- Messages
- 10,198
16.02.2010
Code:
Release Notes
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I: improvement
B: bug fix
N: note
Pixellation
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B: A long standing bug in stv0299 caused an I/Q inversion whenever
an interrupt is received while relook is checking if the tuner is
locked. This caused pixellation and made it difficult to tune reliably
to transponders with a low symbol rate.
Channel search
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Channel search has been rewritten from scratch. It investigates the
following SI tables: PAT, SDT_ACTUAL, NIT and in network search mode also
SDT_OTHER and NIT_OTHER and BAT. Because some networks are not standards
compliant, it is not easy to reliably find all channels, especially on
feed transponders.
I: Network search now finds more channels than before. It
can detect channels on some other transponders, and sometimes even
on other satellites. This may include transponders or satellites
that you cannot receive because of poor signal.
On some satellites (e.g. 28.2E/28.5E) scanning a single transponder
with network search on will find all channels on the satellite. In other
case (19.2E ARD) it will find only channels from the same provider.
Network search is mostly useful when scanning a single transponder.
When scanning all transponders on a satellite, it will usually not
find much extra, and it will be slower. However, it can still find
new transponders, which are not yet in the db.dat database.
I: Relook now does a better job at discovering bouquets in the stream.
These are found in the SDT, NIT and BAT tables. Internally, the
code treats bouquets as favorite lists.
I: The PMT tables are no longer scanned during channel search. This
simplifies the code and speeds up scanning. It also means that
some information is missing, specifically the video, audio and
PCR pids and information on whether channels are encrypted.
Therefore, new channels will show 0 for the pids and will all
appear to be FTA. This information is corrected as soon as you
tune to a specific channel.
I: During channel change, relook now shows the channel list, but
with some specific sorting and filtering options: only channels
(re)found in the search are shown and the channels are ordered
according to the time they were discovered in the SI tables.
The list is updated in real-time. Due to the nature of the SI-tables
channels are usually added in "bursts" and there may be periods
when not much seems to happen. Such dead periods will also occur
when relook attempts to scan transponders which no longer exist
or which cannot be received.
It is possible to re-sort, -filter or -group the channel list
while channel search is in progress. It is even possible to
edit the channel list, but this has not been tested.
I: The channel search code now detects expired channels, but only on
the transponders that are actually scanned. A channel is considered
to be expired if it no longer appears in the PAT nor in the PMT table.
Expired channels are not deleted automatically but they are flagged
with a trash icon in the channel list.
I: It is now possible to select which tuner to scan. You can also
select "Any", in which case relook decides which tuner to use.
The tuner selection will be changed when needed, e.g., when
selecting a satellite that cannot be reached on the selected
tuner.
I: Relook now has an "autosearch" mode, which is (de)activated using
the following database options:
auto_search: on, off (default: on)
auto_netsearch: on, off (default: off)
When autosearch is activated, channels are updated whenever you
relook tunes to a transponder for some reason: changing the live
channel, starting a recording, smart epg.
Channel list
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The entire channel list code has been rewritten from scratch.
It supports many new ways of filtering, sorting and grouping
channels. All operations are now very fast.
I: Most of the database access to db.dat is now avoided by caching
data into memory. Writing to the database is handled asynchronously
using a background thread. This simplifies the code, makes data
access much faster and ensures that threads which change channel info
are never delayed.
I: In the old code it could take many seconds to sort and reread a large
channel list (e.g. 4000 channels). The new code ensures that all
operations are over in less than a second.
I: Expired channels are marked by a trash icon.
I: The channel list works differently than before. The red, green and yellow
button now activate a filter, group and sort menu's respectively.
Red button: filter
This menu restricts which channels are included in the channel list.
Each menu entry applies a criterion. Only channels that meet
all of the filter criteria will appear in the list.
TV/Radio: Toggles between showing only TV channels, only radio channels
or both. In the last case, duplicate channel numbers may occur.
In this case, typing a specific number will always select a TV channel.
FTA/CAS: FTA-only, CAS-only or both
Satellite: Select a satellite in the pop-up menu and press OK to restrict
the display to only channels on that satellite. Press OK on the Satellite
button itself to turn off this filter
Favorite group: this behaves similarly to the Satellite button.
Bouquet group: select channels belong to a specific bouquet.
Note that "Favorite group" and "Bouquet" filters are mutually
exclusive: enabling one will disable the other.
Good/Expired: Expired channels are channels which are no longer
present in the stream.
Green button: group
This menu determines how channels are grouped. The options are:
Flat (not grouped), by favorite, by bouquet and by satellite
Note that when a filter is active (red button) only the filtered
channels are shown.
Yellow button: sort
This menu determines how channels are sorted.
Channel Order
A to Z, Z to A: according to name (case insensitive sort)
Bouquet Order: this is the order in which channels were found
in the SI-tables. Often this will correspond to the order determined
by the broadcaster. Note that this option also applies to favorites.
In the later case, the order is the one determined by the user.
Scan time: according to the time the channel was found by channel
search or autosearch.
Sat/Freq.: ordered by satellite and frequency.
I: Channel editing now works slightly differently than before.
Pressing OK while in the edit menu usually activates the corresponding
action. In some cases a pin code will be asked.
Pressing the left button on any action moves the cursor (the
yellow box) into the channel list. There you can use the arrow
and PgUp/Down buttons to navigate the list. You will need to
press the blue button to return to the edit menu.
In the channel list, pressing the OK button either applies the
selected action immediately Hide, Lock) or marks the channel
with a check mark (Delete, Reorder). In the latter case, press
the blue button to actually apply the action. This will pop-up
a confirmation dialog.
The "reorder action" has two different functions: when the cursor
is in the edit menu, it allows you to enter a new channel number by
pressing "OK". In the channel list, pressing "OK" marks channels,
and the blue and yellow buttons move the selected channels to the
currently selected position.
The "to favorite" action allows editing favorite lists. First you
press "OK", which pop-ups up a list from which you select a specific
favorite group by pressing OK again. The cursor then moves to the
channel list in which all channels from the list are flagged using
the favorite icon. Pressing OK on channels in the list adds them
to the list if they are not already in the list, and removes them
in the other case.
To rename an existing favorite group, make sure that the channel list
is grouped according to favorite. Position the cursor on one
of the group names and press rename. You can also press
LEFT to enter the channel list. Then press check on a group
to rename that group.