Hi,
I share here the setup I have been using for months now.
+Objective :+
The purpose is to record every single movie aired on TV, in such a way to always have hundreds of available « on-demand », free movies.
When disk space is missing, the oldest movies are automatically deleted.
+Hardware :+
I have got 2 physical TV tuners :
* a 10-year-old but solid PCI Hauppauge WinTV Nova-T-500 double tuner
* a more recent AverTV Volar HD 2 DVB-T USB stick single tuner
!{height:200px}Hauppauge-WinTV-Nova-T-500.jpg! !aver.jpg!
In addition, I get IPTV from my internet provider, Free (France), which allows the recording of 2 simultaneous channels.
→ This makes 5 flows at the same time, giving more than 5 movies if some of them are on the same multiplex.
!{height:200px}adapters.png! attachment:adapters.png
+Software :+
I use "TvHeadend" integrated to "LibreElec" (and before to "OpenElec"
+Channels :+
I get all the free channels on the French digital terrestrial television (26 unencrypted channels) as well as a lot IPTV channels. Only a few of these IPTV channels air some movies : Paramount Channel, TV5 Monde, AB1, RTL9.
This makes a total of about 30 channels from which I get movies:
!{width:300px}channels.png! attachment:channels.png
+Setup :+
I get a complete EPG for these channels and many other ones every night and update TvHeadend. This EPG includes some quite interesting (at least in my opinion) movie ratings.
Then a Python script, which I can share, is executed. This script :
* connects to the TvHeadend server
* retrieves all the past recorded programs (i.e. files on hard disk)
* check for duplicates between these past recordings. If duplicates are found, only the most recent are kept (since the files are deleted in chronological recording order).
* browses the EPG for the next few days and for each program :
if this is an encrypted channel, only consider it if it is during the unencrypted hours
if this program is already planned for recording, skip it
else if this is a new program :
* if it is rated more than 60 % in the EPG, or it is more than 1-hour-long and rated more than 20 % (these are my custom values, I do not only record movies but also good shows), add it to the planned recordings
* depending on the rating, adjust the priority of the recording (from Unimportant to Low – I keep the higher levels for manual recordings).
When running out of disk space, TvHeadend automatically deletes the oldest recordings. With a 1.5 TB disk, this makes more than 200 movies aired since September 30th (for 18 days).
+Usage and conclusion :+
This setup has been working great for months now, and is very stable. It is a free and legal way to get hundreds of on-demand movies... we always find something which suits us.
When we have watched a movie, we can choose to delete it or to move it elsewhere if we want to keep it.
For instance, this evening, when writing this article, I am recording :
* at 20:43 : "La Belle é
quipe" (1936)
* at 20:48 : "White House
down" (2013)
* at 20:48 : "Fauteuils
d’orchestre" (2006)
* at 20:48 : "
Platoon" (1986)
* at 22:28 : "La Fin du
jour" (1939)
* at 23:08 : "
Snowpiercer" (2013)
!{height:200px}next_recordings.png! attachment:next_recordings.png
I can add some details if needed.
Hope this helps.
Regards
spontex
