Indicator for current time in guide?

[CyberSimian]

You can view 3 hours of guide data at once.

It might be worth buying MCL just for this! It has always irritated me that the native Media Center EPG displays 2 hours, but the FAST-FORWARD and FAST-REWIND keys on the remote control move the EPG by 3 hours.

But there is one other feature that I would like -- a thin bright vertical line corresponding to the current time, drawn from top to bottom in the EPG grid. Since you seem to be able to recreate the EPG in its entirety, is a "current-time line" a feature that it would be possible to add?

I have seen two other DVR EPGs; one had tiny notches corresponding to the current time, but these were well-nigh invisible. MediaPortal has big arrows top and bottom, joined by a virtually invisible strip (you need to stand 2 feet from the screen to see the strip). What I want is a thin (so that it does not obscure the text), bright (so that it is easy to see from 10 feet away), line drawn from top to bottom (so that I do not have to guess where it might intersect programmes on the central rows of the EPG); bright red would be my preference.

Real-time update might not be possible, but I do not think that this is necessary -- simply update the current-time line whenever you redraw the screen (i.e. in response to a user interaction).

By the way, does the new release work on Vista?

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

[bmblank]

The current time is always at the very left of the guide, is it not? The guide moves in (near) real time, so that when 5 minutes of the show is left all you see is a blip on the left side, isn't it?

[makryger]

Since you seem to be able to recreate the EPG in its entirety, is a "current-time line" a feature that it would be possible to add?

Yeah, as another poster mentioned, the guide moves in real time- the actual time is always on the left side of the guide, and you can't actually go back in time to see what the schedule was previously. It's a good idea, but I don't think the guide can work like that.

By the way, does the new release work on Vista?

Unfortunately not. Media Center has logo adding built in only starting in Windows 7.

[CyberSimian]

The current time is always at the very left of the guide, is it not? The guide moves in (near) real time, so that when 5 minutes of the show is left all you see is a blip on the left side, isn't it?

No, it does not move that way. The image posted by Staknhalo shows what happens:

http://www.thegreenbutton.tv/forums/vie ... 657#p51657

The time at the left edge of the grid is 7:26 pm, so only 4 minutes remains of most of the current programmes, but the grid boxes have a width equivalent to 30 minutes, thereby giving you a misleading impression of how much of each programme remains.

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

[CyberSimian]

Yeah, as another poster mentioned, the guide moves in real time- the actual time is always on the left side of the guide, and you can't actually go back in time to see what the schedule was previously.

The reason that I asked about Vista is that my "production" system is currently Vista. However, I do have an evaluation version of Windows 7 installed in another partition on my HTPC, and I have just been viewing the EPG.

My objection to the Win7 EPG is the way that it does not indicate that a programme has already started. The image posted by Staknhalo shows this problem admirably:

http://www.thegreenbutton.tv/forums/vie ... 657#p51657

The time at the left edge of the EPG grid is 7:26 pm, so most of the programmes have only 4 minutes remaining. But because these programmes started at 7:00 pm, there is no indication that you have already missed most of the programme. The one exception is the very last programme shown ("Public Affairs" on C-SPAN), which has the left-pointing "<" symbol to indicate that the programme started earlier than 7:00 pm. So the grid content is still assuming a time for the left edge of the grid that is 7:00 pm, and it is only the time above the grid that shows 7:26 pm. Quite illogical.

Which brings me to another question/request: would it be possible for your tool to add the "<" symbol for each programme that has already started? It would eliminate my objection to the Win7 style of EPG.

-- from CyberSimian in the UK

[crawfish]

I just infer that whatever is on the far left is in progress. The arrows seems to come out when there is more than a 30 minute difference between start and current times. At least at 10:49 AM, the shows that started at 10:15 (there were two) and earlier have arrows, while the ones starting at 10:30 and after do not.

[richard1980]

The grid is composed of a series of columns that each represent 30 minutes. By default, the guide spans two hours, so that's 4 columns. The 2-hour window does not track with real-time. Instead, it rolls over every half-hour. So from 12:00:00 to 12:29:59, the column layout would be:

Column 1: 12:00:00 to 12:29:59
Column 2: 12:30:00 to 12:59:59
Column 3: 1:00:00 to 1:29:59
Column 4: 1:30:00 to 1:59:59

Only once real time becomes 12:30:00 will the columns actually roll over:

Column 1: 12:30:00 to 12:59:59
Column 2: 1:00:00 to 1:29:59
Column 3: 1:30:00 to 1:59:59
Column 4: 2:00:00 to 2:29:59

When a program's start time is earlier than the start time for column 1, the cell will contain a left arrow. Conversely, when a program's end time is later than the end time for column 4, the cell will contain a right arrow at the right end of the cell.

Which brings me to another question/request: would it be possible for your tool to add the "<" symbol for each programme that has already started? It would eliminate my objection to the Win7 style of EPG.

That would result in every left-most cell in the guide having a left arrow.

[mdavej]

Hmm... my 3hr view tracks real time. And I could have sworn my 2hr view did as well. Check your guide a couple of minutes before the hour or half hour and tell us what you see. Are you using any other add-ons besides MCL to change the appearance of your guide?

[richard1980]

Nothing else modifying the guide...just MCL.

[mdavej]

OK, I'm really confused. You just said the guide does not track real time, yet your screenshot shows it tracking real time, with 2:29 both at the top left and bottom right, exactly as mine behaves. Am I missing something?

[richard1980]

The clock changes, but the grid stays in a fixed position on the screen.

So we get this:

Instead of this:

What this means is the left-most cell in any row is always "in progress". So CyberSimian's idea would result in the left-most cell in every row always having a left arrow at all times. Not only does that make the arrow pointless (since it doesn't differentiate anything), but it also conflicts with the true meaning of the arrow ("this program started before the grid started").

[mdavej]

I see now. Thanks for the pics. I agree. I've seen the line that CyberSimian is talking about in XBMC. While that might be nice to have, I don't really see the point. Seems to work fine the way it is.

[bobbob]

who watches live tv?

[scyto]

who watches live tv?

it isn't necessarily about live tv, many of us use the guide to find content and record it

[barnabas1969]

who watches live tv?

We record most stuff we want to watch, but there is this thing called "news" that makes more sense to watch live. Some people also enjoy a thing called "sports". I don't know why people like to watch "sports", but I do know that most people want to watch it live so that they can discuss it with their friends during the game (or the next day at work).

[epete]

who watches live tv?

We record most stuff we want to watch, but there is this thing called "news" that makes more sense to watch live. Some people also enjoy a thing called "sports". I don't know why people like to watch "sports", but I do know that most people want to watch it live so that they can discuss it with their friends during the game (or the next day at work).

I even watch news delayed. Skipping through commercials and stories I am not interested in.

[bobbob]

flippancy really doesn't come across on forums does it?

[Sammy2]

I watch LiveTV in the morning while getting ready for work but I usually either record a game or pause it at the start and come back to it about 20 minutes later to skip through the commercials. This is "efficient" LiveTV because it is still recording while watching IMHO.

[foxwood]

I even watch news delayed. Skipping through commercials and stories I am not interested in.

The way I see it, if they can have a trailer for it half way through the previous program, it's not "news".

[richard1980]

Here's how news works around here:

1. They tell me what they're going to tell me later.
2. Repeat step 1 a bunch of times.
3. Repeat step 1 again just for good measure.
4. Spend 30 seconds saying whatever it is.
5. Tell me there will be more details during the next news broadcast.
6. Repeat steps 1-4 (and possibly even step 5) for the next news broadcast.

That of course goes out the window during tornado season. A typical tornado news broadcast goes like this:

1. Talk about the tornado that hasn't formed yet.
2. Show video of the clouds for a while (from at least half a dozen different angles).
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 until a tornado forms.
4. Once a tornado forms, show video of the tornado (again, from at least half a dozen different angles).
5. Repeat step 4 until the tornado dissipates.
6. Repeat steps 1-5 until the tornado threat is gone.
7. Spend the next 6-8 hours showing damage.