Encoder_merit not working with HDHomeRun?

[gmanning]

I have an HDHomeRun (QAM), 2 Dvico Fusions (OTA digital), and a PVR-500, running with 6.0.18. I have my encoder_merits set to favor the tuners in that order (15, 10, 5).

Everything works fine for HD programs. My problem is when a program is broadcast in analog and SD digital. I want to favor the digital channel if possible, but the opposite is what is happening. Favorites are always recorded with the PVR-500 if it is not flagged as HD.

Any suggestions other than to hard code the channel in the Favorites options?

Gary

[NEOSG]

Could it be that they only work with values of 9 down to 0

I mention this because I ave a similiar situation and mine start at 9 and work there way down to 1 and things work AOK

[carlgar]

Originally Posted by NEOSG

Could it be that they only work with values of 9 down to 0

I mention this because I ave a similiar situation and mine start at 9 and work there way down to 1 and things work AOK

I have my HDHR set to use a merit of 20, to give it the hightest priority and it works fine.

Did you set the merit while Sage was shut down? Are you sure the show recorded on the PVR-500 is available on a digital channel?

[gmanning]

Yes, Sage was shut down (not running in service mode). Here is how the channels break down:

HDHR (QAM) merit 15: ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS
Fusions (OTA digital) merit 10: FOX, CW
PVR-500 (cable analog) merit 5: ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, CW, PBS, ...

Shows flagged as HD work fine, and either the HDHR or one of Fusions will record them as they should. SD analog-only shows also record properly.

An example of what doesn't work: Deal or No Deal on ABC. It can be recorded as SD digital on the HDHR, or as SD analog on the PVR-500. According to the merits above, it should record on the HDHR if it is available, and the PVR-500 if it is not. That is not what happens. It never tries to use the HDHR in this situation, and it is consistant for every show that fits this dual format profile.

Might this be a bug, or am I missing something?

Gary

Edit: I should also mention that I have tried setting the HDHR and Fusions to the same merit of 10 with the same result.

[bcjenkins]

Originally Posted by gmanning

An example of what doesn't work: Deal or No Deal on ABC.

It's most likely due to the program running on NBC.

What version of Sage are you running? I think in version 6 and up you can favor hd over sd. Do you have any other recordings in front of or behind deal or no deal?

B

[tbonessc]

Are the tuners using different channel lineups? I was told by support that encoder merit didn't have any effect across two different lineups.

[bcjenkins]

The tuners would have to be using different lineups. At least the OTA and cable. Doesn't QAM require its own too?

B

[rickgillyon]

Originally Posted by tbonessc

Are the tuners using different channel lineups? I was told by support that encoder merit didn't have any effect across two different lineups.

That would make it pretty useless, wouldn't it? Generally people want to differentiate tuners because they are on different sources, therefore different lineups. I have more tuners on DVBT with one lineup, so have those with a higher merit, fewer Cable tuners so have those with a lower merit (despite most of the DVBT channels being on Cable too). It has never yet recorded a DVBT channel from cable, so I think it must work across lineups.

Either that or I've been bloody lucky!

[BobPhoenix]

Originally Posted by tbonessc

Are the tuners using different channel lineups? I was told by support that encoder merit didn't have any effect across two different lineups.

That must be new! Because I use to use it with earlier versions (2.0 - 3.0 anyway) to have my analog tuners record before the digital ones - for the analog channels - when they went through the STB they looked horrible. Two lineups mediacom regular for analog and mediacom digital for the digital. Most of the time it worked perfectly.

[Opus4]

The encoder merit setting isn't a guarantee that the tuners will be used in that order -- it is used when 'all else is equal', though I can't give an exact definition of 'all else'. (I don't know if the SD Analog instead of SD Digital selection mentioned above would be considered a bug, because I don't know if all else was equal.)

- Andy

[gmanning]

Originally Posted by bcjenkins

It's most likely due to the program running on NBC.

What version of Sage are you running? I think in version 6 and up you can favor hd over sd. Do you have any other recordings in front of or behind deal or no deal?

B

LOL! Good thing the guide knows the right channel.

I am running 6.0.18. I do have it set to prefer HD over SD, which works great. Deal or No Deal is just one example, but any SD show broadcast in both digital and analog behaves the same way. If the show is exclusively one or the other, no issues. Sometimes there are other recordings taking place before, during or after, but not always.

One thing I have not tried is to disable the prefer HD setting. Perhaps then the merits would take over, and I would still get the HD version first, if available.

Other than that, I don't know what else to try.

Gary

[carlgar]

Deal or No Deal is also available on CNBC which is probably only available on an analog tuner. I think it is most likely that the show recorded was probably from CNBC.

You can test the merit settings by finding a time when no recordings are scheduled and then select a manual recording. The manual recording will go to the highest priority tuner that can handle it. If that this not give you the expected results, you should ask support about it.

[gmanning]

I did not know Deal or No Deal was on CNBC. We only have basic cable. This is just one example, as it happens on any show that is broadcast in analog and digital that is not flagged as HD.

I will have to try the manual recording. I have been using the guide icons(and visually you can tell from the picture quality) whether it was an analog or digital channel.

Thanks.

Gary

[bcjenkins]

You can always limit the recording to a specific channel, then watch for conflict icons.

B

[bbig119]

Originally Posted by bcjenkins

You can always limit the recording to a specific channel, then watch for conflict icons.

B

I think this is how I have it setup. You have four digital tuners. I have a separate channel lineup for digital vs. analog. So I'll see two ABC, two NBC, two CBS, ...... Just set your favorites to record on the digital broadcast. You don't get that many channels so I have a hard time imagining that you'll ever max them out with conflicts where you're using all four of your digital tuners at once.

Still that is only a way to get around the problem and not necessarily a clean solution for those who aren't fortunate enough to have as many digital tuners as you.

I have three digital tuners (HDhomerun and a Fusion) and only on the rarest of occasions do I max out all three digital tuners.

[Narflex]

Encoder merit is used when there's multiple lineups with the same channel and it needs to pick which one to record from. In this case there's 2 different channels (one analog and one digital) so the merit is not what's determining which one gets recorded.

If you redid the lineups so that they both had the same channel (can be done with remapping); then the merit setting would be working as you desire.

[carlgar]

Originally Posted by gmanning

I will have to try the manual recording. I have been using the guide icons(and visually you can tell from the picture quality) whether it was an analog or digital channel.

Thanks.

Gary

If you are not looking at the recording detail to determine which tuner was used is probably causing confusion about what is occuring. The only icon I know off that would be useful is the Hd, which would insure that a digital tuner was used. However, for programs not in HD could be recorded in serveral different formats. It could be recorded on an analog tuner (NBC), it could be recorded on a digital tuner (NBC, 480i or 480p) or it could be recorded on the digital broadcast (NBCDT, 720p or 1080i). You really need to look at the encoded by line in the recording detail.

BTW: I also only pay for the limited package, but am getting the standard package that includes CNBC.

[gmanning]

Originally Posted by Narflex

Encoder merit is used when there's multiple lineups with the same channel and it needs to pick which one to record from. In this case there's 2 different channels (one analog and one digital) so the merit is not what's determining which one gets recorded.

If you redid the lineups so that they both had the same channel (can be done with remapping); then the merit setting would be working as you desire.

I was under the impression this would collapse the two channels into one on the guide. Instead of showing channel 3 and 3-1, the guide would only have one of them. This probably would not be a problem, provided the guide still displayed the HD icon when appropriate, etc.

Is that the way it works?

Gary

[gmanning]

Originally Posted by carlgar

If you are not looking at the recording detail to determine which tuner was used is probably causing confusion about what is occuring. The only icon I know off that would be useful is the Hd, which would insure that a digital tuner was used. However, for programs not in HD could be recorded in serveral different formats. It could be recorded on an analog tuner (NBC), it could be recorded on a digital tuner (NBC, 480i or 480p) or it could be recorded on the digital broadcast (NBCDT, 720p or 1080i). You really need to look at the encoded by line in the recording detail.

BTW: I also only pay for the limited package, but am getting the standard package that includes CNBC.

The way my guide is currently displayed, I can tell which tuner will be used based on which channel is outlined and has the Favorite "A" icon. All my analog channels are N, digitals are N-1. The only time the "A" shows up on a digital channel is if it is an HD show, otherwise it shows on the analog channel. There is a noticeable visual improvement on NBCDT over NBC, even for SD.

It sounds like Jeff's suggestion above might be the way to go, provided none of the guide info is lost (mainly the HD flag).

Gary

[davidk21770]

Originally Posted by Narflex

Encoder merit is used when there's multiple lineups with the same channel and it needs to pick which one to record from. In this case there's 2 different channels (one analog and one digital) so the merit is not what's determining which one gets recorded.

If you redid the lineups so that they both had the same channel (can be done with remapping); then the merit setting would be working as you desire.

I'm having that problem. How do I access the remapping function? I don't see it in the menu to enable/disable channels?