea.

by **lilalinux** » January 8th, 2008, 11:55 am

1) Better support for multiple units
2) Better support for multiple units
3) Better support for multiple units

4) Commercial Skipping: http://www.linuxtv.org/vdrwiki/index.php/Noad
5) FrontRow Integration
6) Make iRemote buttons configurable

by **Neil** » January 8th, 2008, 7:44 pm

lilalinux wrote:1) Better support for multiple units[snip]

What exactly are you looking for? Are you talking about multiple tuner units or multiple playback units? That is high on my list, especially synchronized playback of music and video. Also, pausing a video on one unit and resuming from that spot on another unit. Maybe this could be done through EyeConnect.

by **sjk** » January 9th, 2008, 6:43 am

Lycestra wrote:The image in my head on this one was kinda a Smart Playlist kind of thing, but a recording.

Simple: Smart Playlists, et.al. Search is your friend.

by **robinmatthews** » January 11th, 2008, 5:04 pm

My vote goes to:
1. Freeview Playback level 2 support
2. Apple Front Row module to control EyeTV
3. An ability to cycle up the and down the fast forward and rewind speeds using mutliple presses of these buttons on the remote control

by **vtdarryl** » January 12th, 2008, 5:19 am

"At Macworld 2008, Apple CEO Steve Jobs and Elgato announced that AppleTV and Frontrow will be fully integrated with EyeTV on the AppleTV and Leopard...."

We can only dream :-)

Daz

by **justin.stevens** » January 16th, 2008, 3:14 am

I have been asking for and suggesting Live Streaming for a couple of years now. I have an iMac set up in the main living area with an EyeTV Diversity. There are times when someone is watching the television in that room and others would dearly love to stream the live broadcast of another channel from the iMac to one of the other Macs in the house (or iPhone / iPod Touch since they have been introduced).

We can't take the Elgato products we own into the other rooms in the house as we are dependant on one roof top aerial / antenae with coaxial which only has an outlet in the main living area.

CyTV (http://www.lucid-cake.net/cytv/index_en.html) is a fairly crude, unreliable and awkward hack that hasn't been supported since early 2006. I have been in touch with the developer in the past and he no longer supports it or has any intention of further developing it at this stage.

It has been possible to stream recorded content over a network for quite sometime now, even prior to the EyeTV 3.0 release. Please consider integrating live streaming to other Macs / devices. I really thought the next major release after 2.5.2 would see the introduction of live streaming.

by **Chris O'Truro** » January 17th, 2008, 10:28 pm

Just in case my posts in other boards get missed :-)

Multiple scheduled recordings which also don't prevent live watching. Works within a multiplex (most existing h/w) and for Diversity and future h/w can do this on 2 or more multiplexes.

H264 and DVD-S2 HDTV. I'll replace my 310 for this. If too demanding for current machines build in a turbo.264 encoder/decoder. Make it a twin tuner.

Users can set a max size for the library and auto-delete by criteria such as age of recording.

Losing count now but I'm with Justin - share the device like a printer.

by **Dogzilla** » January 21st, 2008, 2:49 am

I'll throw in my top 3:

1) Front row integration. I know Apple hasn't opened up Front Row to third parties yet (anyone have any idea why? I thought the AppleTV was "hobbyist"), but so what? Release it anyway. I never use the full-screen menu because it doesn't integrate. It'd just confuse the heck out of my kids and wife.

2) Live streaming. An EyeTV solution would be ideal. If not, how about a plugin that integrates with QTSS? Or VLC (the Mac VLC guys are *really* dragging on this - it's been on their to-do for 2 years now). Also, allow us to modify the output settings so we could target computers or iphones/ipod touch.

3) Other OSS encoder choices. I'd dig having On2 VP6 available so I could integrate live and archived media into a Flash app.

by **craibuc** » January 24th, 2008, 10:59 pm

1). multiple tuners and encoders in one device; BUS powered; one cable input
2). cablecard support (i wanted to be able to record Battlestar Galactica in HD from the Universal HD station)
3). energy-star compliant

by **physicsguy** » January 29th, 2008, 9:03 am

Digital tv tuners record native mpeg2 TS which by today's standards takes up HUGE amounts of storage space (especially for HD material). You should allow an optional background auto re-encode to AVCHD (H.264), with automatic or manual (option choice) subsequent deletion of the original mpeg2 file in the .eyetv container in the archive. The new .mp4 should live in the .eyetv container in the library, and the eyetv player should be able to play the archive just like it used to when there was an mpeg2 file there.

You are close already! "Wireless access" automatically creates a .m4v file in the archive. But if you delete the mpeg2 file manually after that, the eyetv player can no longer playback the archived .eyetv container, and you lose web access to the .m4v file.
The resulting 640x480 (ipodbest) from "wireless access" feature, or perhaps 720x480 (appletv) H.264 .mp4 or .m4v file is perfectly adequate for a lot of people, even for playback on a TV. So you should upgrade the playback software so it will play back an archive with .mp4 or .m4v instead of mpeg2, upgrade the web access intelligence so it isn't looking for the mpeg2 file to still be there (why is it that way now? it is playing back the .m4v), (maybe allow 720x480 encode option for the "wireless access" feature), and allow deletion of the mpeg2 file from the archive, and you are there with Rev 1 of my feature request.

Rev 2:
It would be nice if you also allowed higher resolution auto re-encode in the background (up to HD, 1080i or 720p), for those who would like to retain a little more quality in the re-encoded archive for original HD material. But you probably won't want to call it "wireless access" anymore.

Please note, it isn't good enough to just "export" to AVCHD, which one can manually do now. If you do that and then delete the archive entry for the disk space savings, you lose all the attributes of the archive (program description, record listing in the full screen menu, editor, etc.). So it is really desirable for that .mp4 or .m4v to stay in the archive library, delete the mpeg2, and have all the features continue to work the same.

by **Dogzilla** » January 29th, 2008, 3:22 pm

Also, significant;y improved h.264 export times. I'm not sure what encoder/transcoder you guys are using, but every piece of software I've tried (VLC, Handbrake, etc) transcodes files *far* faster than EyeTV does, without the need for additional hardware encoders. I've taken to copying the files out of the EyeTV bundles and re-encoding them with another tool - the EyeTV export takes literally days for a 2-hour movie and often just locks up.

by **suburbiaboy** » January 30th, 2008, 10:23 am

I just wanted to point out that I have added a Top 20 feature requests topic:

http://forums.elgato.com/viewtopic.php?f=110&t=1305

Please everyone post a summary of your reqests in the post linked so we can get a better picture of what EyeTV users really want. I'll be consolidating all of the requests so we won't have such a monster of a thread as this.

Thanks

by **SpaceTrucker** » January 30th, 2008, 7:26 pm

Nick Freeman wrote:EyeTV software is constantly being developed and improved, but sometimes we miss features that customers might really like. What are the top 3 features that you'd like to see in a potential future version of EyeTV?

Think small (a certain button should be moved) or large (a current feature needs to be radically improved). This should be the beginning of the discussion; if a certain feature needs to be brainstormed in more detail, please create a new topic especially for it.

I actually have more than three I'd like to see but, I'll list them in order of importance to me.

1. A way to control my (Motorolla 6200 series) STB via Firewire, I looked at the AVCBrowser app in the Developer tools and it can be done, (even controlling the button presses to make the On-Demand guide work,) though there are a few things it has trouble doing, I'm sure the code is there to get them to work, I'm just not aware of how to find out so as to send them, (maybe a talk with Motorolla will help with this?)

2. With HDTV being on everyone mind and no CableCard device to speak of for the Mac, it would be nice if we could use our STB's that our cable companies are trying to shove down our throats to view that HDTV content, maybe a way to use the DVI HDCP or Component outs from those STB's via the MiniDVI connector on the side of the Hybrid or back of the 250+? (HDMI input would be a plus here.)

NOTE: Would be perfect if the two above could be combined in one update!!!

3. It's really inconvenient to have to traverse the menu to get back to the on screen guide, if it could be moved to the same menu that pops up when you push the "Enter" button on the remote? Also integration with, (or replacement with the same features of,) Front Row would also be a major plus!

4. A dual tuner version of the 250+ minus the analog tuner?!? (No need for it except to receive the analog channels from the cable companies, which is also supposed to be turned off next month, though Comcast is fighting this.)

5. A CableCard II device?!?

6. A way to do the settings from the 10' menu instead of having to minimize the screen to do them. A way to do edits from it would also be of great help. Another fix to it could be when I'm traversing the On-Screen guide in the 10' menu, I could "jump pages" of the guide using one of the colored buttons for each, up and down. Having to go up/down one title at a time is a pain, especially when it doesn't stay in the right time slot! Another fix to it would be that when bringing up the On-Screen guide, it would have a button to "jump" to whats playing "NOW" mapped to another of the colored buttons that doesn't work when you're in that guide. Also a "client" version of the software so we can view the "server" copy on another computer. (I love my mini and would like to use this to serve the video from the tuner to my other iMacs in the house.)

7. A fix of the export function where it's showing "green bars" when it converts to h.264 content from 720x480 video. Also an update to export to AppleTV 2 compliant videos as well as a setting for iTunes videos which are maxed for viewing on the iMacs with 24" monitors. So if for example you record a show broadcast at 720 x 480 or 1920 x 1080 it actually maintains that size during the export along with it's 5.1 DD 320 bit audio.

Okay I'll stop there to spare you my lengthy list but, these are what I consider the most important of the updates that are still needed for this to be a totally awesome app/appliance worthy of a ***** rating! (Right now it's only boardering on **** from my point of view.)

by **MattyCiii** » February 27th, 2008, 12:59 am

1) Smart-Guide specific preferences: Some shows start/end late, others start/end early. These shows tend to operate on their specific pattern pretty regularly. Solution? Have an "Extend Recordings" dialog/preference on a per Smart Guide basis. Moreover, with shows that chronically start late... Please allow this Extend Recordings dialog to start things LATE as well as EARLY. Finally, how about making the granularity of early/late recordings use minutes AND seconds?

2) Episode Memory: Say I recorded several episodes of a certain show - like Seinfeld reruns. I've recoreded, watched and deleted them. I'd like there to be a "remembered" list such that I can set up a Smart Guide to only record episodes that are "not remembered"

3) Short of implementing #2 above, if a Smart Guide could look at Recordings or Smart Playlists, I could instruct the Smart Guide to not record something that's already in a Smart Playlist - preventing duplicate recordings.

by **Richard B** » June 3rd, 2008, 4:22 pm

Short Term:

Improved editing: Needs to have finer edit points in particular...an earlier post also suggested adding fade to black/fade from black edit points which is an interesting idea.

Improved multiple units on one Mac: This is somewhat self-explanatory. Use one Mac as your recording unit for multiple EyeTV devices.

Intermediate Term:

New hardware which is based on second generation (bi-directional) cable cards. This unit should have a single cable input/connection with an amplifier to assure proper signal level (most cable signals degrade markedly when "split"). This should include multiple cable card slots (more than two) with appropriate (programable) DSPs to handle most of the encoding and etc rather than the Mac. (It could even become a stand alone unit like a Tivo or Cableco DVR which would contain its own hard drives with eSATA port to connect to a Mac to transfer a file at hard drive speed for editing, burning, etc on the Mac. Although the second generation, bi-directional cable cards were supposed to have been available some time ago, they are only now becoming available. They are supposed to allow access to any channels the customer has subscribed to and access to online program guide information and on demand services.

I presently use a SA 8300HD from my Cableco which has two tuners. It is the only realistic way to make multiple recordings of the "upper channels" which EyeTV can not receive. The recordings are played back in real time (that's right, one hour of programming takes one hour to transfer) via a "record to VCR" analog output on component connections with EyeTV used as an analog to digital conversion device to record on the Mac.

This device should have a minimum of two cable cards/tuners and preferably a version with more.

I realize that there are technical issues with playback of Hi-Def programming via HDMI connections to TVs which may be impossible to overcome because some of the issues are "by design", but anyway....

Think Medusa.

OK, OK, maybe that is a bit much, but it would be very, very cool to have something like that, if on a somewhat lesser scale.

by **joelcarlton** » August 1st, 2008, 5:46 am

1. HD inputs. S-Video and Composite are nice for importing the grandmothers old VHS tapes but what about HD. Its 2008, inputs like HDMI, Component, DVI and even VGA are far superior. I have an Apple Cinema 30in Display and I would love to be able to use the no game latency with an XBOX 360 or a Playstation. I have had the EyeTV 200 for a few years and I have done my share of video recovery for folks. Now I got people wanting me to recover their video off a HD camcorder and I have to tell them I can do it, it will just be in standard definition.

2. Increased signal sensitivity. I can plug my antenna into my HDTV and receive more channels and better quality then I can into my EyeTVs. It would be nice to not have to build or buy and expensive antenna or get signal amplifiers. I have never been able to get more then a few channels standard or HD using an antenna.

3. Improved audio quality. Last time I checked, the RCA audio inputed into my EyeTV Hybrid from my XBOX 360 yielded a squelchy sound. I could hear the game but not without a highly distracting and irritating distortion.

I love EyeTVs and have been following them for a few years but I have spent almost 400 dollars on two devices and after about 5 years I still cant play a decent game on my computer.

by **RichardR** » August 25th, 2008, 1:12 pm

all I want now in eyeTV is the ability to use the composite/Svideo input as a webcam input in Mac OS X, one of my stupid cameras does not support firewire and I want to use is as in input for CamTwist

I hope this gets it because it would save me a boat load of money in the long run (about £100 ($200))

by **slimscsi** » September 26th, 2008, 12:29 am

I put more in the Top 20 thread but my top three:

number one (BY FAR!) Season Pass. Basically just create a smart guide and record all shows that match.

Native iPhone app that can be used as a remote control over WiFi. The remote that ships with the 250 is just terrible.

distributed h.264 transcoding. (via Xgrid?) I have a G4 attached to my TV and a dual core upstairs, I would like to use that processor to transcode.

This is really my number two, but its such a small feature, I did not want to take a slot for it. Add a clock to the guide overlay while in full screen.