Comskip: Directv SD vs analog cable

[gilded07]

I'm not sure if this is the right forum for this question but since I use the comskip in SageMC 6.3.7, I'll start here.

I recently switched input source from Directv to Cox Analog Cable. I recorded a few sitcoms and I noticed during playback that comskip is not properly identifying the commericals.

Attached are screen shots from my directv source where comskip works perfectly and my analog cable source where the commercials are not correctly identified. Note that with the directv source, the normal, 3 long, dark green commerical bars are easy to see and what I'm used to seeing. Now note that with the cable source, the commerical bars are short, don't look right, and there are only two of them. And with the cable source, commericals are not identified and skipped. Changing sources (using the same PVR-150) is the only change I've made to Sage or SageMC.

Any idea how changing the input source could be affecting comskip? Or is some other variable in play that I haven't considered?

thanx.

[erik]

There could be many reasons, different audio levels, different black levels, audio./video sync problems, etc...

In case you need assistance in tuning follow this thread
http://www.kaashoek.com/comskip/viewtopic.php?t=34

[gilded07]

Erik -

On this comskip support forum, you say to use the latest comskip. I'm using the comskip in SageMC 6.3.7. How do I know if it is the latest?

[gplasky]

Originally Posted by gilded07

Erik -

On this comskip support forum, you say to use the latest comskip. I'm using the comskip in SageMC 6.3.7. How do I know if it is the latest?

It's not. That's left over from it's first implementation. What you want to do is download the latest from Erik's site and insteading it running through the STV you would install either Comskip Monitor or Dirmon 2 to get comskip to run automatically on your recordings. Search for the forum for those.

Gerry

[gilded07]

Before I loaded & started using SageMC, I used comskip from this post from SprDtyF350 (10/15/07) with the standard SageTV UI:

If you are using the original Sage interface and want an easy way to setup Comskip that I find works just fine do this..

Download Comskip Monitor from here http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/down...do=file&id=138

Follow the directions there to install it. This will install Comskip, and tell the monitor program where to find your recordings. It can also be set to run slowly, or not at all during certain hours. Your 700mhz cpu might like that..

Download Comskip Playback from here http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/down...do=file&id=154

Unzip the file into your Sagetv/Sagetv directory. If you put it in the right place you can go to the detailed setup page in Sage, advanced, import Sagetv application package, and then you should be able to pick Comskip playback. Once you do that you can go back to detailed setup, customize, and at the bottom of that page will be a place to play with Comskip settings.

And then I got turned on to SageMC (and I love it). How do I know which comskip apps/svcs are actually doing the work now? Does comskip in SageMC 'override' or 'trump' the original comskip I installed?

I apologize in advance for my ignorance and I appreciate the feedback.

[gilded07]

An apparent false alarm. After recording and watching several other shows, I can say that comskip - either from my original implementation or from SageMC - is working fine. When I went back and looked at the first couple of shows where comskip didn't work correctly, I noticed that the image quality, for whatever reason, wasn't very good. On subsequent recordings, the video quality has been much better (I re-tightened some coax cables). I suspect that good video image quality is important for comskip to correctly identify and mark the commercials.

[erik]

Originally Posted by gilded07

I suspect that good video image quality is important for comskip to correctly identify and mark the commercials.

It is, even recording at a too low bitrate will cause problems.