Weighting HD channels over SD channels

[mgpaulus]

I've noticed that some of my shows seem to be recording on an SD channel even though an HD channel is available (HALL vs HALLHD, NCG vs NCGHD, KOAA vs KOAAHD). I have looked through the options that I could think of and didn't see anything.

My wonder is, is there a way to tell sagetv to "prefer" an HD channel if it exists over it's SD counterpart, outside of flat out disabling the SD channel?

Usually this hasn't been a problem, but I've noticed it lately with a couple of Hallmark movies. Not sure why it just started.

I have (2) HDHR-CC Primes, 1 HDPVR and 1 BM-3000. The 6 Prime channels are my primary recorders, with the HDPVR and BM-3000 to get stuff mainly from the non-free channels (HBO, MAX, etc)

[Fuzzy]

Originally Posted by mgpaulus

I've noticed that some of my shows seem to be recording on an SD channel even though an HD channel is available (HALL vs HALLHD, NCG vs NCGHD, KOAA vs KOAAHD). I have looked through the options that I could think of and didn't see anything.

My wonder is, is there a way to tell sagetv to "prefer" an HD channel if it exists over it's SD counterpart, outside of flat out disabling the SD channel?

Usually this hasn't been a problem, but I've noticed it lately with a couple of Hallmark movies. Not sure why it just started.

I have (2) HDHR-CC Primes, 1 HDPVR and 1 BM-3000. The 6 Prime channels are my primary recorders, with the HDPVR and BM-3000 to get stuff mainly from the non-free channels (HBO, MAX, etc)

Sage already will prefer an HD airing over an SD airing, but that is dependent on the airing on the HD channel being tagged as HD in the EPG data. Sage doesn't really recognize a channel as being HD or not, it's a per-airing consideration.

Honestly, what I do in this situation, is just remove the SD duplicate channels from my lineup - They really have no purpose being there.

[Narflex]

Originally Posted by Fuzzy

Honestly, what I do in this situation, is just remove the SD duplicate channels from my lineup - They really have no purpose being there.

That's exactly what I do as well.

[Tiki]

I also go through my lineup and remove any SD channels if there is an HD equivalent available.

One might think that it would be trivial for Sage to add logic to prefer HD channels. However, I'm not sure it's that easy. I don't think there is anything in the EPG data that links the SD and HD channels together. Each is assigned a unique ID and the channel naming is inconsistent (usually the HD version will have the same name as the SD version postfixed with "HD" or "D", but not always).

[EnterNoEscape]

Originally Posted by Tiki

I also go through my lineup and remove any SD channels if there is an HD equivalent available.

One might think that it would be trivial for Sage to add logic to prefer HD channels. However, I'm not sure it's that easy. I don't think there is anything in the EPG data that links the SD and HD channels together. Each is assigned a unique ID and the channel naming is inconsistent (usually the HD version will have the same name as the SD version postfixed with "HD" or "D", but not always).

You are correct in that it would be guess work. Identifying that a channel has HD content isn't too hard since the airings usually will indicate that the content it HD for the most part. It's matching the HD channel with it's SD equivalent with a high level of certainty that's the problem. I know some DVR's like Dish actually will switch you to an HD channel if you tune in an SD channel on an HD TV, so it's not like this kind of data doesn't exist anywhere.

If this were to be automated, I would identify the channels that contain anything flagged as HD content, then compare the next 7 days of EPG data between the "HD" channels and all of the other channels (assumed SD). If there's an exact match on an "SD" channel, the SD channel gets removed. If the SD channel matches everything but the HD flags for 7 days, unless it's some strange channel that flags HD, but doesn't bother with any other details, this should work well. There are some corner cases I can think of too that wouldn't be a huge deal to work out using callsigns and some other logic.

[Taddeusz]

I've had a similar problem recently since switching to Schedules Direct EPG. I'm on OTA. The Austin City Limits episodes that are coming up on the primary HD PBS channel aren't marked as HD and so it's preferring the airings on the SD sub-channel because they air earlier. I changed my favorite to only record from the primary but then I don't get airings that aren't being shown on the primary.

[mechling-burgh]

Well in that case under favorites just set what channels to use for certain shows. That way the ones you want in HD will only record on the HD channels

[Monedeath]

Originally Posted by EnterNoEscape

You are correct in that it would be guess work. Identifying that a channel has HD content isn't too hard since the airings usually will indicate that the content it HD for the most part. It's matching the HD channel with it's SD equivalent with a high level of certainty that's the problem. I know some DVR's like Dish actually will switch you to an HD channel if you tune in an SD channel on an HD TV, so it's not like this kind of data doesn't exist anywhere.

I think you'd find Dish "Cheated" to some degree on this. A lot of the service providers did a work-around by making the SD Channel have a three digit number from 1 to 999, and then created a HD version as 1XXX. So what those tuners are likely doing is trying to append a "1" to the front of the channel number, and if it tunes successfully, that's the end of the process. Obviously, if it fails, it then tries to tune into the SD version at the specified channel number. (although reality is, the Satellite TV boxes, and the CableCo boxes as well, including CableCard, maintain a list of tunable channels, so it probably doesn't even literally try to "tune the channel" it just checks for 1XXX being a valid entry, and if it is, that channel gets used.)

At least until/unless the customer digs into their box's configuration setting and turns off that particular setting either as a troubleshooting step or out of personal preference.

Many/Most cable operators follow a comparable schema. I know CableOne uses that same pattern.

[EnterNoEscape]

Originally Posted by Taddeusz

I've had a similar problem recently since switching to Schedules Direct EPG. I'm on OTA. The Austin City Limits episodes that are coming up on the primary HD PBS channel aren't marked as HD and so it's preferring the airings on the SD sub-channel because they air earlier. I changed my favorite to only record from the primary but then I don't get airings that aren't being shown on the primary.

What's the postal code for that region? Shows on PBS are being flagged HD in my postal code on the OTA lineup.

[Taddeusz]

Originally Posted by EnterNoEscape

What's the postal code for that region? Shows on PBS are being flagged HD in my postal code on the OTA lineup.

73099. Most PBS shows are flagged correctly as HD. For whatever reason Austin City Limits is not. I'm actually disappointed in the broadcast of that show. For a show that's about music the audio, at least on our local affiliate, is horrible. Sounds like it's in mono and shows it's broadcast in 5.1.

[EnterNoEscape]

Originally Posted by Taddeusz

73099. Most PBS shows are flagged correctly as HD. For whatever reason Austin City Limits is not. I'm actually disappointed in the broadcast of that show. For a show that's about music the audio, at least on our local affiliate, is horrible. Sounds like it's in mono and shows it's broadcast in 5.1.

I see what you're saying. That show doesn't show up as HD on any channels it's airing on. My best guess is that the show isn't actually shot in HD.

[Taddeusz]

Originally Posted by EnterNoEscape

I see what you're saying. That show doesn't show up as HD on any channels it's airing on. My best guess is that the show isn't actually shot in HD.

When I've watched it in the past it doesn't appear to be scaled up SD and definitely not boxed.

[EnterNoEscape]

Originally Posted by Taddeusz

When I've watched it in the past it doesn't appear to be scaled up SD and definitely not boxed.

I've seen some shows like that, but I'm sure something is a little short of actual HD by whatever their definition is. Your comment on the audio somewhat supports this guess. All I can say for sure is the show is not being flagged and when I see this kind of issue I usually just change the favorite to only record from the channel airing it in HD.

[Taddeusz]

Originally Posted by EnterNoEscape

I've seen some shows like that, but I'm sure something is a little short of actual HD by whatever their definition is. Your comment on the audio somewhat supports this guess. All I can say for sure is the show is not being flagged and when I see this kind of issue I usually just change the favorite to only record from the channel airing it in HD.

Yeah, that's what I ended up doing.