SnapStream's Beyond TV 3 - The Must-Have Home Multimedia Software
by Andrew Ku on May 12, 2004 12:00 PM EST- Posted in
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The TV in Beyond TV - Live TV & Timeshifting
Now, let's get into what puts the "TV" in Beyond TV.
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Once we started up live TV, we were pleasantly surprised with the nice, clean and slick interface that accompanied it. The four translucent panels auto-hide after about 5 seconds (default setting), but while they are visible, they provide information on show, episode, volume, date/time, and current recording activity.
Click to enlarge.
Note the clock icon in the lower left hand corner of the TV window (first screenshot), which indicates timeshifting. Technically, "live TV" here is not really live TV. Beyond TV 3 timeshifts the TV signal so that it is about 3 seconds behind the live signal. Timeshifting is on by default for most system configurations, but it can be turned off for true live TV. However, the buffer time for timeshifting cannot be changed.
Compared to other programs, timeshifting here is more similar to the scheme employed in Microsoft's Window XP MCE 2004. When a channel is changed, the timeshift "restarts" so that the previous session is discarded. Keep in mind that the timeshifting bar only retains as much of the recording as the buffer size allows. The default setting: 512MB at Better quality in MPEG-2 only provides 12.8 minutes, which means that you are going to need to allot more to timeshift those longer TV shows. Either that or reduce the recording quality.
Click to enlarge.
We didn't have any need to edit settings like brightness, contrast, etc. like we have had to in other programs. SnapStream seems to have gotten the default and auto settings down right in this respect. But if your signal needs to be tweaked a bit, the option is still available.
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batorok - Thursday, May 13, 2004 - link
as a Sagetv user I'm pretty miffed they didn't compare the two. Sagetv 2.0 has a really nice new interface, handles multimedia (pics, mp3z, movies, dvds including vob files) pretty well, has multituner support, and better image quality of viewed tv (I demoed both before buying sage). Since tv is what it's all about, the picture quality is what's important to me.reboos - Thursday, May 13, 2004 - link
MythTv is very nice.mcveigh - Wednesday, May 12, 2004 - link
good question crazy_vagI don't think snapstream supports HD capture cards
crazy_vag - Wednesday, May 12, 2004 - link
When will I be able to record Soprano's in HDTV on HTPC???mcveigh - Wednesday, May 12, 2004 - link
I think you should consider comparing it to tivo/replay as I think this is more what it is aimed at replacing.also I would like to see more info about multile tuners.
how about a shoot out of personal video software in the future?
SnapStream vs. sage TV vs. windows MCE vs. ????
Jeff7181 - Wednesday, May 12, 2004 - link
Wonderful review. Looks like a very robust piece of software. If I was in the market to build a HTPC I'd probably buy it. From what I see, I like the information windows... they have a little bit too much info, but at least they're transparent so you can still see the show... unlike Comcast the last time I paid for digital cable.llamas - Wednesday, May 12, 2004 - link
Are you considering a review of SageTV 2.0 (just released)? It would interesting to hear how it compares with BTV3. SageTV supports multiple tuners, and has client software with the same interface as the server.