tvtime-command (1)

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Man page for tvtime-command
Copyright (c) 2003, 2004  Billy Biggs

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at
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This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the ...

(The comments found at the beginning of the groff file "man1/tvtime-command.1".)

NAME

tvtime-command - control a running tvtime process

SYNOPSIS

tvtime-command [COMMAND] ...

DESCRIPTION

tvtime-command allows a user to control a running tvtime process by sending it commands. It communicates with tvtime through a FIFO, otherwise known as a named pipe. Commands are case-insensitive, and are executed in order.

COMMANDS

AUTO_ADJUST_PICT

Restores the picture settings (brightness, contrast, hue, colour) to their default values.

AUTO_ADJUST_WINDOW

Automatically resize the window to match the content inside it. This is for when you resize tvtime into, say, a long rectangle, and want it to jump back to being a perfect 4:3 box around the content.

BRIGHTNESS_DOWN

Lowers the brightness setting on the input.

BRIGHTNESS_UP

Increases the brightness setting on the input.

CHANNEL_[0-9]

Simulates a keypad number press.

CHANNEL_ACTIVATE_ALL

Re-activates all channels in the list. Use this to re-initialize the channel list before running the scanner if you believe some channels are missing, or if new channels have become available.

CHANNEL_DEC / CHANNEL_DOWN

Move one channel down in the channel list.

CHANNEL_INC / CHANNEL_UP

Move one channel up in the channel list.

CHANNEL_JUMP / CHANNEL_PREV

Changes to the last channel you were at. Useful for jumping back and forth between two programs on distant channels.

CHANNEL_LIST

This command is used to bring up channel list.

CHANNEL_RENUMBER

Renumbers the current channel. This will swap the current channel with the number you type in. Use this to configure your station list to suit preference or locality.

CHANNEL_SAVE_TUNING

Saves the current fine tuning settings as a custom channel in the station list.

CHANNEL_SCAN

Walks from the current position through the channel list, disabling any channels for which no signal is detected. This command is only available if signal checking is enabled.

CHANNEL_SKIP

Toggles the current channel as being active or disabled in the station list. You can use this to manually scan your channels and enable those with signal or disable duplicate stations.

COLOUR_DOWN / COLOR_DOWN

Decreases the input colour picture setting. This will make the image less colourful until it is black-and-white.

COLOUR_UP / COLOR_UP

Increases the input colour picture setting. This will give the image more colour.

CONTRAST_DOWN

Decreases the contrast setting of the input.

CONTRAST_UP

Increases the contrast setting of the input.

DISPLAY_INFO

This will re-display the OSD for the current channel, showing the channel information, current deinterlacer and framerate, the time, and input settings.

DISPLAY_MESSAGE

This will display a message along the bottom of the OSD. Useful for cron jobs or other scripts to send notifications to a user running tvtime.

DOWN

This command provides the dual functionality of channel down or menu arrow down, depending on whether the menu is currently active. This command is to be used together with the LEFT, RIGHT and UP commands.

ENTER

Sends a virtual enter command. Use this when changing the channel:
tvtime-command channel_1 channel_5 enter
will change to channel 15.

FINETUNE_DOWN

Decreases the fine tuning setting for the current channel.

FINETUNE_UP

Increases the fine tuning for the current channel.

HUE_DOWN

Decreases the hue setting of the input.

HUE_UP

Increases the hue setting of the input.

KEY_EVENT

Sends a fake keystroke event to tvtime. This is useful for doing complex operations via a remote control, as you can indirect events to tvtime's internal key binding system.

LEFT

This command provides the dual functionality of mixer volume down or menu back command, depending on whether the menu is currently active. This command is to be used together with the RIGHT, UP and DOWN commands.

MENU_DOWN

In menu mode, this command moves the cursor down one entry in the menu.

MENU_ENTER

In menu mode, this command selects the current entry or moves forward one level in the menu.

MENU_EXIT

In menu mode, this command shuts off the menu.

MENU_BACK

In menu mode, this command moves back one level in the menu.

MENU_ENTER

In menu mode, this command selects the current entry or moves forward one level in the menu.

MENU_UP

In menu mode, this command moves the cursor up one entry in the menu.

MIXER_DOWN

Decreases the volume setting for the Line In device from /dev/mixer. An optional parameter specifies the percentage to decrease by.

MIXER_TOGGLE_MUTE

Toggles the mute status with the mixer, and not with the capture card like TOGGLE_MUTE does.

MIXER_UP

Increases the volume setting for the Line In device from /dev/mixer. An optional parameter specifies the percentage to increase by.

NOOP

The command to do nothing. Useful for when you want to blank out one of the default key bindings in tvtime.

OVERSCAN_DOWN

Decreases the overscan compensation amount. This will show more of the captured input.

OVERSCAN_UP

Increases the overscan compensation amount. This will show less of the captured input.

PICTURE

Selects which picture setting (brightness/contrast/colour/hue) to change using the PICTURE_UP and PICTURE_DOWN commands.

PICTURE_UP

Increases the current picture setting value (brightness/contrast/colour/hue).

PICTURE_DOWN

Decreases the current picture setting value (brightness/contrast/colour/hue).

RESTART

Asks tvtime to restart itself. This is used in the menu when we have changed a value that we can't yet change at runtime.

RIGHT

This command provides the dual functionality of mixer volume up or menu enter command, depending on whether the menu is currently active. This command is to be used together with the LEFT, UP and DOWN commands.

RUN_COMMAND

Instructs tvtime to spawn a command. This can be used to start a program using a key in tvtime or lirc, such as to spawn mythepg or alevt. Using tvtime-command run_command "xterm" will have tvtime call system( "xterm &" ).

SAVE_PICTURE_GLOBAL

Saves the current picture settings as the global defaults.

SAVE_PICTURE_CHANNEL

Saves the current picture settings as the defaults for the current channel on the tuner.

SCREENSHOT

Asks tvtime to take a screenshot. Screenshots are saved to the directory listed as the screenshot directory in the tvtime.xml configuration file. The default is the running user's home directory.

SET_AUDIO_MODE

This command takes a parameter and sets the current audio mode. Valid options are "mono", "stereo", "sap", "lang1" or "lang2".

SET_DEINTERLACER

This command takes a parameter and sets the current deinterlacer. Valid options are the short name of any of the deinterlacers available in tvtime.

SET_FRAMERATE

This command takes a parameter and sets the current framerate. Valid options are "full", "top" and "bottom".

SET_FREQUENCY_TABLE

This command takes a parameter and sets the current frequency table.

SET_FULLSCREEN_POSITION

This command sets where widescreen output will be aligned when in fullscreen mode, either top for the top of the screen, center, or bottom.

SET_INPUT

This command takes a parameter and sets the the capture card input (0-n). Among the Inputs are: the tuner, composite, or S-Video connectors on the capture card.

SET_INPUT_WIDTH

This command takes a parameter and sets the current input width in pixels. It will be used in tvtime after a restart.

SET_MATTE

This command sets the matte to apply to the output. This changes the size of the output window, and is useful for watching a 2.35:1 movie in a long, thin window, or for watching it at the top of the screen using the fullscreen position option. Valid options here are 16:9, 1.85:1, 2.35:1 or 4:3.

SET_NORM

This command takes a parameter and sets the current television standard. It will be used in tvtime after a restart.

SET_STATION

This command takes a station name or number as a parameter and changes the channel to the station given.

SET_XMLTV_LANGUAGE

Set the preferred language code for XMLTV data. The argument can be either the two-letter language code according to ISO 639 or a number to select one of the known languages.

SHOW_DEINTERLACER_INFO

Shows a help screen on the OSD describing the current deinterlacer setting.

SHOW_EPG

Shows TV Guide using the TV listings from XMLTV.

SHOW_MENU

This command is used to bring up the tvtime setup menu.

SHOW_STATS

Shows a debug screen showing statistics about the running instance of tvtime.

SLEEP

This command sets the sleep timer to tell tvtime to shut itself off after a certain amount of time. Sending this command will first activate the feature, and sending it again will increase the timer up until a maximum value at which point it is shut off.

TOGGLE_ALWAYSONTOP

If supported by your window manager, this command will ask to have the window be put into an "always on top" state, where no other window can be stacked above it.

TOGGLE_ASPECT

Toggles the display between 4:3 and 16:9 mode. Use 16:9 mode if you have configured an external DVD player or satellite receiver to output anamorphic 16:9 content.

TOGGLE_AUDIO_MODE

Toggles between the available audio modes on this channel. It can take some time before the driver discovers that modes are available.

TOGGLE_BARS

Asks tvtime to display colourbars. The colourbars are generated by tvtime and are not related to the capture card, but simply to help configure your video card and display device. Once your settings are correct with these colourbars, try colourbars from an input source like an external DVD player and make sure they match up.

TOGGLE_CC

Enables closed caption information to be displayed in the tvtime window. Closed captioning is only available if you have enabled VBI reading in your tvtime.xml configuration file.

TOGGLE_CHANNEL_PAL_DK

For PAL users, toggles the audio mode of the current channel between the PAL-BG and PAL-DK audio norms.

TOGGLE_CHROMA_KILL

Enables or disables the chroma killer filter, which makes the input black and white. Useful when watching a black-and-white movie to avoid chrominance artifacts.

TOGGLE_COLOR_INVERT / TOGGLE_COLOUR_INVERT

Turns on or off the colour invert filter. This is (apparently) useful for users of the Australian cable company Optus who want to avoid using the decryption boxes and tune using their capture card directly.

TOGGLE_DEINTERLACER

This toggles between the available deinterlacing methods.

TOGGLE_FULLSCREEN

This toggles between fullscreen and windowed mode.

TOGGLE_FRAMERATE

Toggles the framerate at which tvtime will output. Options are full frame rate (every field deinterlaced to a frame), half frame rate TFF (every top field deinterlaced to a frame) and half frame rate BFF (every bottom field deinterlaced to a frame).

TOGGLE_INPUT

Switches the capture card input used. Among the Inputs are: the tuner, composite, or S-Video connectors on the capture card.

TOGGLE_MATTE

Switches between the available mattes. This cuts off the top and bottom of the input picture to help fit the window to the image content.

TOGGLE_MIRROR

Turns on or off the mirror filter, which flips the input. This is useful for using tvtime with mirroring projectors, although I don't think it will actually work as intended yet since we don't mirror the OSD output. :) Comments appreciated.

TOGGLE_MUTE

Toggles the mute state in the capture card (and not in your soundcard).

TOGGLE_NTSC_CABLE_MODE

Toggles the NTSC cable mode settings: Standard, IRC, and HRC are available.

TOGGLE_PAL_DK_AUDIO

For PAL users, toggles the default audio mode of all channels between the PAL-BG and PAL-DK audio norms.

TOGGLE_PAL_SECAM

Toggles between PAL and SECAM on the current channel. This feature is useful for regions which receive both PAL and SECAM channels, such that tvtime can be configured on a per-channel basis for the correct norm.

TOGGLE_PAUSE

Enters pause mode. Pause mode is a debugging feature used to test deinterlacer filters by allowing to see the output of a single set of frames with various deinterlacers.

TOGGLE_PULLDOWN_DETECTION

Enables or disables the 2[en]3 pulldown detection feature for NTSC input.

TOGGLE_QUIET_SCREENSHOTS

When this option is turned on, screenshots will not announce themselves on the OSD. This is useful if you intend to take a lot of screenshots, and don't want the text to interrupt your TV watching or appear in other screenshots.

TOGGLE_SIGNAL_DETECTION

Toggles on and off tvtime's signal detection code. Signal detection enables features like channel scanning and increases responsiveness on channels with poor reception, but may make it impossible to watch stations where the reception is too bad for the card to detect it reliably.

TOGGLE_XDS

Toggles on and off tvtime's XDS decoding code. XDS is used to send information about the channel including the network name and call letters, and sometimes information about the current show. This information is then shown on the OSD and saved to the stationlist.xml file.

TOGGLE_XMLTV_LANGUAGE

Toggles which language to show by default from the XMLTV file from the ones available in the file.

UP

This command provides the dual functionality of channel up or menu arrow up, depending on whether the menu is currently active. This command is to be used together with the LEFT, RIGHT and DOWN commands.

QUIT

Asks the running tvtime process to exit.

AUTHORS

Billy Biggs, Stewart Allen.

SEE ALSO

tvtime(1), tvtime.xml(5), stationlist.xml(5).