Chapter 8: Version History

= Chapter 8: Version History =

Listed below are some of the changes to SageTV and this document for versions 6.0 and later, shown in no particular order for each version. This change list does not represent every change; it is only meant to highlight some of them.

Version 9.0
In 2015 SageTV Version 9 was released to the community as Open Source Software. Changes to the software can be found on GitHub. Discussion of changes can be found on the SageTV forums. There was no public release of Version 8.

Version 7.0
Redesigned the user interface, with new layouts and options on most menus. The default STV file is now SageTV7.xml instead of SageTV3.xml. Use the Options command to explore the options available on menu.

Seamless recording/playback transitions between shows when watching Live TV

DirectShow demux filter for handling MKV, MP4 and FLV media types

New 'Effects' rendering system with support for more advanced and easier to use animations (layers are no longer needed).

Background image loading system allows for faster loading of thumbnails and other image resources w/out interfering with UI responsiveness.

Support added for playback of ISO DVD & BDMV (BluRay) files on all platforms that support non-ISO playback (on Windows this requires the free application Virtual Clone Drive to be installed).

New Pan/Zoom style slideshow transition effects.

SageTV recordings now have their full metadata embedded into the file.

When viewing the list of running processes on a PC, two of each SageTV process will be listed, so you will see two SageTV.exe, two SageTVService.exe, and/or two SageTVClient.exe processes depending on how SageTV is running on a PC.

Added the Plugin Manager menu and its related menus; used to simplify installing customizations developed by other SageTV users.

Added the SageTV HD Theater, model STP-HD300, to Appendix M: SageTV Media Extenders.

The list of Supported Media Types has been updated.

Added support for Blu-ray video playback; see Playing Hard Drive Based Blu-rays.

Added several new options to the Detailed Setup menu, including these options in these sections of Detailed Setup:

o General

Video Recording Path Optimization Style – Option to affect how SageTV chooses which recording directory to use to store the next recording.

Animation Options – Updated for the new animation system and to enable/disable additional options. o Multimedia

Default Audio Language

Default Subtitle Language

SageTV Window is Always On Top o Video / Audio

VC1 Video Decoder Filter

Media Player for non-MPEG Files

HD Audio Decoder Filter

HD Audio Output o Advanced

Automatic Update Checks – Set options regarding automatically checking for online video, STV, SageTV, and extender firmware updates.

o Customize

Font Size Limitation Settings

Online Video Options - Expanded the set of options to include options for Channels.com online videos and setting the temporary file storage location for use when playing online videos.

Ignore Leading Articles During Text Sorting – New options related to ignoring articles at the beginning of text, such as ‘a’, ‘an’, and ‘the’, when sorting.

Add ShowID as part of Movie Favorites – An option to help limit a Favorite to a specific movie.

Always ask whether to resume or restart partially watched videos

Automatically add converted videos to database

Number of Days to Schedule Recordings – Set the number of days SageTV looks ahead when creating a recording schedule.

For grouped items: Select opens options dialog, Info browses into group – Toggles whether the Select or Info command is used to open the options dialog for a group vs browsing into the group.

Use wrap-around scrolling in single column vertical lists Use vertical wrap-around scrolling in the Program Guide grid

Use ‘Fixed Focus’ in single column non-wrapped vertical lists

TV Category Background Colors – Adds another way to access the option to set the background colors for TV airings; already available via the Setup -> Help submenu on the Main Menu.

Changes to the Favorite Details menu:

o   The Keep At Most setting can now be set up to 63. o User-Defined Categories can be assigned to Favorites.

o The '''Automatic Conversion''' option can be used to automatically convert a

Favorite after its recording completes.

o   When changing the settings for a Favorite, if a change will result in the Favorite being the same as another Favorite, the change will not take effect and a message will be shown.

o   Any Favorite can have a Keyword added.

The default scheduling lookahead time is now 14 days. See Scheduling up to 14 Days in Advance under the Notes about Scheduled Recordings. The setting can be changed via the Number of Days to Schedule Recordings option.

STP-HD200 and STP-HD300 extenders can use graphical visualizations on the Music Playback screen.

Added the '''More by People in Show''' option to the Airing and Video Options Dialog; used to find more airings by people with credits for a show or add/change that person’s Favorite.

Added '''Edit User Categories and Edit Video Information''' options to the Airing and Video Options Dialog and Grouped Airings and Videos Options Dialog; used to edit user defined categories for recordings and MPAA rating and category for imported videos.

The Check for STV Update option in Detailed Setup: Advanced Settings, used to check for, download, and install updates for the default user interface, is now available on Windows Vista and Windows 7 systems even if UAC is enabled.

Added the Channel Manager menu, used to enable or disable channels from all lineups in one place.

Overhauled the UI theme system; see: Appendix O: User Interface Themes.

The Video Playback Options Menu and DVD Playback Options Menu now have options to Jump to Beginning and Jump to End.

Added '''Enter Network Path''' to the File Browser Options when browsing a network file system in the File Browser menu.

The SageTV Recordings menu can filter by user defined categories as part of its Filtering Options dialog.

The number of views on the SageTV Recordings menu can be configured from 4 to 8 via the Number of Views option in the SageTV Recordings Menu Options dialog.

The Parental Control Restrictions menu allows restricting access to setup related menus.

Added '''Channel.com Web Shows''' to the Online Services menu.

The Video Browser menu now has a Category view, which groups all imported videos by their categories.

The Video Browser Menu Options dialog’s '''Advanced Options''' now has an option to choose whether recorded files found by SageTV in video import directories should be considered to be recordings or imported videos.

Version 6.6
Added the System Messages menu, where important SageTV system status and information messages are listed. Alert icons are displayed on the menu header when new system messages have been added. See Status Indicator Icons.

The Channel Setup series of menus have been reorganized and improved. There are too many changes to be listed here. See the Channel Setup, Remap Channel, Add Channel to Lineup, and Channel Scan Results menus for full details about their usage.

The folder view of the Music Browser menu can now be configured to display the music import folders separately or combined into a single tree view.

Added Always start video playlist items from the beginning option in Detailed Setup: Customize Settings.

Added “Maximum Results per Search” option in Detailed Setup: Customize Settings.

Added “Debug Logging” option in Detailed Setup: Advanced Settings.

Added the “H.264 Video Decoder Filter” option in Detailed Setup: Video/Audio Settings.

Added the “Reload last custom STV” option in Detailed Setup: Advanced Settings.

During Picture Viewing, use of the Pause and Play commands will also pause and resume music playback if music is playing while viewing a slideshow.

Added the “Allow Placeshifter clients to automatically login” option in Detailed Setup: Server Settings.

Slideshows may be played in random order via an option available when starting a slideshow on the Photo Browser menu, or via the “Random Screen Saver Slideshow Order” option in the Screen Saver Options dialog in Detailed Setup: General Settings.

Added support to recognize Blu-ray (BD) disks in the Video Browser and other appropriate places.

Default recording quality settings can no longer be set for digital tuners via the “Recording Quality” option in Detailed Setup: Multimedia Settings. Also, when trying to configure recording quality settings there or via the Record Options for Manual Recordings and Recording Quality for Favorites, the user is warned if only digital tuners are in use or if there is a mixture of digital and analog tuners. The warning can be disabled after viewing it.

Added the Reset Disabled Warnings option in Detailed Setup: Customize Settings.

The “Automatically Enable Channels Newly Added to EPG Lineups” option in Detailed Setup: Customize Settings is also available on the Channel Setup menu via the Options command.

When setting a Manual Recording for an airing that is a padded Favorite, a dialog will ask whether the Manual Recording should inherit the Favorite’s start and end padding.

Closed captions are now supported; see Appendix K: Closed Captions.

The Video Playback Options Menu and DVD Playback Options Menu now have additional subtitle and closed caption options.

The Aspect Ratio Mode selection dialog now has the “ZoomC” and “Fill Wide” aspect ratio modes for HD Extenders only.

Version 6.5
Added the SageTV HD Theater, model STP-HD200, to Appendix M: SageTV Media Extenders. And, added references to using the new SageTV STP-HD200 HD Theater as an extender, in places where only the STX-HD100 had been mentioned.

Added information for Remapping Stations for EPG data using ATSC or QAM Digital Tuners as part of the Channel Setup description.

Added Display OSD between Playlist Segments option in Detailed Setup: Customize Settings. Configure whether the OSD will appear on the playback menu when a music or video playlist changes to a different playlist item.

Added RC5 Repeat Detection option in Detailed Setup: Customize Settings, for HD extenders only. This option can be used if you have a customized remote that does not properly toggle the codes for the RC5 IR protocol.

The Remote Control Options dialog in the Source Details menu now includes an option to set the IR Blaster Repeat Factor.

Like the Music Browser menu already did, the File Browser menu now displays the playback information and controls at the bottom of the screen only when media is playing; when nothing is playing, the browser content expands to fill the space.

Added an option to Clear all Remapped Channels in the Edit Channel Lineup dialog on the Channel Setup menu.

During video playback, if the video contains multiple subtitle languages, the pop-up Options menu will contain a choice for selecting the subtitle language to use.

Version 6.4
Added more information about the Aspect Ratio Mode selection dialog, where the aspect ratio mode can be selected during playback and where custom aspect ratio modes can be created and edited while using the STX-HD100 or STP-HD200 HD extender.

Added the Revert to the default STV option in Detailed Setup: Advanced Settings, used to load the default STV when a custom STV is currently loaded.

After choosing the EPG data provider in Source Setup, if the lineup is already in use by another source using a different physical input type, the user is asked whether to use the same channel lineup or to copy the channels to a separately configurable lineup.

Added a new File Browser menu, where you can browse the SageTV server’s files, local files, network files, import library paths, or recording paths, depending on the available file systems and media paths.

The General tab on the Placeshifter Settings dialog now has a selection for Local Filesystem Security, determining the SageTV server’s level of access to files on the Placeshifter’s computer.

When available, EXIF information is displayed when viewing the detailed information dialog for a photo.

Added a “Regenerate Thumbnail” option to the Options Menu While Viewing a Single Image or a Slideshow to force the photo’s thumbnail to be regenerated.

When rotating a photo from the Options Menu While Viewing a Single Image or a Slideshow, if the photo has camera orientation data, there will be an option to autorotate the image to its correct orientation.

Due to changes in the weather.com information feed, the Weather menu now contains a 5-day forecast.

The Favorites Manager can list all the Favorites sorted by Priority or by Title.

On the Recording Schedule menu, added an option to configure the number of tuner columns displayed in the Parallel schedule viewing mode.

Added the DirecTV Fast Serial Channel Changes option in Detailed Setup: Customize Settings to allow choosing Fast or Normal mode for changing DirecTV channels via serial cable.

Version 6.3-B
Fully downloaded online video and audio-only files may be saved from the Video Playback or Music Playback screen by using the Record command or the Save Downloaded File option in the pop-up options dialog during playback. The files will become imported media, available for playback from the Video Browser or Music Browser.

Favorites can be limited to multiple channels on the Favorite Details menu, instead of being limited to only a single channel.

Imported DVD files no longer need to be in the VIDEO_TS subdirectory; see: Appendix I: Playing DVDs and BDs from the Hard Drive.

On the Program Guide, the Skip Fwd #2 and Skip Bkwd #2 commands can be used to jump 1 day ahead or back, respectively. Or, enter a number before using those commands to jump by that many days.

Version 6.3-A
The trial usage period is now 21 days.

Added the SageTV HD Media Extender, model STX-HD100, to Appendix M: SageTV Media Extenders.

The Favorite command is now available for grouped TV airings or recordings. See Grouped Airings and Videos Options Dialog for more information.

Added new options in Detailed Setup: Multimedia Settings for Output Resolution and Native Output Resolution Switching.

Added the SageTV MPEG Video Decoder uses DXVA (hardware acceleration) option in Detailed Setup: Video/Audio Settings, which is used to enable or disable hardware assisted video decoding when using the SageTV MPEG Video Decoder.

Version 6.2
Added a new appendix to cover some of the SageTV differences on the various operating systems which can be used with SageTV. See: Appendix P: Operating System Differences.

Added a new consolidated Search menu, where you can search for any type of media.

Added Instant Search, where search text can be entered while on a navigation menu before jumping to the Search menu. Also added the Instant Search mode on Navigation Menus option in Detailed Setup: Customize Settings, used to configure how the Instant Search feature works while on navigation menus.

The Remote Control Options dialog in the Source Details menu now includes an option to set a '''Prefix Code''', which is transmitted before transmitting the digits for a channel change.

The TV Show Editorials and TV Show Highlight menus now include markers on the editorials to indicate which shows are scheduled to be recorded, along with which ones are first runs, watched, etc.

The YouTube Video and Google Video content lists are cached for several minutes, so that the same category can be viewed again without having to wait for the list to download again every time that category is selected. In addition, their search results menus have a category bar providing quick access to some other categories without leaving the search results menu.

The Music Browser menus display the playback information and controls at the bottom of the screen only when media is playing; when nothing is playing, the browser content expands to fill the space.

Added the Channel Entry Options in Detailed Setup: Customize Settings, where autoaccept after timeout can be enabled and the maximum number of digits in a channel can be set.

Added the Optimized Image Loader option in Detailed Setup: Advanced Settings; when enabled, the option allows for faster loading of larger images.

The Video Detail screen for imported videos can now display details about a video, if metadata has been imported along with the video.

Can jump to the System Information display from the Main Menu by using the Info command.

Version 6.1
Added YouTube Video link to the Online Services menu.

The Placeshifter client can now be controlled by remote control. It can use an IRMan or USB-UIRT IR receiver, and can respond to MCE remotes, multimedia keyboards, and commands sent via Windows messages. See Placeshifter Settings to use an IRMan or USB-UIRT, and see SageTV Commands for information about using messages or multimedia keyboards and remotes.

Added notes about hard drive based DVD playback to Appendix I: Playing DVDs and BDs from the Hard Drive.

When a music item is highlighted in the Music Browser, the Play command can be used as a shortcut to add the music to any currently playing playlist. Previously, this shortcut was only available when the Now Playing playlist was playing. Also, when music is added to a playlist, a semi-transparent message is temporarily shown, confirming that the action has been taken.

Moved the Server options from Detailed Setup: Advanced Settings to the new Detailed Setup: Server Settings menu.

The Photo Browser can now sort pictures by filename or file date, in either ascending or descending order.

The Stop command may be used while on the Channel Setup menu to stop playback of the channel video preview.

Version 6.0
The Online Services menu is now accessible from the Main Menu, and has been extended to include links to the Google Video and TV Show Editorials menus.

A pop-up dialog has been added to provide options to be performed on an entire group of airings or videos. See the Grouped Airings and Videos Options Dialog for details.

The new Series Information screen provides more information about a series, such as a description of the series, its history, and list of cast members. Only available when a series has such data to be viewed.

Videos may be converted from one format to another. The current status of all conversion processes can be viewed on the new Video Conversions screen.

During video playback, if the video contains multiple languages, the pop-up Options menu will contain a choice for selecting the language to use.

During music playback, the background visualization can be changed to show information about the currently playing song.

A '''Photo Slideshow''' may be used as the Screen Saver Style setting in the Screen Saver Options dialog in Detailed Setup: General Settings. Also, if music is playing, the music information will be displayed as the screen saver.

The settings to be used when a mouse button is clicked and held over an icon are configured via the new Mouse Auto-Repeat Rate option in Detailed Setup: Customize Settings.

The MVP Media Extender can play imported DVDs in the video library. See MVP Supported Media Types.

Left-clicking on the video preview window while video playback is active in that window will cause SageTV to jump to the playback screen.

Added the Adjust Display Aspect Ratio screen to both Detailed Setup: Multimedia Settings and Configuration Wizard: General and User Interface Options.

During Picture Viewing for a single picture, if there are additional pictures in the same folder as the current picture, you can scroll through the pictures without leaving the viewing screen.

The Picture Viewing screen has been updated to treat all picture viewing as a slideshow. If a slideshow is started, it will play according to the slideshow option settings. If a single image is viewed, a slideshow of all images in the current folder will begin in paused mode, with the selected image displayed. From this paused state, the Play command can be used to switch to active slideshow mode. Additionally, the options available while viewing pictures have been expanded and displayed as a transparent overlay on top of the current picture.

The Shift+Ins keystroke can be used to paste the text contents of the system clipboard into a text entry field.

When configuring a DVB tuner source, the DVB region or provider will be selected from a list presented after choosing the Device Input during Source Setup. And, after the source has been added, there will be an option to choose the DVB region or provider on the Source Details menu.

Additional information has been added for remapping digital channels. See Remapping Channels for Digital Tuners.