Change to a specific channel - Possible feature

[jillefsky]

Hello all,

Let me first of all say how great I find this application to be! It really upgrades my viewing experience with the Slingbox! And it's close to being perfect for my needs.

Unfortunately, there is one key feature at least for me that is missing and it prevents me from enjoying it fully. So let me explain my situation.

Basically as we all know there is some delay between sending a signal through the virtual remote control and the actual action to happen. In my case this delay prevents me from choosing a specific channel if the channel number is higher than 1 digit, because no matter how quick I press one digit after the other, I can never get the combination in time due to the delay. It will just change into the channel corresponding to the 1st digit and then to the one matching the 2nd digit.

I overcame this issue in the Slingplayer Webplayer by using the box below the streaming picture that lets you input the channel number and then just press Enter. Unfortunately such feature as far as I know, it's not available in your software and for me it would be essencial. (i.e. by pressing some key in the keyboard to pop up a little box where one could insert the channel number and press enter). Would such a feature be feasible?

Once again, I really enjoy the application, but without this feature it becomes very difficult for me to use my slingbox since in my case there is more than 200 channels available, and my only chance would be to scroll through all of them.

Thanks in advance

[oviano]

So I've had a crack at making some more changes, including one that addresses the issue raised in this thread (jillefsky has already tested this one out) and a few other bits and pieces that I added to improve my streaming setup.

Tom, once again you are welcome to integrate any of these changes into your project, if you so desire.

Here's what I've added/changed:

- "Channel Digits" setting. I've added a new setting for a Slingbox which deals with the issue raised in this thread, namely if channel numbers use more than 1 digit you can tell it to buffer these and only when the required number of digits have been typed does it issue the change channel command. [Default - Unbuffered]

- "Quality" setting. I've replaced the Resolution and FPS controls with a Quality control which basically mirrors the web player, giving you an Auto, Minimum, Good, Better, Best and Best (HD) setting. I've also added keyboard shortcuts for these to allow switching while viewing which expands upon the simple SD/HD switch I had added previously. [Default - Auto]

- "Bitrate" setting. I've added a new setting for a Slingbox which forces the lowest possible bitrate for the given Quality setting. So for example, if you set this and then set your Quality to Best(HD) it'll stream at approx 3.5mbps and not go above it (apart from a hundred kbps or so either side). The reason I added this was because I find that the automated algorithm isn't always the smartest when you have limited bandwidth - for example, I have about 5mbps available and frequently I see the algorithm trying bitrates above this, then I get video stutter, then the algorithm "realises' and drops back again. By turning this setting on, I prevent this irritating cycle from happening. Obviously the trade-off here is you will lose the benefit of any additional smoothness/quality at higher bitrates, so this is really a setting for limited bandwidth situations such as my own. [Default - Auto]

- "Refresh Rate" setting. I've added a global setting which will automatically switch the display's refresh rate to either 50Hz or 60Hz depending on the FPS of the stream. This is useful where you have Slingboxes with different sources, i.e. one with 50fps, one with 60fps, and removes the slight judder you get when viewing a 50fps stream on a 60hz display and vice versa. [Default - Don't Change]

Anyway, I've zipped it up and placed it here:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/52kf9c5lv7asrur/SlingFront%201.45%20%28Customised%202%29.zip

Cheers

Oliver

[dubvman]

When trying to change to a specific channel through my remote, it doesn't work because the remote sends the numberpad keys instead of just the number. There isn't a way to change this in the key selection menu. Is there some sort of .xml file that contains the key commands that I could use to change the settings? Awesome program by the way, this brought new life into my HTPC!!

[Tom Speirs]

Thanks again Oliver. Apologies I have been a bit absent from this project. Do you want to be an admin on the sourceforge project?

[oviano]

Sure Tom, I have registered on sourceforge and my username is "oviano".

You have my email address if you need any more info or something.