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EPG background scanning in DVBLink is a mechanism through which EPG data (guide information) can be retrieved from a source (read HDPVR, HDDVR, DVBDream, etc.) and sent over to Windows Media Center for addition into its Guide.

Windows Media Center still fetches its own Guide data through its regular provider. The EPG data received from DVBLink tuners only complements Windows Media Center existing Guide data.

A DVBLink source typically has two ways of producing EPG data:

• First is from an XMLTV file, which the source reads and feeds.
• Second is directly from the HD feed. For instance, satellite signals do broadcasts some EPG data.

The “background scanning” term comes from the fact that DVBLink does tunes/scans the channels one by one to retrieve the relevant Guide data for each channel. It does that in the background, obviously while you are not using the DVBLink tuners.

For DVBLink for Hauppauge HDPVR and DVBLink for AVerMedia USB HD DVRusers, there is no additional EPG data received from the device since the HD feed comes from the Analog Hole.

For DVBLink for DVBDream users, the satellite EPG data gets through DVB Dream down do DVBLink. This is typically a “short term” guide data that lists a few days of data and also that lists the Pay per view listings. It may be usefull for some users.

However, some channels distributed by TV Companies may not have guide data available in Windows Media Center. To get the guide data for these channels, you need to find an XMLTV data supplier and properly configure the EPG scanning and XMLTV and voilà, you will have the Guide data in Media Center for those channels.

The vast majority of users won’t need to go through this. In fact, if you find that all your channels in Media Center have  Guide data you won’t/don’t need this “EPG Background Scanning”.

We recommend to disable “EPG Background Scanning” for DVBLink for Hauppauge HDPVR users.