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Main Dialog
The R5000-HD's main dialog exposes basic
functionality and status to the user.
Transport controls: Record, Stop & OTR. Their functions
should be pretty self-explanatory. Recordings are manually started and
stopped here. The OTR (One Touch Record) button increments in 30 minute
intervals up to a maximum of 360. As the recording progresses, the
number on the button decrements every minute, displaying the amount of
time left. If you need more time, just hit the button again to extend
the recording. There are 2 OTR modes: overrideable and non-overrideable.
Non-overrideable mode means that the OTR cannot be cancelled by a
scheduled event from the scheduler or PVR. This is useful if you need to
extend a PVR scheduled recording that is going over-time and you have
another event scheduled right afterwards but you don't want it to fire.
You are prompted for the mode when the button is activated.
The Record button will start recordings to D-VHS tape if that mode is
selected (the tape transport will automatically be launched). For
recordings made to Tape and Disk an additional dialog appears when
stopping a recording, giving the option to continue the recording to
tape. When disk space runs out in this mode, the disk recording will
abort but the tape will continue to record.
Status:
This area displays the current status of the R5000-HD DVR as well as
statistics about the current recording. The "Mode" box will
display the current operating mode (Recording, Stopped, Preview, Ready) and
various other messages (USB removal/ insertion notifications and USB
configuration errors).
"Program Length" displays the elapsed time and "File
Size" is the size occupied on disk. If you are recording to a
compressed folder, File Size reflects the compressed file size or size
on disk.
The "Rate" box is the approximate data streaming rate over the
USB interface. It is a running average. This is a good guide for
comparing the basic data rates on different channels. It will range
anywhere from ~2500 to 4500 KB/s for HD material. Use it only as a loose
quality guide since other factors have to be considered such as
resolution screen size, etc.
"Failed Transfers" indicates USB data that either never was
presented or never got consumed. The previous is much more likely to
occur. When in the record mode, the R5000-HD is constantly making
requests for USB data. If data doesn't exist, such as a when there is a
reception drop-out, the transfer eventually fails since we can't wait
forever. The other situation is much more serious and indicates a very
slow system or low system resources. In this case the data is presented
but was not consumed in time.
Device
Select: The R5000-HD can support up to
4 USB devices and this selection pull-down allows the user to toggle
between them. Settings are stored for each device and when the selection
is changed the appropriate configuration is loaded.
IR
Control: Not to be confused with the remote control, this area is
for handling IR commands initiated by the STB, i.e. for VCR control.
Using this feature, the STB can be used as your PVR and recordings can
be started and stopped via timer events programmed into the STB. There
are no additional external requirements for this feature. The IR signals
are intercepted and transmitted via USB to the R5000-HD. In order for
this feature to work correctly, the VCR code must match that set in the
STB preferences.
Settings: This area displays important settings for convenience
and gives you a shortcut button to the appropriate dialog for changing them.
Save As shows the current drive, path and filename where
recordings will be made. It also reflects the "Record To:"
mode, displaying whether the recording will be made to D-VHS tape.
The Warnings area displays settings that could possibly cause
problems. If filename "auto-increment" is turned off, for
example, this will be a warning since you can record over a previously
made recording. Auto-increment will create a new file each time with an
incremented number appended to the filename.
Timer area tells you if there is an event scheduled for record.
Service displays your currently selected service provider and STB
type. The button provides a shortcut to the Preferences dialog for
changing these.
Buffering: This area gives an idea
of how well your system is keeping up with the process of transferring,
remuxing and saving the data to disk. If the meter is "pinned"
at the right (Pushing it) for an extended period or if overflows occur,
then the recording most likely has significant amounts of lost data. The
overflow counter actually monitors the buffer on the USB peripheral
inside the STB and as long as it doesn't overflow, it is guaranteed that
all data presented has been transferred to the PC. An overflow condition
is sometimes flagged when the recording first starts up. This is normal
and of no consequence.
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