I would really love a view of my recording option with a list view with no big thumbnail just a list with just show titles and how many episodes that have been recorded next to the title of each show and then click down on the title to see all of the episodes again in list view. The way it is now you either have a view of each episode and no grouping of episodes or a big thumbnail view which makes scrolling thought a ton of show that are recorded a big pain because of how much the thumbnail takes up equals lots of scrolling though pages and pages to figure out what you want to watch I am attaching an picture for reference only to show what I mean.
+1. I would love this as well. I find grouped list views way easier to navigate. It's one of the reasons that I wanted to use the Kodi plugin. But I am waiting for the V19 version now to see where it goes. Because it wasn't completely there in V18.
1 Like
What are you using to view Channels? When I view in LIbrary, the episodes are all sorted and organized by Season, so its pretty easy to navigate them. I like having the Recordings view also that shows them in the order recorded. I suppose also having a list view wouldn't hurt... but at some point so many views could get confusing.
I'm using Android TV devices and my choices are like I said that's either a list view in order of recording and big thumbnails view of the recordings with the shows all under them but when you have 75 or 100 different shows you are scrolling like mad though all of them because of the big thumbnails and I often don't see what I am even looking for because of all the scrolling. The feature I requested would be a way better way of showing them. Without the big thumbnails and just a list view like most every other dvr solution has it would cut the scrolling down 75%. I hate the big thumbnails! So much scrolling! No need to have to add another view mode. Just add a setting to be able to turn off thumbnail view and have it revert to a list view with thumbnails turned off.
1 Like
Whether it's a separate page/screen, or a toggle for the existing Library view, implementing this is still adding another view mode. Along with designing a new layout and implementation, it also needs to be tested for consistency so the data is the same across all different views.
(I'm not saying it's a bad idea, as I would like this, too. The Recordings page is a half–baked implementation of a true list view, but it still makes poor use of screen real estate and has low information density.)
That's why it's a feature request. I know it requires work to be done. And also the reason I say it's different from another choice is because the options you currently have are on the main screen on the sidebar to view with different options. But if you implement it as I said in the settings being able to turn off thumbnails having it revert to list view there is no additional modes that would have to be added to the menu creating possible confusion like you said because when you clicked on TV shows, Movies, or Library you would just get the list view of all of them without the thumbnails instead. Keeping the menu the same as it is now.
I was disappointed to see that this has been one of the top feature requests for many years now with apparently no development resources ever applied to it. TiVo is the gold standard for interface, since it was designed to scale, and channels, with its thumbnail view, just isn't. I know the images are gorgeous, but it all breaks down with a real media library. Please, please add a tight icon-based list view with series folders. All the info is already there. I can't imagine anything that would so dramatically enhance Channels usability and scalability. Nothing.
3 Likes
It doesn't seem to be anything Channels is even interested in unfortunately and as I record more and more shows it's becoming clear that Channels DVR is not going to work for me as is. As much as I wanted to use it my family has let it be clear how much they hate all the big show icons and scrolling and scrolling and scrolling so I'm actually trying out other options. I use a 6 gig drive and record a lot of different shows so the scrolling is growing by the day with everyone recording different shows. It's really to bad. If they would only add this very important feature it would be a no-brainer that Channels DVR would be a great fit for my family.
The developers have stated that better library management for large collections is definitely on their radar, and something they're looking to implement. The current library system was designed for a small DVR library, where recordings would only be kept until watched. As Channels grew and more users started to use it in different ways, the limitations of the origin library paradigm was evident.
Restructuring the library and its management is no small feat, so don't expect anything immediately. If Channels' current status is not going to work for you right now, check back occasionally, as the features you're looking for might be implemented then.
I used Tivos for years and have been using Channels DVR now for about 7 or 8 months. I have 32TB of space for Channels and currently it is sitting at just under 9.000 recordings. Some shows have hundreds of episodes. With all the different settings that you can use to determine what gets saved, for how long, what order to show them in, and all the different views... While I'm all for adding new and more efficient ways to slice and dice things, I don't have any trouble finding the show I want to watch quickly so I don't think its fair to say that Channels can't handle a large library.
1 Like
Good for you I guess. Coming from Tivo myself after using 3 different generations of them if you can somehow find what you are looking for in Channels recordings with large collection of recordings and have no problems I'd say you must be the best where's Waldo finder of them all! I can't find anything in Channels DVR with all the big logos and it's not just me and my family but it's also 2 of my friends who I had try Channels biggest grip also. I dream of a day when Channels would have a list view like the TiVo. Channels definitely isn't built for large collections of shows unless you are a great where's Waldo like you must be.
2 Likes
Can you provide an example of a show you can't find in Channels? I am seriously not understanding what you are finding so difficult.
If I want to find a movie, its either in Kids>Movies>All or its in Movies>All. Both are in alphabetical order. I have about 500 Movies in Channels and I can get to a Movie as quickly as it would going into something llike Netflix, going to search, and then typing in the name.
If I want to find a show, its a toss up if it was something recorded today, or something recorded in the past. If its in the past, I start just like with Movies above. Once I've found the show, I click on it and all the Episodes are organized by season and episode. You can set whether you want oldest first or newest first in the settings. If there are a lot of seasons, I click up and scroll seasons then down and to the episode. If not that many, I just scroll the episodes. I have shows with 300-400 episodes in Channels and I can find the episode in a few seconds.
Often times the show I want to watch was recorded today. In that case I go to Recordings and just scroll through what was done today and find it very quickly.
There is also the Up Next view of shows which is quick if its a regular series and just looking for the next one. Many of the shows I frequently watch are there and I see it before I even get to going further.
No Waldo required. Its different from Tivo, but certainly not as dire as you are portraying. Maybe they will add new views, that would always be great.
Personally, I'd rather see them spend the effort on getting channel and favorites management sorted to handle a large number of channels organized on multiple streaming devices in the house. That is something that is very challenging if you have hundreds of channels and multiple devices to manage.
1 Like
This option isn't for recording a show it's the view you get of the shows that have already been recorded. Look at the top image I posted. It's a list view example right from Tivo of your shows that have been recorded. This feature request has nothing to do with finding a show to record. Re-read what was posted above to see what we were actually talking about.
1 Like
This option isn't for recording a show it's the view you get of the shows that have already been recorded. Look at the top image I posted. It's a list view example right from Tivo of your shows that have been recorded. This feature request has nothing to do with finding a show to record. It's all about the big thumbnail view of all of your shows recorded that you get instead of just being a simple list view like TiVo does making it much much easier to quickly find a show. See image Tivo recorded shows view vs Channels and I'm not talking about the different categories that TiVo has on the left just the way it list them all on the right side making it easy to scroll quickly though recorded shows instead of the big thumbnail view that channels gives.
1 Like
I realize that. The description I gave you is for how I find recorded shows and movies in Channels in my large library. I asked for an example of what you find extremely difficult to find, to try and understand why it was stated that Channels is unusable with a large library, because I don’t get it. I used Tivos for years so I’m aware their views are different.
In my experience, it's more like past two weeks' of recordings, rather than all.
Also, two major limitations of the Recordings page:
- Grouping – Recordings are simply listed in reverse-chronological order, grouped simply by day. There is no way to change the order, nor to collapse a grouping.
- Information density – The Recordings page simply lacks decent information density. Looking at the enclosed image, you can only see 4.5 items at a time. A similar text-heavy list view on other DVR/media apps could easily and legibly display 10 items.
I understand both sides of this argument. I appreciate new new Recordings page—I've even promoted it to a permanent place in my sidebar—and use it. However, it is not a substitute for a true list view in the Library pages.
Conversely, while I would like to see a list view with multiple sorting/filtering options, I also recognize that it is a large UI/UX endeavor to implement, while keeping it consistent and easy-to-use, especially when many devices have such limited remotes that will be used, and need to be considered. It is certainly much more than simply slapping a toggle in the views to change ordering and remove the thumbnails.
I look forward to Channels' implementation when it comes. But I am also realistic and know this is not an easy addition.
3 Likes
Yes but because it shows that as single records and I have over 400+ recordings and it doesn't group them together it makes the scrolling problem even worse. I'm talking about a view that is like that but has the episodes grouped together like the shows view has. Another words title only without the big picture thumbnail like the example I provided. Scrolling is out of control now and getting worse by the day since I started using Channels DVR 4 months ago.
1 Like
And I have stated why multiple times but will do it again is because with a very large and ever growing collection of episodes the way the episodes tv shows I am scrolling though many pages of shows and not having a text title you are looking at picture thumbnails to find the show you are looking for and depending on your tv screen size it becomes very difficult to find the show you are looking for as you scroll and scroll and scroll. I have 400+ episodes and over 100+ tv shows that I have recording and it becomes a huge where's Waldo every time. That the difficulty I am having. And like I said maybe you are great at where's Waldo or maybe you have a hugh tv screen or are very close to it but for me it's a horrible experience every time I look for a show though the 100+ I have looking at thumbnails pics that my or may not even have the show titles on it. And now with m3u support I don't even get the thumbnail pic on any of those recordings just a blank square with an episode count so it's even worse for those.
I just don't understand why it would be difficult to Implement it. Keep the current layout but in the tv shows and movie tabs allow it to display the text only and not the thumbnails. It already gives you the shows and movies in a grouped episode format so all you would need to do is allow the thumbnails to be turned off and only have the show or movie title to remain. The show and movie titles are already there if you highlight on any show or movie. Am I missing something on why removing the thumbnail is a big thing to implement?
1 Like