Reclaiming more disc space and minor tweaks

[tivofantastic]

mrtickle - I have just updated the "bar" graphics with the ones from your zip file (attached to your first post in this thread) - thanks!

As it happens, since upgrading to a flat screen (only last year actually), flickering is no longer a problem as the digitisation circuitry effectively eliminates it. However, the rounded ends of the bars were heavily anti-aliased and blurred so the new bar graphics are definitely an improvement. A couple of comments/requests:

1) Any chance you could make a similar zip file of your the "blob" graphics i.e. the yellow, red and green circles displayed to the left of the entries in the Now Playing list. Mine are still the default and so on a widescreen are stretched to an oval rather than circular shape - that has never particularly offended me hence the reason I have not sought out the replacement circular ones. However, now that I have updated the bar graphics I notice that the default blobs are no longer centred vertically - they are too high and actually touch the top of the bar. So I guess now would be the time for me to update them with some "compatible" circular blob graphics - if could zip/tar up yours with a tcl install script that would be appreciated!

2) I notice (on my TV at any rate) that the the new rounded end to the bar actually has a couple of nicks out of it at about 2 o'clock and 4 o'clock. I guess there is not much that can be done about that and that it's down to the resolution of the graphic - i.e. it's really a choice between a blurred anti-aliased curve or a smooth curve albeit with a couple of nicks out of it?

[mrtickle]

I've added the dots zip to the first post in this thread. I think it should also be on tivocommunity somewhere. I sort of gave up with the job 90% done! The wishlist icon cuts the top of my selection bars as I have them now, and I was really disappointed with the circle version of "WaitLonger-256.3.png" (The Season Pass Manager "Please Wait... this might take a minute" clock) - it made it circular but wrecked the text. Because of that, I didn't even attempt a circle version of "UKWait-256.1.png" which is the normal TiVo "please wait" that appears every time you enter ToDo, Now Playing, etc. I think I must have decided it didn't look bad enough to risk it!

I've also added the version 5 of the select bars to the first post. This had a much smoother edge to BlackWhiteRightCap.3.png but wasn't quite tall enough, and I think from memory it was too bright as well. It's that damn restrictive pallette again.

I'll put some screenshots in here so that everyone can see the changes to the dots without having to run the scipts. Please bear in mind though - the fixed versions still won't look quite circular here either, because PAL pixels are NOT square, and these were screengrabs done using tyserver and VLC. But you should be able to see the differences. On a PAL TV the fixed graphics are better.

SP "please wait" - before

SP-man-before.jpg (33.15 KiB) Viewed 7289 times

Circle clock, but at the expense of the text - wish I hadn't bothered

SP "please wait" - after

SP-man-after.jpg (17.22 KiB) Viewed 7289 times

Seems there is a max of 3 attachements per post so I'll continue in the next post.

[mrtickle]

Now Playing - before

NP-before.jpg (31.42 KiB) Viewed 7289 times

Now Playing - Suggestion icon done, others not yet done

NP-1done.jpg (30.86 KiB) Viewed 7289 times

Now Playing - after

NP-after.jpg (30.61 KiB) Viewed 7289 times

[mrtickle]

Now Playing suggestions - before

NP-sugg-before.jpg (33.12 KiB) Viewed 7289 times

Now Playing suggestions - after

NP-sugg-after.jpg (33.25 KiB) Viewed 7289 times

[mrtickle]

mrtickle - I have just updated the "bar" graphics with the ones from your zip file (attached to your first post in this thread) - thanks!

You're most welcome!

2) I notice (on my TV at any rate) that the the new rounded end to the bar actually has a couple of nicks out of it at about 2 o'clock and 4 o'clock. I guess there is not much that can be done about that and that it's down to the resolution of the graphic - i.e. it's really a choice between a blurred anti-aliased curve or a smooth curve albeit with a couple of nicks out of it?

From memory I think I gave up because it was too big a job. Have a browse in MFS in Resources/images and you'll see all of them. The images that make up the onscreen green progress bar are in there too. The reason the pause "||" bars have fuzzy edges wasn't my TV after all - it was stray pixels in the image! (ReplayPause.3 and ReplayPauseRecord.3).

Sloppy work, TiVo :-(

Big-ReplayPauseRecord.3.png (29.12 KiB) Viewed 7288 times

Maybe it's me being too much of a perfectionist. Anyway here's a comparison of the older v5 selection bar endcap (now uploaded to the first post) with the v6 one which is the one I think you used)

v5-vs-v6.PNG (2.62 KiB) Viewed 7288 times

I was pleased with myself when I created v5 but I can't remember why I didn't keep it. Also note that it isn't as tall as it could be; the newer properly round dots needs as much vertical height as possible!

If anyone out there has enough time and patience, they could tidy up the images we see most. I would start with reading the guides to how Logos should be created, particularly the palettes instructions.

[mrtickle]

These were very subtle edits. The Season Pass and Single-Record icons had their balls squashed horizontally to make them round but I think they still weren't quite right. The ticks were tidied up a bit.

To Do - before

ToDo-before.jpg (35.17 KiB) Viewed 7288 times

To Do - after

ToDo-after.jpg (34.52 KiB) Viewed 7288 times

[tivofantastic]

Thanks the for the additional images - now installed! I have stuck with the v6 bar as it is perfectly good enough and appears to be the proper height (as opposed to the v5 bar which look like it may be 1 pixel too short).

Since you mentioned the WaitLonger-256.3.png text looked poor, I produced another one quickly by combining the clock from your image with the text from the original image (see attached). On my TV the clock still doesn't look exactly round but I am guessing it must be rounder than it was before I don't recollect how squashed the original clock was in this image and can't say it ever particularly bothered me - which begs the question why I am bothering now, but heh, why not. Thanks again.

[gvm]

Hi,
You mentioned changing padding options:

* more padding options - just by changing the relevant string in MFS you can easily add more, and they all work. I always hated only having 1,2,5 mins with 3 and 4 missing; and the huge jumps between 1hr, 1 1/2hrs and 3 hrs longer often cause clashes with a later ToDo programme if you're trying to extend an in-progress recording and know that EndPad won't save you (eg F1 race). So I added them. 1 1/4hrs, 1 3/4hrs, 2hrs, 2 1/2hrs, etc. (Half-minutes work perfectly too but might be too much for most.)

Are you talking about changing the user interface on the Tivo or just the menus of TivoWeb?

Could you be more specific about what needs to be changed? I've looked through all the MFS menus in TivoWeb and can't find anything relevant. I'd very much like to make these changes, but I can't figure out where they need to be made.

Thanks

gvm

[mrtickle]

It's a resource string in MFS that I changed - it contains the titles and values for each padding option.
Original:
End padding: {On-time|0|1 minute longer|60|2 minutes longer|120|5 minutes longer|300|15 minutes longer|900|30 minutes longer|1800|1 hour longer|3600|1 1/2 hours longer|5400|3 hours longer|10800|}
Keep At Least: {Until space needed|0|1 day|1|2 days|2|3 days|3|4 days|4|5 days|5|6 days|6|7 days|7|Until I delete|-1|}

Mine:
End padding: {On time|0|1/2 a minute longer|30|1 minute longer|60|2 minutes longer|120|3 minutes longer|180|4 minutes longer|240|5 minutes longer|300|10 minutes longer|600|15 minutes longer|900|20 minutes longer|1200|25 minutes longer|1500|30 minutes longer|1800|35 minutes longer|2100|40 minutes longer|2400|45 minutes longer|2700|50 minutes longer|3000|55 minutes longer|3300|1 hour longer|3600|1 1/4 hours longer|4500|1 1/2 hours longer|5400|1 3/4 hours longer|6300|2 hours longer|7200|3 hours longer|10800|}
Keep At Least: {Until space needed|0|Until I feel like it|-1|1 day|1|2 days|2|3 days|3|4 days|4|5 days|5|6 days|6|A week|7|10 days|10|A fortnight|14|3 weeks|21|A month|30|}
etc.

Then the tivo software just works with the extra values - it's nice like that. (Tivoweb doesn't use them - as it's hard-coded with the standard 1,2,5 minutes - but you can change the values that the tivoweb pages use as well as or instead of changing MFS).

The exact IDs of these resources depend on where the strings were indexed to when your tivo was upgraded to 2.5.5 and my process was all manual (mfs dump of all the strings to find them!). Just like my "NoNag" is at 6703512/-1 and yours is somewhere else. There are loads of them and it was a bit hairy to be honest. The great news is that millsb has been working on the next AltEPG image and has written a script which should find the right strings on every TiVo and replace them. It's in testing now, and when it's ready I believe it should be available as part of the tar version of the image so you'll be able to get it from the tar and run it yourself without needing to re-image. Then you clear the resources (just like when adding Logos and changing the bitrates) and reboot to see the changes.

[BrokenStar]

Could you be more specific about what needs to be changed? I've looked through all the MFS menus in TivoWeb and can't find anything relevant. I'd very much like to make these changes, but I can't figure out where they need to be made.

You need the menuedit module for TiVoWeb. Original version is here:
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=365484

Except that module only loads the first set of resource strings. You'll need to edit the following line in the file menuedit.itcl:
set objStrResGroup [lindex $objResourceGroup 1]

Change the number 1 to other values to see other sets of resource strings (you have to restart TiVoWeb for any changes to take effect). Also note that the plugin is buggy, for example it doesn't work properly on strings that contain newlines (it will corrupt the string).

[tivofantastic]

I have noticed on a few occasions in the last few months that the green bar seems to stop short of the end.

e.g. On an hour long programme the green bar occasionally stops at around the 55 minute mark (i.e. there is a small amount of black space left before the 1hr marker).

This is despite the fact that the full programme has been recorded i.e. It's not that the TiVo rebooted 5 mins before the end (which I understand would have the same effect).

Now, I have never noticed this until now and have used TiVo for almost 10 years, so I am guessing it may be related to the new graphics I uploaded (kindly provided by mrtickle further up this thread). BTW, I am not using the AltEPG image (just and original upgraded image). Has anyone else seen this behaviour? Is it likely to be the new graphics? The thing is, I don't think it happens all the time which would perhaps suggest it is not related to the progress bar graphics, but I am not watching enough TV at the moment to be sure

[mrtickle]

I've seen this when I have an interruption in the recording. Eg when the disc is on its way out and there are large spats of pixellation/repeated sections, or when there was "no signal" for part of the recording.

So if the duration of the recording is 15 mins but there was "no signal" going into tivo's AUX socket for some of it, the green bar won't be the full 15 mins.

If the pixellation/missed segment happens during advert breaks which you FF through, you don't always notice. You can test for this with a short manual recording and then putting your digibox/freeview box into Standby for 20-30 seconds a few times during the recording and then back onto the correct channel. Watch the recording to see what happens during the times you know should be missing and see if the results are the same.

My replacement images don't change the green bar, but other people's might!

[tivofantastic]

I've seen this when I have an interruption in the recording. Eg when the disc is on its way out and there are large spats of pixellation/repeated sections, or when there was "no signal" for part of the recording.

Ah, that'll be it then yes. I used to run a dual source feed to TiVo (Freeview via RF, and Freesat from Sky via SCART). Where there was a choice I chose the Freeview (i.e. RF) version of the channel as I liked the fact my Freeview box displayed the current channel on an LED front panel. Signal quality from my Sky box (via SCART) has always been a little better but suffered from the occasional blockiness during bad whether. Conversly, the Freeview signal strength was little better (so less blockiness) but it did suffered from a little RF noise (but not a lot) as a result of being fed to TiVo via the RF input.

Since switching to AltEPG I have decided to abandon my Freeview box altogether and just go with a single "Freesat from Sky" feed via SCART. I figured that with the all the +1 channels now available, and the fact that most channels available on Freeview are also available on Freesat from Sky (plus a few more), that a dual box setup wasn't worth bothering with any more.

Anyway, why am I telling you all this, well:

1) Yes, the more frequent signal losses and blockiness of the Sky box feed (albeit still not that common) will account for the fact that I have only now started to spot the geen progress bar stopping short of the total programme duration. Also, I think I notice it more on programmes lasting 1hr+ which would stack up.

2) With the cleaner Sky feed via SCART I have been surprised at just how much better the mode 0 picture now looks (than when I used to feed TiVo mainly via RF). Furthermore, I have noticed a significant reduction in the classic mode 0 flicker across the bottom of the screen. Indeed, I now hardly ever notice it.

So, the main point I wanted to share was that it seems there is a very significant benefit to mode 0 of using the highest quality and cleanest feed possible. I would encourage anyone who is still less than satisfied with mode 0, or who still sees the occasional flickering across the bottom of the screen in mode 0 to:

1) Abandon using the RF feed (especially as most channels appear to be available via both Satellite and Freeview these days).

2) If abandoning the RF feed in favour of SCART doesn't improve mode 0 quality and reduce flickering significantly, then try changing your set top box, and failing that replacing/realigning/rewiring your satellite dish, replacing your LNB, replacing your terrestrial aerial etc, with the aim of getting the highest possible quality signal.

Whilst a small amount of noise may not normally make much difference if feeding your TV directly, it seems that it does make a more significant difference to the quality of TiVo mode 0 and in my experience almost eliminates mode 0 flickering. I guess the TiVo DAC works much better with the cleanest possible signal, especially when working at its limits in mode 0.

I am now quite happy with the performance of TiVo in mode 0 on a 50" plasma, and whilst HD would be nice, the clean mode 0 picture is now not bad at all. For me, the benefits of the superior TiVo UI and its hassle free, just works, efficient functionality (that lives on thanks to AltEPG) still far outweighs the benefits of HD and dual tuners etc., although a TiVo with HD and dual tuners would be nice

If others also find a clean signal dramatically improves mode 0 and reduces flickering then perhaps this post should be moved to its own thread where it can be found easily. When the mode 0 hack was first discovered and the flickering at the bottom of the screen was a hot topic I don't remember seeing anyone mention anywhere that the signal quality made a big difference to flickering symptoms and mode 0 quality. Instead, there was a lot of talk about it being the luck of the drawer as to whether you owned a TiVo that just happened to handle mode 0 with minimal flickering. I now suspect that the real reason for different people's experiences was likely to have been the quality of the signal they were feeding TiVo.

I really should learn to be more succinct, but maybe my verboseness will have a positive SEO effect and give this post more chance of being listed highly in Google for "TiVo mode 0 flickering"

[mrtickle]

Fair enough! Do a test with a 5-min manual recording and it'll be really obvious

[drgeoff]

I guess the TiVo DAC works much better with the cleanest possible signal, especially when working at its limits in mode 0.

To be strictly accurate (as I always strive to be ) it is the MPEG decoder rather than the DAC which causes the white flashes when the input bit rate is higher than it can cope with. Even when an MPEG video coder is operated at a constant bit rate, it achieves that by a rate smoothing buffer. The instantaneous coded rate can be much higher than the fixed average rate at those parts of the image that are "difficult" to encode. In the same manner, in those difficult parts an MPEG decoder needs to decode more than the average number of bits per second and the IBM decoder chip in the S1 TiVo sometimes hits its limit in Mode 0.

Any predictive coder (of which MPEG-2 is an example) has a harder job with noisier inputs.