Summary:
This request is for the ability to assign tuners to either be available for DVR, Live TV or Both.
Use Case:
A user wants to maximize then number of shows that can be recorded, often over-scheduling recordings and relying on Plex to prioritize. This same user also wants to keep a user-specified number of tuners reserved for use only with Live TV, so that even when the DVR functionality has utilized all allowable tuners, there are still a user specified number of reserved tuners which can be used to view Live TV shows (which aren’t being recorded)
Example 1:
Scenario Setup: User 1 has 6 tuners and configures 5 for use for recording/live TV and 1 only four live TV. This user schedules 6 recordings to take place at the same time. This user then proceeds to watch Live TV on a Apple TV or Nvidia Shield while the 6 shows are scheduled to record.
Expected Behavior: Since 5 tuners are set for DVR use, Plex would only record 5 of the 6 shows using the priority structure that is implemented today. The 6th tuner would remain unused until the user watched Live TV, allowing the user to watch any Live TV channel without impacting any of the 5 DVR recordings.
Example 2:
Scenario Setup: User 2 has 4 tuners and configures 1 for recording, 2 for recording / live TV and one for Live TV only. Two shows are set to record simultaneously when User 2 decides to stream multiple live TV streams. Assume each tuner is on a different TV channel (no single tuner can serve two tuning requests)
Expected Behavior: Of the two scheduled shows to record, the highest priority show is dedicated for the DVR only tuner; the lower priority show is tasked for one of the recording / live TV tuners. When User 2 makes the first request to watch Live TV, it is assigned to the Live TV only tuner. When User 2 makes an additional request to watch Live TV (while the existing 1st Live TV request is still ongoing), the 2nd recording/live TV tuner is allocated.
Tuner Priorities:
DVR only Tuners: recordings should be scheduled to these first, given respect to program priorities (as specified by the user using today’s already integrated capabilities)
Live TV only Tuners: Live TV requests should be addressed to these first, on a first come, first serve basis.
Recording / Live TV Tuners: These should be utilized last, and are provided on a first come, first serve basis as requested either for DVR or Live TV.
Default Behaviors:
All tuners would default to Recording / Live TV by default (keeping consistent with the default setup today)
Prioritizing Recordings and Tuner Over-Allocation Reporting:
Same capability as is provided today (if N tuners are available and N+1 recordings are scheduled concurrently, a message appears asking user on how to respond). Requested changes would include:
- Instead of assuming all tuners available for recording, only tuners associated with DVR Only and Recording / Live TV attributes would be available for concurrent recording.
- If N tuners are available and N+1 shows are requested for concurrent recording when at least 1 tuner has been reserved for Live TV only, present a reminder to the user that X number of Tuners have been assigned to Live TV only use with the option to reassign Live TV only Tuners to allow recording as a possible conflict resolution response.
