TV Recording

You can record digital TV programs with a USB DTV dongle with DVB-T, DVB-S/DVB-S2 standard or HDHomeRun with DVB-T standard (sold separately) plugged into your Synology NAS. Before proceeding to record your favorite TV programs, please make sure you have plugged in a dongle compatible with your Synology NAS and performed a thorough channel scan.

For the complete list of supported DTV dongles, please visit Synology's website.

Channel Scan

Video Station supports two standards for the broadcast transmission of digital terrestrial and satellite signals: DVB-T (Digital Video Broadcasting - Terrestrial) and DVB-S (Digital Video Broadcasting - Satellite). You can choose a dongle of either of the standards to scan channels depending on the implementation of the dongle plugged into your Synology NAS.

When starting to use the DTV function by clicking DTV on the control bar, you as DSM admin or users belonging to the administrators group must perform a complete channel scan before proceeding to record TV programs and manage the streaming service.

To perform a channel scan:

1. Go to the TV Recording tab, and click DTV > [Dongle name].
2. Depending on the implemented standard of the dongle you have selected, do either of the following:
• For DVB-T standard:
• Tuner: Depending on the model of DTV dongle, the number of supported tuners varies. Select the tuner you want for channel scan. Note that channels available for the selected tuner may be different from one to another. Every time you view TV program guide, record programs, set up the recording schedule, or select channels for live streaming, you need to select a tuner from the DTV drop-down menu first, so that you can manage options corresponding to the selected tuner.
• Country/Region: Select your country and region (if applicable). You cannot scan channels for a place where you are not located.
• Signal type: This option is only available for the HDHomeRun tuners. Select a TV signal type available in your location.
• For DVB-S/DVB-S2 standard: Regarding the detailed instructions on DVB-S/DVB-S2 dongle configuration, please refer to the User's Guide that comes with the product.
• Tuner: See here.
• Satellite: Depending on whether you select a default or manually-added satellite, do either of the following:
• Default satellite: Several default satellites are available for your choice from the drop-down menu. If you have selected a default satellite, its corresponding LNB type will be automatically applied.
• Manually-added satellite: If your satellite is absent from the list, you may manually add a new satellite by specifying its name and longitude and then selecting an LNB type.
• LNB type (low-noise block downconverter): Several default LNB types are also available from the drop-down menu. Depending on the satellite selected, the LNB type varies. You may click Settings to configure advanced settings for channel scan, including the following:
• LNB: Give a name to the LNB type, edit LNB information, and modify the DiSEqC settings.
• Transponder: Add transponders or edit the parameters of transponders: Frequency, Symbol rate, Polarization.
3. Click Scan to start. A progress bar will appear in the middle of the window indicating the percentage of completion of the scan. It may take a while for the scan to finish.

DTV Function

With DTV function, you can record and live stream digital TV programs with a DTV dongle plugged into your Synology NAS.

However, under certain circumstances in which conflicts occur between Video Station and third-party packages with DTV features, you may be asked to disable the DTV function of Video Station to allow that of other packages to run properly. Please note the streaming service and all ongoing recording tasks will be stopped if you disable the DTV function.

To disable the DTV function:

Click Settings >DTV. In the Advanced section, tick Disable DTV function and click OK. If you want to enable or resume the function, please go to Package Center to stop the concerned package(s) first and uncheck the box.

User Privileges

DSM admin or users belonging to the administrators group can set permissions for users to access the DTV and AirPlay/DLNA streaming functions.

Users with the following privileges can do the following:

• DTV Control: Scan channels, manage TV recording tasks, and use the streaming service.
• AirPlay/DLNA Renderer: Stream video contents to DLNA/UPnP-compliant DMAs or AirPlay compatible devices for video playback.

To give users access privileges:

1. Go to Settings > Privileges. Users with access rights to Video Station will appear on the list.
2. Tick the checkboxes to grant users access to the corresponding operation.
3. Click OK.

TV Programs

Once the channel scan is complete, you can choose to stream or record channels available on the channel list on the left panel at DTV > [Dongle name] > Program Guide according to your preference.

Programs of different modes are indicated by the following icons/colors:

• Blue: Programs highlighted in blue have been scheduled to be recorded but the recording has not started yet.
• Red: Programs with a red circular icon are being recorded now.
• Green: Programs with a green play icon are being streamed and watched.
• Gray: Programs grayed out have stopped being broadcast and cannot be selected to stream or record.

To record programs:

1. Click the TV Recording tab, and go to DTV > [Dongle name] > Program Guide.
2. Select a channel from the channel list on the left panel, and scroll down or up in the main area to browse through available programs of the selected channel. Click the forward/backward arrow to view other programs of the selected channel broadcast on other dates. Programs aired before today are not available for selection. You may click the Action drop-down menu and do the following:
• Scan channels: Rescan channels of the selected tuner. Note that rescanning will stop the streaming service, clear the channel list and all recording schedules. The programs which have not been recorded or are now being recorded will be canceled.
• Edit channels: Delete the channels you might not need from the channel list and change the order of channels according to your preference.
• Refresh: Refresh the onscreen listing of upcoming programs. However, this action cannot be performed if any TV program of the selected tuner is being recorded or streamed by other user.
3. Depending on the programs or the programs of a specific channel you want to record, do either of the following:
• Select the program(s) you want to record in the main area, and do either of the following:
• Click Record > Record. Press and hold Ctrl or Shift for multiple selections. The selected programs will appear under the Recording Schedule tab.
• Click Record > Set up repeat schedule. In the window that appears, tailor the repetitive recording schedule for the program to your needs.
• Select a channel whose programs you want to record on the left panel, and click Record > Customize schedule. In the window that appears, do the following:
1. Program Title (required): Name the title for the custom recording schedule. For example, My Programs.
2. Description (optional): Give a description to the recording schedule.
3. Start (required): Select the start date and time for the recording.
4. End (required): Specify the end time for the recording.
5. Duration (required): Specify how long you want the recording to last. If you plan on recording for three hours twenty minutes, please enter 03:20. The max length is 23:59.
6. Set up repeat schedule (optional): Tick the checkbox if you want to record programs on a repetitive basis. Select the day(s) on which to repeat the recording and when to end.
4. Click OK to apply your settings.

To manage recording tasks:

1. Click the TV Recording tab, and go to DTV > [Dongle name] > Recording Schedule. Programs which have been selected to be recorded can be managed here.
2. Do either of the following:
   • If you want to cancel a recording task which is now being recorded or has not started, select the task from the list and click Record > Cancel Recording.
   • If you want to remove multiple recording tasks in the past, whether complete or incomplete, click Clear to remove all past tasks from the list.

Recording Settings

Recording settings can be configured with the option to enable or disable priority of TV program recording over live streaming. You can also specify how long you want to capture prior to/after record start/end.

To manage recording settings:

1. Click the TV Recording tab, and go to Settings >DTV.
2. In the Recording Settings section, do either of the following
• If you want to record and live stream the same digital TV program at the same time, whether Make TV recording take priority over live streaming is ticked or not makes no difference, because recording and streaming can be performed concurrently when it comes to the same TV program.
• If you want to record one TV program and live stream another, do either of the following:
• If you want to stop streaming a program when recording schedule of another program starts, tick the checkbox.
• If you do not want the streaming of a program to be interrupted by another program when its recording schedule starts, do not tick the checkbox.
3. Specify how long you want to record before and/or after the recording of the program starts and/or ends in the fields.
4. Click OK.