Feature Request Thread

[TigerNightmare]

My v7 trial license is set to expire tomorrow and I just paid for my $40 upgrade. Not because I believe v7 is anywhere near a significant step above v6, but because I like and believe in this software and I wish to see it move forward. Below is my personal feature request list. We should all put them in one place and make it easier for the devs to get feedback from the user base. Share your thoughts on my list and share your own ideas.

1. Merge back to back recordings on the same channel into one file so there is no more gap between files.
This is priority numero uno for me. Right now, Sage is forced to end one file and start another when recording two shows back to back on the same channel. This has always been extremely problematic whenever all my tuners are otherwise occupied recording other channels and any buffer time I add to the back to back same channel shows is ignored. During this file change, 3-8 seconds ends up missing, which is a piece of dialogue at best and a critical early plot point at worst. Schedule conflicts also surface if there is buffer time and not enough tuners to support overlapping recording. If Sage could keep multiple shows recorded into a single file, a prompt for deletion after all shows have "watched" status could be, "All shows in this file have been watched. Delete this file now?" It seems like a simple solution to a terrible problem.

2. Add internal software volume, including amplification/normalization options.
The current volume slider is pretty useless because it affects system volume. My system volume, I prefer to keep at 50%. Higher than 75%, I get distorted clipping in my speakers and if I want to go louder or quieter, I can use the volume control on my speakers. I like VLC's volume system, which allows up to 400% amplification with a quick and easy adjustment. These digital HD feeds tend to be quieter than typical video files and just about everything else in a Windows environment is noiser. It's kind of annoying that I have to turn my speakers way up while I'm watching a quiet, tense scene and then a 500 ft door opens when someone signs on in my buddy list.

3. Fix the intermittent stuttering playback issue. Optimize hardware utilization.
SageTV seems to need a lot more resources than possible through consumer hardware to run files without having to choose between horizontal tearing or playback stuttering. Some of the recording files I have can be played without any of these issues with VLC or Media Player Classic. Transparency effects is a different issue, but there has to be some kind of optimizations to take advantage of in current hardware technology. The graphics card I have now is at least twice as powerful as the one it replaced and I'm seeing the same issues.

4. Add enhanced editing, file conversion options, frame by frame advancing and classic search playback options like slow motion, fast forward and rewind.
I have an old Toshiba SDTV DVR that I was quite fond of. One of the things I really liked about it was its editing interface, which was really simple. Fast forward to the commercial break, advance frame by frame to just the right spot and then create a chapter stop. After creating all the chapter stops, you choose the chapters you want for your end file and then the software does the rest. The current interface of putting into seconds where you want your file to start and the amount of seconds you want the file to last (you have to do math, ugh) really stinks and only allows you to save a single uninterrupted segment and not merge several segments into one.

5. Stop stealing focus when activating the screen saver.
This is kind of a daily annoyance for me. Whenever SageTV is paused or is idling while I'm working on something else (like posting this message), SageTV's screen saver kicks in. What bothers me is that SageTV demands focus when this happens. The taskbar pops up and SageTV's task flashes orange. LOOK AT ME LOOK AT ME I JUST TURNED THE SCREEN SAVER ON! Seems like it would be an easy fix, to not request focus while Sage is in the background. A slightly more interesting screen saver or just the activation of the standard Windows screen saver would be nice, too.

6. Full Blu-ray support.
Fairly certain that this is definitely in the works already, but still something important and a product to compete with Cyberlink's PowerDVD could do a lot to increase the user base. A screen capture option would be nice as well, since I heard that studios pressured Cyberlink to not include it because they didn't want copyrighted freeze frames of their movies on the internet.

7. Automatically defragment disk space after deleting files.
HDTV recordings take up a lot of space and with tons of recording files and their deletions occurring, my hard drive tends to get a little fragmented. I don't know how much it would improve performance, but a little process that defragments and optimizes disk space in the background couldn't hurt.

8. Remember stopped playback positions of timed recordings. Enable custom titling of timed recordings or use listed program data for meta data.
SageTV remembers the last position of a recording if playback was halted. For timed recordings that I use to record at least two back to back shows uninterrupted, however, if I want to watch one show and the other(s) later, Sage does not remember where playback left off. I don't know if this has to do with a lack of meta data or not, but it would be nice if Sage would save the last position of these files. I know there is a plugin that allows you to title timed recordings, but it seems like a no-brainer to make support native.

9. Disable mouse wheel channel changing or enable remapping the function to other buttons/keys.
On more than one occasion, I've inadvertently rolled the mouse wheel and accidentally changed channels. This is especially problematic for time shifting live TV and you don't have Sage set to save all live TV recordings.

10. Add prompts for watched status of recordings that are not deleted with the SageTV interface.
I used to watch my recordings with Media Player Classic because of the aforementioned tearing issue and would then delete the file. Sage doesn't know that that file was "watched", so it would record the rerun if the file would disappear. Sage should be made aware of the files it creates and interfaces with so that when you run the program, it will notice if files are missing and could prompt you to mark the shows watched or record again if possible.

11. Accept American Express credit cards.
Lastly, I just noticed that Discover is accepted but not American Express. I used my backup VISA card, but, really? Discover? Really?

[PLUCKYHD]

Firstly readinga and searching would save you time.

Originally Posted by TigerNightmare

1. Merge back to back recordings on the same channel into one file so there is no more gap between files.
This is priority numero uno for me. Right now, Sage is forced to end one file and start another when recording two shows back to back on the same channel. This has always been extremely problematic whenever all my tuners are otherwise occupied recording other channels and any buffer time I add to the back to back same channel shows is ignored. During this file change, 3-8 seconds ends up missing, which is a piece of dialogue at best and a critical early plot point at worst. Schedule conflicts also surface if there is buffer time and not enough tuners to support overlapping recording. If Sage could keep multiple shows recorded into a single file, a prompt for deletion after all shows have "watched" status could be, "All shows in this file have been watched. Delete this file now?" It seems like a simple solution to a terrible problem.

Please don't merge the files!!! Why would you want this? You are going to get this issue with any DVR you use when all tuners are tied up.

Originally Posted by TigerNightmare

2. Add internal software volume, including amplification/normalization options.
The current volume slider is pretty useless because it affects system volume. My system volume, I prefer to keep at 50%. Higher than 75%, I get distorted clipping in my speakers and if I want to go louder or quieter, I can use the volume control on my speakers. I like VLC's volume system, which allows up to 400% amplification with a quick and easy adjustment. These digital HD feeds tend to be quieter than typical video files and just about everything else in a Windows environment is noiser. It's kind of annoying that I have to turn my speakers way up while I'm watching a quiet, tense scene and then a 500 ft door opens when someone signs on in my buddy list.

That is up to you to control your volume. The extender remote comes with programmable volume controls? how do you expect the buddy list and sage to use different volume levels??

Originally Posted by TigerNightmare

3. Fix the intermittent stuttering playback issue. Optimize hardware utilization.
SageTV seems to need a lot more resources than possible through consumer hardware to run files without having to choose between horizontal tearing or playback stuttering. Some of the recording files I have can be played without any of these issues with VLC or Media Player Classic. Transparency effects is a different issue, but there has to be some kind of optimizations to take advantage of in current hardware technology. The graphics card I have now is at least twice as powerful as the one it replaced and I'm seeing the same issues.

I see none of this issues and don't see hardly any compliants about stutturing again this is your hardware not sagetv. Don't always assume it is sagetv.

Originally Posted by TigerNightmare

.

5. Stop stealing focus when activating the screen saver.
This is kind of a daily annoyance for me. Whenever SageTV is paused or is idling while I'm working on something else (like posting this message), SageTV's screen saver kicks in. What bothers me is that SageTV demands focus when this happens. The taskbar pops up and SageTV's task flashes orange. LOOK AT ME LOOK AT ME I JUST TURNED THE SCREEN SAVER ON! Seems like it would be an easy fix, to not request focus while Sage is in the background. A slightly more interesting screen saver or just the activation of the standard Windows screen saver would be nice, too.

how about turning sagetv screen saver off....It kind of has to steal focus to come on I see no way around this

Originally Posted by TigerNightmare

.

6. Full Blu-ray support.
Fairly certain that this is definitely in the works already, but still something important and a product to compete with Cyberlink's PowerDVD could do a lot to increase the user base. A screen capture option would be nice as well, since I heard that studios pressured Cyberlink to not include it because they didn't want copyrighted freeze frames of their movies on the internet.

You can use third party players I don't think you will ever see full blu ray support as this requires licensing unlike dvd menu support.

Originally Posted by TigerNightmare

.

Again this is up to you. You can easily set windows task to defrag your drives if that is important (if you use 64k clusters it isn't). Not sage's responsibility to handle your drive control nor would you want them to.

Don't use a mouse....

How is sage suppose to be responsible for programs you watch outside the sage interface again this is asking way too much

That's funny

[Tiki]

Originally Posted by TigerNightmare

1. Merge back to back recordings on the same channel into one file so there is no more gap between files.

I agree this is a big problem, but merging recordings into a single file does not sound like a good solution.

My first choice would be for them to split the stream into two separate files at the same time so that you still ended up with a separate recording for each show. Sage devs have already commented that this would be a whole lot of work to do and they didn't seem to want to do it.

My second choice would be to change the scheduling engine so that it would only remove padding on back to back favorites if needed to resolve a scheduling conflict. Right now it either enforces the padding or removes the padding (based on a setup parameter) before it tries to schedule.

Originally Posted by TigerNightmare

2. Add internal software volume, including amplification/normalization options.

I guess I could see some benefit to an optional volume leveling feature (if you record from both analog and digital sources or SD and HD sources, this issue tends to be more noticeable).

Originally Posted by TigerNightmare

3. Fix the intermittent stuttering playback issue. Optimize hardware utilization.

Performance optimizations are always welcome, though I'm not sure how much of this is within Sage's control.

Originally Posted by TigerNightmare

4. Add enhanced editing, file conversion options, frame by frame advancing and classic search playback options like slow motion, fast forward and rewind.

These seem like separate wishes, but both would be nice. On a related note, variable speed playback would also be nice (some video players offer a feature where you can play back at 110% or 120% of normal speed to get through things like the news faster - usually called something like "Time Compress").

Originally Posted by TigerNightmare

5. Stop stealing focus when activating the screen saver.

I didn't think the Sage Screen Saver worked at all unless Sage was running full-screen. It doesn't really make sense to run when Sage is running in a Window or is minimized. This sounds like a bug.

Originally Posted by TigerNightmare

6. Full Blu-ray support.

Agreed this would be nice. I know the standard argument is that Sage would have to pay to license this ability and not everyone would want to pay for this. It seems they could offer an optional paid add-on (many programs have "plus" or "deluxe" versions that add features for an extra cost).

Originally Posted by TigerNightmare

7. Automatically defragment disk space after deleting files.

No this should be done outside of Sage. There are plenty of ways to defrag your hard drive either on a one-time or scheduled basis. No reason for Sage to mess around with my hard disk.

Originally Posted by TigerNightmare

8. Remember stopped playback positions of timed recordings. Enable custom titling of timed recordings or use listed program data for meta data.

I don't really use timed recordings, but this seems like a worthwhile upgrade.

Originally Posted by TigerNightmare

9. Disable mouse wheel channel changing or enable remapping the function to other buttons/keys.

You can re-map buttons. I don't use a mouse with Sage so, don't know why you wouldn't be able to re-map the wheel. This isn't an issue for me.

Originally Posted by TigerNightmare

10. Add prompts for watched status of recordings that are not deleted with the SageTV interface.

That would probably cause a lot of annoying pop-ups for most people. A better way for you to handle this situation is to not delete the recording outside of Sage. Go ahead and watch it somewhere else, but then use Sage to mark it as watched and delete it.

Originally Posted by TigerNightmare

11. Accept American Express credit cards.

Not a big deal to me.


How about:
12. Dynamic Menus - I want to re-arrange the menu groupings in a more logical way.
13. Weather Maps
14. Better Parental Controls (option to completely hide titles of items that don't meet control level).
15. Native support for streaming video from premium sources (Netflix, Amazon, Vudu, Hulu+ etc.).
16. Native support for Cable Card including playback of DRM'd material (without enforcing DRM restrictions on anything else that doesn't absolutely require it).

I know some of these features are coming in the form of plugins or alternate UI's (Phoenix, Ortus,...) but most of these haven't been released yet and it would be nice to see some of them in the core product.

There's probably a bunch more I could come up with if I thought about it longer...

[carlgar]

I totaly agree with #9. I don't usually use a mouse with Sage. However, with my daul montiors I use the Sage client on one monitor while doing work on the other. It drives me up a wall when I am need to skip in sage and then go back and use the wheel on the mouse. This currently causes Sage to change channels on me. If anyone has a work around I want to know it.

[wayner]

I agree with you on a few of these issues but I don't see most of them since I use extenders for playback rather than PCs.

In terms of feature enhancements I think there are other areas that should have a higher priority:

1. Native Netflix support.
2. Users - this can help deal with parental controls.
3. Dynamic Menus - although the new UIs like Diamond and Phoenix make this less of an issue.

[Opus4]

For the mouse: while it isn't configurable in the UI, it can be changed via the properties file. Simply set the wheel_down_event_code and wheel_up_event_code properties to the event/command numbers you want it to use. I think you can set them to 0 to disable them.

- Andy

[carlgar]

Originally Posted by Opus4

For the mouse: while it isn't configurable in the UI, it can be changed via the properties file. Simply set the wheel_down_event_code and wheel_up_event_code properties to the event/command numbers you want it to use. I think you can set them to 0 to disable them.

- Andy

I just changed both values to 0 in the client properties file and seems to work great. Is there anything like this for the mouse bottons? The buttons don't seem to be an issue for me, but I thought I would ask. Is there any complete documention for the properties to cover this issue and other parameters like the "forced_mac_address="? I am sure there are a lot of other parameters that people may not know about. Thank you very much for the fix .

[Deacon Crusher]

The quoted items below are to me the king features that Sage needs

I'd rank them this way in importance. (added 2 others)

14 Better Parental Controls (integrated into a user system)
16 Native support for Cable Card (or at least built in support for Prime and Ceton)
15 Native Netflix (and others)
full blu-ray would be great, if possible,
12 Dynamic menus
Better music management

They have all of that and Sage is King. They've come so far in the last few years. That list used to be 15 or 20 items long.

Originally Posted by Tiki

How about:
12. Dynamic Menus - I want to re-arrange the menu groupings in a more logical way.
13. Weather Maps
14. Better Parental Controls (option to completely hide titles of items that don't meet control level).
15. Native support for streaming video from premium sources (Netflix, Amazon, Vudu, Hulu+ etc.).
16. Native support for Cable Card including playback of DRM'd material (without enforcing DRM restrictions on anything else that doesn't absolutely require it).
...

[Donavin69]

15. Native support for streaming video from premium sources (Netflix, Amazon, Vudu, Hulu+ etc.).

(mostly the etc, but pay movie sites would be worthwhile for me with this these capabilities)

I've eliminated my satelite, and have high latency Internet, so caching ability on the server would be great. (queue up movies/youtube whatever, and the server can download)

[texneus]

Originally Posted by Tiki

...without enforcing DRM restrictions on anything else that doesn't absolutely require it...

Such a system would be uncertifiable. By definition if there are DRM restrictions it is required and has be enforced. While were at it, could we add world peace to the list?

[Tiki]

Originally Posted by texneus

Such a system would be uncertifiable. By definition if there are DRM restrictions it is required and has be enforced. While were at it, could we add world peace to the list?

I say false.
Yes you would have to enforce DRM on recordings made from a protected source (eg cable card), but there is no reason that you should have to wrap DRM restrictions around other content. My iPhone can play DRM'd music files, but it can also play unprotected MP3s.

That's all I'm saying - only enforce DRM on the content that absolutely needs it and continue to put everything else in a DRM-free container.

[Gustovier]

The ability to set the transcoder quality for an extender in place shifter mode is up there on my list. The bitrate that gets chosen is subpar than what could be supported given some folks internet speeds and CPU horse power.

[tmiranda]

Originally Posted by Gustovier

The ability to set the transcoder quality for an extender in place shifter mode is up there on my list. The bitrate that gets chosen is subpar than what could be supported given some folks internet speeds and CPU horse power.

I think there is a property that you can edit to change this. IIRC the property defines what transcode profile to use and cna be changed to anything you like. Look through the sage.properties file on the server and you may find a likely candidate.

[Gustovier]

Originally Posted by tmiranda

I think there is a property that you can edit to change this. IIRC the property defines what transcode profile to use and cna be changed to anything you like. Look through the sage.properties file on the server and you may find a likely candidate.

Nope there isn't a way to control this on extenders at all. Which is a shame cause the system is capable of so much more quality in place shifter mode! I would buy many more extenders if I could get this.