Comments on: Beyond TV 4.3 Delivers More TV! http://blogstage.snapstream.com/2006/06/08/beyondtv-43/ An inside look at news, events and technology at Fri, 19 Mar 2010 21:11:08 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: depot http://blogstage.snapstream.com/2006/06/08/beyondtv-43/#comment-200094 depot Fri, 17 Aug 2007 04:27:15 +0000 http://blogs.snapstream.com/?p=94#comment-200094 Overall BTV is an excellent product. Been using it for over a year w/o any major problems. Overall BTV is an excellent product. Been using it for over a year w/o any major problems.

]]> By: Unclep2k http://blogstage.snapstream.com/2006/06/08/beyondtv-43/#comment-93175 Unclep2k Fri, 09 Feb 2007 07:00:18 +0000 http://blogs.snapstream.com/?p=94#comment-93175 Just bought 4.5 to use with my mce a180 high definition tv card...works fine for about 10 minutes and then the video freezes Just bought 4.5 to use with my mce a180 high definition tv card…works fine for about 10 minutes and then the video freezes

]]> By: Soham http://blogstage.snapstream.com/2006/06/08/beyondtv-43/#comment-38929 Soham Fri, 24 Nov 2006 17:34:28 +0000 http://blogs.snapstream.com/?p=94#comment-38929 The only way to fix this would be to change the name of the file before it is ShowSqueezed. Or you could possibly achieve this with a script of some sort. But unfortunately, there is no quick fix in the software. The only way to fix this would be to change the name of the file before it is ShowSqueezed. Or you could possibly achieve this with a script of some sort. But unfortunately, there is no quick fix in the software.

]]> By: Chris http://blogstage.snapstream.com/2006/06/08/beyondtv-43/#comment-38227 Chris Mon, 20 Nov 2006 20:59:26 +0000 http://blogs.snapstream.com/?p=94#comment-38227 Or, if you can point me to which file needs to be changed to make that happen, I have the source code that I downloaded from snapstream's site and can do the edit just for my copy here. Or, if you can point me to which file needs to be changed to make that happen, I have the source code that I downloaded from snapstream’s site and can do the edit just for my copy here.

]]> By: Chris http://blogstage.snapstream.com/2006/06/08/beyondtv-43/#comment-37667 Chris Fri, 17 Nov 2006 22:04:52 +0000 http://blogs.snapstream.com/?p=94#comment-37667 any way to change the datestamp on show squeezed files from being at the end of the file name to the beginning? I've got a php list that generates html with links to the wmv files that have been showsqueezed and would like to list them by date but now it is alphabetical. So, that would help a lot! any way to change the datestamp on show squeezed files from being at the end of the file name to the beginning? I’ve got a php list that generates html with links to the wmv files that have been showsqueezed and would like to list them by date but now it is alphabetical. So, that would help a lot!

]]> By: btv buzz http://blogstage.snapstream.com/2006/06/08/beyondtv-43/#comment-23352 btv buzz Wed, 26 Jul 2006 01:51:36 +0000 http://blogs.snapstream.com/?p=94#comment-23352 BTV Buzz has lots of potential. However, I find it quite useless when 7 of the top 15 shows are duplicates. Seems like this should have been thought of in development... Top Recorded Episodes (7/17/2006 - 7/23/2006) 1 Eureka - Pilot 2 Stargate SG-1 - Morpheus 3 Stargate Atlantis - Misbegotten 4 MythBusters - Steam Cannon 5 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 6 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 7 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 8 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart 9 Psych - Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Piece 10 Monk - Mr. Monk and the Big Game 11 General Hospital 12 The 4400 - Blink 13 The Colbert Report 14 The Colbert Report 15 The Colbert Report BTV Buzz has lots of potential. However, I find it quite useless when 7 of the top 15 shows are duplicates. Seems like this should have been thought of in development…

Top Recorded Episodes (7/17/2006 - 7/23/2006)
1 Eureka - Pilot
2 Stargate SG-1 - Morpheus
3 Stargate Atlantis - Misbegotten
4 MythBusters - Steam Cannon
5 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
6 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
7 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
8 The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
9 Psych - Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Piece
10 Monk - Mr. Monk and the Big Game
11 General Hospital
12 The 4400 - Blink
13 The Colbert Report
14 The Colbert Report
15 The Colbert Report

]]> By: CV http://blogstage.snapstream.com/2006/06/08/beyondtv-43/#comment-22734 CV Mon, 24 Jul 2006 03:39:13 +0000 http://blogs.snapstream.com/?p=94#comment-22734 Overall BTV is an excellent product. Been using it for over a year w/o any major problems. However, with 4.3 upgrade after mpeg files are compressed as wmv files, (1) the date of the recording is changed to the showsqueeze date (if a file is recorded 7/21, compressed on 7/23, then the "new" date is 7/23. This is not consistent with earlier 4.x products and not a good "feature" in my opnion. (2) file is renamed as -.wmv in the BTV menu (3) all show info (channel, time/date) no longer shows in the "new" compressed file info Overall BTV is an excellent product. Been using it for over a year w/o any major problems.

However, with 4.3 upgrade after mpeg files are compressed as wmv files,

(1) the date of the recording is changed to the showsqueeze date (if a file is recorded 7/21, compressed on 7/23, then the “new” date is 7/23. This is not consistent with earlier 4.x products and not a good “feature” in my opnion.
(2) file is renamed as -.wmv in the BTV menu
(3) all show info (channel, time/date) no longer shows in the “new” compressed file info

]]> By: Soham http://blogstage.snapstream.com/2006/06/08/beyondtv-43/#comment-21842 Soham Tue, 18 Jul 2006 19:52:29 +0000 http://blogs.snapstream.com/?p=94#comment-21842 bruce, we don't monitor the blogs actively especially on older posts, so the best way to get immediate answers is through tech support. so sorry for the delay... some authoring applications can take any format (including DivX) and create DVDs. however, this will not be faster since the authoring software will have to recompress the file to MPEG2 first. so if your goal is to create DVDs, it's fastest to use the DVD ready MPEG2 format for your recordings. soham bruce,

we don’t monitor the blogs actively especially on older posts, so the best way to get immediate answers is through tech support. so sorry for the delay…

some authoring applications can take any format (including DivX) and create DVDs. however, this will not be faster since the authoring software will have to recompress the file to MPEG2 first. so if your goal is to create DVDs, it’s fastest to use the DVD ready MPEG2 format for your recordings.

soham

]]> By: Bruce http://blogstage.snapstream.com/2006/06/08/beyondtv-43/#comment-21698 Bruce Mon, 17 Jul 2006 15:04:12 +0000 http://blogs.snapstream.com/?p=94#comment-21698 I'd really appreciate an answer to this question which I asked earlier: If I record in DivX mode, how can I then burn a DVD to play on my old DVD player? And would such a process be faster? Thanks Bruce I’d really appreciate an answer to this question which I asked earlier:

If I record in DivX mode, how can I then burn a DVD to play on my old DVD player? And would such a process be faster?

Thanks

Bruce

]]> By: Joebob http://blogstage.snapstream.com/2006/06/08/beyondtv-43/#comment-20023 Joebob Fri, 07 Jul 2006 21:31:09 +0000 http://blogs.snapstream.com/?p=94#comment-20023 Overall BTV is a great product. It definately has a simpler to use interface than the competition. My wife and 5 year old son can actually use this software. As a software developer myself, I do have a few comments. 1) Any unattended application, such as the BTV background processes, should run as a service. Period, no further debate. Services start immediately upon boot of Windows, do not require a logon, and are easily controlled from a remote PC. Also, the whole reason that MS created the service architecture was to support that type of application. 2) Each release needs to contain a balance of fixes and new features. The fixes are to keep your existing customers happy and the new features pull in new customers. The hard part is figuring out the balance. Overall Snapstream does a decent job at this, but I do believe it is an area for improvement. 3) Each "official" release of a program does cost quite a bit of money for Snapstream so hats off to them for releasing numbered versions as frequently as they do. 4) It would be nice if Snapstream would create hot fixes for problems as they are discovered that can be direct emailed to people having significant problems. This would allow Snapstream to fix the machines of people that contact Tech Support directly, but would also keep the number of client PCs with beta or alpha level software to a minimum. 5) Every single post about new features and up coming releases involves a lot of discussion about unencrypted QAM and DVB-T. This should be an indicator to get on the ball and get it coded. There is an obvious revenue stream that is being ignored by not getting these features released. As far as there being no generic BDA drivers for QAM, forget about generic. Pick the card that you like best and code specifically for it. This would allow you to claim a feature that none of your competitors have and it would make the complainers shut up. Overall BTV is a great product. It definately has a simpler to use interface than the competition. My wife and 5 year old son can actually use this software.

As a software developer myself, I do have a few comments.

1) Any unattended application, such as the BTV background processes, should run as a service. Period, no further debate. Services start immediately upon boot of Windows, do not require a logon, and are easily controlled from a remote PC. Also, the whole reason that MS created the service architecture was to support that type of application.

2) Each release needs to contain a balance of fixes and new features. The fixes are to keep your existing customers happy and the new features pull in new customers. The hard part is figuring out the balance. Overall Snapstream does a decent job at this, but I do believe it is an area for improvement.

3) Each “official” release of a program does cost quite a bit of money for Snapstream so hats off to them for releasing numbered versions as frequently as they do.

4) It would be nice if Snapstream would create hot fixes for problems as they are discovered that can be direct emailed to people having significant problems. This would allow Snapstream to fix the machines of people that contact Tech Support directly, but would also keep the number of client PCs with beta or alpha level software to a minimum.

5) Every single post about new features and up coming releases involves a lot of discussion about unencrypted QAM and DVB-T. This should be an indicator to get on the ball and get it coded. There is an obvious revenue stream that is being ignored by not getting these features released. As far as there being no generic BDA drivers for QAM, forget about generic. Pick the card that you like best and code specifically for it. This would allow you to claim a feature that none of your competitors have and it would make the complainers shut up.

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