Is Media Portal always half a second behind what's on air?

[Mastiff]

I have the computer with the monitor so close to a regular TV in the living room that I can't have them both on if there's a lag in the computer, and with Media Portal there is (just like with ATI MMC). I'm using quite new drivers, should I change drivers to fix it (I didn't manage to get MP working with older drivers), or is this part of the way MP works?

[cdahmedeh]

Media portal, just like MMC 9.10 and up, records your tv constatly, meaning that it must stream everything to the hard drive, causing a lag. You're drivers are not the problem, its just the way the software works. If I were you, move the computer AWAY from the living room. Personnaly, I don't think that the computer belongs in a living room, its makes more sense to put it in your room or in the basement.

[Mastiff]

Thanks! I suspected that. And the computer is actually in the kitchen, a 19" monitor is a kitchen TV. But we have no doors between the kitchen and the living room, so the echo effect comes along anyway. Oh, and computers belong in every room! I have them (or at least access to them) in both living rooms, both bathrooms, the bedroom, the home theater, the home gym, my home office (I guess that would be what you call my room...), the garage and both of my children's rooms. You may say that we're a pretty computerized house!

[alaindc]

mmc 910 and higher, mediaportal, snapstream beyond tv, and winTV 2000...all add maybe half a second delay, and there is no way to remove this.

if you simply want to watch the tv on your pc, and not record it, DScaler(free) will do it, without any delay...if it support your TV card, of course.

[Mastiff]

Yeah, I know about dScaler, but I find it lacking in image quality and tuning, at least on ATI AIW cards. Not to mention that it doesn't deinterlace AIW. But it is an option, especially since I can set aspect ratio and factual screen size with hotkeys.

[Jogee]

Mastiff,

Are you talking about a broadcast delay between the PC and the TV?

I have a TV (on Digital cable) just in the other room, and I do notice that from time to time there is a significant delay. Sometimes I hear the TV a few split seconds before I hear the PC, other times I hear the PC before I hear the TV. Time delay varies, but can be 2-3 or more seconds.

Ya, it swings both ways. Seems worse around prime time (6pm or so).

Ciao.

[ATImeShifter]

I hesitate to ask but I'll bite--why do you have computers in your bathrooms? I assume you mean PCs or Macs, not "smart" devices that are also technically computers such as a DTV. Is the need for the use of a computer that, er...urgent? ;-) And wouldn't a portable (port-o-PC?) do just as well? Just curious.

[Mastiff]

I have access to them! The small bathroom, daddy Mastiff's and Mastiff Junior's throne room, has a laptop for serious reading while doing business. And there's an old monitor in the bathroom with a hidden computer as a TV in the bathroom. Much more versatile than a regular TV!

Jogee, it's not broadcast delay. I have a digital sattellite dish that I take the signals from, and the only delay is with certain software and hardware. ATI can manage to work without delay, but only on MMC versions from before the "#%¤"%#¤ forced TV on demand (as you will understand I'm not a time shifter, at least not om computers - the sattellite receiver has a hard drive for that), while my Hauppauge WinPVR USB2 has the delay no matter what.