4 ms·

Indeed, it started as I wanted to interact with the streams in a more classic radio fashion and to be able to repurpose some of the old devices. It's not perfec

Indeed, it started as I wanted to interact with the streams in a more classic radio fashion and to be able to repurpose some of the old devices. It's not perfect but it works.

PaulHoule 2y ago
The basic disadvantage of that design is that a real radio or TV can change channels in milliseconds, but it takes seconds to set up a digital stream in most cases. Thus the interface of “changing channels” by rapidly pushing buttons is not so pleasing for a streaming-based player as it is for the real thing which is why Netflix provides the search and browsing interface it has.
- AlexDragusin 2y ago
  You are correct. On the technical side, there is actually a way to make it to instantly switch (also fairly easy to implement) but it will consume more data (about 5x-10x) which would not go well with the efficiency of using a spare device concept. I had to consider these matters.
  - bitdivision 2y ago
    Might be worth considering a switch for this? I think a lot of people wouldn't care about the data, but the switching time is a little annoying at the moment.
    - miah_ 2y ago
      I care about the data. I live in the woods with WiFi internet. Every byte matters.
      - bitdivision 2y ago
        Of course. I'm just suggesting an optional switch so that people who don't care about bandwidth have a better experience
- hnlmorg 2y ago
  > The basic disadvantage of that design is that a real radio or TV can change channels in milliseconds, but it takes seconds to set up a digital stream in most cases. Only for tuned stations. If you’re scanning the frequency (which is what the up and down arrow remind me more of) then it will take as long as it takes for your tuner to find the next station along. And that’s assuming you even have an automatic tuner, my first radio could only be manually tuned and didn’t support presets.
- toast0 2y ago
  > The basic disadvantage of that design is that a real radio or TV can change channels in milliseconds, but it takes seconds to set up a digital stream in most cases. Real TV is all mpeg transport streams these days. Maybr you can tune in milliseconds, but you can't decode until you get a keyframe.
  - userbinator 2y ago
    You can still decode starting at a non-keyframe, and just apply the diffs to the current picture, although the results might not be understandable; VLC is known for doing this when seeking.
  - RulerOf 2y ago
    That's a good point. I take for granted that I remember well what it was like in the analog age. Channels could be changed in what must've been around 30 milliseconds. I always found a modicum of latency to be generally acceptable in something like TV tuning once it went digital. Streaming doesn't really offer anything with that kind of experience anymore. Even analog car radios tend to have digital tuners with their own degrees of tuning delay.
    - zrobotics 2y ago
      "The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel" Can't remember where I saw this pointed out, but this Gibson quote from neuromancer won't make any sense to anyone young enough to have not been exposed to analog TV. And most radios by default do channel scan, so you aren't even exposed to audio static as much anymore either.

Indeed, it started as I wanted to interact with the streams in a more classic radio fashion and to be able to repurpose some of the old devices. It's not perfect but it works.

PaulHoule 2y ago

The basic disadvantage of that design is that a real radio or TV can change channels in milliseconds, but it takes seconds to set up a digital stream in most cases. Thus the interface of “changing channels” by rapidly pushing buttons is not so pleasing for a streaming-based player as it is for the real thing which is why Netflix provides the search and browsing interface it has.

AlexDragusin 2y ago
You are correct. On the technical side, there is actually a way to make it to instantly switch (also fairly easy to implement) but it will consume more data (about 5x-10x) which would not go well with the efficiency of using a spare device concept. I had to consider these matters.
- bitdivision 2y ago
  Might be worth considering a switch for this? I think a lot of people wouldn't care about the data, but the switching time is a little annoying at the moment.
  - miah_ 2y ago
    I care about the data. I live in the woods with WiFi internet. Every byte matters.
    - bitdivision 2y ago
      Of course. I'm just suggesting an optional switch so that people who don't care about bandwidth have a better experience
hnlmorg 2y ago
> The basic disadvantage of that design is that a real radio or TV can change channels in milliseconds, but it takes seconds to set up a digital stream in most cases. Only for tuned stations. If you’re scanning the frequency (which is what the up and down arrow remind me more of) then it will take as long as it takes for your tuner to find the next station along. And that’s assuming you even have an automatic tuner, my first radio could only be manually tuned and didn’t support presets.
toast0 2y ago
> The basic disadvantage of that design is that a real radio or TV can change channels in milliseconds, but it takes seconds to set up a digital stream in most cases. Real TV is all mpeg transport streams these days. Maybr you can tune in milliseconds, but you can't decode until you get a keyframe.
- userbinator 2y ago
  You can still decode starting at a non-keyframe, and just apply the diffs to the current picture, although the results might not be understandable; VLC is known for doing this when seeking.
- RulerOf 2y ago
  That's a good point. I take for granted that I remember well what it was like in the analog age. Channels could be changed in what must've been around 30 milliseconds. I always found a modicum of latency to be generally acceptable in something like TV tuning once it went digital. Streaming doesn't really offer anything with that kind of experience anymore. Even analog car radios tend to have digital tuners with their own degrees of tuning delay.
  - zrobotics 2y ago
    "The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel" Can't remember where I saw this pointed out, but this Gibson quote from neuromancer won't make any sense to anyone young enough to have not been exposed to analog TV. And most radios by default do channel scan, so you aren't even exposed to audio static as much anymore either.