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The problem I have with the Wiz is that it insists on using only the one (same) tuner for sequential shows on the same channel.
The way that that is handled may be the source of the problem ion the Beyonwiz, but it's not a logical consequence of it. For example, the same stream could be written to two different recordings during the overlap time.
Yes, but until we see some modifications or improvements to the PVR OS or firmware we are limited to how the Wiz behaves now.
Even if the same stream could be written to two different recordings at the same time, we still have that issue of unnecessary post padding of the first show, and pre padding of the second, to deal with. The ability to combine the two shows with Interactive would eliminate that.
As you have pointed out in this thread, combining two sequential shows on the Wiz is possible from the EPG, but requires quite some manual intervention at the Wiz end, and canceling of the scheduled recordings in Ice Interactive which must also be registered on the Wiz through a fetch before the combined recording will stick. Then the repeat recordings of the combined shows may also have to be cleaned up on the Wiz after the recordings have done.
Nearly two years ago I complained on the Topfield forums that the TF7100HDPVRt required both tuners to be deployed when recording overlapping shows on the same channel. I was told that I was asking too much of a modestly priced piece of consumer electronics, and that it was unreasonable to compare the Topfield with the capacity of the Leadtek DTV2000 H under a Windows OS. The single tuner DTV2000 H, as programmed by Bluebit with DVB Webscheduler Pro (now TV Scheduler Pro, Open Source), apparently has the capacity to stream any number of concurrent or overlapping recordings from the transport stream on any one broadcasting frequency. So while recording two overlapping shows on ABC1 for example, the Conexant chip can also stream and Webscheduler direct a recording of another show (broadcast concurrently) on ABC2.
Maybe the tuner chips in the Topfield and Beyonwiz don't have that capability, I really don't know. Neither do I know if the OS in the PVRs is up to the task. What I do know is that we are now another two years down the track, pretty much one-tenth of the way into the 21st Century, and we are still in a similar position, looking for workarounds to OS limitations or purchasing two PVRs to give us more tuners to work with.
I am not bucketing the PVRs, they both have their good points. Ice could help overcome some of their current limitations.