Catch-up & nPVR. Configuring.

The SmartTUBE platform allows you to launch Catch-up and nPVR services for your subscribers. Each service has a specific configuration described below.

Catch-up Services

Catch-up services — Pause Live, Start Over, and Time Shift — allow subscribers to watch current or finished TV programs for a certain period after they are aired. This period is determined by the operator.

Pause Live and Start Over

To configure the services Pause Live (pause the broadcast, continue watching, rewind within the current TV program) and Start Over (watch the current TV program from the beginning), follow these steps:

1. Add the channel into the DVR bundle.
2. Set the checkbox Use Pause Live on the bundle.
3. Set the Record duration value > 0.
   Record duration is the period within which Catch-up services are available. For example, if this parameter is set to “1 hour”, the subscriber will not be able to start watching the current TV program from the beginning if it started more than an hour ago.
4. Configure the DVR URL parameter in the Streams tab on the channel.

For the Catch-up services to work correctly, the channel must be recorded on a video server and the Record duration value should be shorter or equal to the recording window set by video server settings. If you are using SmartMEDIA, see the SmartMEDIA part — chapter “Basic Settings” — parameter Recording window.

Time Shift

In addition to the Pause Live and Start Over services you can set the Use TSTV checkbox to allow subscribers to watch finished TV programs.

Notes:

• When you set the Use TSTV checkbox, the Use Pause Live checkbox is automatically set too, since the TSTV service cannot be used without Pause Live.
• SmartTUBE apps allow subscribers to search through finished TV programs. But if the TSTV service is not enabled for the channel, its programs will be hidden for subscribers.

PVR Service

nPVR service allows recording finished, current, and future TV programs at the subscriber request.

General Configuration

To configure the nPVR service for specific channel, follow these steps:

1. Add the channel into the NPVR bundle.
2. Set the Recording time quota — limits the maximum duration of all subscriber recordings.
3. Set the Records storage time — limits the storage duration of subscriber recordings.
4. Configure Video server name in the Streams tab on the channel.
5. Configure DVR channel ID, which must match the channel ID in the video server settings. If you are using SmartMEDIA, see the SmartMEDIA part — chapter “Basic Settings” — parameter ID.

This configuration will allow recording of future TV programs.

You can specify the time added to the beginning and end of the TV program set by the subscriber to record in advance. Thus, in case of discrepancy between the actual start/end time of the program and its schedule in the EPG, the chances of recording the TV program in full are increased. See the chapter “General Settings”, description of the npvr.add.delta.incMin and npvr.add.delta.decMin parameters.

To enable the ability to schedule nPVR recordings in case if subscribers are going to exceed the Recording time quota set the Quota overspending limit parameter. In this case, when the subscriber is going to record a TV program or TV series and thus exceeds the Recording time quota:

• The SmartTUBE app displays a corresponding warning.
• The TV program is queued for recording, but is physically recorded by the video server only after the quota is released.
• Once the recording queue exceeds the Quota overspending limit, programs are no longer added to it.

Also pay attention to the recordseries.job.record.newEpisodesOnly settings in the SmartTUBE SDP configuration file system.conf, which are responsible for the feature of recording only new episodes of TV series.

Current and Past Broadcast Recording

To enable the ability to record the current TV program or finished TV programs, follow these steps:

1. Set the Allow current NPVR or/and Allow past NPVR checkboxes, respectively.
2. Set the NPVR Duration value > 0.
   NPVR duration — the period within which the recording of finished TV programs is allowed. If the duration is not set, the default setting in the SmartTUBE Server configuration file system.conf is applied:

JSON

channels.list.npvrDuration.default = 7200 # The default period within which nPVR recording of finished TV programs is allowed (in seconds).

For the Current and Past nPVR features to work correctly, the channel must be recorded on a video server and the NPVR duration value should be shorter or equal than the recording window set by video server settings. If you are using SmartMEDIA, see the SmartMEDIA part — chapter “Basic Settings” — parameter Recording window.

Notes:

• If the channel is present in several NPVR bundles, the maximum value of the NPVR duration is used.
• If the channel is present in several NPVR bundles and the Allow current NPVR flag is set on at least one of them, the service is considered active. The same is true for the Allow past NPVR flag.

Instant nPVR Playback

Typically current and past broadcast recordings become available for playback after some time (5–10 minutes). To enable the ability to play the recording immediately after the recorded TV program is finished, configure the DVR URL parameter in the Streams tab on the channel.