Digital Home Thoughts: SnapStream Media's Beyond TV 4

Play It Again, Sam
Alright, so you've seen the live TV. But what about getting access to the shows later on? Why have a PVR if you can't watch your shows whenever you want? To record upcoming shows, we go to the Setup Recording option from the Main Menu (Figure 20). Covering searches by title or keyword (Figure 21), and browsing the guide or categories.


Figure 20: With Beyond TV 4, you have multiple ways to find and record upcoming shows.


Figure 21: Keyword searching is just one option available for future recordings.

The keyword search feature works well (Figure 22), as long as the show is in the existing guide. Sadly, you can't create wishlists (a favorite of mine with the Tivo series). Hopefully, this will be added feature in the near future.


Figure 22: An example keyword search, looking for Monty Python.

After your shows have successfully recorded, you can then navigate to the Recorded Shows (Figure 23) area of Beyond TV 4 to view, squeeze, and manage your recordings. These shows can also be sorted by series. Of course, the amount of recording time left is an estimate, but thus far, it has been very accurate.


Figure 23: My existing show list as shown in the Recorded Shows area of Beyond TV 4.

Selecting a specific show (Figure 24), one can not only view general info about the show, but also determine how long the show stays available, delete the show all together, or ShowSqueeze. Normally, SmartSkip would also be a listed option, but I have opted for this to happen automatically.


Figure 24: An example recorded show, ready to be watched.

Every time you record a show, or watch live TV, a set of files are created in a shared user directory (Figure 25). These files not only determine info but are the actual recordings that can be manipulated in any way you see fit. Unlike my DirecTV Tivo, which I would have to heavily modify to extract recordings, Beyond TV 4 makes these files easy to find and do with as you please. I've even watched files from separate computers, streaming the original file across my home network with no problems at all. I've also copied the files to my main PC to be converted to a format better suited to my Pocket PC. Yes, Beyond TV 4 has this capability built in, but I wanted to see if the recordings were proprietary in any way (and they aren't).


Figure 25: Shows are recorded, by default, into a shared users directory and can be manipulated like any other video file.

While watching a recorded show (Figure 26), you can fast forward, rewind, and pause - just like any other PVR. But you can also use the SmartSkip functionality (shown as light blue areas) to quickly jump between chapters (or skip commercials). Using the remote, I simply press the up arrow to skip to the next chapter, or the down arrow to skip back. Quick and easy - even if the SmartSkip isn't always perfect.


Figure 26: Maximize your viewing capabilities with the ShowSqueeze and SmartSkip options.