HD-PVR and Recording Priority

[will]

Hi,

I have four recording sources for my SageTV Server (two HD-PVRs and two tuners via one HVR-2250). The encoder_merit property is set to 0 for all of the tuners.

How does SageTV decided which tuner to use for a recording? I thought SageTV would use the highest channel number that is available for recording. For example, if I am recording a show on the History Channel then if one of the two HD-PVRs are free it would record in HD on 1063, if none are free then it would record on the analog station (63) using an HVR-2250 tuner (I can't pickup the History Channel via ClearQAM).

However, this morning I noticed that SageTV was recording a show on the History Channel using the analog station even though one of the HD-PVR tuners were available. I verified in the favorite that any station was selected to rule out mis-configuration on my part.

Ideally I would like my system to be setup this way regarding recording priority:

1. HVR-2250 - ClearQAM #1
2. HVR-2250 - ClearQAM #2
3. HD-PVR #1
4. HD-PVR #2
5. HVR-2250 - Analog #1
6. HVR-2250 - Analog #2

However, it appears that I can't divide the encoder_merit property for the HVR-2250 into 4 settings. E.g, ClearQAM Digital Tuner #1 set to encoder_merit property of 1 and Analog Tuner #1 set to an encoder_merit property of 5. I assume this is because the HVR-2250 only has 2 physical tuners even though I add it to SageTV as four separate tuners (I can only use tuner #1 for Analog or ClearQAM but not both).

So how does SageTV decided on which tuner to use and can I prioritize my tuners like I want to above?

I would really appreciate any help.

Thanks,
Will

[Djc208]

Run a search on tuner priority, it comes up fairly often, as it's a little complicated.

The basic elements are:
- Sage tries to record the HD version of a show if available. If the guide doesn't list the show as HD Sage will record from either channel based on which tuner is available and it's priority.
- In the Sage properties file there is a setting for tuner priority. You can edit this to assign higher priorities to the tuners you want Sage to use more. The catch here is that Sage will start using them for recordings you may not want it to.

For instance, if you decided to record something from an SD only channel that tuners 3 through 6 can tune, then based on the priority you listed, Sage would use your HD-PVR to record this channel when it would probably work better to use the analog tuners.

I would move the analog tuners to 1 and 2, then QAM, then HD-PVRs. That way analog SD recordings will go here first. If Sage finds it in HD or it's on digital cable only, it will try the QAM tuners first and if it's not available through any of them it will then go to the HD-PVRs.

If you have a favorite that either isn't tagged correctly or you prefer from the HD channel anyway, then you can restrict that favorite to the HD channel, which will limit it to the HD tuners that can get that channel.

[will]

Let me see if I understand this:

Option 1: If I do nothing and leave my setup with the default SageTV settings then SageTV will attempt to record the shows marked as being in HD via my HD-PVRs, otherwise it will use the analog tuners if the show is available on a analog station.

Option 2: If I modify the tuner priority as I originally described then there could be situations where SageTV is using the HD-PVR to record analog shows over HD shows. For example, if I have a favorite that is ranked as #1 but is only analog, SageTV would use the HD-PVR to record that show over favorite #2 which is marked as being HD in the guide.

Option 3: If I modify the tuner priority as you suggested then SageTV will function basically as default. It will always try to record in analog first unless a show is marked as HD in the guide or if the analog tuners are busy.


One last question: my cable provider (TWC) only broadcasts the four basic channels over ClearQAM. I have remapped the logical station guide to match what the HD-PVRs use (so NBC which is 92-1-10 is now 1010). So if I start to record a show in HD at 8PM that is 2 hours long on NBC will SageTV be "smart enough" to know to use the ClearQAM tuner because I have other shows that need the HD-PVR at at 9PM?

Thank you so much for the help.

[bialio]

There are a few other tricks you can use :

1) Recording Quality - if you set a Favorite to record at one of the MPEG2 levels, it will default to your 2250. I use this to record SD shows on HD channels that I get on both cable (SD) and dish (HD).

2) Limit the channels that are enabled for each Source. Basically the trick here is the channel lineup for HD-PVR you remove the locals - they'll get recorded on one of the 2250 tuners then since they don't exist on the HD-PVR. At least as far as sage is concerned.....

btl.

[Djc208]

Originally Posted by will

Option 1: If I do nothing and leave my setup with the default SageTV settings then SageTV will attempt to record the shows marked as being in HD via my HD-PVRs, otherwise it will use the analog tuners if the show is available on a analog station.

It will attempt to record a show marked HD via whatever tuner can receive that channel and has the highest priority.

Option 2: If I modify the tuner priority as I originally described then there could be situations where SageTV is using the HD-PVR to record analog shows over HD shows. For example, if I have a favorite that is ranked as #1 but is only analog, SageTV would use the HD-PVR to record that show over favorite #2 which is marked as being HD in the guide.

No. Sage will move the SD recording down the priority list to put the HD recording on an HD tuner, however if the HD-PVR and the analog tuner can both see SD channel 15 (for example). Sage will record a show from channel 15 with your HD-PVRs unless an HD recording forces it to use the analog tuner. You could prevent this by only letting the HD-PVR tune channels you can't get on another tuner but I think that just limits the flexibility of your system.

Option 3: If I modify the tuner priority as you suggested then SageTV will function basically as default. It will always try to record in analog first unless a show is marked as HD in the guide or if the analog tuners are busy.

Or if the analog tuners cannot tune that channel, correct. It would then try and use the QAM tuners to record the show. If the analog and QAM tuners are unable to record the channel in question then it would move to the HD-PVRs.

One last question: my cable provider (TWC) only broadcasts the four basic channels over ClearQAM. I have remapped the logical station guide to match what the HD-PVRs use (so NBC which is 92-1-10 is now 1010). So if I start to record a show in HD at 8PM that is 2 hours long on NBC will SageTV be "smart enough" to know to use the ClearQAM tuner because I have other shows that need the HD-PVR at at 9PM?

Yes. Re-mapping is helpful for you in the guide but Sage knows which tuners can see which channels.

Where Sage is even smarter is that if you had 5 shows on at the same time, all available in both HD and SD. Sage will try and use the four HD tuners to record them (even though SD tuners are available and higher priority). It would then try and schedule a different airing of one of the HD shows if that was available (record three now and two later for instance). If there were no other showings only THEN would Sage pick the SD recording.

The channels in question and the priority of your favorites would determine which recording(s) were SD.

[will]

Originally Posted by Djc208

Or if the analog tuners cannot tune that channel, correct. It would then try and use the QAM tuners to record the show. If the analog and QAM tuners are unable to record the channel in question then it would move to the HD-PVRs.



Yes. Re-mapping is helpful for you in the guide but Sage knows which tuners can see which channels.

Where Sage is even smarter is that if you had 5 shows on at the same time, all available in both HD and SD. Sage will try and use the four HD tuners to record them (even though SD tuners are available and higher priority). It would then try and schedule a different airing of one of the HD shows if that was available (record three now and two later for instance). If there were no other showings only THEN would Sage pick the SD recording.

The channels in question and the priority of your favorites would determine which recording(s) were SD.

Thanks for the help! Sage is pretty clever.

Here is how I ended up modifying my properties file (highest priority to lowest priority).

With the four physical tuners I have:

WinTV-7164 Analog/Digital Tuner #1 - encoder_merit = 10
WinTV-7164 Analog/Digital Tuner #2 - encoder_merit = 9
HD-PVR #1 - encoder_merit = 5
HD-PVR #2 - encoder_merit = 4

Thanks again for the help Djc208. I am happy I posted here before making changes, otherwise I wouldn't have thought to put Analog as the highest.

Will