Ceton, Tuner sharing

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choliscott

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Ceton, Tuner sharing

#1

Post by choliscott » Wed Jan 04, 2012 6:48 pm

Hi everyone,

Just seeing if someone could clear up what exactly tuner sharing is. From what I read it's sharing tuners from a Media center computer that has a tv device installed with a Media Center computer that physcially does not have a tv device installed.

My questions: 1) if you share X amount of tuners, do those tuners exclusively become the other media center, or only when the other media center needs it?

2) Any shows recorded on the other media center, end up on the "non tv" Media center

Thanks

richard1980

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#2

Post by richard1980 » Wed Jan 04, 2012 7:31 pm

There are two types of tuner sharing:
  • Dynamic sharing involves having a pool of tuners available to multiple PCs where no one tuner is explicitly assigned to a single PC. This means all PCs can access all tuners in the tuner pool, but only one PC can use a specific tuner at a time. There is a huge downside to this method, as there is no way for each PC to know what other PCs are doing, so tuner conflicts can become a major problem. Two specific examples are:
    • Recording schedules between multiple PCs may result in a need for more tuners than are available in the tuner pool. However, as long as each PC does not try to schedule more recordings than the total number of tuners in the pool, no users are notified that there will be a problem. Recordings will just silently fail.
    • A user is using a tuner for live TV when another PC needs that tuner for a recording. Instead of the user being notified that the tuner is needed, the recording just silently fails.
  • Static sharing involves having tuners shared between multiple PCs, but unlike dynamic sharing, each tuner is permanently assigned to each PC. When setting up static sharing, you can choose what PCs have access to what tuners. Once a tuner is assigned to a PC, it cannot be used by any other PC. This method lacks the flexibility of dynamic sharing, but in return you don't have to worry about the tuner conflicts.
In both cases, a networked tuner must be used in order to share the tuners. That networked tuner can either be standalone (such as the SiliconDust HDHomeRun line of tuners) or it can be installed directly in one of the PCs (such as the Ceton InfiniTV line of tuners).

Recordings can be accessed by both PCs (provided you set up media sharing on your network), however, DRM limitation still apply (copy protected recordings can only be viewed on the PC that made the recordings, but copy freely recordings can be viewed on any PC).

choliscott

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#3

Post by choliscott » Wed Jan 04, 2012 9:02 pm

Thank you. While the first option you listed would probably be the best, I could see the downside to that senario also happening.

richard1980

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#4

Post by richard1980 » Thu Jan 05, 2012 1:47 am

I forgot to mention that you can actually combine the two methods if you have a tuner capable of dynamic sharing (such as the HDHomeRun tuners). You don't have to allow all tuners to be accessible from all PCs, so you could allow some tuners to be dynamically shared while other tuners are only accessible from a specific PC.

You can't do this if you have a tuner only capable of static sharing (like the InfiniTV tuners).

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JazJon

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#5

Post by JazJon » Sat Aug 25, 2012 11:38 am

Does Dynamic sharing still have the same flaws stated above from a year ago? (anything changed?)

I just posted a new question before I found this thread. Here's what I asked
http://www.thegreenbutton.tv/forums/vie ... 143#p25143

richard1980

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#6

Post by richard1980 » Sat Aug 25, 2012 1:33 pm

The risks have not changed. I was hoping SiliconDust would release something that could keep track of the recording schedules of all the PCs and warn users when over-allocation has occurred, but that has not happened. As it stands now, the safest option is to use static tuner assignment. Note that this does not mean you can't use the HDHR tuners. HDHR tuners can still be statically assigned. The ultimate option would be to abandon the idea of multiple PCs and use a single PC with a network of extenders.

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mcewinter

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#7

Post by mcewinter » Sat Aug 25, 2012 2:29 pm

richard1980 wrote:The risks have not changed. I was hoping SiliconDust would release something that could keep track of the recording schedules of all the PCs and warn users when over-allocation has occurred, but that has not happened. As it stands now, the safest option is to use static tuner assignment. Note that this does not mean you can't use the HDHR tuners. HDHR tuners can still be statically assigned. The ultimate option would be to abandon the idea of multiple PCs and use a single PC with a network of extenders.
If only extenders didn't suck; that would be ultimate.

I guess to make a point; there isn't a perfect solution. One way or the other, you're making a comprimise.

Has anybody had any success with Recording Broker?...
http://babgvant.com/blogs/andyvt/archiv ... ution.aspx

It looks to be a bit dated and never mentioned.

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#8

Post by adam1991 » Sat Aug 25, 2012 3:00 pm

How do extenders "suck"?

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#9

Post by richard1980 » Sat Aug 25, 2012 3:13 pm

I've never messed with Recording Broker, but it looks like it would be good to use in a static model. It wouldn't do anything to mitigate the risk of over-allocation of tuners across multiple PCs in the dynamic model though.

Here's the link to the W7 version: http://babgvant.com/files/folders/recbr ... 19690.aspx

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mcewinter

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#10

Post by mcewinter » Sat Aug 25, 2012 4:16 pm

adam1991 wrote:How do extenders "suck"?
They complicate the movie end of things...they're great for TV.

...I can list other deficiencies but I'll refrain.
Last edited by mcewinter on Sat Aug 25, 2012 4:30 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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STC

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#11

Post by STC » Sat Aug 25, 2012 4:29 pm

ECHO echo echo....
By the Community, for the Community. 100% Commercial Free.

Want decent guide data back? Check out EPG123

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mcewinter

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#12

Post by mcewinter » Sat Aug 25, 2012 4:32 pm

STC wrote:ECHO echo echo....
I fear the echo will only be a more updated version of what we've already seen. The advantage will require the Q if my suspicions are correct, but I admit that I'm speculating.

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#13

Post by STC » Sat Aug 25, 2012 4:50 pm

Yes, I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place on that too. Hopefully the Echo alone will be able to play a larger selection of formats without the Q
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mcewinter

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#14

Post by mcewinter » Sat Aug 25, 2012 4:59 pm

STC wrote:Yes, I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place on that too. Hopefully the Echo alone will be able to play a larger selection of formats without the Q
If it'll play my movie collection without having to jack things around then I'll buy several and pitch it to anybody who will listen.

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