Furure possibilities?

[TimC]

I have a complex TV setup and it has been somewhat of a challenge to integrate the IceBox into my current setup.
No criticism of IceTV here. Their goal was to produce an affordable IceTV compatible PVR and the IceBox is an innovative way to achieve just that.

Using a NUC was a brilliant idea. The possibilities with a NUC are endless.

With that in mind I have put together some thoughts IceTV might be able to look at in the future.

Remote Controls.
The RF remote provides an amazing range, but makes extending the range difficult. In my case it makes it all the way to the doorway of the bedroom at the opposite end of our house, but unfortunately does not make it inside. There are any number of IR extenders available and I use one, but I haven't seen any RF extenders. It would be really nice if IceTV could put some thought into providing a choice of IR or RF remotes.
I am working on getting something up and running, but it's a challenge. Having something preconfigured will make the IceBox easier to integrate into different setups. It would also be great if we could purchase extra remotes.

HDMI Ports.
The HDMI output functionality needs a bit of work.  When I initially started up my Icebox, I got a picture, but no sound. Hunting around the forums revealed that I needed to change the HDMI port the sound came from and hence I got sound. However, I found that only one of the ports produced a picture. Worse, while I was fiddling around, I found that the port that produced the picture had changed. It seems that the NUC sets up the ports on startup based on what is plugged into them. All very confusing for the user. Can the IceTV gurus look at getting both HDMI ports to have the same output? I know that isn't as simple as that sounds given the complexities of how HDMI works, but the current setup is a bit frustrating. I had to buy a $95 splitter to solve my problem. The second port remains unused. I have looked for settings for the HDMI ports and while there is a Video setup section, it only seems to deal with whichever port is in use.

Channel Scanning. 
Currently the only way to update the channels scanned is to do a soft reset and while this doesn't lose your recordings, it's a clunky way of going about it. Isn't there some way the IceTV gurus could get something less clunky into their software?


Add Skip.
My wife is devastated by the demise of our Skippa. The Add Skip function on it was simply brilliant.
Given that the IceBox is based on a NUC, is there a way to incorporate the Skippa Add Skip functions into it?

Thats enough of what I would like and again this is not intended to direct criticism towards IceTV.
What they have done is quite smart, but it can be a struggle for the technologically challenged to adapt to.
I am sure they would like to have a box that becomes a simple plug and play unit that adapts to whatever configuration it is connected to and you can't afford to wait until it is perfect before you release it.

I am sure there are things that other people would like to see in their IceBox.

What else can you think of?

[raymondjpg]

It seems that the NUC sets up the ports on startup based on what is plugged into them.

That is the case. Intel is, at least, meticulous about adhering to standards for detecting monitor characteristics. For the NUCs that I have where full display quantization cannot be set in the Intel Graphics Command Center, the order in which the components of my home theater setup are switched on is important. First AV receiver, then TV, then NUC, in that order to get the HDMI handshake right.

[DeltaMikeCharlie]

Remote Controls.
The RF remote provides an amazing range, but makes extending the range difficult. In my case it makes it all the way to the doorway of the bedroom at the opposite end of our house, but unfortunately does not make it inside. There are any number of IR extenders available and I use one, but I haven't seen any RF extenders. It would be really nice if IceTV could put some thought into providing a choice of IR or RF remotes.

You could also try a USB -> UTP (Cat5/Cat6) Extender similar to this.  Put the RCU receiver with the USB extender half way between the IceBox and the other location that you need.  Plug the other extender device into the IceBox and you should be good to go.

Add Skip.
My wife is devastated by the demise of our Skippa. The Add Skip function on it was simply brilliant.
Given that the IceBox is based on a NUC, is there a way to incorporate the Skippa Add Skip functions into it?

I discussed this on the Topfield forum.

https://oztoppy.forumchitchat.com/post/remote-control-testing-12529503?pid=1334309292

Using an after-market remote control that has coloured buttons, you can assign these buttons to skip backwards and forwards.

What else can you think of?

Boot on USB activity.  At the moment, I can not find a way to power on the IceBox with the RCU, only the switch on the unit.  I have tried to enable this at the Linux level, however, it appears that the hardware or BIOS does not support this.

Maybe HDMI-CEC support too.

[DeltaMikeCharlie]

Remote Controls.
The RF remote provides an amazing range, but makes extending the range difficult. In my case it makes it all the way to the doorway of the bedroom at the opposite end of our house, but unfortunately does not make it inside. There are any number of IR extenders available and I use one, but I haven't seen any RF extenders. It would be really nice if IceTV could put some thought into providing a choice of IR or RF remotes.
I am working on getting something up and running, but it's a challenge. Having something preconfigured will make the IceBox easier to integrate into different setups. It would also be great if we could purchase extra remotes.

I'm sorry that I did not think of this sooner.  Kodi can be controlled from a web browser.  You can use a PC or tablet to change channels and play recordings, etc.

[TimC]

@ DMC,
You may have misunderstood by what I meant by Add Skip.  The Skippa Add Skip knew when adds started and ended and could be set up to automatically skip the adds. It involved some processing at both the IceTV end and on the PVR itself and it was pretty good. While we didn't use the automatic function. It often skipped a touch too early so you were left wondering whether you missed something. But the manual button was brilliant. one press and occasionally watch a bit of TV promo and you were back into the show. Bo hunting forward and back until you found the show again.

[MD]

It is creeping up the to-do list!

[TimC]

It is creeping up the to-do list!

If you are talking about a Skippa style Add Skip: Huzzar! good fellow.

I have a few suggestions for the automatic add skip:
1. Delay the initial skip by a second or so.
2. Delay the return skip by a similar amount.

The main reason we never used the Automatic Add Skip was that sometimes it would jump a little early and return back into the program. Sometimes is seemed like a change of scene and you didn't even know that it had skipped.
The problem is that producers often put an unexpected suspenseful moment, just before an add break, and if the Skippa jumped too early you missed it. We found that when it skipped like that, you were always wondering if you missed something important every time it skipped. We soon turned it off and used the manual add skip instead.

Delaying the initial skip means you see a second of add on each end and you know what is going on when it skips.
I can live with a couple of seconds of adds.

[TimC]

Another thing that would be desirable is a Smart TV interface.